Kickez

My new favorite!

Revisado: 12-11-23

I'll start by saying I'm all caught up thru the last book (#8) at the writing of this review, but wanted to do my review on book 1 because it's hard to know what you're getting yourself into with a new series. Please do! please get into this series! It's so creative, imaginative, and absolutely the most hilarious series EVER! Most "humor" books I merely find amusing at best, this series has me snorting with laughter (screaming, cackling etc. actually). I've grown SUPER attached to the characters, and their zany antics, my favorite an ancient vampire named Edgar, who is by far the funniest, made even more comical by the narrator which leads me to the narrator: she absolutely brings all these characters to live better than just about any narrator I've heard thus far (and I have over 300 titles in my library). The stories in this series are on-going, and very creative featuring and blending mythological beings I had never heard of before.

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This book should be compulsory for everyone.

Revisado: 12-11-23

This book is a game changer!! and the ideas in it are ones that every person should learn. It was recommended on a support forum I'm in for parents of kids with neurodivergent issues, however, if you are struggling in ANY of your relationships (and who doesn't) you should listen to this book. Being a neurodivergent person myself, I often struggle with "self-help" books, not this one, the content is presented in relatable story form, so don't miss this explanation at the beginning. The narrator does a fantastic job bringing the 'characters' to life. Seriously people, please for the sake of all humanity, please get this book!

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SUCH mixed feelings about this book.

Revisado: 07-14-23

I'm a LONG time Audible customer with hundreds (yes hundreds) of titles, and it's been a very long time since I've felt compelled to write a review. I both loved and hated this book.

My father was a published author and he introduced me to the concept "suspension of disbelief" this story fails miserably for me in that area (to spell it out: I couldn't suspend my disbelief). There is a complete and utter lack of adhering to any sort of historical accuracy, particularly in the areas of social, (language, etiquette and how the feudal system was actually structured) cooking (recipes and foods eaten), morality, and religion (this story definitely takes a hard swing at Christians, (renamed followers of Acker)). It was such a mash up of modern ideas and historical (I'm guessing Medieval? maybe?) time periods. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a little modernization in my fiction, but this story/world takes it a bit too far, and the corker is JUST how self-righteously it does it. I'm thinking about how beautifully the Netflix series Bridgerton takes a historical period of time and re-tells how things might have gone if people had not had the issues they really did, THAT worked for me, but unfortinaly this story did not.

OK, that's most of the stuff I hated about this story, here's what I loved: most of the characters are very likable, the one's you don't like, you don't because you're not suppose to - they are the villains. Next, I appreciated the detail the author gives us, it was easy to imagine the scenes and situations, and they give enough background on the characters to form an opinion on who they are. The Narrator was honestly hands down one of the best things about this audiobook, his accents and character voices were AMAZING! Finally, there were alot of laugh out loud moments, it's rare that a book labeled as humor does this for me (most are simply amusing and don't actually make me laugh).

And finally things I both liked, and didn't, there may be some spoilers here so don't continue to read if you don't want to ruin a moment that made me LOL:
Kracken's voice: at first I was SO surprised it totally tickled me and I let out a hearty guffaw while toodling down the freeway, people probably thought I was nuts! I have 2 black cats of my own, and a large 23 lb ginger tabby, so I actually have a arch-type Kracken and Fat Tony that I live with. BUT, the character voices, although amusing at first got on my nerves. I think it's because these cats so very much (physically) resemble my own kittles that it was a little personal and I found it too difficult to separate my feelings on this point.. I have such a love and appreciation for one of my black cats that I can understand where the concept of familiars came from, and have kind of thought of him in this way for many years. My ginger boy is a big lovable doofus with an incredibly high pitch voice and I cannot imagine either of them with these kinds of personalities. Again, just a thing for me personally, probably.

