This short little story is a retelling of The Prisoner of Zenda, from an evil henchman's point of view, adding a hefty dose of (on-screen?) homoeroticThis short little story is a retelling of The Prisoner of Zenda, from an evil henchman's point of view, adding a hefty dose of (on-screen?) homoerotic content. Although I imagine that knowledge of the original work might add to the overall enjoyment, I didn't end up doing so.
In short the story goes as follows: The protagonist of this version is Jasper Detchard, an (allegedly) evil henchman, hired by the half brother of the future king of Ruritania (a fictional kingdom). Amid wide-spread dissatisfaction with the future king, the brother is scheming on taking the throne for himself. As said scheming unfolds, Detchard gets into a very steamy, but highly questionable liaison with Rupert of Hentzau, another newly hired henchman. Although meant to play the cackling evildoers, both men have secret alternate plans, that could easily cost them their life. Cue a significant amount of swashbuckling.
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All in all, a short, sweet and fun experience. I especially enjoyed the whole "dumb and inept henchman" trope being reimagined into a more exciting version featuring lots of espionage and counter-espionage. If you're the type to sympathise with the villain of the story, you'll be delighted with these protagonists.
Score: 3/5 stars
2025 is proving to be quite a challenge for me, when it comes to focusing on my reading goals (be it either number, language or genre of books), so I'm finding myself experimenting with Audible versions. This helped me finish more books, unfortunately my ADHD tendencies rarely have me properly engaged.
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More often than not, I get rather bored (or even outright disgusted) with the voice acting during the more intimate scenes. Same thing happened here, which had me struggling to be properly invested in Detchard and Hentzau's relationship. On the upside, that also means that I was not overly devastated when the ending didn't have them ride off into the sunset... well, not long term....more
On the whole, this collection felt like a mixed bag, with the vast majority of the stories lacking in both the chemistry and the plot department. ThatOn the whole, this collection felt like a mixed bag, with the vast majority of the stories lacking in both the chemistry and the plot department. That said, it would be unfair to not admit that I actually enjoyed some of them quite a bit. Maybe not necessarily as the author intended, plus I had some issues with the narrator's pronunciation at times too... but you know: it wasn't a complete flop.
Overall favorites:
1. Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon Based on a bit of cheesy premise: someone threw out a thoughtless remark, and another someone spent the following decade moping around because of it. But hey, apparently an insane inheritance can go a long way into smoothing things over. Or... you know... awaken people's criminal instincts.
2. Lights, camera, murder by C.S. Poe A very jaded (and gay!) private investigator gets hopelessly entangled with an up-and-coming actor, while hired to investigate a theft on a film set. I was definitely annoyed by the speed with which the investigator dismissed the actor as a person of interest, but that didn't stop me from following the events with bated breath. I just wish there were fewer characters to keep track of, in such a short story. [image]
Best chemistry:
1. Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon I'm a sucker for age-gap and second chances, apparently. Not to mention clumsy social skills that hide excellent bedside manners. *waggles eyebrows*
2. 12 Seconds by Meg Perry I love love luuuurve the whole "misunderstanding based on a person's pokerface" trope. And that's precisely what the first meeting of the two protagonists was about: both salivating over one another, while firmly convinced that the other could not possibly be gay. Spoiler alert: they so were. [image]
Best Audio Experience:
A country for old men by Dal MacLean This was all about Scottish accents, countryside and language. As a bit of a foreign language nerd, I was all but swooning at listening to the narrator lean into their region-specific pronunciation. I have no idea how accurate this would be to locals, but it sounded heavenly to me... *melts into a puddle* [image]
The other four short stories ranged all the way from "meh", to "preach", to "all around lacking". There's nothing quite like a bunch of commercial romance stories to highlight just how much of an indie-fan I've become over the years.
Score: 2.9/5 stars
My intention with this anthology was to look for new MM romance authors to try, but mostly ended up appreciating those I already know and like. Overall, I'm rather disappointed......more
In a post-apocalyptic world, mostly covered by wasteland, humanity can only survive within large cities. In an attempt to recover some of the old civiIn a post-apocalyptic world, mostly covered by wasteland, humanity can only survive within large cities. In an attempt to recover some of the old civilisation, the rich rely on research of the ancient artefacts.
