Lovely narrator. Downer of a story.

I liked the way the story developed. But what a downer! I kept waiting for some reprieve - and it never came. Not only that, but the lowest point is at the end. The unsatisfying ending May eventually motivate me to read the next book. But I really wish this one had a self contained arc that is satisfying on some level. The highlight of the book is the narrator. Loved her voice!

16 people found this helpful

Much better than I was expecting

The book summary really didn't do this book justice. I found it an excellent read with a lot more complexity than I was expecting..

It follows the well-trodden path of a magical world separate to the "muggle" world with rules about not letting the non-magical people find out about the reality of magic. However it establishes a good universe through which the story unwinds. The characters are all rich and have a depth to them, and the author doesn't separate them into distinct good/bad groups.

After reading this book I immediately downloaded the next in the series. I rarely do that.

To top it all off, the narrator is brilliant. Her performance significantly enhances the experience and adds an additional dimension to the main character.

She is so good that I would pay to hear her read a telephone directory.

31 people found this helpful

Finally a real heroine

If you could sum up Bloodfire in three words, what would they be?

It seems that half of the books I read with a female super power lead have them as either self abusive women, or caught in excessive bad boy mode. Mack is neither of these and refreshing, the other characters and story are also refreshing.

What other book might you compare Bloodfire to and why?

The Mercy Thompson series or Kitty Norville series are other great female lead series. While I generally loved those as well, this story had its own sense of flare and unexpected results and subtle sub stories.

Which character – as performed by Saskia Maarleveld – was your favorite?

The lead Mack, she was not weak, not into bad boys, she had great depth and convictions right along with her flaws. The internal struggles were great and not over powering the story and she resulted in a very believable character.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes, and then some.

Any additional comments?

So far I like the world she created for her story.

28 people found this helpful

weak

What disappointed you about Bloodfire?

The storyline was weak and didn't really hold up. The "heroine" has to be saved. It might make an ok pre-teen book if the swearing was left out. It might be one of those books that works better as a read rather than a listen too. There is a lot of repetition......we get it, if the brethren find out she is human it's a problem.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

All of the main character's emotions are more or less in the same slightly breathy tone.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It was shorter than some

4 people found this helpful

The Ending Absolutely Sucked

I can't believe the ending. Spoiler. Instead of the heroine winning, in the end she lost everything. What a disappointment.

3 people found this helpful

Ok story, poorly edited

Harper desperately needs a strong editor. Her action scenes seem to be central to the plot but are an exceedingly poor effort, having laughable vagueness when trying to be specific. The story had potential, the writer's lack of skill is a let down.

3 people found this helpful

Ugh! 8 hours and 45 min in and I'm not sure why!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I can't think of anyone over the age of 8 who would find it entertaining, and the language rules the 7 and under crowd out.

Would you ever listen to anything by Helen Harper again?

Probably not. The lead characters seemed so clueless as to be stupid. The plot was slow and "all over the place". No surprises anywhere to be found.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Saskia Maarleveld?

Almost ANYONE. Her pace was slow to the point of laziness...all characters seemed to be stoned or barely awake other than the one that sounded like Ringo Starr ... he was beyond annoying!

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It was not overly offensive....just not entertaining. I kept thinking it was just a slow beginning, until I realized the book had only 12 minutes left.

Any additional comments?

Save your money/credit. I spent an entire evening waiting for the book to get better. The characters were boring, the action was watered down, the ending was ... too long in coming.

3 people found this helpful

Narrator Failure

The story itself was a little slow and lacked "punch" . However, I feel that if a different narrator read the story it could have been more powerful. I felt she was monotone in several areas of the story.

3 people found this helpful

would not bother with next book in series

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

different reader / more character development / faster story

Any additional comments?

Would not buy the next book in the series. the writer had a soothing British accent that did nothing for an already slow book, The characters seemed a little surface and not really invested in the action.

3 people found this helpful

Celtic is not pronounced with an 'S'!

Great starting story - though a bit heavy-handed with the love interest. The narrator has a nice english accent - either by inheritance or talent but the pronuncication of far too many of the words is inauthentic enough to be thoroughly distracting. Timbre great, but it seems that no effort was put into researching place names, slang, intonation of insults of many infractions. That said, the story and otherwise pleasant voices and characterizations worked fine.

11 people found this helpful