FantasticallyFrugal

Can't believe I finished this

Revisado: 01-27-25

What is the hell did I just read?! I finished it literally only to see if there would be some sort of phenomenal twist ending. SPOILER alert, there is not a phenomenal ending it's very predictable. I don't understand how this is a raved about 1# Best Seller.

The protagonist, seven hells, she is *pathetic* and cringey, very geniunely unlikable. If you're looking to identify with female lead who has zero confidence, who is a doormat, who is damn near immediately lusting after a married man and who somehow still gets her HEA Lowen's ya girl.

The antagonist is ironically the best part of thus story. The woman is horrific. Zero redeeming qualities, just makes you sick to your stomach horrific. Had the protagonist had more strength of character or dimension there would have been a better balance and this could possibly have been a better novel.

However, as it is it just left me feeling disgusted and disappointed. I want my 8hrs back, and to erase this drivel from my memory.

It's hard for me to separate the plot from the voice actors performance so I am giving the performance a "C+" aka 3 stars. I wasn't blown away but I never so turned off I DND. I geniunely think the voice actor did the best with what they were given. Jobs a job. 😅

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Refreshingly original!

Revisado: 11-18-24

I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel, injust knew it seemed interesting and had aspects I commonly enjoy. I am happily speechless and smitten with thus story. I loved the weaving of history with fantasy, with magic and lore and the twist on both familiars and immortals. This is serious refreshingly original, I've never come across a story quite like it. Which is impressive, given I am a voracious reader and go through 3 to 5 books every two to three weeks.


I can't wait to dive into another by Bardugo.

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Evocative and Extraordinary

Revisado: 09-10-24

I can not believe that this is Gareth Brown's debut novel! This is a masterclass of emotion, depth, well developed and interesting themes, characters and a perfectly paced plot.

I found myself crying more then once while listening as the heartbreak of the characters and the trails of life they are put through evoked a geniunely moving reaction on my end. I gasped in horror multiple times as the villian did truly villainous things. The highs were bittersweet and the lows were *dark*. But the in-betweens were just as riveting, evocative and suspenseful.

I need another novel from Brown immediately, and I absolutely need some follow up on the library and all the characters in this book.

It's going to take me a few days before I can jump into another. That is the pinnacle of great book for me.

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Compelling, harrowing and distressing.

Revisado: 08-28-24

I couldn't stop listening. Sue's story was utterly compelling and so distressing. Her childhood was bleak and full of terrors that hard to believe and yet I DO believe her. I breaks my heart that no one at any level of govt or children's services, not one of the various crews, nor her extended family ever stepped in to help Sue or her brother over the decade of forced isolation, danger and abuse. There were so many opportunities for anyone to have helped or reported on the situation.

Having also lived through a traumatic and abusive childhood, now as an adult I have often asked why no one ever stepped in to help me or my sisters either. This is why I believe Suzanne. I feel her scars like my own.

Her ability to remain resilient and to escape is nothing short of a Hollywood ending.

Though a harrowing memior I HIGHLY recommend. If for no other reason, as a way to learn how insidious abuse against children is. Physical abuse is easy to spot. But mental, emotional and verbal abuse, coupled with neglect for a child's welfare very often slips by unnoticed.

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Masterful!

Revisado: 07-20-24

I read this on a whim, based on the reviews while desperately seeking a light hearted, but very well written story I could get lost in. I wanted wit, and Intelligence, I wanted comedy and heart, and I wanted a world in which reality was not the same as ours. I found all of that and more in Sanderson's Tress of The Emerald Sea.

I am utterly delighted by this book and and have recommended to everyone I know, even my non-reading friends.

I can not wait to start another from Sanderson. The bar he set with this one is very high.

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Phenomenal, as expected

Revisado: 03-27-24

I recently discovered Lawrence's works and I am currently devouring them as quickly as I can while still taking the time to savor them as well. I had high expectations for this first book, of a second series based in the world Abeth. a world I fell completely into, with characters I adore and miss, as well as sooning over Lawrence's style and breadth of evocative skill.

I was not disappointed. The only reason I haven't start bk2 already is because I need to sleep tonight.

This quote, (no spoilers) is the perfect review all on it's own. If this resonates with you, read the book.

"Each of us plunges through our own existence, punching me-shaped holes through days, through weeks, through conversations. We're none of us one thing or the other; we're legion. There's a different Yaz inside your skull for everyday of your life. We deceive others. We deceive ourselves. We keep secrets that even we don't know and hold beliefs we don't understand. And in that state of profound, fundamental, primal ignorance, we still think we can sculpt the clay of our own selves. We think we know what to cut away, that we understand the consequences of exercising greed. Are we so sure we don't need it? Might we not be creating new and different demons...whose most frightening trait is that truly they believe themselves angels. Do you say everything you think? Do you do everything you feel? Any divinity we might lay claim to is in the restraits we use against our own nature. Every one of us is bound by our own constraints. To call them all fears... makes us sound cowards. Many are judgements. Balancing harm against benefit, hurt against pleasure, our feelings against another’s, the now against the maybe. ... It's a dangerous game to try and rid yourself of weakness. You never know what else you might be losing in the deal." - The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence

As for the reviews complaining about the book having a slow start, or slow momentum I'd like to point out that not only is the book from the POV of a young woman not yet an adult, but whose entire identity is rooted in a clan that is slow and methodical, deliberate and it is the *only* way to properly build her arc or the readers introduction into this world apart of the rest of what we've come to understand about Abeth.

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loved it!

Revisado: 02-05-24

Great twists! This is one of the best eeiry suspense novels I've read in a very long time. Thoroughly unput-downable.

I can not wait to read more by this author.

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Suspenseful and eery, well done.

Revisado: 02-03-24

Before I get started, this book really needs a trigger warning. Something I don't say lightly, it contains sensitive Domestic Violence content.

That out of the way, this book was fantastic. Just the right amount of twists and turns, a near flawless maintained level of tension and eeiriness througout. Even a jumpscare or two!

It was performed very well! The voice actress had the perfect questioning to surety tone and quality, as well as the required bravado as needed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this horror story and will gladly read more from the author.

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wonderfully dark!

Revisado: 11-25-23

I listened to this on a lark, because it was suggested and I needed a book to get me through a workday of projects.

It was SO good. Dark and uncomfortable given it could very likely happen, and because I relate to the protagonist very strongly.

If you like books that are about cults and why/how they suck people in, mastermind/wanna be mastermind criminals, and plots with well fleshed out and introspective characters give this one a whirl.

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Fabulous! Absolutely loved both

Revisado: 11-24-23

I have always enjoyed Sherlock Holmes stories, remakes, and adaptations. I also completely love stories being retold from the antagonist's side. So listening to these was a no brainer!

Both are absolutely fabulous and I am dying for the next installment. The cast was incredible, the story is entertaining and witty.

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