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Donna Teale

  • 21
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  • 8
  • helpful votes
  • 38
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A disappointing end.

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-12-24

Let's list the positive points first; Hassa's character progression was beautifully written, the introduction of new parts of the world was handled with care and attention to detail and the recurrence of certain themes from the first part of the story was masterful. The narrator was wonderful again too.
Now here's the rub; so many of the plot points and story threads were mishandled and tied off like a tangled ball of yarn. Jond, Cara, Sylah and Anoor all hacked and slashed. The Zalam had the potential to be so much more frightening overall.
Then we come to the final strife itself; while I appreciate the various view points given during the war I was spectacularly disappointed. This writer has remarkable descriptive skills and such incredible attention to detail, yet the battle scenes were disappointing and flat. Not to mention the entire war was over in seemingly a blink of an eye!
I won't leave any spoilers - because I have fallen foul of reading a review and finding out the ending too many times - but I will say this; after such a brutal, mysterious, complex and passionate story meticulously woven with care and emotion, the ending was trite and sugary and not great.
And that is really disappointing.

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I'm sad it's over!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-07-24

What an epic saga, what a cleverly woven and well written tale. I admit when I first started this series I was a little bit sceptical, especially as it took me a while to adjust to the narrator.
Once I got past that, I was hooked.
An excellent and solid end to an amazing journey.

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Twists, turns and surprises

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 26-06-24

absolutely brilliant. truly wonderful storytelling! I haven't been able to stop listening, the writing is so well paced and the characters all enjoyable and detailed with emotional complexity to boot. I'm off to get the next book now, I'm so invested in this!

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Just brilliant

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 20-06-24

This story just keeps getting better and better! I've just this moment finished the book and am now downloading the next. Every time I think I've guessed something, another outcome happens and blows my mind! Amazing!

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Bit of a guilty pleasure

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 01-09-23

Goodness me, it's easy to see that Ms Armentrout really enjoys certain character tropes! The powerful, brooding, mysterious yet loyal and faithful soldier esque male. The willful, impulsive, somewhat naive yet more powerful than everyone female. Sounds familiar.

Anyhoo, all that aside, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this audio. I love this narrator and her style really helped the story along. I also loved how reassuringly predictable the tale is, I needed something easy to listen to after a couple of heavy reads!

I've already downloaded the second book. I'm an old lady - 39 years to be exact - so I really giggle at all the "romance" scenes. While I'm doing the dishes, or making dinner, or scrubbing the toilet. So romantic haha. I have really enjoyed listening along and despite having a fairly solid idea of the overall ending, I'm here for the journey anyways.

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1 person found this helpful

I could not stop!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-07-23

I'm always a little sceptical about sequels to amazing stories, but this time that was unfounded. Oh my goodness, I couldn't listen enough.
I won't leave any spoilers BUT I will say this; whatever you think may happen, it's going to be way more than that!

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Thought provoking

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 22-05-23

First the practical things; I enjoyed the narration however a couple of the accents bugged me a little!

Now onto the story itself; to say I loved it would be an understatement because I haven't enjoyed listening to a story as much in a long while. The characters were thoughtfully crafted, their behaviours made sense, their triumphs and disasters were easy to empathise with.
I found myself pondering on the many points this book raised. As a woman, I have often had to take extra precautions when travelling, be careful how I dress or behave, constantly watch my drink in bars and so on. I'm very aware of the statistics on domestic violence and women that are harmed by men. I'm also painfully aware that the calls for greater protection, education and laws to protect women have largely gone ignored. To see this reflected onto men, for them to be the ones that are afraid, firstly caused me to feel a bit smug. But later, I found myself feeling disgusted by my own response - because isn't that the problem any way?

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utterly exceptional

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 21-03-23

The story, the narration, the performance of the voice actors, the whole thing...... absolutely wonderful. At one point I was listening while I tidied the kitchen after dinner and found myself sobbing into the sink!
Just wonderful.

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Blown Away

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 15-01-23

When I initially downloaded this book I had no idea at all that it's set in the valley I live in! However, I think that even without that personal connection, I would have loved this story.
Exceptional, riveting, beautiful, surprising, heartwarming and upsetting..... cannot wait for the next part!

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Infuriatingly Excellent

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-12-22

Jennifer L. Armentrout blows my mind. So many story threads skillfully bound off and woven into other new beginnings, making the picture of the world of the Shadowlands even richer and more vibrant.

No spoilers here; however I will give a quick head's up that there's quite a bit of smut in this tale!

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2 people found this helpful