The death of a friend reunites Oliver and the rest of their circle as they gather to say goodbye and try to come to terms with their loss.
***
Don’t 3.5
The death of a friend reunites Oliver and the rest of their circle as they gather to say goodbye and try to come to terms with their loss.
***
Don’t pick this book up expecting a full-on horror story. Don’t get me wrong, there is some nice thick atmosphere that helps set the tone for all the creepy moments and the build to the end, once we meet the Knave, is nicely amped-up (and I thought done very well) but I found this leaves you, not so much horrified but instead with that unsettled feeling that sticks around for days. Of course, my tolerance for horror is pretty high- the other world and some of the more vividly depicted scenes might scare the crap out of a normal person.
For me, if I hadn’t been familiar with one of Travis Riddle’s other stories Balam, Spring, I may not have enjoyed this quite as much as I did if I wanted just a horror story. Knowing that he’s damn good at characters and relationships, and building lives that you feel like you are involved in was something I expected and on that level- this worked especially well.
The story while stepping into the horror side of fantasy has a bit of that slice of life feel that I liked so much in Balam, Spring. The little things that make these people special and feel so realistic are present- from the nostalgia of revisiting the old haunts, to sitting around at the local waffle house reminiscing, or talking about school friends and what they’re doing now, etc. We feel like we are a part of the group- a fly on the wall of their lives as they catch up and try to make sense of their feelings about the death of their friend Noah.
This isn’t the coming age story that you see so often in fantasy; this is what comes after that. It’s all the stuff that hits you when you realize you’ve grown-up and moved on from some of the people who used to know you the best, and they from you. It’s also a story about coming to terms with the regrets of those lost friendships and the grief and that anger that comes from death and loss. Basically, it’s about moving on and what gets left behind in the process.
Like with Balam, Spring, I was left with this sense of sadness in the final pages. But it was a good sadness. The kind that comes from closure and knowing the character's will heal and move on and find happiness. That’s when I know that the characters are done right, if on the closing of the final page- I feel they will be ok.
I listened to the audio version of The Narrows- I enjoyed the reader he was animated when need to be and I liked the little things he added here and there. I generally have no complaints about the narration.
I do tend to notice the repetitive things more in audio, words especially, but I’m hypersensitive to that in any format so it’s kind of a moot point.
I was given a copy of the audio by the author Travis M. Riddle. Thank you very much to Travis M Riddle.
This was very entertaining. I kind of knew what to expect from this after having read I Was a Teenage Weredeer and wasn’t disappointed in the quality.This was very entertaining. I kind of knew what to expect from this after having read I Was a Teenage Weredeer and wasn’t disappointed in the quality. There is no doubt in Phipp’s skill in balancing comedy with a surprisingly more complicated world and plot than you’d expect from a fun popcorn read.
Peter Stone’s boring and rather less classy life than he expected to have after being made a vamp, is about to get exciting, when he comes across a young woman (Melissa) that has been newly turned in the washroom of the gas station where he works.
There are quite few policies to do with turning humans to Vampires so this unregistered find is a bit of a problem and needs to brought before the elder, kicking off the uncovering of a scheme to change the power structure of the Vampire Nation and efforts to stop it. From start to finish this book was full. Action, some gore (it is a vampire book after all) witty dialogue, every bit of vampire lore, and pop culture you can think of and some really fun characters. I particularly enjoyed Pater and David’s relationship and I have to appreciate that with a cast this large I didn’t have one issue telling the characters apart, which for me is a big deal.
A huge amount of credit goes to the narrator Cary Hite for his highly entertaining portrayal of Peter and the rest of the characters. I laughed out loud a few times and with a book that has this much dialogue and witty comebacks between characters, it would have been easy to have everyone start sounding the same after awhile. While some of this is credit to the author for keeping his characters clear and distinctive from one another, I never once had an issue telling who was who during the audio (even when a character went off screen and came back later on in the story) and also considering he’s a dude, he even managed to make the women sound a bit different while staying out of that ‘nagging wife voice’ that you sometimes get when men read women characters.
I think I enjoyed this one even more than Teenage Weredeer, although that might have more to do with the audio. Listening to conversation heavy stories over reading them is definitely more fun, especially when you have such a talented reader.
4.5
-Thank you to the author C.T. Phipps, for generously providing an audio copy through Esme’s tbrinder matchmaking reviewer/author service, which you can find here at The Weatherwax Report-
Ok I'm trying to write from my phone, so we'll see how this goes.
I've been watching supernatural for years, between the show and What a great story!
Ok I'm trying to write from my phone, so we'll see how this goes.
I've been watching supernatural for years, between the show and the monster hunter, urban fantasy that seemed to become popular around then, it's safe to say you get a bit burned out.
Maybe it's been long enough or this was just different enough, but whichever, it was just a load of fun. Gory in places, but fun.
The lore was cool, familiar but different enough that it didn't feel like rehash of everything else. I loved the idea of the connection between the weapons and owners. Great characters. I really liked everyone actually.
I listened to the audio version- I highly recommend it. Probably the reason this book is getting a full five stars. RC Bray did the narration and I have to say he's pretty talented. He did accents which added a lot to the reading and made it easier to keep track of who was talking. I even enjoyed work while I was listening. Lol
So yes, if you're a fan of the monster hunter genre, you should definitely add this book to your to-read list.
I like Dave Duncan's work. He is great at world building and usually has great characters. I like that he's not overly predidctable and when he is, itI like Dave Duncan's work. He is great at world building and usually has great characters. I like that he's not overly predidctable and when he is, it doesn't matter because he just does it very well.
But this story has been just ok. While the world is quite interesting, my main problems lie with Rigel; he comes across as a lusty young man about as deep as a plate in places, but then will make some very smart deductions, that just make you think 'Huh, how'd he figure that out'.
The story definitely had a lighter feel to it. I did find it very humorous in places (being Canadian I laughed pretty hard over the handgun registry comments) and like I said it was an interesting world. The plot was surprisingly twisty and does things just different enough to keep you reading/listening. And that there is probably going to be what has me coming back to see how it ends in the next book.
Great reading by Nick Podehl. He really added a lot to this story....more
This book more than lived up to all I've heard about it. Not something I would have usually read but I'm very glad I gave it a shot.
The reader was peThis book more than lived up to all I've heard about it. Not something I would have usually read but I'm very glad I gave it a shot.
The reader was perfect, she really did an amazing job. I've been very lucky that the only audio books I've listened to have had great readers.
I'm going to be thinking about this book and characters for a long time. And the ending couldn't have suited the story more, I don't think. What a great story!...more
I listened to the audio version of this book which I think helped me to enjoy it a lot more than if I had just read the novel. It was a fun story to liI listened to the audio version of this book which I think helped me to enjoy it a lot more than if I had just read the novel. It was a fun story to listen to. Some of it was a bit repetitive and as much as I enjoyed all the pop culture it also felt like it could have been dialed back in places. Still it was just the light hearted entertainment I needed, and perfect to listen to while working....more
Jennifer (bunnyreads)
>
Books:
audio
(10)
Loading...
