Stephanie K. Smith

Only If You Need More Carnival Row

If you are desperate for more from the world of Carnival Row and some backstory then give this a go, otherwise... I really wouldn't bother. It's not awful, and largely isn't bad, but it does lack the weight and quality that makes the show work. It does suffer from the ultimate self-sabotage of deciding to include a Fey poet and her works of love and lust that earn her acclaim and accolades, which are rather painful and trite in places.

Ultimately, this committed the worst sin of fiction in being boring and unengaging. The performance is decent, but can't save the story.

Judging by other reviews, your mileage may vary.… (més)

This was a free Audible book which is apparently a prequel to some series I've never encountered before, involving faeries and a war. I'm really not the intended audience, and had a hard time finishing it (I literally fell asleep listening to it for 8 nights in a row, unable to stay awake long enough to complete the last 30 minutes). There were a few pages/minutes which were interesting, but overall it makes no sense if you're not familiar with the canon, and I can't tell if the source material is very worthwhile anyway. Ah, the perils of goodreads challenges, I should really be more selective, even for short free audiobooks.… (més)