Book: Shadow Study by Maria V Snyder, Narrated by Gabra Zackman

Published February 2015 by Harlequin|11 hours, 28 minutes

Where I Got It: I got the audio book from audible.com

Series: Soulfinders #1, Chronicles Of Ixia #7, Study #4

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Once, only her own life hung in the balance…

When Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. She survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia.

Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands—and protect her relationship with Valek.

Suddenly, though, dissent is rising. And Valek’s job—and his life—are in danger.

As Yelena tries to uncover her enemies, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked.And now she must find a way to keep not only herself but all that she holds dear alive.

I really liked Shadow Study!  When I found out there was going to be another book set in this world, I was so excited because I really like this world and the characters.

It was really nice to see what was going on with Yelena and Valek, which, of course, means we got to see what was going on with Ari and Janco.  We even got to see how Opal (who appeared in the Study series, and later had her own series) was doing, which was nice.

What really stood out to me was Valek’s story.  The book alternates between Yelena and Valek, with a few chapters narrated by Janco.  Janco’s chapters were fun, and it was nice to get inside his head a little.  And it was nice to spend more time with Yelena, who has to deal with all sorts of stuff, mostly in regards to having her magic blocked.  We’ll get to that later, I just want to talk about Valek first.

But it was Valek’s story that really stood out.  He’s a very feared assassin, and I’m glad we finally got to see a more detailed life story for him.  We see more about his assassin training, and I liked seeing his memories, and how it all started coming back to him in a time when there were a lot of things going on.  I love Yelena, but I found myself wanting to get to Valek’s story, because I could not get enough of it!  Especially with some stuff going on with the Commander.

Speaking of the Commander, I did like seeing how he and Valek met, and became friends.  And with certain things that are revealed…you know that’s going somewhere interesting, and will have a massive effect on Sitia and Ixia.  (At least, that’s what I think, if things go in a certain direction).

I am also curious about Yelena’s magic, and the fact that it’s blocked.  I have no idea what could be causing it, and it is quite curious.  I did like seeing how vulnerable it made her, and how she was so dependent on using that not having it was hard.  I really have no idea what’s going on, but in this case, I think it’s a good thing, because it really makes me want to know what happens next.  I know this is vague- which is because I don’t want to spoil it- but I wonder if a certain thing we learn at the very end of the book is connected somehow.  It’s a weird feeling/thought I had, and I am very, very curious about how that will change things.

We also meet some new characters, but the one that stood out the most was Onora.  There is a lot more to her than we see, and I really want to her story…and if she and Janco will end up together.  Actually, I think I would like that, because they seem good together.  I think they would be good together, like how Yelena and Valek are good together.

And I have to talk about the narration, because it would be silly not to, especially since I listened to the audio book.  I’m really glad that Gabra Zackman is narrating this series.  Well, I’m assuming she is, but there doesn’t seem to be any information about the other books yet, but changing narrators after 4 books would be weird. Anyway, I really like her narration, and I can’t picture anyone else as Yelena.

4 stars.  Shadow Study makes me so glad that we’re getting another book about Yelena and Valek, and it’s so nice to see more of them!

Book: Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres, Narrated by Elizabeth Evans

Published December 2012 by Audible Studios|Length: 10 hours, 6 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: None

Genre: Adult Non-fiction- Memoir

You can find Jesus Land on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

“Sinners go to: HELL. Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS LAND.”

Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It’s the mid-1980s, they’re sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks–and a racism neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close relationship with David, who’s black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a distant mother–more involved with her church’s missionaries than with her own children–and a violent father only compound their problems. When the day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents’ solution is reform school–in the Dominican Republic.

In this riveting memoir, first-time author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David’s striving to make it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not an ounce of malice.

What I Thought: 

After reading A Thousand Lives a couple of years ago (also written by Scheeres), Jesus Land was on my radar, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to listen to it.  It’s definitely one of the more interesting books I’ve read in a while.

