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Micky Barnard (542 KP) rated A Court of Thorns and Roses in Books

Mar 2, 2019

Fall down the rabbit hole with this series

This was everything it promised to be by those who recommended it and its the first book I've read by Sarah J. Maas. I have to say, that it is exquisitely written.

The premise for the book is a beauty and the beast tale. Feyre is a young woman, from a family that once had wealth and position but brought to poverty and near starvation by bad debts. The setting is fantastical, with humans and fairies living in the same lands with a wall separating their kinds. Feyre has become the hunter in her family, keeping them just about fed. It is a stark life with no pleasure. One day she kills a wolf who was one of the fairie. She knew this, but still went ahead. Now Tamlin has arrived from the land of the High Fairie to pursue revenge with her life lived in his lands. This is a twisty, completely absorbing tale. The creatures are light and dark, scary and warm and the relationships are so compelling. The culmination of this tale is utterly unpredictable and it is left wide open for the next book. I cannot wait to read more.

Audio update: this was brought to life most wonderfully by Jennifer Ikeda. I got even more from the story and characters through audio. I even developed a sympathy for Rhysand.

Kudos

Colin Campbell (25 KP) rated Audible – audio books, original series & podcasts in Apps

Apr 30, 2019

Choice of books (2 more)

Frequent 2 for 1 offers

Stephen Fry Narration

Some narrators (1 more)

Some books in a series are missing

Too many books, not enough time...

What can I say about Audible that hasn't been mentioned in other reviews? Probably nothing ?

I live near London and unfortunately the commute is hell, reading makes the commute go faster but with train carriages packed like cattle you can't really turn the pages of a book. This is where Audible comes in, you can unobtrusively listen to books that you may be embarrassed to show others that you are reading (eg The Very Hungry Caterpillar)

This isn't the only thing, you also get the options to listen to Audible specific Audio Shows like Frys English Delights and How Not to F**k up your kids, these are free for subscribers and pro ide a nice 30 minute piece of escapism.

Some Kindle Books come whispersync enabled which gives you an Audible copy of the book, sometimes cheaper than buying the audio book individually.

I also have the Audible app on my Fire Stick and with the sleep timer you can easily fall asleep listening to a well narrated piece of work.

Now the cons...
Not all narrators are actually good to listen to, Unfortunately it would take too much time to get more recorded and taking into account their schedules.
Some series are incomplete and it does not look they will be recorded sometime soon (Julian May, Many Coloured Land)

Kudos

Micky Barnard (542 KP) rated The Cruel Prince in Books

Sep 15, 2018

The Cruel Prince

Holly Black | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance, Young Adult (YA)

8.4

(36 Ratings)

Book Rating

A great start to the series

THE CRUEL PRINCE was a great start to this series and it holds so much promise in terms of future book potential. The strengths of this series lie in the meeting of mortal and faerie worlds and the mixing of mortal and faerie beings, with hierarchy and prejudice being prominent. The book is full of strong characters to like, love, dislike and hate. Each character was developed so well, even some of the lesser characters. However, there are many lead characters and this exemplifies Holly Black’s talent.

Jude, the female main character was a strong young women who had had a life of hardship, trauma, bullying and adversity. She went through a coming of age that was forced on her during this read and she was just fantastic to focus on. The family relationships were complex and fascinating; the potential romantic relationships were unexpected and intriguing.

I listened to this on audio and I have to admit to feeling a lack of focus mid-way, where it either lost pace or the audio wasn’t working for me. The narration was good however. I can see myself flipping to the book a re-read before book two and continuing in this format.

I am truly excited at the continuation of the series and the final 15% was thrilling. Most YA fantasy fans will roll around in the muddy hype on this one, feeling satisfied.