Kill me now

What disappointed you about The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen?

Loooong periods of internal dialogue or first-person narrative with no tension or build of any kind, interspersed with oh-too-brief instants where something actually happens. I never felt that I was actually in the scene, just watching from afar (and falling asleep). There were far too many improbabilities in the story, and I don't mean the ghost. It's as if it's the sketch of a book that someone meant to go back in and develop at a later date.

What could Katherine Howe have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Take me into the smells and physical senses of the scene. Edit out the long stretches of scenes that seem to go nowhere (lots). Overlong scenes of one of the major characters wandering in the fog shouldn't be there. Annie, a gently bred young woman going alone in the streets of New York in the 1800s? That is not historically accurate. And the Annie character seems awfully dim, even for a ghost.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jesse Bernstein and Kathleen McInerney ?

Kathleen McInerney is an okay reader, given that she has dreadfully dull prose to read aloud.

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

No gratuitous violence?

Any additional comments?

I was trying to get a craft project done and wanted to listen to the book while I worked. It was so bad that I kept repeating, "Oh my God, kill me now." Fortunately, that didn't happen.

I enjoyed so much the Physik Book of Deliverance Dane, and hoped this one would be a good story. It wasn't.

10 people found this helpful

Could not get past Chapter 3!

I kept hoping it would get better. Sadly, it did not. Narration is fine - the story is beyond boring.

2 people found this helpful

A Modern Day Ghost Story

Would you listen to The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen again? Why?

Yes, probably. I'd wait until it'd been a long time since I last listened to it and I didn't have any books I had to listen to instead, but I might. It was fun!

What did you like best about this story?

The way they took a ghost story and gave it strong backing. I also like how it switched characters and the voices changed too.

What does Jesse Bernstein and Kathleen McInerney bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The fact that they switch off is fantastic, I love how you get a good feeling of each character as an individual since it's done by different actors.

Any additional comments?

A very good listen, lots of fun for anyone who's into ghost stories, historical fiction, or just a good little read.

2 people found this helpful

A ghost story that never uses the word ghost

Would you consider the audio edition of The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version but I enjoy listening to the audios while I knit

What did you like best about this story?

I loved Annie and all about her. some of the things I loved most would be spoilers but I loved the way things connected as the story progressed. This is one of Katherine Howe's talents as an author

What does Jesse Bernstein and Kathleen McInerney bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I enjoyed the performance. I also would have enjoyed reading it if I had the time. They did a good job though.

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

I listened to it a bit at a time because that is how my time worked out

Any additional comments?

If you are a fan of Katherine Howe. I really enjoyed the book but it doesn't have the lasting impact that the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and The House of Velvet and Glass had for me. I wish she would write another book more like them. I'm not giving up reading her though.

2 people found this helpful

Not sure how I feel about the ending

In the beginning if this book I wasn’t thrilled with the Narrater and it was very slow moving. I think the story was good but the ending left me flat.

1 person found this helpful

Far from her best work.

I’ve read multiple books by Katherine Howe and loved them all. It’s almost like someone else wrote this book. I could not even finish it.

Simply awful

Wishing for a refund … clunky teenage dribble …
Kept hoping it would smooth out … never did

Good story

this was a good story! A little obvious in the beginning but a fun listen.

The Best Kind of Ghost Story

I have been a fan of Katherine Howe since June 2009 when I first discovered The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. I have followed all her work and love her voice and the way her brain works. I did read this book when it came out, but have found that Audible gives me a different feeling to books I have previously read. I loved the two narrators, who did a better job of capturing the characters than my mind had done in reading it. So glad I made this purchase

Not My Thing!

I've read a few other books by this author and enjoyed them. Not this one! Not into 21st century collage slang or whatever it is there speaking. May be a good ghost story if you can stand to listen and understand what there talking about.