I really felt for Scheeres, who really had some horrible parents.  Her dad was largely absent, due to being a doctor, but violent when he is around.  And her mother is much more interested in religion than raising children.  Their home seemed more like a compound (largely due to the intercoms installed in the house) rather than a home, and her parents seem like the sort of people who would adopt 2 African-American boys to show how Christian they are, rather than because they really want to. As for their biological children?  We only see Julia (and not her other siblings) but their idea of parenting is to provide the basic necessities and no affection or caring.  They’re pretty distant and detached and unfeeling.  Still, I do sort of admire them for adopting when it would have been easy not to.  And while not really presented in the book, they may have started out with the best of intentions before things went terribly wrong.

The fact that they would get rid of David’s things days after he goes to reform school at the age of 16, and some of the comments they made after his early, tragic death at the age of 20 were just horrible.  You do have to wonder if their relationships with Julia’s older siblings were different, because they seemed pretty indifferent to Julia, David and Jerome.  It made me so sad, and so angry on their behalf.  I do have trouble believing that rural Indiana in the 70’s/80’s is as bad as seen in the book, and there is a part of me that wonders if maybe parts of it were embellished.  There were so many times when it seemed like the book was set much earlier, and it was always jarring to hear the author reference Duran Duran or Reagan, because it seemed like the book happened several decades earlier than it did.

And the school they had to go to!  I can’t believe a school like that exists, and yet I’m not surprised that such a school would exist.  The things that they had to do- asking permission for everything, including sitting up or down or leaving or entering a room, or using a machete to whack weeds or carrying rocks back and forth for no reason.  The reasons why the kids ended up at the school in the first place seemed to be very over-exaggerated and twisted.  Julia drinking at a party?  It means she’s an alcoholic.  Julia’s brother Jerome ending up in jail?  Julia and David will be kept at the school for as long as necessary, even if they’re legally adults, just to make sure that they don’t end up going down the same path.

Here’s where one of my reservations about the book comes in.  I mean, Julia does make quite a few mistakes but doesn’t seem to show any responsibility for her actions.  Granted, the book ends when she leaves Escuela Caribe, plus an epilogue that gives a brief overview of her life and David’s after leaving the school.  Even in the epilogue, she doesn’t reflect on why she ended up in so much trouble.  It doesn’t make everything else that happened okay, but I do wish we saw even a hint of owning up to her mistakes.

Another thing that I thought was interesting was how one-sided her account seemed.  Every adult was horrible and cruel and stupid, and I’m really skeptical of that.

As much as I appreciate her experience, and how horrible some of these reform schools are, and the racism she had to deal with just because of her adopted brothers, and how horrible it is to use religion (particularly Christianity) to abuse kids, there’s also something this memoir that didn’t quite sit right with me.  It wasn’t as reflective as I thought, and while I know it’s Scheeres memoir, something about it seemed very one-sided to me.

Let’s Rate It:

Parts of Jesus Land made me so angry and so sad.  While parts of it were interesting (especially when she was at Escuela Caribe), overall, something about it seemed off to me.  I did love the relationship she had with her brother David, and how they’d do almost anything for each other.  Jesus Land gets 3 stars.

Book: Crow by Barbara Wright, narrated by J.D. Jackson

Published July 2013 by Listening Library|Run Time: 7 hours, 28 minutes

Where I Got It: from audible.com

Series: None

Genre: Middle Grade Historical Fiction

You can find Crow on goodreads & Barbara Wright on twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

The summer of 1898 is filled with ups and downs for 11-year-old Moses. He’s growing apart from his best friend, his superstitious Boo-Nanny butts heads constantly with his pragmatic, educated father, and his mother is reeling from the discovery of a family secret. Yet there are good times, too. He’s teaching his grandmother how to read. For the first time she’s sharing stories about her life as a slave. And his father and his friends are finally getting the respect and positions of power they’ve earned in the Wilmington, North Carolina, community. But not everyone is happy with the political changes at play and some will do anything, including a violent plot against the government, to maintain the status quo.

