Lainee Sunflower

Good story, racist narration

Revisado: 08-21-24

The story was good, though the twist wasn't as shocking as I was hoping. The hardest thing for me was the incredibly racist narration of any character that was described as being a race other than white or that had a foreign-sounding name. The instances of this were scattered throughout the book and would always shock and appall me. In addition to the racist accents, the narrator was absolutely horrendous at approximating an American accent. But I'd say that the offensive and cringeworthy narration makes up maybe 5% at most; probably not even that much. So as awful as those parts are, it was an enjoyable listen/read overall.

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Still a great story

Revisado: 08-01-24

I read this series when I was a teenager and it was one of my favorites. It still holds up very well after all these years! The only reason I've given it 4 stars instead of 5 are some small issues with logic and morality. There are some things that don't quite make sense as an adult reader, but not enough to ruin the story. The casual cruelty to humans and animals sprinkled throughout the story also contributed to my rating. Basically, there are aspects of the story that make it clear it was written a while ago in a less socially-conscious time.

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This is the 2nd book in a series

Revisado: 07-18-24

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but kept getting the feeling I was missing parts of the story. In fact, going in blind gave me the impression that Olivia and Tori's backstory was connected to the current storyline. I kept waiting for the serial killer aspect to tie in and it never did. When I finished the book and the situation with Tori and Olivia was never fully explored, I decided to look it up. And guess what - The Dark Bones is the 2nd book in the Dark Lure series. The first book, A Dark Lure, is all about Olivia, Tori, and Cole's backstory. Although it's not totally necessary, I would highly suggest reading A Dark Lure first and then The Dark Bones.

tl;dr Read the first book in the series, A Dark Lure, first to avoid some slight confusion and lack of detail.

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Great story and performance!

Revisado: 04-25-24

I was hesitant to get this audiobook based on some other reviews mentioning confusing jumps in time/setting. So first, let me say that there were none of those - except for a period of time in the book where it's part of the story and it makes sense to be losing time. I feel like the readers (listeners?) who left those reviews weren't paying close enough attention while listening to the story and missed things.

As an attentive and avid reader, I found the story very enjoyable with a relatively satisfying ending. Kelly, the author, has a very eloquent, fluid, and beautiful writing style. However, there were a few repeated phrases/words that began to stick out after a while, such as "winnow." It's a great word and was used correctly, but it was used too often.

The varied POVs were also enjoyable, and I'm often dissatisfied with books that switch POVs.

The afterward from Kelly was insightful and, as a writer myself, I particularly appreciated hearing about her unique writing process.

Now onto the cons - and some minor spoilers:

There could have been more exposition of Lane's daily life after the beginning. About 3/4 of the way through, it was unclear if Lane and Colton were even still attending classes at Godbole. Toward the end, it became clear that Lane, at least, was. How did that work exactly, given her circumstances at the time?

Aside from the first one with Whitehall, we never saw what the classes actually looked like. What were they learning? We only, briefly, saw Lane's interactions before and after classes.

The identity of the Apostle was so obvious from the beginning that it seemed silly it was treated like a big reveal/twist.

The part toward the end with Colton coming to get Lane could've been explained better. How exactly did he take her back home?

There also could've been a LOT more explanation about hell/purgatory and how it all works.

There are a lot of questions that are unanswered for me, but they're all more world building more than plot holes. It felt like there were things the author knew while writing that got missed/glossed over. But, again, nothing huge or plot-breaking.

Overall, if you enjoy dark, YA romance with urban fantasy elements, then GET. THIS. BOOK.

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Engaging story, mostly great voice acting

Revisado: 04-06-24

I loved the story and the voice actor - for the most part. I enjoyed the unique voices she did for the characters, including pertinent accents. But the way she pronounced "wh" and "w" words was like nails on a chalkboard. "Hoowhat", "hoowhy", "hoowhen", "hoowhip", you get the idea. She'd do it for words that started with just a "w" sometimes, too. So painful.

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Slow-moving, but enjoyable

Revisado: 02-23-24

Overall, it was a good story and performance. The voice actor mispronounced certain words which was annoying, but it was tolerable. The writing wasn't the best quality; it almost felt like it was written by a 16-year-old girl. Lots of "frosty" looks and other overused phrases. I saw both "twists" coming from almost the beginning, so don't expect a big surprise. There were some plot holes that took some willful suspension of disbelief, and the police officers of Sunnybrook are all incredibly bad at basic police work. It was a decent, relatively "light" story. Not much in the way of sex, gore, violence, or swearing.

Overall, I give it a 7/10.

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Great story, but no closure

Revisado: 02-16-24

The performance was phenomenal and the story was very beautifully written. The characters were interesting and had distinct personalities. However, there was not enough detail and no closure. You never really get an answer as to what was going on, just some mildly offensive insertion of pagan elements as being evil toward the end.

Overall, I give it a 7/10. If you can live without closure, I recommend it. If you're like me and like some answers, pass on it.

*Spoilers*
What happened to Toby? Was it him at the end that Orla heard? Did he rescue her or did she die? What happened to Lydia, Tabitha, and Clover? What happened to Sam and Briody? Not that I care much for the asshole, but what happened to Nick?

Until the very end, there were no ghosts, but elements of time travel (sort of). The family in the 70s was seeing the family from 2017/2018, and vice versa. So what about all the other families who had lived (and died) there? Why was there no overlap there? What about the random baby shoe from the middle ages they found in the chimney?

The novel made you want to know what was happening, and never really gave you an answer. At the very end, it introduced the "Lady of the Water" with no further information. I have to say, I didn't appreciate the sort of random insertion of pagan elements as seemingly evil without giving any depth of information.

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Good, but predictable story

Revisado: 01-26-24

This was a good listen, but quite predictable. I saw all of the "twists" coming and was a little disappointed with that. My only real complaint were small inconsistencies and contradictions. For example, Jess had a personal role not to drink on weekdays. In one part, on a weekday, she has a glass of wine with dinner, then later visits Margot and refuses some offered wine saying she can't drink on weekdays. Another example: Jess gets in her car and makes a call hands-free (this is specifically noted). At the end of the call, it says she sits the phone down. There were maybe 5 or 6 instances like this I noticed throughout the book. Nothing plot-breakings, but very annoying. Overall, I recommend the book as an easy listen with interesting characters.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Great story, but predictable

Revisado: 12-01-23

I always see twists coming. I've been searching for a book or movie that would actually surprise me for years and haven't come close. I had hoped this might be the one, but no. However, it was a thoroughly enjoyable story with great voice acting. There are a couple points in the story where willing suspension of disbelief is needed regarding police procedures and psychology, but most of the story is plausible. There is also a moment that stood out to me where a character says they got their doctorate and then their Masters degree. It was a small mistake with no bearing on the story, but it ruined the immersion for a little while.

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Fun story, decent voice acting

Revisado: 11-17-23

The story was a cozy murder mystery (not the thriller I expected) and I was pleasantly surprised with it. There were big and small twists, most of which I saw coming, but enjoyable all the same.

There is one point in the story toward the end where the voice actor says "she" rather than "he" when referencing someone, causing me to wonder if I had missed something. No, it was just a mistake.

My only real complaint is with Kit's voice actor's pronunciation of certain words. Every time she said "literally," it was painful. LIT-ruh-lee.

Overall, I recommend this book if you want a cozy, easy-to-listen-to murder mystery without sex, graphic violence, or much swearing.

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