Enjoyable lighthearted escapism

A fresh plot, and expressive narration rather spoilt by what I assumed were mis-pronounciations, cachet not cache, iron fillings not iron filings, etc etc, these sometimes became so regular that they distracted me completely from the plot.

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Give the narrator a break!

A satisfying conclusion to the series. Daft to change narrator for the final one but really, when you put that to one side, she does a good job. Gets more confident as she goes through. If she’d done the whole series no one would be really complaining.

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Ooh unexpected twists!

Shame that the story couldn’t be finished by the same narrator as I spent half the book re-learning the characters- however the story was gripping and continued in an unexpected and exciting way!

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Shame about the new narrator

I still loved the story and it was an enjoyable listen but I definitely preferred the narrator of the first three books. Many of the characters sounded too stilted compared to before and there were a lot of mispronunciations of common words as well as inconsistencies with how she was saying names and other story specific words. Maybe this was just my teacher brain being picky. I still enjoyed the listen and would recommend the story.

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Good yarn, shame about the narrator

I’ve very much enjoyed this series which is lighthearted and entertaining - just what’s needed when the world is so grim. The author’s style is good and easy to listen to.

There are pacing issues at times when an incident can go on interminably followed by key periods that flash by in a blink. It’s also frustrating when a major plot point is about to be revealed but the key character involved gets tired or develops a headache and goes to bed, or randomly decides ‘now isn’t the time’ leaving the reader hanging. In my case, I then guess the plot point (generally not hard) which undermines any tension the author is trying to cling to.

Having said that, I’ve very much enjoyed the world, the characters and the language. The author establishes an Edwardian/early 20’s feel world very well, she’s made a real effort with the language and culture. I’m quite happy for the romance to support the plot rather than the other way around and I like the two protagonists. The fact that the ‘baddies’ are more complex than black is something I also very much enjoy in a book. I can definitely recommend this series as a well written, light, fun, fantasy read.

The first 3 books in the series were read by the excellent Finty Williams who raises a good book series to an excellent audio listen. Unfortunately the same can’t be said of the current narrator who is far too concerned with enunciation and pronunciation to have the bandwidth for character or even, sometimes, for sense or meaning. Luckily I had the Kindle book and a long train journey so I bypassed the narrator for most of this instalment.

I understand there is going to be a fifth book in this world. I enjoyed Marius’ storyline so I’ll definitely check it out, however if this narrator is doing the audio I’ll stick with the e-book on its own.

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An enjoyable listen

I have enjoyed this series very much. The plot line is fairly simple and it doesn’t have a complicated over-arching storyline, but it’s been a good read/listen and it’s well written.

I was hesitant to download the fourth Audible book in this series given the new narrator and other reviews I had read, but don’t let that put you off, as you do forget after a while once you’re immersed in the story. I do at times prefer this narrator’s characterisation of Hetta (although the first narrator is far superior, she sometimes made Hetta sound like a spoilt teenager in the first three, and I don’t think that’s what the author intended of this character). However, one particular niggle with this narration is that I found it difficult to differentiate between the male characters unless obvious in the storyline or named, as they all sound very similar, and incredibly 1920’s style haughty.

Overall, quite a good listen, and don’t be put off by the new narrator if you really want to listen, rather than read.

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Shame the narrator changed...

I have not managed to get used to the narrator of the fourth book. Listening to Finty Williams has been al delight, especially in the way she has brought the characters to life.
In the fourth book most characters sound quite harsh and without the colouring and character in the narration of the first three books.
Shame...

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Amazing story/series awful narrator

I loved this series and the first three books were amazing and were narrated so well. I was so excited for book four and was so disappointed as, although the story was just as good, it was completely murdered by the narration.

This narrator was so awful it actually made it very hard to appreciate the story. She is stilted and awkward using incorrect timing and stress on words making it almost impossible to understand the meaning at times. She mispronounced so many words that it jarred and interrupted the flow of the story as I found myself waiting for the next mispronunciation and correcting it in my mind. She also made many actual reading mistakes throughout eg “metal” instead of “mental”. It almost sounded like it was computer generated without any understanding of meaning and form. I will avoid listening to any book that lists her as the narrator in future.

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Great story; terrible narration

Amazing story but really terrible narration. It’s read like a news report rather than a novel. I only persevered because I loved the other 3 installments

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Disappointing narration

What a shame Finty Williams has not narrated this book as she did the first three. It has been sadly let down by a stilted and simpering narrator.

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