One generation away from slavery, a thriving African American community—enfranchised and emancipated—suddenly and violently loses its freedom in turn of the century North Carolina when a group of local politicians stages the only successful coup d’etat in US history.

What I Thought:

I am so glad I listened to Crow!  I didn’t even know that there were race riots in Wilmington in 1898, or that it was the only successful coup d’etat in U.S. history, and I really want to know more!

What I really like about this book is that it takes place a generation after the Civil War.  As far as civil rights and politics go, it’s definitely an unusual time period- at least, in my experience with middle grade/YA historical fiction.  I really love it when historical fiction focuses on something I’ve never heard about, because I also want to learn more, and this book is no exception to that.

I don’t know much about the South during that time period, but I really liked seeing how Moses dealt with his family, friends, and people in Wilmington, and how aware he was of what had happened, and what was going on.  It really is a good look at what someone’s life might have been like during that time.  I could picture everything so well, and there is a lot of detail.

It did start off slow, and it took awhile to get to the actual riots and events of what happened that year.  It made it hard to get into at first, because I wasn’t sure where things were going, but I did like that we saw what things were like before this happened.  I also LOVED that there was an author’s note at the end of the book, explaining what happened and where the author got her inspiration for the book.  It doesn’t seem too common in middle grade/YA historical fiction, so it was nice to hear it.

I thought it was fine as an audio book, and the narrator…he fit, and yet he didn’t.  I did feel like there wasn’t much variation in his tone- there was something sort of monotone about his voice, and I couldn’t listen to it in the car, because something about  his voice was very soothing, and kind of made me want to sleep, which isn’t good when you’re trying to drive.  Yet I could picture him as a 12-year-old boy.

Let’s Rate It: 

Overall, I really liked Crow, and I feel inspired to learn more about what happened in Wilmington in 1898.  I have mixed feelings about the narrator but overall, I liked the narration too.  Crow gets 4 stars.

Book: Dangerous Creautures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, narrated by Khristine Hvam

Published May 2014 by Hachette Audio|Run Time: 9 hours, 41 minutes

Where I Got It: audible.com

Series: Dangerous Creatures #1

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Dangerous Creatures on goodreads & you can find Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl on their websites

Goodreads Summary: 

Ridley Duchannes is nobody’s heroine. She’s a Dark Caster, a Siren. She can make you do things. Anything. You can’t trust her, or yourself when she s around. And she ll be the first to tell you to stay away especially if you’re going to do something as stupid as fall in love with her.

Lucky for Ridley, her wannabe rocker boyfriend, Wesley Link Lincoln, never listens to anyone. Link doesn t care if Rid’s no good for him, and he takes her along when he leaves small-town Gatlin to follow his rock-star dream. He teams up with a ragtag group of Dark Casters, and when the band scores a gig at a hot Underground club, it looks like all of Link’s dreams are about to come true.

But New York City is a dangerous place for both Casters and Mortals, and soon Ridley realizes that Link’s bandmates are keeping secrets. With bad-boy club owner Lennox Gates on her heels, Rid is determined to find out the truth. What she discovers is worse than she could have imagined: Link has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay. With their lives on the line, what s a Siren to do?

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthors of the Beautiful Creatures novels, are back to cast another magical spell. Their signature blend of mystery, suspense, and romance, with a healthy dose of wit and danger, will pull fans in and leave them begging for more.

What I Thought:

When I heard that there was going to be a Beautiful Creatures spin-off, I knew I had to read it.  And while spin-off series make me a little nervous, I am glad to say that I really liked Dangerous Creatures!

I was definitely curious about what would happen after the events of Dangerous Dream, the prequel novella. I kind of wish I had listened to it ahead of time for a refresher, but thankfully, you don’t need to read the prequel to know what’s going on. Although, if you haven’t read the original series, you might want to because it’s awesome, and because the world will make more sense.  (It does stand well on its own, though).