Khat is a human-like creature, part of a race developed by the (extinct) ancient mages to survive in the wastelands. At odds with his original family, he now works as a low-level relic dealer in the city of Charisat. Experience has taught him to keep his dealings secret and his head low, as nothing good ever came from mixing with the upper class. Until of course news of his talents reaches said upper class, and he gets basically strong-armed into accepting a job.
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When it comes to world building, Martha Wells once again managed to build a very interesting society. I was truly fascinated by how masterfully she manages to depict multiple settings by relying mainly on social segregation. I love the dichotomy between the insane amount of education of the upper class and their naive world view as an inevitable result of their "privileged" lifestyle.
Truth be told, I very much wanted to like this book, so I ended up doubly disappointed by its many downsides. I spent about 70% trying to make sense of the confusing politics, 20% bored by some scholarly exposition, leaving only the remaining 10% to enjoy. If you thought Witch King felt confusing and incomplete... wait to see the end of this one.
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The character development was... sometimes good, sometimes weird and cryptic, while other times more like an after thought. The friendship was great, the political machinations intriguing, but the romance rather stilted. I was also a bit weirded out by the way sex was handled, i.e. mostly fade to black, except for that one scene where Khat needs to hide an artefact on short notice. I'll let you guess where he stashed it.
Score: 3.4/5 stars
I chose City of Bones specifically because it is a stand-alone story that would hopefully not end things on a cliff-hanger. Plot-wise, I got what I wanted, but when it came to character development, I rather wish that the romantic aspects had been skipped. Not because they didn't make sense in the context, but more due to the author's reluctance to give them sufficient screen time.
I will definitely continue to check out the author's other works, keeping in mind that her earlier works' would benefit from a bit more polishing....more
A remote little Polish village close to the Czech border becomes the scene of a series of mysterious and grizzly murders. Though most victims were knoA remote little Polish village close to the Czech border becomes the scene of a series of mysterious and grizzly murders. Though most victims were known as upstanding members of the community, as the protagonist leads the reader through her memories of the victims, some pretty sordid past times start to emerge.
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I've had the misfortune of growing up in an environment where reading literature for pleasure was not really a thing. Unless you were suffering of some form of mystic masochism, you were not meant to enjoy the reading process. You were expected to idolize the author for their complex turn of phrase and then proceed to memorize a shit ton of literary analyses so you could later rattle them off in exams. So no raving about Harry Potter, and may God have mercy on your soul if you were caught reading a harlequin romance! It took me quite some time to work up the courage to voice my dislike of books, without equating criticism with a dislike of reading itself. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead just ticks too many of my trauma boxes.
No part of me was attracted to either the book cover, the title, the content, the character(s)... or even the audiobook narration. Although in her defense, Beata Poźniak does an excellent job in letting the protagonist's holier-than-thou attitude shine through her voice. Then again, I'm still confused by her choice to make the protagonist's accent heavily Eastern European, while her neighbors all sport very British ones.
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Then there is also the first person narrative POV, with which I have a problematic relationship. I enjoy it when the narrator uses self-deprecating criticism for comedic value, or "charming" humility as a backhanded positive attribute (mostly in romance novels), but not so much the whole misdirection through subjective perspective. Unfortunately, most contemporary novels are very keen on the latter. And since I'm one of those lazy people who find it hella exhausting to constantly circle back for missed clues... I'm counting this as a negative.
Score: 3/5 stars
Honestly... I get why so many people like it, but I'm also resentful that this type of writing style and plot progression holds so much appeal. It's basically the reason that made me hate literature all through high school. So while I can't really call this a bad book, it is something fundamentally unsuited to my personal tastes....more
I'm not one for non-fiction, least of all self-improvement books, but with a week-long self-imposed digital screen ban (hence my friends being spammedI'm not one for non-fiction, least of all self-improvement books, but with a week-long self-imposed digital screen ban (hence my friends being spammed more than ever) I decided to give the audible version a try. And let me tell you: if it weren't for the ability of listening at almost twice the speed, I'm not entirely certain I would've had the patience to finish it.
