OYENTE

Shelby Knauss

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The Traitor Baru Cormorant Audiolibro Por Seth Dickinson arte de portada

Not a fan, but somehow still a fan

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-10-22

This is beyond amazingly well written. The apparent setting is a wholly unique world separate from our own, while still managing to mirror the hauntingly recognizable realities of what was early English/American colonization. Told from the perspective of one of those who’s small, hut-dwelling society, was peacefully yet forcefully assimilated into that of a deceptively well-meaning, advanced power hungry empire. The plot of this character’s story is strictly adhered to in a way that I have never seen so seamlessly done before. Usually a plot throughout the story remains loose, pliable, and changes based on unfolding events and the character’s motivations. This story manages to do the complete opposite. The plot remains an immovable obelisk Baru is tethered to that no matter how hard the character might pull, fight, or struggle to break away from, cannot.

Be sure not to forget that we are not reading as if we are Baru. We are reading as outsiders and guests in her mind. We only truly know what she sees and what does. Just as some thoughts go unspoken out of fear, so too do thoughts that go unthought. Baru is wading through territory where many thoughts are too dangerous to think.

So amazing is the writing that you will push through every agonizing step Baru takes in order to achieve her revenge against that which destroyed her culture, her family, and her home. Her victories are hard earned and briefly enjoyed, if enjoyed at all, but no matter how rare, it is enough to keep going.

It is certainly a story you must take your time with in order to fully understand and follow everything happening, or else you risk reading as if one of the sheep of the Empire. At he same time, being able to understand this story as Baru’s true equal is as futile as her own struggle to escape the obelisk. Her layers run so deep you do not realize you do not truly understand her until the very last moments in this book.

It is there at the end where I say I was not a fan; but literally only in the sense that Baru is so brutal a tactician it was too much for me to handle. I understand Baru to the point where she genuinely scares me. She is so much the antithesis of who I am as an individual, that rather than make me angry, dislike, or even resent her; it makes me genuinely afraid of that little feeling I get that makes me believe how I could become someone like her. The fact that the next book is called The Monster Baru Cormorant unsettles me enough to avoid, but I will recommend this series to everyone I know.

The performance is impressive, I only give 4/5 stars just because I’m picky and not a huge fan of her particular style of enunciation.

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The Second Audiolibro Por Prudence MacLeod arte de portada

A feel-good fantasy with so much missed potential

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 05-30-21

The "Too Long/Did Not Read" spoiler free version of this review is basically this:

Perhaps it is because I have been reading mostly lengthy series' as of late that has turned my eye more critical, but I still found this book to over all be a cute and satisfying listen. It's a simple book that reads more like a bed-time story with likeable yet one dimensional characters, with overly simplified solutions to complex problems. The LGBTQ+ representation is there, but more like a loose scaffolding for what could have been something great. Fantasy elements are there as well, but in a way that seemed half thought out and less like it was there to enhance the story and more as if it was thrown together as a magical explanation to quickly solve and move on from what could have otherwise been more interesting conflicts. That being said; I still enjoyed it as a sweet and satisfying tale about a pair of strong respected women kicking ass across the ocean, that thankfully doesn't follow the "Revenge is bad, actually" rout that most plots circling around revenge tend to do.

Long version review:

Good things first:
The love between the two lead characters reads well, and you hold a fondness for them through the entire book.

The characters are likeable, straight forward, and the occasional banter will make you giggle.

While the story is predictable, it is handled in a way that works and brings a level of satisfaction that most books make you agonize through the majority of the book before hand. I would consider this is the major selling point of this book, as it was quite refreshing to, for once, NOT be faced with never ending twists and turns and make it to the end of a book battered and bruised feeling all sorts of emotions.

Most stories this size will have one story arc and leave it at that, but there is a momentum that carries the book naturally through three different, while fast paced arcs that can lead you to feeling able to read it all in one sitting.

Now for the bad:
The characters are quite one dimensional, and while I loath using this description for female characters, the two lead characters straddle that line of being considered "Mary Sue" as a result. Tying into that, was what I saw as an attempt in making Oona a more dynamic character that seemed like it was forgotten during the majority of writing. Right from the get-go (just before the sample audio actually) we find out that Oona's three children were killed in front of her. This is brought up only a handful of times in the entire book, and Oona hardly acts the way one would expect a newly childless mother to act. I would go so far to say that she almost acts as if it was a pet that had been killed, rather than all of her children.

There is little conflict through the story that is not Obvious Villain vs The Good Guys, with those conflicts finding resolution swiftly and fairly straight forward, which isn't a bad thing, just makes the story fall a little flat.

A handful of moments came up that really should have had foreshadowing, but instead just popped up seemingly at random and acted as a convenient last minute excuse for the events taking place.

The fantasy elements in the story were as such that they didn't play much part in the actual story. Their only purpose for existing seemed to have been 1. a one time explanation on how the world is post apocalyptic to the point of human evolution past a second ice age following nuclear war, and 2. To make the good guy's job easier at winning.

Many characters go undescribed for the most part. Beyond a description of hair, height, and occasionally eyes, you're not going to get much else in the ways of physical descriptions. Certain "evolved" humans with fantasy traits are barely described and you are left to your imagination as to what these characters actually look like beyond hair color, approximate height, and one other unique trait to their "species"

My biggest criticism of this story is actually about the LGBT representation. While this was written in 2011 in a time when LGBT rep. in books was fairly limited to the "gay tragedy/burry your gays" trope, and it would have been considered a positive change of pace and a bright warm fuzzy feeling you get from LGBT characters getting to live happily ever after. But looking at it through todays standards, it reads like the author knew about lesbians in theory, but doesn't quite see "lesbians" as being more than just "really close friends" So much so, that I would have been able to see this as AMAZING representation of an asexual lesbian relationship, if it weren't for the fact that throughout the book, the only mention of sex is when implying an act of rape, or for referring to heterosexual procreation. (small ending spoilers until end of paragraph) There is very little actual discussion or insight about the characters sexuality other than the two lead characters saying they "loath to sleep with a man" in the last chapter, and in the same chapter decide to each become pregnant by both of them having sex with the same man, while the most intimate they had been with each other had been cuddling and forehead kisses. (seriously they don't even share a full kiss until they are both pregnant and in the last sentence of the book)

As for the performance of Karen Hawthorne:

Reading this book rather than listening to it would have resulted in a different experience. Ms. Hawthorne has an amazingly sultry, soothing voice and calming cadence. However, there's not a lot of tone change from Ms. Hawthorne, but this is usually the fault of the director, rather than the voice actors'. Any time there was dialogue written to be shouted or yelled, it was instead read with the complete opposite energy, in the same calm smooth soothing tone and cadence of Ms. Hawthorne. This didn't make the experience better or worse depending on how you look at it, as the consistency of her beautiful voice is unarguably clear and calming, however listening will make you feel as if you are being tucked in and being quietly read a bedtime story.

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The Mercies Audiolibro Por Kiran Millwood Hargrave arte de portada

Painfully heart gripping but in a good way

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-15-20

First off, the narration is the best I have ever heard. Flawless accents, perfect character tones, perfect cadence, and I wish every book was narrated thusly. As for the story, it is very gripping and makes you feel every relationship and interaction, which builds and builds until the very end, and leaves you with your heart in your throat in a very poetic, yet sad conclusion

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