annoyingtiger888's Reviews (344)

Say hello to Ra Holmes & Khepri Watson! What a cute and entertaining story! I never knew I needed a mystery story in my life that would be solved by an Egyptian cat and his beetle sidekick, but I'm happy to have found it!

As usual, I had the wrong answer about who the thief is haha I don't know if that speaks well of the story's mystery or speaks poorly of my intelligence!

Poor Jessica, she can't even take a vacation with her family, shaking my head. I have to say, I'm really happy that these books take place all over the USA and the world. I feel like I'm traveling with her, learning bits and pieces about the places she visits. I had no idea NY has a beach lol

I'm also surprised that Grady has a son! And what a sweet, respectful boy he is! He does the Fletcher name proud. I will say, I kept getting messed up because every time they called him Frank, my brain immediately jumped to her late husband. I get that it's meant to be a tribute, but it does my head in 😂 

Another top tier adventure and another murderer taken down by the mighty Mrs. Fletcher!

I don't know how to feel about this one. I really enjoyed the world and setting in which this story took place. The idea of this powerful adventurer becoming a tavern owner is also a cool premise, if not a bit overused.

However, the main character kinda ruined this book for me. He got angry so many fucking times because someone didn't know who he is or how powerful he is. As soon as introduced himself, he listed off his accolades and why people should know who he is. I swear to god, these are actual quotes from hi :

Like, okay, I get it. S ranked adventurers are very powerful and very rare. More than half the book is just drilling that into your brain over and over again. This dude is arrogant as hell and always gets pissed off when people don't know him. He kept going on about the "war" he fought in, but that war is never expanded much on. Why should we, as the reader, feel any respect for him and his accomplishments when we know nothing about any of it? I know, I know, this is only part one.

With that said, I'm tempted to not continue this because he's just that annoying. How someone can say, "I'm not a hero" and then spend the majority of the book talking about how much of a hero he is and how everyone should know his name. Like, come on, bro.

Choosing a female narrator for a male main character is also a weird choice. Not saying she did a bad job, her male voices were quite good, it's just strange. Typically, narrators are chosen based off the gender of the main character.

Also, she kept pausing on certain parts. It was really jarring and weird. For example:

Another arrow notched into her... wooden bow. There was a quick flash as another... light arrow went flying in a flash.

It wouldn't be such an issue if it only happened once or twice, but it happens a lot throughout the entire book. Is it written that way? If so, why? Is she taking liberties here? Having several pauses IN THE MIDDLE OF A SENTENCE takes the listener out of the story and it's really strange. I would start getting interested in the fight only for her to pause for a full ass 4 seconds between words. Why?

The writing wasn't bad. The world isn't bad. But between the arrogant, annoying main character and the quirk of the narrator, it was a struggle to get through.

Let me just say that this was a great mystery, I had no idea what the hell was happening or who was responsible. When the cops finally appeared, I thought the book was going to end right there and I'd be left in the dark, utterly confused as to what had happened. Thankfully, it was explained quite nicely and everything started to make sense.

I'd say this was worth the three week hold I had to place on this just to listen haha

Emma is such a trip and she says the weirdest shit lol It's fun picturing Jessica and Emma together in my head since they are literal clones, despite Jessica's denials. This book wasn't the most thrilling or exciting of the series, but it was still great.

I hated the old fan hags, though. They were annoying as hell and refused to respect Jessica! I could feel her annoyance through how pushy everyone was being. Like, she works hard as fuck, not only as an author and friend, but as a detective, too! Let the woman have her vacation, damn.

I really don't know how I feel about books like this and like the Christie Affair. Taking a well-loved, historical figure and twisting their history into something different... it feels like fanfiction that should never be published, fanfiction that should remain on Tumblr and Wattpad. It feels disrespectful to the person who has passed and the legacy they left behind, disrespectful to their family, their descendants. It just feels... wrong to write books about real people, dead or alive, unless it's a biography.

With that said, I can't lie and say I didn't feel excited about this book when it first came out. Back then, I thought the idea was cool and, I admit, I was hurt by my own expectations. I expected it to be an action packed thriller that was fun to listen to, fun to experience. I was disappointed. This was no action packed thriller, nor was it very fun to listen to. I typically expect books like this, rewriting history, to be fun and not take itself too seriously. This book was not fun and it took itself way too seriously.

It was just depressing and, at times, I found myself rolling my eyes whenever he would interact with the vampires. If I wanted to read depressing history, I would have read a true, nonfiction biography of the man's life. I came here looking for fun, looking for cool action, thinking of our former president slashing and hacking his way through vampires. It was just sad and now I feel even more depressed than when I started this book.

Plus, the author wrote it out as if Abe ONLY freed the slaves because it would drive back the vampires which felt like it cheapened his legacy. 

At first, I was intrigued but I quickly started to fall asleep. It was hard to listen to for multiple reasons and I feel sad, not just for the shit this man went through in real life, but also for my failing expectations. I had such high hopes for this book but they had been dashed and crushed just like Abe's hope and love of life had been.

There is one quote from the beginning that really struck me, though, so much so that I felt the need to write it down and include it here:

Overall, I think I'm going to start avoiding historical fiction books because they just make me uncomfortable and sad. At least the ones that take real people and twist their lives to fit some weird fanfiction the authors have in their heads. How stuff like this can be published, and with so much praise, is beyond me. 

Way too short and felt rushed. There was no time to develop characters or a plot and it was kind of a letdown.

I have been a huge Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Jack Sparrow since the first movie came out. I've seen all of them loads of times and it took me far too long to realize there was a book series. I've wanted to read them for a long time but haven't gotten around to doing so for various reasons. Recently, I got my hand on this sweet little collection.

It's really cool to have a look back and see what Jack was like when he was younger, to see what adventures he got up to and what path he sailed to eventually become the pirate he is today. I had no issues with any of the characters except for Fitz who annoyed the hell out of me every single time he opened his mouth. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way.

I admit, I was a bit surprised by how short each book is and how quickly their adventure proceeds. It left me wanting me each time and I'm really excited to get the next set and find out what happens. Even as a young man, Captain Jack never fails to make me smile and laugh.

I didn't hate this book, but it was boring and the two female characters were very annoying. It felt like most of the plot was "Oh, a cute guy does something nice, he must be a nice and trustworthy guy! Let me just tell him all my secrets and deepest thoughts."

The characters felt fake, weird and cringe. It kinda feels like the female characters are written by a man that knows nothing about how women actually act. I was looking forward to reading the whole series but I think I'll skip out on it.

This was a lot better than I expected it to be. The voice actors did a fantastic job! I was really worried about the ending, but I'm satisfied with how it turned out. A great listen.