I tried so hard to like this but I couldn’t

I just don’t understand how people could compare this to the Iron Druid or Harry Dresden series (which I love btw). I tried so hard to listen to this but I couldn’t get into it. I found a lot of the descriptions very strange/unnecessary. For example there was one scene where the main character was saying that to a guy like him a bikini is fashionable not slutty (ie l’m a guys, guys, half naked women are great) but then in another moment he was describing her expensive Louboutin shoes. I just couldn’t understand or get a sense for the character’s personality and from sentence to sentence it didn’t seem like the same person would describe something the way it was described. Add to that his never ending droning on about his dead girlfriend. We get it, it was life changing and sad but hearing his journal entries ever chapters added no value at all to the storyline and to reference every date with AJ as in after Jessie was just bizarre. I am a person who likes terrible cliché books and I just couldn’t make it past a few chapters of this. I normally will power through and hope book 2 is better but I had to return this one.

8 people found this helpful

Fun series

I’m enjoying the series. But I find the main characters habit of whining and repeatedly making the same mistakes a bit annoying. Hoping that he develops a little more maturity in upcoming books.

The narrator is pretty good, but as someone who lives in Austin Texas, somebody needs to explain to him how to pronounce the various city and area names correctly. LOL

3 people found this helpful

Ok just WTF

Four chapters in and I have no idea what’s going on. The narration is just all over the place. The author just randomly talks about mythological creatures as if the reader knows what he is talking about. And even if you did know the real mythology of these creatures apparently the author considers every creature from dragons to vampires to werewolves as fae but doesn’t explain why. Also the author tries to explain things repeatedly via flashbacks but then stops the flashback before actually explaining something. I kept stopping to check and see if maybe I had missed a book in the series. Also the narrators voice is not good for audiobooks. If your going to have accents in your story then have a narrator who can pull of accents. I’m still cringing over the narrators tough guy New York/Boston/mafia boss accent.

1 person found this helpful

Engaging story and great worldbuilding

I very much enjoyed these first four Junkyard Druid books, albeit after a bit of a rocky start. My quibbles are fairly minor. The first quibble is that this Druid's world seems to be populated entirely by women whose descriptions make them sound like Victoria's Secret models. All women in these books are stunningly beautiful with perfect asses and/or large breasts. Meanwhile, most male characters are barely given descriptions. This obsession with unrealistic female beauty standards is bothersome, but not a deal breaker.

The other quibble is the author's occasional reliance on pop culture to describe things, such as someone with magical tendrils moving "like Doctor Octopus" (a Marvel Comics villain). Not all readers will catch all of these references, and there are better, more descriptive ways to convey information.

Those minor irritations aside, I really enjoyed immersing myself in this world, and I grew to really care for many of the characters (not just the main character, Collin). I constantly had the feeling that there was always something more to be peeled back and revealed about these characters, and I loved seeing them adapt and change to their changing circumstances.

The narration was also fantastic, with the male narrator doing an especially good job of voicing the female characters without making them sound like falsetto-induced parodies of female voices. He also did an excellent job of using accents and pitch to make it easy to tell which character was speaking even if they were not identified by name in a dialog tag.

If you enjoy urban fantasy as a genre, this is well worth your time!

1 person found this helpful

Can’t believe I just found this series

I love UF with a ballsy hero, diverse cast of characters, dark themes, and well placed humor. This series has it all. Loving this discovery.

1 person found this helpful

very good read

storyline was very good. narration was good. story is very action packed, it's a page Turner. A must have read.

1 person found this helpful

If you loved Dresden Files these books are for you

loved the books, but they would have been just as good without all the filthy laguage.

Fantastic

very good series. no dry spots. great adventure very easy to put yourself in the adventure

pretty entertaining

can't wait to get my next credit and pick up the next box set. just got this one to waste down time at work, but the story is pretty awesome

Dangit.

I really wanted to like it. I really did. I don't generally allow bad reviews to keep me from things. I have strange tastes and generally like to experience and artist's growth. Also, as an Austinite, I figured it was my duty to supprt him.

Just like many things from Austin however, Massey kept the theme of mediocrity. He started strong, but his authors crutch is lost children.

Out in the middle of nowhere, lost children.
Bottome of the ocean, lost children...you get the point.

The narrator just could not seem to nail his grasp on emphasis., and tone. These things aren't easy, but after 5 books, I just couldn't take it anymore.

What's more frustrating, is the author has a solid premise, and some unique ideas. He just can't seem to bring it home. Too many crutches, and tropes.

I hope he takes what he has learned from this series and applies them to the next one. Maybe gets someone who will tell him when he's not bringing his A game.

Once again. Great potential, just not a lot of ..oomph.