The Laughing Listener
Reread August 2018
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Molly C. Quinn
Length: 16 hours & 59 minutes

Story Rating: 5 Stars
Performance Rating: 1 Star
Overall Rating: 5 Stars

Mark your calendar guys. Today is the day I gave my first one star performance rating for an audiobook. Because BOY was it cringe-worthy. Normally I try to be pretty lenient and forgiving because it’s not like I’ve had to perform an entire book out loud before, but ugh. I’m pretty sure the only reason I got through this at all was because I was trapped in a car driving to Atlanta for four hours there and back.



But I digress. I’m not here to talk about the crummy narrating, I’m here to review this book, which was AWESOME. This was my second time reading this and I’m jarred by how different the experience was. The first time, I was so angry about Sebastian. To me it felt (and honestly, I still sort of feel this way) that the whole Sebastian-coming-back-to-life thing was just a ploy to stretch out the series and pump out more books. My saltiness must have tainted the memories of this because I remembered City of Lost Souls being pretty sub-par and underwhelming. NOT THE CASE.

And apparently I forgot EVERYTHING??? The only parts I really remembered were the ones in Sebastian’s floating house of horrors, which take up shockingly little real estate in the plot. So basically, it was like I was reading this for the first time.

I have such a better appreciation for Sebastian as a villain now that I’ve had time to brush off some of my fangirl bitterness. He’s such a great mix of human and demon. And the fact that he’s Clary’s biological brother adds a layer of complexity to his character and their relationship that was really interesting to watch. Plus, I COMPLETELY FORGOT HOW F**KING CREEPY HE IS AT THE END????? OH MY GOD. I’m not exaggerating when I say I was yelling at him to cut it out when I was in the car. “NO. JUST STOP. STOP TALKING. PLEASE. WHYYYYYYY???” ⇐ That was me.



Clary’s character arc in this one was really awesome to watch too. I was annoyed with her in the beginning when she falls for Sebastian’s “we’re the same” speech. But she comes around in the most awesome way. There’s also a ton of Sizzy moments that had me giddy!! I LOVED watching Simon and Izzy get closer. They’re just so freaking cute! And MORE BROTHER ZACHARIAH!!!!! All those little references to The Infernal Devices were killing me! So many feels. I love that I finally get to catch everything I missed the first time I read this.

I’m still majorly uncomfortable with Maia and Jared’s relationship and time hasn’t changed my feelings about that. I love Maia individually and I understand the circumstances surrounding Jared’s situation, but I HATE that he was violent with her in the past and she still goes back to him. Their whole relationship gives me an icky, anxious feeling I don’t like and they feel kind of unnecessary to story.

My boy Alec though. Oh my god. He needs to get himself together. I completely understand why he’s freaking out because the immortality thing would freak me out too, but I gotta side with Magnus on this one.

He had every freaking right to break up with Alec, because WTF???

I mean, CAMILLE??? THAT’S WHO YOU’RE GOING TO FOR ADVICE?? I can’t.

FINAL WORD

This book was SO MUCH BETTER THAN I REMEMBER!!! Perhaps even my new favorite of the series!! I love that we get more time with the background characters and Sebastian is a top-notch creepy villain.

#1 ↦ [b:City of Bones|256683|City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1432730315s/256683.jpg|2267189] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✦
#2 ↦ [b:City of Ashes|1582996|City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1432730356s/1582996.jpg|1575860] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✦
#3 ↦ [b:City of Glass|3777732|City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1369452339s/3777732.jpg|3443248] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✦
#4 ↦ [b:City of Fallen Angels|6752378|City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1369452302s/6752378.jpg|6948844] ↦ ✦✦✦✧✧
#5 ↦ [b:City of Lost Souls|8755776|City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1460477703s/8755776.jpg|13629058] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✦
#6 ↦ [b:City of Heavenly Fire|8755785|City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, #6)|Cassandra Clare|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1460477794s/8755785.jpg|13629068] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧

The Laughing Listener
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Neil Gaiman
Length: 5 hours & 48 minutes

Story Rating: 5 Stars
Performance Rating: 5 Stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars

This book was recommended to me ages ago. I remember talking with a friend once about how I wanted to get into more adult fantasy novels and she told me to read Gaiman, mentioning this book specifically. On a whim at the book store one day, I saw this and his other novel [b:Stardust|16793|Stardust|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459127484s/16793.jpg|3166179] and bought them. I read Stardust right away, curious about it because I loved the movie so much, but this one has been sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust.