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And I say this while also fully agreeing that the book was a surprisingly relatable and quotable. It felt somewhat similar to The Antidote, just with a lot more topics touched, albeit quite a bit more superficially. Still, I can totally understand it as being recommended to people suffering of burnout. It definitely had a strong feeling of we're all in this together, even if it doesn't seem like it.
... there is no such thing as an intelligent person per se - and probably no entirely dumb one either. We are all astonishingly capable of messing up our lives, whatever the prestige of our university degrees, and are never beyond making a sincere contribution, however unorthodox our qualifications.
Score: 4/5 stars
Turns out I might stomach self-improvement literature easier in audio format, at 1.5/1.7 speed. Any higher and it starts to sound like a demon summoning, which is not something I want to associate with these types of book....more
The mythical exam is now looming over the protagonists' heads ever more ominously. An underground clairvoyant is abducted and dramatically saved. AlliThe mythical exam is now looming over the protagonists' heads ever more ominously. An underground clairvoyant is abducted and dramatically saved. Allies from (somewhat?) unexpected sources join the cause. Jeanne d'Arc gets her over-the-top high-school prom, though not quite the way she expected. And of course a lot of unexpected(ly boring) revelations are made.
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This was a rather action-packed finale, with quite the (melo)dramatic climax. Not that this stopped me from getting teary-eyed at the very end, something that may or may not have been a side-effect of my laser eye surgery... For the most part though, I was rather disappointed.
Maybe opting to finish the series listening to the audiobook was not the best choice. I have a tendency to drift off after 10 minutes, and I definitely did have to use the rewind button once or twice.
I may have read one too many (good) mystery novels, so I'm now constantly expecting to be bowled over by any plot revelations. And Kerstin Gier obviously chose to go the exact opposite way. Yes, she does all the right things to build up the suspense, only for the actual revelation to fall flat. Alternately, I'm just impossible to please.
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It's possible that this book suffers of a similar issue as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, where so many things happen, that I eventually disengaged from the permanent sense of urgency. Also, for the life of me I couldn't remember the whole musical ensemble of the black elves (Schwarzalben in German), which have supposedly been rescued back in book2. And that's with the audiobook starting with a very handy retelling of pasts events courtesy of Bax.
Score: 3/5 stars
All in all, it felt like the author kept choosing the most boring and predictable finale for each and every plot line. Well, maybe not the plot-twist with the evil mastermind, but like I said before: long periods of tension tend to end with my eventual disengagement, rather than more nail-biting. I should probably move on from YA... Even if it's written in German.
38-year-old Marie Neumann is locked up in a psych ward, having allegedly murdered her boyfriend, a famous novelist. While Marie herself cannot actuall38-year-old Marie Neumann is locked up in a psych ward, having allegedly murdered her boyfriend, a famous novelist. While Marie herself cannot actually recall killing the man, all evidence points to her, especially because she had been suffering of hallucinations of hurting her loved ones.
Intent on punishing herself for having succumbed to her violent urges, Marie is initially determined to seclude herself from the world at large, including the other patients and her mandatory therapy sessions. As time passes, she devides to start up therapy after all, to convince her psychiatrist to send her to prison.
As she tells her story in therapy, Marie starts to question her convictions.
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I've had this book on my tbr pile for several years now, having looked for a very grisly horror story with possible murder mystery vibes. The end result was actually more psychological than horror, in the sense that most of the grisly imagery was "just" in Marie's imagination. Still, the psychological aspects ended up intriguing me way more than I expected, as they painted a very atmospheric read... well listening experience.
I was positively hooked on unraveling the sequence of events that began with the destruction of Marie's fairy-tale family life.
I eventually stopped caring about "solving" the murder mystery, as much as wanting to understand Marie and the events that led her to the psych ward.
Score: 4.4/5 stars
Thinking is NOT doing.
I loved the thrill of discovering Marie's story, the narrator's performance, and the overall uncertainty and danger vibes that hovered around the events of the story.