I am glad that Ridley and Link get their own story, and the world they get caught up in.  It was really weird seeing them on their own, with no Lena or Ethan or Amma or John or Liv or any of the other characters, but I feel like we’re getting a different side of the Caster world.  Of course, I do miss Gatlin and everyone there, and I didn’t quite fall in love with the new characters the way I fell in love with the characters from Beautiful Creatures, but I’m hoping that I’ll warm up to them by the end of the series.  At the same time, new characters fit with the story, and with a new series, it would be a little weird to have those familiar characters have a major role in the story.  (Still, they could pop up later on, given certain things that happen in the beginning).

I do love that we see the Caster world outside of Gatlin and how much of an effect Lena’s actions had on the entire Caster world, and not just the one in Gatlin.

What I like about Ridley being the narrator of the book is that we see how hard on herself she is.  I really felt for Ridley, and being a Siren has a lot of downsides I didn’t really think about in Beautiful Creatures.  This is a darker world, and I like that it’s darker than its parent series.  Ridley is definitely damaged and broken in her own way, and this dark Caster world…Ridley does seem to fit into really well.

And Link…I’m not sure how I feel about him.  Honestly, Ridley and her story took center stage…and I didn’t pay that much attention to Link, even though they travel to New York together and have quite the…adventure…there.  It’s such a great book for the fans of Beautiful Creatures.  It’s definitely a whirlwind, and I’m looking forward to the next book, because I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Ridley and Link, especially with that cliffhanger of an ending!

As for the narration, I thought Khristine Hvam was a great choice as a narrator!  I also liked that Kevin Collins made a few random appearances, singing as Link, and part of me wishes we got a bit more of Link singing.

Let’s Rate It:

Dangerous Creatures definitely doesn’t disappoint!  It’s a very different series than Beautiful Creatures, but I like that it’s such a different story.  I really felt for Ridley, and I’m hoping we get more of Link and the new characters in the rest of the series.  Dangerous Creatures gets 4 stars.

Book: Spook by Mary Roach, narrated by Bernadette Quigley

Published May 2008 by Brilliance Audio|Length: 8 hours, 34 minutes

Where I Got It: audible.com

Series: None

Genre: Adult Nonfiction- Science/Humor

You can find Spook on goodreads & Mary Roach on twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

The best-selling author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadaversnow trains her considerable wit and curiosity on the human soul.

What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that’s that—the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my laptop?” In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. She begins the journey in rural India with a reincarnation researcher and ends up in a University of Virginia operating room where cardiologists have installed equipment near the ceiling to study out-of-body near-death experiences. Along the way, she enrolls in an English medium school, gets electromagnetically haunted at a university in Ontario, and visits a Duke University professor with a plan to weigh the consciousness of a leech. Her historical wanderings unearth soul-seeking philosophers who rummaged through cadavers and calves’ heads, a North Carolina lawsuit that established legal precedence for ghosts, and the last surviving sample of “ectoplasm” in a Cambridge University archive.

What I Thought: 

Of the Mary Roach books I’ve listened to (Stiff and Gulp), I thought I’d give Spook a try.  It seemed interesting and quirky enough, which seems to fit Mary Roach’s style, but it wasn’t as compelling or as interesting as I thought it would be.

I like that she took a more scientific approach to the afterlife, and the book has her trademark humor.  I definitely couldn’t help but laugh a few times.  Nothing really stood out to me as particularly interesting or memorable- other than the first chapter, where she spends time with someone in India researching reincarnation, the chapter where she spends some time at a medium school and how she felt out of place, and the bit about how people who had near-death experiences/out-of-body experiences kept seeing shoes.

I liked that each chapter was devoted to something different, and I liked that she focused on how people used to see death and the afterlife.  But I also felt like it was much more skewed to the past than the present, and I wish more of the present was included.

As for the narration, I really liked Bernadette Quigley!  I really pictured Mary Roach with Quigley narrating.  Quigley does do the occasional accent, and I can see that irritating some people, but it didn’t really bother me.