Before this, I didn't know anything could be so terrifying and beautiful at the same time and it instantly became a favorite. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but this definitely wasn't it. A fact I'm very very happy about.

THE GOOD

This book came as a complete surprise. The only other comparison of Gaiman's work I had was a lighthearted fantasy romance. I didn't even know this was a horror book until part way through when our little boy narrator yanks a worm out of his foot. Ugh. I wish I was kidding. But it was so wonderfully creepy!! The way Gaiman wrote this is completely genius (to me at least) and I fell in love with it straight away. In the beginning it's just a straight forward book of a man going back home and remembering his life. But Gaiman gradually shifts small little things here and there to make you feel off kilter—like something is wrong. The tension builds once Ursula the nanny is hired until everything is completely terrifying.

It's a subtle kind of horror book, which is one of the things I loved most about it. And I thought it was interesting that we never learn the main character's name. It made the whole story more relatable in a that-could-happen-to-anyone kind of way.

Plus, Gaiman's writing is SO BEAUTIFUL. I must have saved like, seventeen quotes from this book. He wrote from a child's perspective so wonderfully, it was easy to picture in my mind and painted the most vivid images. Obviously this book was an exploration in nostalgia and growing older and Gaiman captured that feeling exactly.

THE UGLY

I feel like I've seen some conflicting opinions about this book, and honestly, I can understand why. It's a pretty slow moving book. This didn't bother me at all, especially because it's so short, but I can see how some people might lose interest. There's definitely action, but it wasn't anything that made me sit on the edge of my seat. And even though this is categorized as horror, it's not actually that scary. It's more suspense than anything.

FINAL WORD

This was such a beautiful book!! It instantly became a favorite and I loved every second.

*EDIT September 2018*
After having time to reflect and reading some other reviews, I'm editing this review a little because I've seen some really excellent points made. I always write my reviews right after reading the book, which can be both good and bad. Good because I can still remember everything. Bad because I'm still caught up in the emotions of the story and get blinded by my post-book highs. I think that's what happened here, so I knocked down my rating a bit. I might even knock it down more in the future, I don't know. I still love the story and the pop culture, but there's absolutely some questionable comments and behavior that can't be excused.

------------------------------

The Laughing Listener
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Wil Wheaton *PERFECTION*



Length: 15 hours & 46 minutes

Story Rating: 4 Stars
Performance Rating: 5 Stars
Overall Rating: 4 Stars

*Mouth hanging open* I just... I don't... OH MY GOD. THAT WAS SO FREAKING AMAZE-BALLS. I loved this so much, I don't even know where to start. It's bitter, nerdy, sarcastic, jaded, funny, romantic, and heavily weighed down with 80's references. IT'S ME IN BOOK FORM. OH MY GOD. I'm speechless.



THE GOOD (a.k.a The Part Where I Get Really Rambly)

WHERE THE HELL DO I EVEN BEGIN?!?!

Okay, to help organize my thoughts, let's start with the obvious. This book has DOZENS upon DOZENS of references to 80's pop culture weaved into the story, which is a major reason why I love it so much. Since my pre-teen years, I've been a slave to everything involving the biggest hair decade in history and I loved seeing all my favorite things referenced so heavily. And it's not just 80's pop culture, but every nerd fandom you can think of. Star Trek, Firefly, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings—it's all in there. It made the book feel intimate in a unique way, making the reader part of an inside joke not everyone would understand. Since I'm (apparently) a huge nerd with too much time on my hands, I created an IMDB list of titles referenced in the book as I listened. There's over 130 and that's not even counting any of the music or video games mentioned.