I could've done without Marie's many naive mistakes when it came to online relationships... but I guess one can't have it all....more
Amira Brindonu is an ex-princess turned assassin, magically compelled to fulfill her master's (a.k.a her father's) orders. After failing to kill the fAmira Brindonu is an ex-princess turned assassin, magically compelled to fulfill her master's (a.k.a her father's) orders. After failing to kill the future emperor/her sister's husband-to-be, the protagonist finds herself betrothed and magically linked to said guy.
Not an ideal situation, but Daindreth himself is surprisingly chill and even kind about the whole assassination thing. Amira is definitely weirded out by it all, but she's also very much starved for affection, sooo... *wink-wink nudge-nudge*
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I haven't read a heterosexual romance story for quite a while, and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by how decent I found it. Don't get me wrong, I won't be abandoning my M/M romances any time soon, but I enjoyed the protagonist's interactions more than I thought I would. To be fair, their chemistry still feels kind of... cheesy, possibly due to the YA vibes, but I loved to see their relationship evolve from the initial physical attraction to deeper feelings.
I was quite interested in the world building, and loved how flawed every single character is. Especially because I tend to be used to people who're insanely talented at this one specific thing that let's them get away with any other weakness. In here, most people were just very very good at stuff, but not so much that it would compensate for all their other shortcomings.
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I am having a bit of trouble keeping the various names of people, places, races and occupations straight, but I'm hoping to get past that by the next book. Plus, continuing to reading things, as opposed to listening, tends to help as well.
Score: 3.7/5 stars
There are plenty of things I found questionable, but for the most part I'm really enjoying the story and the cast. Especially Thadred, who is basically the epitome of the flawed rake, i.e. the type of guy I love to salivate over in historical romances....more
If there was ever a list of books that I've wanted to avoid, Bram Stoker's Dracula would definitely have topped it. Not only was the whole innocent viIf there was ever a list of books that I've wanted to avoid, Bram Stoker's Dracula would definitely have topped it. Not only was the whole innocent virgin act not my idea of an interesting plot device, but all the creepy depictions of the Transylvanian wilderness sounded rather less enticing when they concerned my home.
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In the end, the experience proved to be much less annoying than I expected. Mainly thanks to the top-notch multi-actor cast of the Audible Version. I tend to give a bit more lenience to stuff I listen to, probably since my mind is generally not fully engaged with the reading (a.k.a. listening) material.
My biggest surprise was just how fascinated I was by Lord Dracula himself. While the overall story clearly intends to have us cheer for humanity, I couldn't help but give the creators of the a nod of acknowledgement. The kindly, yet misunderstood scientist is definitely an image that would fit this OG-Dracula as well. Along with the drinking of blood and raising of an undead army... albeit for different, less romantic, reasons.
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Admittedly, a lot of the characters' mindsets feels rather dated, what with Jonathan Harker calling all Transylvanian women fat, and Dr. Seward's crush on Minna Harker that occasionally bordered on religious adoration. But on the whole, the resolution of the mystery and subsequent action plan were not half bad.
Score: 4/5 stars
Simply put, this was an entertaining and action-packed story, with lots of fantastical and mystery elements thrown in, all things that I generally enjoy in my reading materials. Yes, it took me quite some time to get through it all (almost half a year!), but then I only read listened to it when I needed a little push during cleaning....more
The story picks up right where it left off back in book 1, with Will freaking out about being the Dark King. Trying to juggle his secret keeping with The story picks up right where it left off back in book 1, with Will freaking out about being the Dark King. Trying to juggle his secret keeping with his friends' messianic expectations, Will of course manages to mess things up royally. Although to his credit, his cheerleading does work wonders on James, as he manages to dredge up double the amount of his "regular" magical power, and does most of the "heavy lifting" in this book.
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I had mostly gone through book 1 hoping to find traces of the Captive Prince series, which was rather unfair of me, not to mention highly unproductive due to targeting a different audience. In my defence there's quite a bit of Laurent being channelled through James... or maybe I've been reading too much fanfiction.
Suffice to say, that all this YA (heavy angst-ing, inflated self-importance, lovesick sighs and the overall lack of communication) was just too much for me. Give me Sarcean's brooding doomed love for Anharion any time, but spare me Will's depression.
Incidentally, am I the only one who finds the Dark King's promiscuous love life both attractive AND utterly hilarious? I know there's some karmic payback at work here, but having his main antagonists be all scorned ex-lovers was such a hoot.
