alexandra boucher

I love this series

Revisado: 05-05-19

Holy Sister is a great ending to the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. Exciting, sad, thrilling, sweet and even humorous. Many of the mysteries set up through the other 2 books are resolved and the writing is beautiful as always. Heather McNeill is a great narrator. Highly recommend the whole series.
(As a note on my tastes, I am not a huge fantasy fan, I pretty much think ASOIAF is the greatest fantasy series ever written and I have had a hard time finding any other series that are comparable. This one is.)

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Even better on the second listen

Revisado: 03-31-19

I am generally not a huge fantasy fan, and I set my bar against A Song of Ice and Fire, which is *very* hard to measure up to, in my opinion. I have tried a number of other fantasy books that don't even come close. This one does.
Nona Grey is an enigma wrapped in a mystery, in a puzzle of a world. After being convicted of murder, Nona, 9 years old, is about to hang when she is rescued by the Abbess of Sweet Mercy Convent. She is studying to become a Red Sister, an assassin nun in the world of Abeth. That is a very bare bones description of Red Sister, and it's difficult to explain it in more depth without giving away too much of this story, the first in a trilogy of books. The writing is beautiful, the world building complex and rich. The characters (99% female - which I find is often tricky for male writers to make a success of) have depth and their interactions are realistic. And what an interesting world Abeth is! As in ASOIAF, history and culture is revealed in bits and pieces, but nothing seems tacked on and the exposition flows naturally. But this is why it deserves a second listen. (I'm re-listening to both Red Sister and Grey Sister in anticipation of Holy Sister coming out in a couple of weeks.) There is a lot of information packed in to every scene, and taking the time to absorb the information makes the story that much better. While this one starts out slowly, there are plenty of action packed moments that keep you hanging on and Grey Sister expands on the action and the world. I can't wait for Holy Sister. Heather O'Neill is a wonderful narrator. I highly recommend this series.

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Great listen, good mystery

Revisado: 02-24-19

This reminds me of the old fashioned radio plays that my parents would sometimes listen to, a multi - voiced story with ambient sounds. You hear phones ringing, doors opening, cars going by, etc. which really puts you in every moment of the story and places where the characters are, but never resorting to saying "Here we are at the police station!"
The actors are very good, really rising to the challenge of giving the listener the feeling of all the emotions of the story only using their voices. And I love the Northern English accent!
The mystery of the Copycat Killer is well executed, maybe a little formulaic, but layered in with the other parts of the narrative so that it doesn't seem obvious.
Definitely worth a credit (or on the free part of the audible subscription) and a rainy afternoon listen.

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Excellent, moving true crime

Revisado: 04-15-18

This book is entirely engaging, from the first paragraph I was totally hooked. A fascinating and terrifying rapist and killer and Ms McNamara's all encompassing search for his identity. My husband was so affected he went all around the house to double check all the windows and doors were locked! Definitely highly recommended!

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So happy to be returned to the world of Red Rising

Revisado: 01-30-18

I have been anxiously awaiting the release of this book since I read about it last year. I loved the Red Rising Trilogy and the series of comics based on the Sons of Aries.
The setup is a little different this time, we have 4 points of view, rather than just Darrow, (but don't worry, Tim Gerard Reynolds returns to voice Darrow). Ephraim, a grey thief who has connections to the Rising, Lyria, a Red, is the only truly "new" character, and Lysander Au Lune, the grandson of the last set of books' villain. It's 10 years after the Rising, 10 years after a Republic was founded in place of The Society. As in our world, the heady days of revolution have become overcome by corruption, broken promises, and forgotten people. New villains emerge, power corrupts, and the young rebels become old(er) politicians. I would recommend listening to the first series before listening to this one, even if you have listened to it already, because a lot of characters return and it's helpful to reorient them in your mind. As with Red Rising, Brown is merciless, dialing every battle up to 11, every stake is super high. But there are also valuable meditations on the nature of power and the nature of equality and whether warlords can ever live in peace once their objectives are met.
The narration is excellent, with 3 new voices added to Tim Gerard Reynolds. And we have a second book to look forward to in September! Definitely listen to this book.

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Great follow up to The Girl with all the Gifts

Revisado: 04-13-16

even though it's a totally different story, MR Carey has a lovely descriptive writing style that builds the tale with magic and suspense.
I won't write a rehash of the story, but will say that at first the more mystical elements might seem silly, but the author ties all the threads together neatly at the end. it's a ghost story, a mystery, a crime story with a dash of courtroom drama thrown in.
Finty Williams is a great narrator, her girlish voice able to make the characters distinct. She truly acts the parts, making you feel the characters feelings through her delivery. She was also the narrator for the Girl w all the Gifts, and she fits perfectly into this story as well.
Thoroughly enjoyable, I didn't want to stop listening!

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esto le resultó útil a 21 personas

Meh

Revisado: 04-03-16

this book had some problems, the main one being the narrator. it's not Bill Murray the actor, this guy sounds a bit like Casey Casem for those of you who remember him. while the storyline was sometimes interesting and there were some decent twists, the action sequences went by too quickly, were read in a stilted manner and the rest of the story was peppered with bad jokes and awful dialogue. I'm someone who often listens to my audibooks over and over, I doubt I'll listen to this one again. this book needed a decent editor and a better writer.

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one of my favorites

Revisado: 03-23-16

I love this book and have listened to it multiple times. I find it to be so creative and such a great idea and O'Malley clearly has a wonderful imagination. my only complaint is that he uses the word "dubious' too much, but maybe it only sticks out to me because I've listened to it several times.
Susan Duerdan is a great narrator, her voice is perfect and I hope she'll be narrating Stiletto, which is the next book coming out soon!

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great story, great narrator! <br />

Revisado: 03-04-16

I've loved all three of the books in this series, it's the kind of sweeping tale that sucks you in...
Pierce Brown is a good writer, and his images leap off the page with the help of Tim Gerard Reynolds as narrator.
there are many cliffhangers, betrayals and triumphs, Brown has definitely taken a page from George RR Martin, and the mixture of old (Greek mythos, medieval tech and warfare) and sci-fi (spaceships, Terra forming of the solar system) works very well.

I highly recommend this series, even if you're not normally a sci-fi fan, or a fantasy fan.

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it's good! everything I love about GRRM

Revisado: 10-21-15

love the narrator, he definitely should read the next SOIAF chapter (and maybe do the others too, if he has the next year to work on narrations!)
this is a stand alone story, it takes place 100 years before Game of Thrones, but has many familiar names/families, and has everything I really love about GRRM, in that there is a lot of minutiae regarding names and stories and legends of times past. many people feel that he gets too bogged down in the names and heraldry, but I always Marvel at the world he's created and how fully formed it is with family lines, legends, religions etc.

the main character in this book is likeable and I rooted for him the whole time.

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