April Harper

Was there an editor?

Revisado: 04-20-25

A five book series that should have been cut down to two. The first book is not dark romance, just abusive and rapey. The more the series goes on, the more indulgent, drawn-out inner monologuing continues. In one case, 27 minutes in the audiobook version of a main character just being confused about where they are and what is happening. The reader is left screaming out loud to just move on! Awful sex scenes that are awkward or just laughable - how does one have sex in a tiny boat and then climb out onto a pier, walk down a street and into a house all while still ...attached?? And twice various characters have sex in the middle of battle/conflict? Essentially three different ideas for a book series smashed together so that none of them work as a plotline. Save 100 hours of your life and don't read.

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Really wanted to love this

Revisado: 04-22-24

I have read everything Gail Carriger has written and several got me through very hard times. I don't know how many times I have read and reread her other works - The Finishing School, Parasol Protectorate, Custard Protocol, etc. But I've noticed the last half dozen books across several series are all becoming so formulaic. The strength of her characters was always their uniqueness and a really fabulously smart sense of humour. But the last 5 or 6 books have all been the same - strong, quiet character with an abusive past falls for total brat; painfully long descriptions of emotions; entire casts who are obsessed with each other's emotions, etc.

This series is another centered on this recycled trope, but it crosses from disappointing to unbearable due to the narrator. Every character has a bored, upperclass mumble. It is almost impossible to understand without concentrating on each word. I have to constantly increase volume and rewind when it resolves into whining mumbles. The cyborg is incomprehensible in the audiobook. I am heartbroken to say I won't be reading the 3rd book in the series and as this kind of trope is how the other series are being written, including the San Andreas Shifters and the novellas, I think I'm just done. I really hope for a return to the kind of character development in Custard Protocol, How to Marry a Werewolf, etc., and an end to the repetitive brat/beefcake motif and dozens of pages of analysis of every minute aspect of every emotion.

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Awful narrator!

Revisado: 11-06-22

The Scottish accents in this book go beyond awful to being actually insulting. The narrator has no ear for English accents either. Her vowels are all over the place with an almost Minnesotan "o". She has nograsp on regional a cents in England either. The book was torture to listen to. Place names were butchered and even titles like "viscount" were mispronounced. It was so embarrassing, frustrating, and insulting, I couldn't finish the book. It was so grating, I actually found myself shouting at the narrator, whilst listening to it on a long drive.

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Skip this book

Revisado: 05-27-22

*This review tries not to give any spoilers, but criticisms may reveal some of the plot*

I really love these books, but this one is, in a word, awful. The approach to loss and death in this book is unbelievable, out of character, given previous entries in the series, and just outside all human experience. I have never stopped reading a book, but I seriously thought of doing so, just based on the absolutely awful writing in this. Sadly it never improved. The loss of a partner seems to be no problem at all. While in previous installments, the loss of a relationship and child has resulted in believable psychological shut down, depression, physical illness, etc., not so here. A few paragraphs of vague sadness, then back to jumping through time. More attention is given to the following croquet match! In what seems a matter of weeks, everyone is ready to move on into new relationships? But the total lack of emotional response continues- A mother has no real qualms about giving up a child?? Very strange performative motherhood in a discussion with the time police, then ONE sentence of internal debate that results in the conclusion that the time police "aren't as bad as they used to be." This justifies giving up a child??? I was left wondering if the author has actually been a human for very long, because none of the characters' responses are plausible. Was there an editor?

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Love the books, but...

Revisado: 04-14-22

Love these books, but the mispronunciation of historical names is really irritating. Xerxes. It's not zerkeeez. The narrator needs to put a little effort in to just looking up pronunciation.

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irritating heroine

Revisado: 10-09-19

I barely made it through the book. It is beyond frustrating that the supposedly powerful, rebellious, independent, free-thinking heroine, Cathy freezes into silence and immobility every single page. EVERY PAGE, first at least half of the book. It becomes so ridiculously predictable that you could make it into a drinking game - every time Cathy is spoken to, has to be seen in public, is confronted with any uncomfortable situation, etc. she is incapable of speech or movement. Yet somehow, we are to believe she is world-savvy and quick-witted. It is really sad to see a character gutted like this by its author. Not sure I can stand any more of it to read the third book.

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Redemption of a minor character, but odd narration

Revisado: 09-13-19

A loved addition to the Mystic Bayou series, but narration wasn't as expected. The teaming of Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis is perfect in the other books, but it is as if Davis had no idea what a Scandinavian accent of any kind would be. His voicing of Ingrid is bizarre - English at one moment, the almost Eastern European... it is really off putting.

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An excellent edition, but oddly narrated

Revisado: 09-16-18

this is an excellent addition to the series and definitely worth listening to. Archers universe is growing more complex with each volume. The characters are well-developed and the plot line intriguing. The only drawback is the substitution of Marion Hussey for Emma Powell as narrator. while Hussey's background narration is Pleasant, her voices for English women are often shrill and irritating. This makes it very difficult to listen to you, especially while driving as one is forced to either wince and bear it or constantly adjust the volume for the read option punctuated by shrill dialogue. her voice for cyclops is extremely difficult, as it is very deep, almost awkwardly so. It seems more of a comic impression of a man with a deep voice rather than an actual characters voice. It is so often mumbled that one has to rewind to understand what Cyclops has said, and although it gets better as the book progresses, it is somewhat underwhelming. Most disappointing, however, is the voice she has chosen for Mr. Glass himself. Emma Powell's voice for Mister Glass was beautifully complex and allowed his complexity of emotion to shine through whatever the situation. Hussey's voice for glass is arrogant, plummy English with just the occasional American word thrown in rather than a truly blended accent, and has the most awkward, constipated breath release at the end of almost every sentence. It is only the strength of Archer's character and dialogue that keeps this from ruining mr. glass entirely. I was very disappointed to see that for the rest of the series Hussey was selected as narrator. The books are very entertaining and I will continue to read the entire series, even with Hussey's narration but it was a disappointing switch.

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horrible narration

Revisado: 05-18-18

The narration is awful. The accents are on and then off, narration sometimes occurs in a narrator's voice and sometimes the characters voices and periodically a voice that doesn't seem to be related at all.

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