CaffineFreeJAVA

I liked it but...

Revisado: 05-09-25

I dont know how to put this but there didn't seem to be a point beyond introducing some fun new characters and capabilities. These books were the definition of a "things happened" story that was suddenly resolved. Dont get me wrong, i LOVED the characters and the world set up was interesting... but it didn't see a direction for this to go in the first two books. Book 1 ended abruptly and book 2 ended in a way that stated we'd need book 3 (and/or 4) to move on, it didn't really have a notable conclusion for itself. I'm sorry if this review isn't helpful, i'm just not sure what to say without spoiling. Things happen, its not boring, there's fun characters... all in all, i'm on the fence about picking up the next books

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Sweet Little Story

Revisado: 12-17-24

This five hour intro to the world and concept was just right. Gave you a feel for the characters, the rules of the world (supernatural & otherwise), and had an adventure to boot. I look forward to seeing more from everyone in these stories. Narrator did the accents well and character switching was clear. Story was fun and tangible...no one diving too deep into the dark waters, characters felt real, even the ghostly ones :D

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I Get It! He's.... the BLACK SAMURAI

Revisado: 12-09-24

OMG, if i have to hear/read/think those words together ever again, it'll be too soon. This book burned any thought of reading up on Yasuke out of my wishlist. This book is the definition of the "white savior trope" but flipped to a black character. Being asian, i dont really care one way or the other that the lead is stronger, faster, and almost magically better at everything naturally despite not having trained for years. My first REAL gripe is the use of the characterization "The black samurai did X" and ".... said the black samurai" and "The black samurai considered his dinner plans..." Every 3rd or 4th description of the character (who was actually properly named in the story, its not like that aspect was a mystery) was calling him "the black samurai". In a book 7+ hours long, i heard "the black samurai" spoken a thousand times more than how many times i've used it in this review. It pains me to say that in & of itself threw me off a lot. Next, i dont mind the white/black savior learning the foreign kills from foreign masters and whatnot. Looking the author up, he studied karate before writing the novel. I DO mind the fact, everyone and their brother also practiced karate. The dojo in NYC of black (non) samurais, sure.... but the korean assassins? The IRA bombers? The French mercenaries? It definitely brought me back to the eighties, with the post-karate-kid CRAZE of everyone doing karate.

Ok. Enough nitpicking. Here's the review. The plot was over the top, the characters were laughably exaggerated (either SO GOOD or SO EVIL), and if i ever come across the Jim Kelly movie made of this novel, i'm fast forwarding through everything just to watch Kelly fight. The bits that were good were not worth the constant repetition of "the black samurai" (i effing get it, he's black and a samurai! you couldn't call him "the man who stood two heads taller than the crowd around him"?) the the anachronistic approach to international martial arts, the suddenly, inexplicably good at everything.... there isn't a tolkein's worth of good to get me to look past the bad. Also, the narrator has a great voice but is not terribly good at distinguishing characters. He'd be amazing in an ensemble cast, not a solo narrator

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A witch used to live in this forest...

Revisado: 05-13-24

Beginning to end, i loved this telling of the life of Angrboda!. Akin to Madeline Miller's Circe, of Greek fame, This telling gives you a perspective of the norse tales from the outside, The stories mainly called her the Mother of Monsters, but she must have been more to be visited by Loki so often. Beautifully told and well read, i was engaged beginning to end, find it hard to put the story down.

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Andy Weir does it again!

Revisado: 05-13-24

I've been a fan of Weir with his other books, The Martian & Artemis were such easy reads with great characters and unique situations! Hail Mary brings Weir's characters back into space having to solve problems no one could see coming. I had some twinges of Dennis Taylor's We Are Bob in this book which was also a plus. Introspection on one's relevance when floating alone in the middle of the vastness of space seems second nature to Weir. Love it!

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Not the best in the series but necessary

Revisado: 09-05-23

This chapter in the Will Trent series was less Will and more Amanda. The story spends most of its time in flashback from Amanda's perspective. It helps in giving a well rounded view of the characters in Will's life, like how one was mostly on Faith and another leaned heavy on Sarah. This book gave solid insight in what it was like policing Atlanta in the 70s/80s. A different world compared to today ... in some respects. This showed how intwined Amanda & Will's lives really were and it was a doosy.

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The Auditor Rules!

Revisado: 07-10-23

This could easily have been a generic story. I was SO HAPPY with what i got! I loved so much about this story! The realistic approach to relationships between friends, coworkers, etc etc. The approach of villains being organizations with IT, Dev, HR, etc. The perspective of heroes and villains... i mainly only nocked points for the performer. She wasn't bad but i think the paring with this book was a bit overly ambitious. The book could have been great with more of a full-cast read.

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More character, More drama :D

Revisado: 07-04-23

This book is a good transition between Grant County & Will Trent. It almost feels like a stretched out short story or novella but it was also a welcome reprieve from the previous books. A nice change of pace from serial killers and certain aspects of horrible people. This series continues to move well and expand the world of Will Trent! I can't wait to see where the next books go

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i WANTED to rate this better

Revisado: 06-27-23

Reading the description on this story, i was down. Knowing it was an adaptation of a graphic novel gave an added bit of curiosity to see if they could translate it well. A full cast also give me a little giddy joy to essentially have a play going on in my head where i dont have to imagine all the various character voices and accents. That's what brought me to the audiobook.

Right off the bat, i was worried. All the voice actors performed their roles well. That part was great but the narrator was so dry and bland, i was imagining how the story would work with just the background noises and dialog. Or, if it would be better suited by having the performers take turns narrating when the scenes were from a given perspective. The reading was just that, a reading. Almost as if they weren't telling a story, just reading a grocery list.

Another problem i had was the adaptation. The story underneath was probably pretty solid, i'm curious about the graphic novel now. Unfortunately, the adaptation to audio format played out at times like the narrator was reading a screenplay, describing what the actors would be doing and seeing rather than telling listeners what's happening. Other times, you can clearly tell the visuals were NEEDED. The term "turned into their FULL VAMPIRE FORM" was meant to be impressive but without a description of said form, it means nothing to a listener. The adaptation writer may as well have added "you'd have been really amazed if you SAW it".

I could rant longer but in the end, this version of the story ebbed and flowed for me. Scenes where it was mostly dialog and characters interacting with each other were interesting and oft times moving with some beautiful things spoken... then the narrator kicked in and i was taken out.... then i'd be justifying what the narrator was doing as the adaptation (what she was given to read) was as good as it could get and she was just doing her job).... then i'd .... oh, as a final note, whomever opted to muddle dialog & narration by raising the volume of the action & soundeffects made a poor decision.

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The parts are greater than the whole.(spoilers)

Revisado: 01-02-23

I dont know what i expected but this felt like it was missing a lot. There were parts i did like but when introducing a whole new magic system in urban fantasy, we need more than "magic exists", "there's an organization to keep it in check", and "the world knows about it". The magic is ambiguous at best, seemingly letting people do any number of things when the plot requires. The organization has titles but their responsibilities and loyalties are never laid out. They introduce Mayflower as some epic badass, ripped from legend and witches' nightmares but never give you any history as to what a "Huntsman" is and/or does. Considering he doesn't seem to have any magic, i expected him to be some mundane check on the magical world but nope... none of that was ever explained. he's just a dude with a gun and some knowledge/relationships with the magical community. Words were used to imply importance but i dont feel we were given enough to understand actual impact or significance.

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