I had heard a lot about this around Bookcon and Missy got the audiobook from the library!
Title: Sawkill Girls
Author: Claire LeGrand
Series: Standalone
Rating: 3/5 stars
Continue reading Audiobook Review: ‘Sawkill Girls’
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Audiobook Review: ‘The Echo Room’
I won an advanced copy of The Echo Room from the author on an instagram giveaway post. I’m always looking for a new thriller, so I was excited for this one! Unfortunately, I was let down…
Title: The Echo Room
Author: Parker Peevyhouse
Rating: 1.5/5
Likes
This started out pretty intriguing. Rett wakes up and he doesn’t know where he is. He doesn’t know why there’s blood on his jumpsuit. He doesn’t know who this girl – Bryn – with him is. Can they trust each other? Where are they? Definitely the start of a promising story!
It became similar to The Maze Runner very quickly – it’s hard not to compare it. (I’ve never actually read Maze Runner, only seem the movies, and spoiler, I was disappointed by that too.) This story also reminded me of the TV series LOST – people stranded and they don’t know where or when they are. So, yeah, I was excited! While this is marketed as a “thriller,” its very psychological and a bit sci-fi.
One thing I strongly dislike is unreliable narrators, but in this case, I didn’t feel like Rett was unreliable, so that wasn’t an issue for me.
The story had high and low points. It started out great, then it went downhill, but then a plot development near the middle had me interested again and I was hopeful for the end….sadly, the ending was disappointing to the point I regret even wasting my time reading this.
Dislikes
First off, the names Rett and Bryn bother me. Listening to the audiobook, it was actually difficult to understand these were even the names. They sound very similar. There are a few other characters who have equally odd names – I’m ok with fantasy names, but these names just bothered me and I couldn’t move past it.
The plot didn’t feel original. It felt exactly like Maze Runner. Wake up in an unknown place, have to solve some sort of puzzle, need to survive and not get eaten by a giant monster. It’s bland. I was willing to give it a chance, but the day would “reset” and they would have to start over so often, I was bored before it even hit 50%. It was the same old, same old. Each time they would get a little farther, something would change, but not enough that I was interested.
In the second half of the story, it begins to feel a lot like LOST and that had me anticipating that the second half would pick up and I would be pleasantly surprised, but such was not the case.
“The Echo Room” itself is explained halfway through the story, but it feels like a weak explanation and I was disappointed. It’s only briefly touched upon, and I had been hoping for more answers. Overall, I expected more from this story, but it felt very repetitive with each ‘day’ being reset and repeated with only slight variations for more than half the book.
Audiobook Thoughts
I decided to listen to this as an audiobook and the audio isn’t bad. It’s a male voice and I am picky with male voices – but I liked this one. I don’t think it added anything to it, but if audio is your thing, go for it. I had no issues with this audio and enjoyed listening to it.
Recommend?
Regrettably, I would not recommend waste your time with this book. The ending was one of the most disappointing I’ve read in a long time. Any question you may have while reading this – it’s NOT answered.
Have you read any good thriller books lately? Or anything similar to the TV show LOST? I’d love to get some recommendations!
~Missy
Audiobook Review: ‘Through Blood, Through Fire’
Just when I thought I couldn’t love Jem and Tessa anymore than I already do, HERE WE ARE, and I’m loving them even more! After reading this, I’m even more excited to see what happens in Queen of Air and Darkness, especially with Jem & Tessa~
Previous Reviews:
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #1 – Son of the Dawn
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #2 – Cast Long Shadows
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #3 – Every Exquisite Thing
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #4 – Learn About Loss
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #5 – A Deeper Love
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #6 – The Wicked Ones
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #7 – The Land I Lost
Spoilers for Lady Midnight
I will put these spoiler warnings before all Ghosts of the Shadow Market reviews, but a rule of thumb in the Shadowhunter world is – if you aren’t caught up, read it in publication order.
Title: Through Blood, Through Fire
Author: Cassandra Clare, Robin Wasserman
Series: Ghosts of the Shadow Market #8
Rating: 4/5
Continue reading Audiobook Review: ‘Through Blood, Through Fire’
Audiobook Review: ‘The Land I Lost’
Me at the beginning: “I mean I like Malec alright but they’re not like my OTP -shrug-“
Me literally 5 minutes into the audio: “PROTECT THIS FAMILY AT ALL COSTS. I REPEAT: ALL. COSTS.”
I didn’t realize how much I loved and appreciated Malec until this very moment. This is hands down my favorite Ghosts of the Shadow Market novella. This is also the longest of the novella’s thus far (audio was 3.5 hours!), which might have influenced my opinion – this felt like a full story.
Previous Reviews:
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #1 – Son of the Dawn
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #2 – Cast Long Shadows
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #3 – Every Exquisite Thing
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #4 – Learn About Loss
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #5 – A Deeper Love
Ghosts of the Shadow Market #6 – The Wicked Ones
Spoilers for The Mortal Instruments & Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy series.
I will put these spoiler warnings before all Ghosts of the Shadow Market reviews, but a rule of thumb in the Shadowhunter world is – if you aren’t caught up, read it in publication order.
Title: The Land I Lost
Author: Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: Ghosts of the Shadow Market #7
Rating: 5/5
Audiobook Review: ‘Finding Yvonne’
The summary of Finding Yvonne sounded interesting and rather unique enough – Yvonne plays violin, but she’s just not good enough to get into conservatories after high school. But then she becomes pregnant, which throws another wrench into her plans! Oh no! However, the story honestly didn’t feel anything like the summary and both the music aspect and the pregnancy played smaller roles than I would have expected and I was disappointed with this overall.
Title: Finding Yvonne
Author: Brandy Colbert
Series: n/a – Standalone
Rating: 1.5/5 stars
ARC Review: ‘Empress of All Seasons’
I received this book via Netgalley for an honest review! It took me a bit to get to it, but I finally did 🙂
Title: Empress of All Seasons
Author: Emiko Jean
Series: Standalone
Rating: 2/5 stars
Audiobook Review: ‘Sadie’
I didn’t expect to fall so in love with Sadie, but I can easily say this is one of my favorite books I’ve read in 2018. Sometimes it’s the books that aren’t hyped up a lot, you don’t hear too much about, that end up hitting the NYT Bestsellers List and end up being real gems – even if the story breaks your heart along the way.
Title: Sadie
Author: Courtney Summers
Rating: 5/5
