Alright, it's officially time for me to catch everybody up on the audiobooks I've been listening to! I've unfortunately put this off for a bit long and I might have some issues with some of the older books. Luckily, I've been giving them star ratings in my bullet journal as I've been going so I do know exactly how I felt about them in general. Without further ado, let's get into these brief reviews.
The Book of Night Women by: Marlon James
Rating: 4/5
Summary from Amazon:
A true triumph of voice and storytelling, The Book of Night Women rings with both profound authenticity and a distinctly contemporary energy. It is the story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century. Even at her birth, the slave women around her recognize a dark power that they- and she-will come to both revere and fear. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age they see her as the key to their plans. But when she begins to understand her own feelings, desires, and identity, Lilith starts to push at the edges of what is imaginable for the life of a slave woman, and risks becoming the conspiracy's weak link. But the real revelation of the book-the secret to the stirring imagery and insistent prose-is Marlon James himself, a young writer at once breathtakingly daring and wholly in command of his craft.
This book is a lot, because of that it has a TON of mixed reviews on audible. They're so mixed to the point that I wasn't even sure if I wanted to get it at first. But, quite frankly, I'm glad I did because it was a really good book. Don't get me wrong, I see where the negative reviews are coming from. People who are really touchy about triggering/gritty book content will not like this book. There are some very very triggering topics covered in this book. The rather raw aspects of this book range from the rather simple, which is the excessive foul language; to the extreme, which entails graphic rape, assault, murder, etc. So, it is a difficult read, especially in audiobook form. I would not recommend listening to it out loud for obvious reasons. But, James really accomplished what he was setting out to do in this book. We got a very raw look into the graphic reality of slavery caused by the colonization of Jamaica. Even though it was coarsely done, it added to the effect of the book. The book wasn't meant to be comfortable or easy, it was meant to be dark and uncomfortable and that it was. The characters all felt so real and multidimensional, especially the protagonist. The narrator did an AMAZING job. This woman really knows what she's doing, she added so much to the characters in a big way. There was even an uncomfortable relationship that I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel about. I'm going to go with negatively. It was a clear imbalance of power and given the context of the situation, was just not okay. (quite frankly I think James meant for us to feel torn on the "romance" I think it was kind of the point of it really). After reading this book, I am very excited to read Black Leopard, Red Wolf. A lot of the reviews are mixed for similar reasons, so I think I'll like it.
The Library of the Unwritten by: A.J. Hackwith
Rating: 3/5
Summary from Amazon:
Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing-- a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.
But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell….and Earth.
I went back and forth on the rating of this book for awhile. After I finished listening to this book it was just one of those situations where you just feel absolutely nothing. Like I didn't really have any feelings at all, I could have taken or given this book. I don't regret listening, I just didn't care much for it. It all felt predictable and all of the plot points pretty obvious. Nothing ever caught me off guard because every time something happened I was like "yeah? Duh?" Also, it felt very self-congratulatory. Like, it felt like the author though they were super cool and quirky for liking books. We all like books, that's why I'm here in the first place. I don't need to be condescended to about it constantly. So, long story short, it was fine, just fine. I have no drive to listen to the second one. I didn't hate it, I had no problem with the writing or the characters themselves. I just didn't vibe with it very much.
The Shadow of What Was Lost By: James Islington
Rating: 2/5
Summary from Amazon:
As destiny calls, a journey begins.
It has been twenty years since the godlike Augurs were overthrown and killed. Now, those who once served them -- the Gifted -- are spared only because they have accepted the rebellion's Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers.
As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was even born. He and others like him are despised. But when Davian discovers he wields the forbidden power of the Augurs, he and his friends Wirr and Asha set into motion a chain of events that will change everything.
To the west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian's wakes up in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is. . .
And in the far north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir.
I just did not like this book. The plot points felt predictable and stale. The characters were all special, which gets on my nerves like nothing else. When all the characters are special, then there's just no stakes ever and nothing is surprising. The characters also all felt a lot younger than they were and were pretty cringe-y. It was just disappointing. I didn't feel like I ever got anything out of this book. I never got a straight answer about anything and I found that by the end of the book, I just didn't care. I have no drive at all to listen to the second book. I also waited a hot second between listening to the book and writing this review, so I cannot really even remember any of my specific feelings that I had. But I also think that that speaks to my feelings towards the book as a whole. It wasn't memorable. I have clearer feelings about books that I've listened to months ago, than I do for this book. It was boring and it felt incredibly forced and repetitive. (And I'm not new to listening to long fantasy books.)
The Good Daughter by: Karin Slaughter
Rating: 4/5
Summary from Amazon:
Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn’s happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father—Pikeville’s notorious defense attorney—devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.
Twenty-eight years later, Charlie has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a lawyer herself—the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again—and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized—Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it’s a case that unleashes the terrible memories she’s spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won’t stay buried forever . . .
So, I ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would. Don't get me wrong, it's very dark. You should not read this book if you are easily triggered. It has graphic instances of murder (including that of a child) and the graphic rape of a minor. But given the synopsis of the book, it shouldn't be something that catches you off guard, though it is a lot to experience. It does lean boring occasionally, but it does pick itself back up. I would say that this is more of a drama with thrilling points than a full-blown thriller. It's a lot of relationship/crime drama more so than anything else. The backstory we get is the most thrilling aspect of the book. The modern day stuff are where most of the drama comes in, and that is probably 80% of the book. So don't go into this expecting a hardcore thriller. It's mostly family/relationship/crime drama with some graphic things mixed in. Quite frankly, I thought the backstory told in three parts was a little much. It would've been better told in just the two parts, having us wait until the end to get the full context was too much.
The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) by: Andrzej Sapkowski
Rating: 4/5
Summary from Amazon:
Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary killer. His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world.
But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good...and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.
This one is very cut and dry, this was a very entertaining book. It was a lot funnier than I thought it would be (although everyone is mean to my man Geralt). The majority of the book is just these little stories which are (at least mostly) retellings of classic fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast and Snow White, etc. In between these stories, we also go one continuous story that was told in parts and meant to give us some background on Geralt. It was super entertaining and the narrator did a great job. My favorite story was 1000% The Edge of the World. The weird little goatman was so funny and mean. The narrator did such a good job voicing him too, there's no doubt in my mind that having someone narrate the interaction between Dandilion, Geralt, and the Goatman made it that much better. I would really recommend listening to this book in audio because it felt like being told a bunch of adult fairytales. I really only took off one star for the hints of sexism that seemed to creep their way in at times. I can't give a book five stars when there are just hints of misogyny out of the author. I'm hoping it isn't a theme all throughout the books.