What's really amazing about this though, is that Cline does an excellent job explaining everything if you haven't been studying up on your 80's trivia for the past decade like I have. There are entire scenes that revolve around movies like Blade Runner but you'll still understand what's happening if you haven't seen them. Of course, it's WAY more fun if you have, but not a necessary. I was SO into this book that I actually stopped reading in the middle just to watch WarGames, one of the few 80's films I never got around to, and I'm so happy I did. #WorthIt





Another aspect of this book that's both amazing and disturbing is how plausible this dystopian future really is. Everything about our society is the same in this fictional universe with just a little more thrown in—more people, more technology, more political problems, more poverty, and so on. It all seems so possible that it's terrifying. There's a section of the book where Wade has the opportunity to vote now that he's 18, but says he doesn't see the point since everyone just elects celebrities anyway. It gave me CHILLS. Is this my future? Because it feels like it's already happening  and I don't like it one bit. Normally dystopia books are easy for me to brush off and laugh at, but not this one. I'm in awe that Cline was clever enough to write this as a young-adult novel that also appeals to an older audience so he could make his statements about the world better heard.

And can we all give a round of applause for diversity in books?! There's an underlying theme of acceptance and friendship that I am SO HERE FOR. I loved the main cast of characters that end up banning together to defeat the bad guys. There were very strong Stranger Things and Goonies vibes to them that I LOVED. It's kind of poetic that Steven Spielberg is directing the film because it all kind of plays out like one of his movies.

Big shout out out Wil Wheaton for being a freaking awesome narrator! He did such and excellent job and I can't think of anyone else more perfect to read this book. If this becomes a series, hopefully he'll narrate the others. *Crosses fingers* Totally worth the Audible credit I spent on this.

MOVIE RECS

If you want to have some extra fun with this book, here are some movies you should watch before reading this. They're the ones that play the biggest role in the story and are referenced the most heavily, though it's definitely not a requirement.

WarGames (1983) - Starring Matthew Broderick
Blade Runner (1982) - Starring Harrison Ford
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - Starring Graham Chapman
Ladyhawke (1985) - Starring Matthew Broderick
Highlander (1986) - Starring Christopher Lambert

The entire Lord of the Rings universe, Star Wars universe, the band Rush, Dungeons & Dragons and the video games Zork, Black Tiger, Joust, Tempest, and Dungeons of Daggorath also play major roles, which seemed worth mentioning.

THE UGLY

I found this book to be near perfection, but I know not everyone will feel this way. If you're not a fan of any nerdy fandoms or a lover of 80's pop culture (or pop culture in general), this book is going to get old for you real quick. Most of the references happen towards the beginning too, so I could see how someone might get bored right off the bat. Plus, it takes Cline a long while to explain the details of this universe he's created and the first several chapters are devoted to setting the mood before diving into the action. This didn't bother me in the least because I was having too much fun with all of the pop culture being thrown at me, but this won't be everyone's cup of tea.

If you find yourself struggling, try to give it some time before calling it quits because it really does pick up after a while. But if you're not into science fiction, video games, or the 80's, then definitely skip this one.

FINAL WORD

I had so much fun reading this and following along with all the pop culture references! If you're a nerd like me, I definitely recommend this.

The Laughing Listener
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Steve West & Fiona Hardingham
Length: 12 hours & 7 minutes

Story Rating: 5 Stars
Performance Rating: 5 Stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars

I FINALLY read (listened??) to The Scorpio Races and IT WAS JUST AS MAGICAL AS I COULD HAVE HOPED!!

There’s something you should know to completely understand my excitement over this. I was a hard core English horseback rider back in the day. My mother owned a horse facility and we would go to shows all the time to compete. Now I’m a master at putting my hair in hairnets, pulling tall boots on and off, and own dozens of fancy breeches that I’ll probably never need again. When I wasn’t at school, I was at the barn working. It was my entire life for about eight-ish years.



