Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the coThis review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Kathy has been stuck in her usual way and view of herself. It's caused her to divorce her husband, even though she loves him. But things are changing. She's pregnant. Then things go awry at her work. It's the last place she felt she might be reasonably good at something.
She hasn't shared herself with anyone because she is afraid they will see her as not good enough. But if she is going to solve the current work problem, she is going to have to go out of her comfort zone regularly and she does. While things started sort of slow and haphazard, she finally started making progress. She allowed herself to work with Simon, Jo and Conner to figure things out.
While it nearly gets her killed, the journey also brings her to appreciate and know what a great life she has. Since this is the start of a series, I'll be fascinated to see if she does make changes to her work and learn more about the souls they process. I'd really like to see Conner again too.
Narration: I had not listened to this narrator previously. Since nearly everything is Kathy's point of view and thoughts, I got very comfortable with her character voice. There were some distinct voices for others like Connor, Simon and Jo. I enjoyed the performance, comfortable with the emotional tones. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Review copy was received from Library, NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from Library, NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I started reading the eARC, way back in January before it was released, and got about 24% into it and just couldn't catch interest. Now I had a chance to try it on audio from the library and it went much better. I don't know if it was mood timing or what, but I really enjoyed it this time. The pacing had some slow parts and some high action parts.
Cassie works in a bookshop, lives with her best friend Izzy. I really liked Cassie, felt for what she went through. She really cared about people including Izzy. I did not like Izzy. She caused some of the problems and generally made things worse rather than better with bad decisions.
The story revolves around the magic books, the people who collect and hunt them, and use them to manipulate others. Some of these people are ruthless. Cassie and Izzy are lucky to run into Drummond Fox who has had books in his library for generations and has a book which lets him protect his library.
There are basically some brutal showdowns over books. Several people die including many of Drummond's friends before they realize the dangers. Cassie figures out how to handle the really destructive hunters and with the help of Drummond and some others, stages a final showdown.
The Book of Doors was a great personal journey for Cassie. She learned a lot, but also suffered a lot. I enjoyed how she loved books and the stories, and all the different places she could travel. It was interesting and amazing what the books could do. Cassie was clever with figuring out their uses.
Narration: I have heard this narrator once previously. Her performance gave distinct enough voices to differentiate the characters. I was comfortable listening and able to stay in the story, appreciating the emotional tones. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed....more
I enjoyed this quite romance of a witch and oldest sister who has had some hard breaks. She is a plant whisperer, and a jewelry maker. She finally is I enjoyed this quite romance of a witch and oldest sister who has had some hard breaks. She is a plant whisperer, and a jewelry maker. She finally is spending time with her high school crush.
I liked this characters and their gifts. There were a few aspects which were unrealistic but it was interesting. I enjoy this world with magic. I'm on to the second book now, which is about the sister I dislike throughout most of this book...more
Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the booThis review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Any story with a main character librarian is worth considering. Sherry moved about 6 years ago to take the position in Winesap, New York. She has had quite a run on solving mysteries of town murders recently. She enjoys being good at it. I liked Sherry and her personal journey throughout the story. Her sort of friend, Charlotte asked her to investigate when her husband is killed. Charlotte is afraid of being a suspect but Sherry finds the real culprit.
Now it is her boyfriend who has been murdered and she isn't sure she wants to investigate. And she might be considered a suspect being the last to see him alive. Now things really go wild because her cat starts talking to her telling her she must investigate! Sherry starts to look into things to protect herself and her friends but when she tries to go to Albany where her boyfriend used to live to gather more information, she is stopped. Other people are unable to come to town.
Sherry realizes something more is at work than just regular people, and there are too many people dying. She goes to talk to the priest, Barry, about demons. He ends up being there when the demon takes over another person. Sherry starts carrying holy water, salt and crystals. Some of her friends help and some think she is crazy.
The Village Library and Demon-Hunting Society is not exactly what I expected. The library is not very involved, except Sherry works there and she likes to research, doing some of it at the library. I don't feel like there was much of a demon-hunting society. Her friends help with a few things, but mostly it is Sherry.
The pacing was reasonably good, and kept my interest as Sherry followed up on clues and did research. The parts of the demon interference were sort of hokey. Usually, I like more at the end of a story, which we got here, but the very last bits seemed unimportant unless there will be more books with Sherry doing more demon-hunting.
Narration: While this narrator was new to me, I was very comfortable with her performance. She was fantastic and suited to the main character for the voice of the story. The voice sounded a bit older, but other voices of her friends were handled well also and age appropriate. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the coThis review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I haven't read this author previously but wanted to read about Iceland plus I enjoy police procedurals. Death at the Sanatorium was interesting and not what I expected. I did read that this is sort of a spinoff from a television show The Darkness so maybe that is why some things seemed odd. It didn't feel like there were a lot of things specific to Iceland.
The story alternates between 1983 when murder occurs at the sanatorium and 2012 when Helgi is finishing his dissertation on those murders and has an offer to join the CID as a detective. The primary perspectives we get are Helgi, the graduate student and Tina, a nurse who discovered the bodies.
Helgi was alright, if maybe a bit of a slacker but when he did decide to do something he was pretty skilled. I think it was more he was young and trying to decide what to do rather than being lazy. He had been a police intern so he knew the ropes. He didn't really have official standing or protection of any kind as he talked to people though. There is also his personal life and disruptions with his partner. Again, while he didn't decide quickly I think he did the right things.
Tina thought she was better than others, and told lies to get attention. She was ambitious and did work hard. I just wasn't happy with the dishonesty. I didn't like her at all.
The detective in charge of the initial case was relatively young, didn't think the lodgings were up to his standards and wanted to get back to the bigger city. He didn't do much of a job of solving the case or spend much time on it. Hulda, his partner, wanted to take more time and gather more evidence but he was in charge.
Now Hulda is retiring. Helgi plans to talk to her but they never actually meet which I found stupid. Helgi is actually taking over her position. Although the police don't really support him, his investigation is solid and he solves what really happened. I also disliked the abrupt ending which left Helgi's personal life in question.
So I enjoyed this while reading. The pace was a bit meandering, perhaps because Helgi was. But I thought he had good intentions and skills. I would have liked Hulda being a bit more a part of things, really in both timelines. I would have appreciated a few less loose ends.
Narration: I have not listened to this narrator previously. I felt very comfortable with his performance, allowing me to stay in the story. The voices were clear and understandable even with different people and ways of speaking. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the coThis review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I've enjoyed this author in the past with both series books and non-series books. The Swimmer is a standalone and very suspenseful. It's about 40 year old Chloe Cooper who is caring for her mother, who is dying of cancer, working as a bartender. She also does some dog walking in the neighborhood.
A new couple move into a big modern house with picture windows in the neighborhood and she is intrigued by them. She watches through their big easy viewing windows. The woman is lovely and Chloe notices she swims in the Bay every morning when Chloe is walking her dog. Chloe imagines her as a selkie like a story she knew as a child.
Chloe discovers when working in the bar, and watching in the neighborhood, and doing some dog walking for the woman, Jemma, that their pretty life has some rough edges and a sad past. I felt so worried for Chloe as she suffers a shock and then she tries to help Jemma. But Jemma looks down on her and uses her for her own purposes.
Thankfully, the police are very smart when the dead bodies occur. I found the ending satisfying and inspiring.
Narration: I don't believe I have heard this narrator previously. Her performance was enjoyable and kept me in the story. I listened easily at my usual 1.5x speed.
Anne - Books of My Heart
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