Let’s Rate It:

Overall, Stiff turned out to be just okay.  It’s interesting, but not a lot was very memorable to me, and I’m not sure if a scientific approach to the afterlife is necessarily the best approach.  Roach does bring a lot of humor to the topic, though. Spook gets 2 stars.

Book: You Look Different In Real Life by Jennifer Castle, narrated by Samantha Quan

Published June 2013 by HarperAudio|Length: 8 hours, 29 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find You Look Different In Real Life on goodreads & Jennifer Castle on Twitter, Facebook, and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

For the rest of the world, the movies are entertainment. For Justine, they’re real life.

The premise was simple: five kids, just living their lives. There’d be a new movie about them every five years, starting in kindergarten. But no one could have predicted what the cameras would capture. And no one could have predicted that Justine would be the star.

Now sixteen, Justine doesn’t feel like a star anymore. In fact, when she hears the crew has gotten the green light to film Five at Sixteen, all she feels is dread. The kids who shared the same table in kindergarten have become teenagers who hardly know one another. And Justine, who was so funny and edgy in the first two movies, feels like a disappointment.

But these teens have a bond that goes deeper than what’s on film. They’ve all shared the painful details of their lives with countless viewers. They all know how it feels to have fans as well as friends. So when this latest movie gives them the chance to reunite, Justine and her costars are going to take it. Because sometimes, the only way to see yourself is through someone else’s eyes.

Smart, fresh, and frequently funny, You Look Different in Real Life is a piercing novel about life in an age where the lines between what’s personal and what’s public aren’t always clear.

What I Thought:

You Look Different In Real Life (now known as You Look Different) is an interesting book, and I liked it a lot more than I thought!

I really like the premise of the book, which is really interesting!  It seems really familiar, and I think there’s an actual series of documentaries focusing on a group of people throughout their lives.  I liked seeing these kids who used to be friends deal with being friends and having to be around each other.  It really does highlight what it’s like to be in the spotlight, and to have your life out there for the world to see.

I didn’t particularly care for Justine- of the 5 kids, she was the least interesting to me, and while the story unfolded before her eyes, I just didn’t care for her story.  The other kids had some things to work through, and she’s the one who didn’t really seem to have anything to work through.  I mean, she did, because life at 16 didn’t seem to be what she hoped it would be, but in comparison to Rory, who’s on the autism spectrum, Keira, who’s mom walked out on her family, Nate, who used to be bullied, and Felix, who’s gay, but not out and the son of immigrants (well, I think that’s his family back story- I can’t remember if it was specifically stated, but at the very least, English seemed to be his parents second language)…Justine’s story seems to pale in comparison.

With such a large cast of characters, each one did have their own story, which kind of surprised me, because you’d think they wouldn’t stand out.  At the same time, though, with 5 different stories, each kid didn’t get a fully developed story.

Overall, the story of You Look Different was super predictable- the characters were what I expected, and the story also turned out how I expected.  For the most part, I didn’t mind, because I liked seeing Justine’s memories of the other kids and how they interacted with each other.  I also liked seeing how some of them worked things out by the end of the book.

The other thing that was too predictable in a fake kind of way was Felix…him being gay felt like it was in the book just for the sake of being in there.  I get he didn’t want to admit that he was gay, and that it would cause major problems with his parents- it is a story that needs to be told and I have no doubt that it’s likely a story a lot of kids could relate to, but it really did feel like it was there just to be there, and for me, that took away from it.

I do wish that we had an occasional chapter from one of the other kids- I know that Justine is narrating, and we see them through her eyes, but I think it’s a book that could have used a different perspective every once in a while.  And I would have liked to see Justine through someone else’s eyes.  Still, she does seem content to let things unfold around her and just observe.

As far as the audio goes, I thought Quan did fine with narrating the book- to be honest, her narration wasn’t something I paid a lot of attention to.  There are flashbacks and memories, but I felt like that was a little too confusing to actually listen to at times.

Let’s Rate It: 

I really did like You Look Different.  Castle has a talent for making characters compelling, even when they aren’t the main focus of the book.  There were a few things I didn’t like, which took away from the book a little, but overall, it’s an interesting read.  You Look Different In Real Life gets 4 stars.