You can probably imagine how this has shaped my view of pop culture. If I’m watching/reading/listening to ANYTHING having to do with horses, I’m definitely analyzing the hell out of it. Most television shows and movies get it laughably wrong. So you can imagine my complete and utter delight when I realized all the horse-related stuff in this book (sooooo pretty much everything) was completely spot on. You have no idea how many movies, TV shows, and books I’ve walked away from just because I couldn’t stand all the wrong horse facts. But this book was a breath of fresh air and Maggie just keeps proving to me how amazing she is. WE GET IT OKAY? YOU’RE A NATIONAL TREASURE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO GLOAT.

THE REHASH
On the island of Thisby, Sean grew up around the Scorpio Races. His father taught him everything he knew, showing Sean the ins and outs of the capaill uisce (pronounced CA-ple ISH-ka. Thank god I listened to the audiobook) or water horses. They emerge from the sea and come on land, hungry for flesh and viciously attacking anything that comes too close. If you’re brave enough to catch one and ride it, you can participate in the Scorpio Races. Dear old dad was a regular in these races, exposing Sean at a young age, until a fatal accident that ends with him getting trampled. Fast forward several years and Sean is the well-know running champion, unstoppable on on the water horse Corr, and THE person to beat on race day. As an amazing capaill uisce whisperer, Sean has landed a job working in a barn for a rich scumbag and his son—the rightful owners of Corr, much to Sean’s displeasure.

Meanwhile, Puck Connolley is living in her childhood home with her two brothers, her normal horse Dove, and their cat. They’re all alone, struggling to make ends meet after the tragic death of their parents, but life could be a lot worse. *CUE TRAGIC EVENT* In a move so amazingly SELFISH and INCONSIDERATE, her older brother Gabe announces one morning that he’s leaving the island in two weeks to start a new life with his friends. Puck and her younger brother Finn are flabbergasted. She has no idea how they’ll survive without his help. In sheer panic, Puck announces she’s racing in the Scorpio Races, hoping that this will stall Gabe from leaving for a little while. It works, but at what price? A woman has never participated before and when Puck announces she’ll be racing on her normal non-water horse Dove, it causes quite a scandal.

With Sean going head to head against the awful rich scumbags for Corr and Puck fending off angry sexist townsfolk, they decide to team up to get through the races together. And it all leads up to race day.

“It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.”

THE GOOD
This book is AWESOME!! So much crazy stuff happens! Within the first half-hour alone these are the notes I took:

- THERE’S A WATER HORSE RACE! I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS BUT I’M EXCITED ABOUT IT.
- Sean speaks to his father’s water horse before the race, asking it NOT TO EAT HIM???? AND IT LISTENS???????? ZOMBIE HORSES?????
- He watches his father get trampled (better than getting eaten I guess??). There’s a lot of blood.
- Puck races a regular horse against her brother WHO’S IN A CAR. Get it gurl.
- A water horse just MAGICALLY APPEARS out of nowhere.
- Puck and her brother are terrified of this because, you know, water zombie horses have a taste FOR FLESH. WHAT??
- Sean talks to a friend (acquaintance??) who’s casually butchering a cow. MORE BLOOD. Poor Sean.

I loved that these mythical water horses and this crazy race were set against the backdrop of modern day. It felt like I could hop a plane to Thisby and ride a capall uisce in the races, you know, if I had enough money and a death wish. Sean and Puck were strong characters too. It was amazing to watch their relationship slowly grow and I loved that it wasn’t rushed. Their romance was very subtle, which these days, was a breath of fresh air.

But my favorite part of the entire book had to be the message of girl power. It was so liberating as a woman to watch Puck stand up (quite literally) against the entire town and claim her right to race. More than once I wanted to stand up and throw my fist in the air in classic Breakfast Club fashion. YAS QUEEN. YASSSSSS!!!



THE UGLY
I’ll admit to being a little impatient and frustrated during the last quarter of the book. There is SO MUCH that happens in the beginning and then it sort of levels off for a while. The entire middle is all just one giant build up to the race, which I understand, but after a while I just wanted them to get on with it. This was a minor problem though, and probably just a personal glitch on my part.