The ending: this was an unabashed rip-off of the Cinderfella story, period, even the title of the chapter says so, and then the book ends abruptly. These last two points are admittedly weak points since many cultures have versions of Cinderella, and many stories end on a cliff-hanger, just wanted to note it in my review as the point of a review is for prospective readers to know what they are getting into.

I can't say if I will continue the series, I read a wonderful review by Ruth for the next in the series and just about everything she wrote could be said about this book IMHO, but even more so.

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Good but....

Revisado: 02-23-21

It’s been a very long time since I last reviewed a book, but I felt this book merited it. I LOVE these characters, setting, and storyline, the author paints a great picture in many respects, I was completely hooked after the 1st book, which was a lovely 9+ hours, but this book came up very short. At half the time, many ideas were introduced that went nowhere. At the end of the 1st book we were told about John David’s upcoming murder mystery dinner which is where we come in. There was a lot of build up and many scrumptious details given (clothing worn, preparations made, gorgeous scenery, foods eaten), but the event wrapped up so very quickly and it ended very abruptly. Then we jump right into Ritas magistrate’s duties, again a lot of details are given about the defendants, and we learn some good info about this wonderful world the author is building before us, then the book suddenly ends. One loose end of note left hanging is the object that John David (the vampire) takes care of that showed up in Rita’s shop. And for that matter, the mystery of where the items for the store come from has yet to be addressed. And Rita’s daughter, lots of loose ends there. I expected Rita’s ex to show back up and make a bunch of trouble, because you know we want to see some accountability dished out to him, but these issues may be forthcoming in upcoming books. Rita is living my dream life (except I adore my hubby) and I’m a tad older, so I want more please. Most stories have a basic conflict-resolution main theme, and even some sub-theme(s) that generally wrap up with each book, and have a least one on going theme throughout the series, but this series, so far, doesn’t follow this format. It’s a great to leave your readers wanting more, not so good to leave them so thoroughly unsatisfied.

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Keep ‘em coming!!

Revisado: 11-02-18

Dear Ms. Harper, if I ever move to Kentucky, I will friend stalk you until we are besties!!

Seriously though I love her and Amanda Ronconi. I’ve been listening (and sometimes reading) her stories for years, she is my very favorite author. Before Molly Harper, it was JK Rowling, so you can imagine my delight over this story. I hate to compare the two universes’ but there are similarities, in the best way possible. Best of all, it’s a magical story about girls, something I can proudly read to my daughter.
Honestly if Ms. Harper wrote the phone book I’d read that too!

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I feel bad for an excellent narrator

Revisado: 06-08-15

This second Yurt installment had a great interesting and complex story that had me always guessing. Although these stories are told from a wizards point of view, and it's stated in the stories that wizards and priests don't usually get along, I really appreciate the author giving The Church a respectable place in these stories. I know I'll probably get a few "unhelpful" votes by the mere fact I'm stating I'm a Christian, but if you like me also enjoy stories about the fantastic, and are a Believer, this should appeal to you as well, even if you're not, it's in no way preachy.

My only gripe is in the editing of this audiobook: it's as if they removed every-single pause causing much of the story to sound like one long run on sentence. The narrator is excellent, does amazing voices, and inflicts great emotion, so I feel really bad to knock a star off in performance category, but it was extremely distracting!!

Overall a very enjoyable listen.

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Narrator ruined it for me.

Revisado: 05-23-13

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator!! Female lead needs some refinement.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Unleashed?

When Malcom 'deals' with Sam's stalker ex!

How could the performance have been better?

It took me awhile to figure out just what I hated about the narrators performance. Don't get me wrong, she reads the story just fine, but that's just it, she just READS it. She could have been reading the phone book for all the emotion she put into it. No spark at all, it really ruined the story for me.

Also her accent's could use some work, I understand Malcom's accent was suppose to be difficult to discern (as mentioned in the story) but it didn't work for me. Worse was his butler's "British" accent, epic fail.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes I would, I actually invisioned this as a movie several times as I was listening to it.