Book: Beholding Bee by Kimberly Newton Fusco, narrated by Ariadne Meyers

Published February 2013 by Listening Library|Run Time: 8 hours, 5 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: None

Genre: Middle Grade Historical Fiction

You can find Beholding Bee on goodreads & Kimberly Newton Fusco on Twitter & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Bee is an orphan who lives with a carnival and sleeps in the back of a tractor trailer. Every day she endures taunts for the birthmark on her face—though her beloved Pauline, the only person who has ever cared for her, tells her it is a precious diamond. When Pauline is sent to work for another carnival, Bee is lost.

Then a scruffy dog shows up, as unwanted as she, and Bee realizes that she must find a home for them both. She runs off to a house with gingerbread trim that reminds her of frosting. There two mysterious women, Mrs. Swift and Mrs. Potter, take her in. They clothe her, though their clothes are strangely out of date. They feed her, though there is nothing in their house to eat. They help her go to school, though they won’t enter the building themselves. And, strangely, only Bee seems able to see them.

Whoever these women are, they matter. They matter to Bee. And they are helping Bee realize that she, too, matters to the world–if only she will let herself be a part of it.

This tender novel beautifully captures the pain of isolation, the healing power of community, and the strength of the human spirit.

What I Thought:

I have mixed feelings about Beholding Bee.  Liked, really mixed feelings.

So, I liked that Bee found people who care about her after leaving the carnival she worked at, and how much she learned about herself over the course of the book.  One interesting thing is that the book takes place in the U.S. during World War 2, and when she starts going to school for the first time in her life, she’s placed in a class that would be considered special ed today.  That was actually really interesting because you see how cruel kids are to them because they’re different, and that they have several teachers who are there just to be there, and don’t seem to care about them.  Until they get the one teacher who believes they should be able to be around the other students (at least during recess) because it’s not fair to keep them separated from the other kids.  This doesn’t go over well with the principal, who’s basically doing it so they won’t get bullied.

I found that part so interesting because for some reason, I wasn’t expecting kids back then to be so cruel, but at was actually really important to see why they shouldn’t be separated from the rest of the school- at least in terms of recess.  And I liked Bee learned how to stand up for herself, even if I didn’t like she did it.  It made sense and I get why Bee acted the way she did, but I couldn’t help but think less of Bee after that.  (Not a lot, but just enough that I was a little put off by it).

One of the biggest reasons why I didn’t like Beholding Bee was the mysterious women who take her in.  I felt like it really took away from the rest of the book, because I wasn’t expecting 2 women that only Bee can see. I just found it to be annoying, and I think I would have appreciated/liked their role in things if they weren’t so…ghostly.  It really did take me out of the story, and I wish their own history, especially in relation to Bee, were explored more.

I also expected Bee to be a little bit older.  It’s hard to believe an 11-year-old could take care of herself , with the help of her two “aunts,” and slightly more unbelievable that a young woman in her earlier twenties would be willing to take care of Bee, even if she had been doing since she was in her teens when she took Bee in. Then again, I have no clue how these things worked in the 1940’s, so it could be related to that.

Let’s Rate It:

I did like how Bee learned to stand up for herself, and to not hide herself away because of her birthmark.  And I liked how she realized that people will care about her if she let them.  However, I felt like Bee seemed a little too young at times (understandable, given how she grew up) and her aunts really took me out of the story. Beholding Bee gets 2 stars.

Book: A Mad Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller, narrated by Katharine McEwan

Published January 2014 by Listening Library|Run Time: 11 hours, 13 minutes

Where I Got It: from audible.com

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

You can find A Mad Wicked Folly on goodreads & Sharon Biggs Waller on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes 17-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist – a nearly impossible dream for a girl. 

After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse – or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high-society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: Just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?