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And finally, what's the deal with the irritatingly large amount of badly pronounced Italian bandied around? Is it just the audiobook narrator (what? there was a promotion...) who really had no business voicing anyone's Italian except maybe Will's? Or did everyone communicate in one-word sentences two centuries ago? I could understand if this were only Will's problem, as his language skills are supposedly rudimentary. But the locals...? Let me guess: someone got a bit lost in their polyglot flex-ing.
Score: 3.3/5 stars
Come for the romance, stay for the fantastic world building, and hope to Hell that the angst will eventually make way for some hot-n-heavy action. Otherwise book 3 promises to be quite a drag.
...but bonus points for Elizabeth and Visander's antics: we should all be taught about the world by precocious 10-year-olds. ...more
Clem and Rowley have been skirting each other for 8 months, and now they're finally ready to make a courageous innuendo... or two. But just when they'Clem and Rowley have been skirting each other for 8 months, and now they're finally ready to make a courageous innuendo... or two. But just when they're ready to indulge each other's more daring fantasies a murder happens. And Rowley's shop keeps getting burglared...
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It feels like I've been at this book for over a year, and it's barely over 200-pages long. I've initially started the Audible version, and though I liked the narrator, the story itself just couldn't hold my attention enough for me to properly follow the narrative thread. To be fair, I later realised that this must've been due to several very brief scenes, that would end very abruptly. I can see the merit in hindsight (a collage of intimate moments), although that doesn't really improve the reading experience.
The murder-mystery wasn't too bad overall, and I enjoyed trying to guess the villain's identity and motive. I rather liked how Clem's wilful insistence to see the good in everybody, led to obscuring the bad guy's identity for quite a while, even though I was personally annoyed by him (mostly on Rowley's account).
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The romance was both hot and innovating, but also very pedantic. I'm well aware that K.J. Charles has a thing for explicitly depicting consent in healthy and realistic relationships. She honestly strives to make them sexy, and has a good track record for creating some truly delightful stories (eg Band Sinister), especially as things can veer into preachy territory.
Clem and Rowley's story unfortunately doesn't manage to be sexy, and instead turns into the dictionary definition for "no good deed goes unpunished". Both characters take an inordinate amount of care to tiptoe around the other's idiosyncrasy, only to eventually blow up and scream about not being understood anyway. You can say what you will about wholesome intentions, but finger-wagging is just not enticing in a bedroom setting. Well... not in this one, at any rate.
Score: 3/5 stars
It wasn't a bad book as such, but the number of minor inconveniences eventually added up. On a different note, I need to finally accept that sex scenes in audio format are just not my thing, and save myself some ranting time... and money.
William de Worde has never really considered that his monthly newsletters would garner much interest outside his regular patrons (mainly foreign politWilliam de Worde has never really considered that his monthly newsletters would garner much interest outside his regular patrons (mainly foreign political figures), yet when he starts publishing on a daily basis in Ankh-Morpork he gets the surprise of his life.
Unfortunately, all his new-fangled fame comes with several perils: the envy of his competitors, people's preference of reading about "olds" rather than "news", the ire of the City Watch, as well as the occasional assassination attempt. Nevertheless, our young hero is determined to publish The Truth regardless of obstacles.
After listening to an excerpt of the audiobook, I decided to purchase it in hopes of helping with the occasional sleepless night. For some reason, posh English narration puts me to sleep almost instantly. Plus I had a few Audible credits to spare... Well, it definitely helped with my insomnia, but it also made me reconsider my initial opinion of the book.
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It may sound completely counter-intuitive to say that an audiobook can simultaneously put me to sleep AND hold my interest, but then that's just how I roll. If you give me a badly narrated book, I will toss and turn until tomorrow just raging about its many inadequacies, but a good British narrator can knock me out in no time. This is also the main reason it took me over a year to finish listening. I've had to constantly rewind it, plus I couldn't use up my best sleeping aid willy-nilly.