Any additional comments?

This was a pretty decent story, not a knock-my-socks-off kind of story/writting, bits of it were predictable for me, but there was a "wow didn't see that one coming" element at the end, which always makes for an above adverage rating for me. I do think the author harped on just a tad too much about Sam's "independance" and made her headstrong to the point of annoyance. I think it can be tough for authors to balance female charaters, too much and you have a Sam, not enough and you have something akin to the awful charater in Kresely Cole's "A Hunger Like No Other" (GAG!!).

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A Peter and the Starcatchers Novella

Revisado: 01-30-13

What made the experience of listening to Escape from the Carnivale the most enjoyable?

Jim Dales excellent performance

What did you like best about this story?

I especially enjoyed learning more about the mermaids and their interactions with the Mollusks as well as getting to know more about Little Scallop.

Which scene was your favorite?

This was such a short story that there wasn't enough time for a huge emotional buildup. In general I enjoy the pictures the authors create.

Any additional comments?

This story takes place shortly after the first Peter and the starcatchers book and interestingly does not even have Peter in it (although there is one very breif mention of him). I would suggest that this selection could be listened to between Peter and the Starcstchers and Peter and the Shadow Theaves.

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Couldn't get past the horrible narration & cursing

Revisado: 09-08-12

What disappointed you about Some Girls Bite?

I have 152 titles in my Audible library and I've listened to at least another 75 over the years (before Audible) and I have to say this is the first time I've stopped listening to a book only after a few chapters due mostly (but not entirely) to the narrator, she was simply the worst!

What was most disappointing about Chloe Neill’s story?

I take particular offense when people take the Lord's name in vain. I mean really, is it really necessary to say J.C. and add insult to injury by associating His name with other profanitys? Once or twice is bad enough in a story (I understand people say terrible things under duress), but the author uses this quite a bit in the few chapters I got thru. Surely writters can find other ways of expressing themselves without using this ONE particular curse? I understand in this day and age most people wouldn't have an issue with this, but I do, and I mention it not only because of this question (what was most disappointing), but also to give a heads up to other listeners that might have the same sensitivies as I.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Cynthia Holloway?

I personally am a huge fan of Amanda Ronconi, she could have solved half of my issues with this selection

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Some Girls Bite?

Isn't it obvious? I'd have the charaters use another expletive.

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I couldn't stop listening!

Revisado: 09-04-12

What did you love best about Dracula in Love?

I really enjoyed the author's take on Dracula's origins and his and Mina's connection (and the origin of their relationship). I also felt that the author accurately portrayed the abuse of what when on in asylum's and the primitive view on women during the Victorian era, not that was enjoyable, but I appreciated the realism which led to the suspension of disbelief, but even more than that, this is a version that I could actually believe really happened! (mabey)"

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dracula in Love?

When Mina's memories return to her and we learn of her connection to Dracula

What does Bianca Amato bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She did an AMAZING job, her British accent completely enhanced the story since it takes place in England and parts of Ireland. If I had just read it, I would have heard it in my mind with my own American accent thus detracting from the enjoyment of story. Her charater voices were also amazing!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

"The re-telling of a Classic, from Mina's point of view!"

Any additional comments?

I must confess I've never read (or listened to) Bram Stoker's book, only seen various movies from the book (I'm thinking of the Gary Oldman version in particular). This story had all the same elements with different explinations of the events that took place in the original story.

Although I can't think of a better title as I'm reviewing this, I really don't like the title for this story. I've read on Good Reads website others feel this was a story more about sex than love, I tend to disagree, I found Dracula's bond to Mina very romantic, but mabey that's just me. And although there were many scenes of a sexual nature, there was nothing IMHO that was lewd (which is so prominent in vampire stories).

The feminist in me felt so competely outraged at times in listening to this story, but I feel this lent to the credibility of the story, because the attitudes surely did exist in those days, just a heads up if you are sensitive to this sort of thing.

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