Month: March 2018

Awesome Audiobooks: 4.5/5 Stars: The Kill Shot by Tony Gavin

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Western , , , ,

 

Introduction:

Western’s not typically a genre I seek out, either in movies or books. That said, this is a very good story.

Summary:

Darcey Teller and Luv Lass team up to take on some heartless outlaws.

Additional Comments:

– The blurb pretty much outlines the whole story.
– It’s not a perfect story, but there are enough twists and turns to keep things interesting.
– Darcey’s emotions are a bit hard to peg down. She goes basically ballistic over the death of a total stranger. That’s weird. The husband thing I get. That makes more sense because there’s a much closer connection, but the other part doesn’t click.
– The friendship that grows between Darcey and Luv Lass happens in fits and spurts, which is great.
– Pacing’s strange. Some sections drag on and then others pass in a blink. But the key for me is the good guys/bad guys. There are clearcut lines here, and I wanted to root for the good guys.

Conclusion:

A worthwhile Western to dive in to. If you’re a casual Western fan like me, go for it.

Associate links to follow…

Amazon Prime

Audible: I have a lot of free codes for my books. Check ’em out.


Audiobook Reviews 3.5/5 Stars: Ruby in the Water by J.P. Sterling

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Reader Resource , , ,

 

Introduction:

This book was a bit of a change of pace. It’s really more of a family drama than anything else. Most of the time, I recommend reading a book’s blurb first, but in this case, just don’t if you hate spoilers.

Summary:

Peter’s got an incredible gift for playing the piano.

Additional Comments:

– Don’t read the blurb. Ah, too late, you’ve probably already done so. It pretty much gives away the whole story.

– Note: I’m not a huge fan of flashbacks, but they’re pretty much 85% of the story here. And it works.

– Quite a few things about the way Peter’s elementary school was portrayed irked me. I see why the author wanted them to have some silly, nonsensical policies but they just wouldn’t happen in a school. I’m a teacher. I know some weird policies come down, but having only one meal choice a day and forcing all students to abide by that isn’t going to fly. I can see only offering one choice, but there’s no way you could ban kids from bringing a bagged lunch if they want. There are too many allergies and such to force one thing.

– Also, Peter as a 5-year-old ticked me off. His parents were supposed to come across as supportive, but they annoyed me too.

– I loved the mystery woman and the priest and the nun.

– The end has some nice twists that will either annoy the heck out of you or make everything click into place for you. I’m in the latter category, but I definitely sympathize with the former category.

Conclusion:

A family drama type story with a nice end twist.

(I enjoyed the end.)

Associate links to follow…

Amazon Prime

Audible – If you buy some of my audiobooks with your first credits, I’ll pay the first month’s bill (beyond the free ones). (Terms and conditions: must have proof of purchasing my books, like a screenshot. Will also have to have paypal.)



Audiobook Reviews 3/5 stars: Rebirth by Gayle Parness

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Fantasy, Young Adult , , ,

Introduction:

I typically only post reviews of things I’ll put on the audiobook edge list. While this one will not be featured, it’s the sort of story that each person should decide for themselves whether to give it a go.

Summary:

A girl gets kidnapped and trained in her special skill …

 

Additional Comments:

– I am all for that premise! The first few chapters were decent as the MC discovered her identity and such. … But then it turned into a Twilight-esque paranormal teen romance, which I am not a fan of. (If you like that genre, you may like this book, so there’s merit in checking the series out for yourself.)

– Much of the book centered on Jackie meeting the team and working with them, but there wasn’t much of a sense of the danger in the wider paranormal world, except for some random werewolves who clearly wanted to cause havoc and a crazy Vampire chick.

– Aside on crazy Vampire chick – her motives were petty or unclear (if I missed the deeper motives).

– Content warning: the “adult” scenes were handled well but there is quite a bit of strong language throughout the book.

– The end battle was well described.

– As an audiobook was about 3 hours too long, but the narrator did a nice job with the performance.

– The end has an okay amount of closure, but it’s definitely left open for more. (I think the series has 5 books now.)

Conclusion:

I personally won’t be continuing Jackie’s adventures, but I can see how the series could appeal to diehard fans of paranormal teen romance. If that’s your thing, check it out and decide if you want to continue. Read up on the other reviews and see whose opinion you think your tastes match more. They typically tend to be in two camps (this was awesome and this was so terrible I had to warn somebody).

 

Associate links to follow…

Amazon Prime

Audible – If you buy some of my audiobooks with your first credits, I’ll pay the first month’s bill (beyond the free ones). (Terms and conditions: must have proof of purchasing my books, like a screenshot. Will also have to have paypal.)


Audiobook Reviews 3.45/5 Stars: The Sea-Stone Sword by Joel Cornah Narrated by Genevieve Sibayan

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Fantasy , , , ,

 

Introduction:

It’s been awhile since I posted any audiobook reviews. Still got a mixed bag of them to review. Let’s start back up with a darker sort of epic fantasy. It had fantastic narration provided by Genevieve Sibayan, but I’m a little ambivalent on the plot and characters.

*spoilers possible in discussion part*

Summary:

A boy with grand ideas of being a hero finds the path much more complicated than the stories make it out to be.

Additional Comments:

– I fantasy books because they bring the reader to faraway places. This book was no exception in that regard. It contained quite a few neat world-building aspects, but there were also some major things I didn’t connect well with, which is how it ended up with an average rating (3 stars = it’s okay).

The Bad (I hate ending on negative points, so I’m going to start out with the things I struggled with).

– The book took me a long time to get through, even in audio form. That’s generally an indication that I’m just not that “into it.” Here are some of my major disconnects.

– I didn’t like the main character. I get from the blurb that the author wants this to come across as a gritty, realistic, life is messy sort of commentary, but I really like being able to root for the MC. Rob just annoyed me 90% of the time.

– Pacing – timeline and event flow didn’t seem smooth to me. That could be my fault as a reader/listener. Not sure. I remember being about a quarter into the book and being like “what? Who just died? Who the heck’s that guy?”

– Lack of Closure – There’s always a delicate balance to strike. Ending with a lot unresolved is a tactic to get most people to buy the next book, and maybe it works. But after 11+ hours I find the way it ended very annoying.

– Bad guy’s motives come across clear as mud. The amount of effort he goes through to manipulate events would be fine if something like world domination or promises of loads of wealth were at the heart, but that’s not the case.

 

The Good

– The narrator did a fantastic job of bringing the world to life.

– The world-building is cool with multiple races.

– The plot has some neat twists.

 

The Neutral

– Not sure picking a female narrator was the way to go with the MC being a 14 year old boy. On the other hand, many of the other characters were female.

– There’s multiple interesting races, though I will say most of them came across as stereotypes of themselves. i.e. all Penguish (sorry about spelling, I heard the audiobook) are ___.

 

Conclusion:

It’s okay. If you enjoy complicated fantasy (narrated very well), this might fit the bill for you. But if you really need closure in stories, avoid.

 

Associate links to follow…

Amazon Prime

Audible – If you buy some of my audiobooks with your first credits, I’ll pay the first month’s bill (beyond the free ones). (Terms and conditions: must have proof of purchasing my books, like a screenshot. Will also have to have paypal.)