S.D.

Surprise! Trauma!

Revisado: 09-20-23

There is a lot of tragedy in this book, some of which sucker punches you toward the end. The author manages to get depression; anxiety; cancer; death; murder; adultery; drug, child, and sexual abuse; and more into one book that, at the beginning, appears harmless. I almost didn't finish it because there was so much unpleasantness that I started not to care how it might end. I am glad I finished it.
The wrap-up was much better than I had imagined.

The narrator does a nice job with all of the female voices. The male voices, however, make the characters sound belligerent and irritating.

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Worst narration ever!!

Revisado: 07-17-22

The writing isn't good. The opening scene is dreadfull. The main character is obnoxious! Some of the side characters are mildly interesting. The narration is truly the worst I have ever heard, and that's really saying alot!

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Great narration, no story

Revisado: 02-21-21

The narration was lovely, well done and easy to listen to. The story is truly boring.
If you want a little banter mixed with some pleasant sex..and well you doesn't?
Just know there really isn't a story here.

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Series Review

Revisado: 10-26-20

Overall:
I'm very happy that I finished the DFZ series. This trilogy is a bit grittier than the Heartstrikers, and it explores the darker and less pleasant realities of a city of total freedom more than the main series did, and I really appreciated that. The more I read the better the books generally got, even if there were a few rough patches in the middle (the second book's plot was the thinnest for me). Opal's evolving relationship with her father may have become a pretty predictable in the end, but the realizations they each came to about their own parts in their toxic relationship were insightful and actually helpful for me. The final fight was everything I hoped for and more.

Narrator:
Overall good! She did an excellent job with Opal's voice, though her male characters do sound very similar, and it really threw me off to have Julius sound like The Great Yong-ae. Bob and Amelia's voices sounded SO different that I had to replay their lines in my head with the Heartstriker's narrator (who I thought was great)'s voice, but that's no fault of this narrator.

Worldbuilding:
Oh how impressed I am with Rachael Aaron. There's a reason I own her writing tips book 2,000 to 10,000: the magic system is just so fleshed out and different from the norm yet easy to understand, and the world has all sorts of amazing quirks and tidbits. What can I say: Mortal. Gods! Shapeshifting dragons. Super magical tech city. YES. I will say that as much as I love the world she's created, I do wish that it had felt a bit... fuller. There's plenty here, so I can't mean content, but I mean in terms of being fully fleshed. I'd find myself thinking if the world as a concept and not a place, and I think that more immersion would have transformed what is a great story into an amazing story.

Plot and Author's Craft:
Without spoiling, I will admit that Opal's magic did frustrate me at times with it's lack of definition, but it also attracted me for the same reason. Af first she seemed like a re-skinned Marcy, but as the books progressed I actually found Opal to feel very distinct, as well as believably human, flawed and funny (not as overly altruistic as Julius, though I love him). Her magic is extremely different from Marcy, and while it frustrated me that some of her abilities do seem overpowered and unexplained (I'm looking at you silver thread) it was very cool to see such a different take on magic. The plot was just unpredictable enough to keep me guessing, but with no big 'oh my gosh what just happened' moments. I do wish that we'd gotten more insight into some side-characters (eg. Heidi and Peter - his plotline felt very incomplete to me), but I get that Opal's narrative of self-isolation makes that hard. Rachael Aaron does have a habit of using the same phrases over and over, like 'just as' (usually followed by 'she was going to give up' or 'it seemed to late', etc.) Some thought sequences also feel a bit overexplained, and she'll tell us what a character was thinking in a paragraph that felt like it could have been inferred in an action verb, creating more tension and action and less exposition, which in turn would have made the world feel more immersive to me. I think more showing and less telling in general also would ghave strunk down the book size and made the novels more concentrated on the juicyness, as well as provided more time for threads that didn't get quite finished (White Snake, Peter, Heidi, that DARN thread).

*Takeaway/Heartstrikers vs DFZ*
These books aren't Harry Potter, but they are a delightfully magical, imaginative, wild ride. If you want fantasy, whether kindness is weakness, the emobodiments of human fears and love given faces, and lots of dragons, go Heartstrikers. If you want a bit of delving into toxic and abusive relationships (no violence), capitalism, and excess freedom and a wacky, fantastic city come to life, go DFZ. Hope this helps!

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life changing

Revisado: 04-05-19

when I first began to read this book I did not think I was going to like it. but I am very glad I stuck it out because with each chapter and each page I fell more and more in love! there is such a beautiful mix of Science & Faith and covers so many aspects of well-being I am eternally grateful to this author!

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what a delight

Revisado: 02-21-19

The Characters (except one) were all likable , believable, and interesting. Even the friend with a serious problem came across as someone you might know or wish you had known . The best part however was the narration. What a joy to have multiple actors playing different parts! All of them good at their craft. It gave the story so much more depth. I couldn't wait to get back to it and was so sad when it was done!

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Charming

Revisado: 01-18-19

Sweet, funny, poignant, look at appreciating life The more I listened the more I enjoyed it!

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Eternity Springs

Revisado: 07-10-17

if you like this series, you enjoy this book. The story is good and the characters are likable

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The Callahans

Revisado: 06-27-17

narration is good characters are interesting and there's plenty of romance. I like that the heroine is very honest that was a nice twist. along with a nice James Bond twist at the end this made for very satisfying with listening

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