I loved the voice-acting, the many humorous quips, and (most of) the characters. Gaspode the Wonder Dog and his mafia-boss impressions were priceless. In contrast though, William de Worde was just too... pathetically predictable. Perhaps this was intentional, but for me it's the first time I actively dislike the main character from a Discworld novel.
The dwarfs can turn lead into gold... It reached the pointy ears of the dwarfs. "Can we?" "Damned if I know. I can't." "Yeah, but if you could, you wouldn't say. I wouldn't say, if I could." "Can you?" "No!" "Ah-ha!"
A couple of months ago someone had tried to hand William the old story about there being a dog in the city that could talk. (...) The dog in front of William didn't look as if it could talk, but it DID look as if it would swear.
Score: 4/5 stars
A surprisingly entertaining and well narrated story, that made a huge difference on reread. I probably read it too early in life, before... or perhaps I just tuned it all out the first time around....more
Greetings from your friendly neighborhood masochist, who's once again selflessly suffered through yet another crPublished in English as Emerald Green.
Greetings from your friendly neighborhood masochist, who's once again selflessly suffered through yet another cringey YA, to bring you the last installment of the Precious Stone Trilogy... some 12 years after its first publication. Yes, I'll wait until you stop laughing... or rolling your eyes.
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If you thought you've seen the worst of Gwendolyn's doormat impressions in Saphirblau, just wait until you get a load of this. So the second book ended with Gwendolyn getting heartbroken/pissed off when Gideon admits to lying about being in love with her. *cue aggravated sigh from the audience* Our protagonist then swears off any more friendly behavior towards the guy. Or at least, she will... just as soon as she can stop "melting" at the mere sight of the guy.
Oh... and the completion of the cause seems to inch steadily closer, which has the fearsome Count of Saint-Germain cackling and sneering in people's general direction every few pages.
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For all that, in theory, the stakes are now sky-high with the two time travelers running around in attempt to circumvent the Count's diabolical plans, somehow or other the action keeps getting diverted to Gwendolyn and Gideon's near-passionate encounters. Yes, once they finally get the chance to talk things through, they start working together (instead of pulling in opposite directions), and their adventures get marginally more exciting... bla, bla, bla.
The secondary storylines however, are mostly forgotten midway through. There's Raphael, Gideon's supposedly delinquent younger brother, whose worst transgression is him going out once with a girl he doesn't fancy, despite his constant flirting with Gwen's bff. Then, there's that party where Charlotte gets heavily drunk and starts telling everyone about time travelling... and the next day has to miss school to nurse her hangover. To say nothing of the "will they, won't they" dance enacted by Gwen's mother and Gideon's uncle.
I don't get the hype for this series. Most of the characters are either flat or forgetful, and unanimously cringe-worthy. The protagonist's main asset is endless babbling, Gideon has a savior complex, and the whole storyline is just soooo predictable that none of the twists and turns contain an ounce of surprise. Xemerious' ironic remarks were the only bright spot in this otherwise dull cringe-fest.
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If you want a comedic YA romance with fantasy elements, go for the author's Silber trilogy instead. Yes, I have reviewed it, and yes it's been translated into English as well. You're welcome!
=================================== Review of book 1: Rubinrot Review of book 2: Saphirblau
Book #15 of my "read at least 20 books in German" challenge....more
The second book in the Precious Stone Trilogy is all about snogging and scheming; so basically a mix of cringe-fPublished in English as Sapphire Blue.
The second book in the Precious Stone Trilogy is all about snogging and scheming; so basically a mix of cringe-fest and heartwarming planning session with Gwen's grandpa in the past. Oh, and our protagonist also gets a pet gargoyle: very helpful for spying on her enemies fellow Lodge members and one upping her private tutors (who else would know what a is).
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As character development goes, this book has it really bad. I get the whole boy likes girl, so he teases her, but this is ridiculous. One minute, Gideon will be mocking Gwendolyn's inept dancing, and the next they're flat on the sofa making out like no tomorrow. Just how good a kisser is this 19-year-old boy?! Especially, since he's had nobody to practice with, as all his time is taken up by the Cause (TM).
"I'd also prefer to kiss you all the time, instead of mocking you, " [Gideon] said after a moment, "but you're not making it easy, either."
