Lovely

A very enjoyable book. I would advise listening to 'The Casebook of Simon Feximal' before you listen to this title as it will make more sense if you do. The narration was super.

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It's KJ Charles, we already know its gonna be good

The book was solid and the characters easy to get into the mindset of. Although upon realising the narrator sounded somewhat like Alan Titchmarsh on Time Team, it was very difficult to shake. But overall great book and I'm bummed the sequel isn't focused upon the same two characters.

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Classic KJ Charles

KJ Charles has the ability to write utter nonsense in a way that is gripping, humorous, cerebral, emotive and historically accurate all at once. I’m used to hearing her work read by Cornell Collins but I found this new narrator just as good, with a great character range. An excellent and wonderfully bizarre story as always.

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Very professional

I was thrown initially because Saul has a much lighter voice than I expected and sounds younger than I had envisaged. However once I'd got used to him, I really enjoyed the narration. the production is very good, seamless.

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Such a satisfying ending

This is the second audiobook I’ve listened to by this author and I absolutely loved it. I like the paranormal way that the two men get to know each other and fall in love. Great supernatural adventure with a tidy satisfying twist in the end. 

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Wonderful story, clearly narrated, but not sure the narrator’s voice “fit” for me

I adore this book, and the audiobook is well-produced, clearly read, and the narrator does a decent range of voices. As a matter of personal preference I found the voices a little too “light” and chipper in places - Saul in particular was higher and more airy than the stiff-upper-lip-desperately-trying-to-hold-it-together tone I had imagined, but it didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment. I think the narrator’s voice for the (sort-of) prequel for this book, The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal, fit the tone of the text better, but again: didn’t spoil the book overall, and this narrator reads clearly and accurately.

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2 people found this helpful

Absorbing story with excellent narration

I really enjoyed the mix of archaic ghost story and developing love affair. The narrator was amazing at giving the characters completely different voices.

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Enjoyable Story

The story and characters  are engaging and the narrator has very distinctive voices for each character, always a plus for me. Hope there is more soon.

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Disappointing - Not so strong M/M more M/F vibe

I've read quite a few now from this author. This far I've been impressed by both her plots and fascinating M/M characters. Also the narration has been great. This is the first I've read narrated by Ruairi Carter.

In 'Spectred Isle', the character of Saul seemed just too feminine for me. The narrator seemed to read him almost as a woman with a weak higher pitched voice. As soon as I noticed this, for me, the whole story lost it's power.

If I decide to read M/M fiction, I really like to feel the positive masculinity of both central characters. Each time Saul spoke. It felt like he might have well been female. Even when he was meant to be, 'being strong,' the character voice didn't convince me.

He did have a powerful back story, which if he'd really survived, I felt, should have made him sound like he had more steel.

I'm not blaming the author, I think it might have given a different impression if the narrator had given him a voice a bit stronger and deeper. This just shows what a fixed impression narration can carry.

I don't think I'll continue reading this series.

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Great worldbuilding, bad narration. Overall boring

I adore KJ Charles, and I think the premise of this book is really interesting, but I just couldn't get into it. I had a similar problem with Simon Feximal, but after a chapter or two of that book I became invested in the characters. But I couldn't do that with these two. Charles' characterisation is her greatest strength as a writer, but it just isn't present here. The terrible narration makes it all the worse, and it's honestly a slog to get through.

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