This is a matter of “good for her, not for me” in that I would say this is a well-written interesting and intriguing book that a) isn’t for me b) wasn’t for me in an audio format c) wasn’t for me at the time I was trying to read it d) maybe some of all three.
During June of this Pandemic (when I first started this audiobook, when our fear/exhaustion confusion was but a babe) my mood could rise and fall on a dime, and nothing could really hold my attention, so it’s no wonder it took me forever to get through this audiobook. Not to mention even picking up an audiobook was a holdover from my days of a long commute, which I haven’t had reason do to since March. A good friend of my raaaaved about this book, that and because I liked the audio actors and really liked Night Circus I saw it through to the end.
Finally, seeing that Amazon categorized this book as both “Fantasy Romance” and “Romantic Fantasy,” (somehow, those are different?) it makes a bit more sense that it didn’t feel like my cup of tea, or at least, not the tea I wanted to drink right now as neither of those genres are my favorite.
So, I disclaimered the heck out of this. What’s it about? A literary underworld, secret societies, time-crossed lovers. It’s very interesting, and she creates an intriguing literary fantasy. I think I would have enjoyed it more reading it, in my ears (and drug out over a month and a half) I easily got lost/confused as to who/what was happening. Plus, the way she jumps story arcs is hard to follow if you do a long drawn out read, as I did.
I also really think of it as my pandemic read because with the soothing voices of the audio, plus the fantasy elements, it was something soothing to listen to while trying to make my way through “these unprecedented times,” even if I couldn’t muster the energy to really follow along.