Another weird premise is the Lodge's open antagonism of Gwendolyn, and subsequent dismay about her (supposed!) future betrayal. Especially since they put all this effort into keeping time paradoxes at minimum. Well, to be fair, the Count I get (he lives in the 18th century), but the contemporary Lodge members? At least Gideon tries to do something different, even if he employs some weird gas-lighting techniques.
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This was the book, that finally had me question my dedication to complete my self-imposed German book challenge. Masochism, thy name is smartarse! So yeah... I've probably tuned out a sizable chunk of the audiobook.
Score: 2/5 stars
Someone get me a sarcastic pet demon too... along with a supercool great-(great-)grandmother like Lady Tilney. Yes, the Lucy-centric chapters are that obvious: they might as well be waving a bright pink placard with the explanation.
16-year-old Gwendolyn Shepherd has grown up knowing that her snootty cousin Charlotte was destined for great things asPublished in English as Ruby Red
16-year-old Gwendolyn Shepherd has grown up knowing that her snootty cousin Charlotte was destined for great things as the family's newest time travelling member. Yet when it's Gwen who travels to the past unexpectedly, she finds things anything but exciting. Especially as this gets her inducted into a weird mysoginistic cult, in exchange for avoiding uncontrolled time jumps.
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I've watched a few years back, and found it cringey enough to not feel like either reading or watching any more of the series. Fast forward to my current language-based self challenge, and I'm giving the series a second chance after all.
Overall the story wasn't... dismal. As a matter of fact, up until the 50% mark things were looking fairly intriguing with Gwendolyn alternating between disbelief of her time travelling episodes, and the undeniable excitement of looking around in the past. When she eventually sells her soul joins the Lodge to manage her uncontrollable time jumps, I was expecting some sort of direction for all the time travelling jumps. Instead, the story gets mostly bogged down with Gwen's (annoyed) drooling over her time travel companion. Because of course there's a guy, who's tall and handsome and smart and sporty... and generally a royal pain in the ass. What's not to love?
Score: 2.3/5 stars
There is nothing particularly bad in here, I just no longer have the patience for such blatant YA tropes. I would not go as far as to suggest watching the movie to complete the reading experience, unless of course you're big on masochism. Still, the atmosphere is nicely done for some of the scenes, and Lady Margaret Tilney shines in both the movie and the books.
Oxford 2057, and time travel is a thing. Lady Shrapnell is pouring all her effort into restoring the Coventry Cathedral, destroyed during a German bombOxford 2057, and time travel is a thing. Lady Shrapnell is pouring all her effort into restoring the Coventry Cathedral, destroyed during a German bombing in 1940. And she'll damned well requisition every single time travelling historian from the University, as long as it gets her all the original artefacts.
Ned Henry is one of the unfortunate historians, attempting to escape yet another deployment, and gets therefore sent back to the Victorian era for a bit of down time. It's just that he's also supposed to deliver a rat... a fan... or maybe a hat somewhere, but as he's suffering of Temporary Inability to Distinguish Sounds the whole task turns into a much bigger deal that anyone may have suspected. Cue a whole lot of boating, animal sitting, and just all-around mayhem, trying to prevent the collapse of the known reality.
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Just like with Doomsday Book, the story gripped me right from the get go, having me dedicate it every minute of my spare time. With tons of humour, plenty of action, some truly intriguing time travelling logic and even a bit of romance, I could barely stand to do much else while reading.
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... at least until I switched to the audiobook. I had the brilliant idea to try out the audible version, in an attempt to maximise my reading time. Perhaps it was the fault of the narrator, or maybe Ned's time lag was more contagious than I thought, but I was completely unable to distinguish characters from one another. As a result, I started tuning out more and more of the book, and nearly abandoned it, before deciding to start over. Sans audio this time.
Score: 4.3/5 stars
I will never get over my utter hatred of lyrical works, no matter how comically one may try to present them. So even without the unfortunate audible experience, I doubt I'd have gotten a full on 5-star read out of it. And yes, I say that fully aware that all the crappy poetry was an integral part of the story.
One of the first symptoms of time-lag is a tendency to maudlin sentimentality, like an Irishman in his cups or a Victorian poet cold-sober.
Ms. Smartarse
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