What I Thought:

When I saw what A Mad Wicked Folly was about, I was intrigued enough to pick up and read it.  I went for the audio book, which I think was a semi-good decision, since I think I liked it better as an audio book than I would have liked it as an e-book.

Normally, characters like Vicky annoy me.  I’m just not a fan of female characters who seem a bit too modern and want to be independent and marry for love, especially when it doesn’t seem appropriate. However, I fully admit that I could be completely wrong, since I have no background in history, and often have to deal with what I vaguely remember from school, or the little I may have read on the subject.

But I found that Vicky wanting to marry for love and go to art school and make a living as an artist worked really for the book, especially given that she becomes involved in the suffragette movement in London.  I actually like that it was set in 1909 London and that the suffragette movement was the back-drop for the book, because I feel like it all went together really well.  I liked that there was the conflict with her family and with the world around her.  Granted, I didn’t particularly like her parents, but I also understood why they acted the way they did.  I did like her brother, though.

I get why Vicky acted the way she did, but I did feel like she was really selfish at times, and there were points, particularly at the end, where I really wanted to yell at her.  Mostly because her problems…she did kind of bring them upon herself, and if she had just listened and did what she was supposed to, she wouldn’t have been in so much trouble.  Still, I liked that over the course of the book, she finally came to the realization that she had to fight for herself, and make her own way.  I really am glad that she changed over the course of the book, and that she became less of a spoiled brat.

As for why listening to A Mad Wicked Folly was a semi-good decision…it has to do with the narration itself.  It seems like Vicky is pretty stubborn and spirited, and I really wish that came through in the narration. There were glimmers of it towards the end of the book, but I felt like McEwan didn’t really bring Vicky to life.  She’s not a horrible narrator at all.  I mean, I did finish it, so she was easy to listen to.  I just…don’t think she was the right choice to narrate the book.  I don’t listen to enough audio books to have a specific narrator in mind, but her narration just didn’t completely work for me.  She was pleasant enough to listen to, but it was just lacking that something special.

Let’s Rate It:

I really liked the overall story, especially with high society London and all of the scandal that Vicky is in the midst of and how the suffragette’s fit into a very structured group.  And the narration- while pleasant enough to listen to- didn’t completely work for me because I felt like the narrator didn’t completely bring Vicky’s stubbornness and spunk through. A Mad Wicked Folly gets 3 stars.

Book: Hexed by Michelle Krys, Narrated by Tai Alexandra Ricci

Published June 2014 by Listening Library|Run Time: 8 hours, 34 minutes

Where I Got It: the library

Series: The Witch Hunter #1

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Hexed on goodreads & Michelle Krys on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

A stolen book. A deadly plan. A destiny discovered. 

If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world, she learns that her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie is about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.

What I Thought:

Hexed was a fun book to listen to!  I definitely enjoyed it a lot- there were even points where I found myself talking at the book!  I will say that Hexed was predictable at times, but it was a fun kind of predictable.

I really liked Indie and the world she was a part of.  It’s different than a lot of the paranormal books I’ve read, mostly because it focuses on witches, and a war between witches and sorcerers.  I really liked the distinction between the two groups.  I liked that there was a chance Indigo would be a witch, and that it was something she grew into, and wasn’t born with.  At the same time, I wish we knew more about this particular witch-filled world, and I’m hoping we’ll see more of that in the next book.

I could relate to Indie, and I liked that she had a good friend in Paige.  They seemed to have a good friendship going, even if it took Indie a while to figure out that Paige wasn’t that bad.  I really didn’t get why Indie and Bianca were best friends for so long, but I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt, and hope she was a better person than what we see in the book.  Jezebel was interesting, as was Bishop, but I don’t have strong thoughts about them either way.  I feel like they’re both pretty mysterious, and that we know little about them by the end of the book.

I also liked Tai Alexandra Ricci as a narrator, and she really brought Indie to life.  She made the book a lot of fun to listen to.

Let’s Rate It:

Hexed was a fun but slightly predictable book to listen to, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of the paranormal world Indie lives in.  Hexed gets 4 stars.