By the very end of the book, I also found myself wishing

we had seen more of Puck and Sean’s relationship after the race was over. The night before the race there’s a quick blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kiss and we see a tiny bit of each character afterward, but I wish there had been something in the epilogue with them as a couple. I just love them so much, I WANT MORE OKAY?!?!

And funny enough, the two narrators who did this audiobook also did [b:An Ember in the Ashes|27774758|An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)|Sabaa Tahir|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449158871s/27774758.jpg|39113604], which REALLY caused me some problems. I love both of them because they’re amazing voice actors, but I COULD NOT stop hearing Elias and Laia for the first half of this book. Obviously that’s not their problem, which is why I still gave them five stars, but still. For the first six hours my brain couldn’t stop thinking “ELIAS?? LAIA???? WHAT YOU GUYS DOING HERE????? CROSSOVER??????”

FINAL WORD
Yes! PLEASE read this!! There’s romance and ponies and feminism and mythical water horses who hunger for blood and flesh. What more could anyone want???

The Laughing Listener
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Jesse Eisenberg
*Looks around confused* “ummm what?”
Length: 6 hours & 41 minutes

Story Rating: 3 Stars
Performance Rating: 2 Stars
Overall Rating: 3 Stars

As I anxiously wait for The Raven King to become available (it’s on hold in my Overdrive account and I’M DYING) I needed a distraction. Unfortunately, all the new books I’d like to read were taken so this was the lucky winner. White Cat came out in 2010, so I know I’m a little late to the party here, but beggers can’t be choosers.



THE REHASH

This book wastes no time, thrusting us head first into the plot where Cassel Sharpe (I listened to the whole audiobook thinking it was Castle. Oops.) is standing on the ledge of a building, sleep walking. He’s just about to hurl himself off the roof of his school when he wakes up and—naturally—freaks the freak out. After calling for help and getting down, everyone thinks Cassel was trying to kill himself and doesn’t buy his I-was-really-sleep-walking sob story. The school officials decide they don’t want to take any chances and temporarily kick him out so he can get help with his family. This plan would be stellar if his relatives weren’t a bunch of sketchy “workers,” or people with magical abilities that can use their powers with the touch of a hand. Cassel’s grandfather is a death worker (his touch can kill people), his brother Barren is a memeory worker (he can manipulate memories), his other brother Philip is a body worker (his touch can effect someone’s body), and his mother is an emotion worker (she can make people feel whatever she wants). Needless to say, they tend to run on the wrong side of the tracks and Cassel has always stood out as the only family member with no magical talent at all.

Although this lack of mystical power has always bothered him, it has never stopped Cassel from loving or trusting his family. Blood is thicker than water, right? But this idea gets tested when he’s forced to stay with his brother Philip and sees some suspicious activity. Cassel has spent the last four years riddled with guilt after waking up from sleep walking, standing above the dead body of his best friend/girl crush Lila. With no one else around, Cassel has always thought he was the one to kill her and it’s been eating him alive. Now that he’s around his family, however, Cassel starts questioning this for the first time and sniffs around for answers.

Cassel definitely finds what he’s looking for and a whole lot more, uncovering a scheme that’s been going on right under his nose his whole life.

THE UGLY

Okay, I need to start by saying I personally can’t stand Jesse Eisenberg.



Don’t you have a celebrity that just grates on your nerves for LITERALLY no reason? I don’t know Jesse Eisenberg and he’s probably a lovely person, but I just can’t take him in movies (besides Zombieland because that’s just the best film ever). Had I noticed he was the narrator, I would have steered clear of this audiobook from the start. To say I was thrown off and confused when his voice rang out over my headphones would be an understatement. But I love Holly Black and have a special place in my heart for her Modern Faerie Tales series (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside), so I tried to give this a chance. Take everything I say in this section with a grain of salt, because Jesse Eisenberg kind of tainted the whole experience for me.

I found his voice to be SO BORING. There was very little variation or inflection in his tone and Cassel is a pretty analytical character in the way he thinks and schemes. That combination had me tuning out for long sections of audio and then scrambling to play catch up when something major happened. At a mere six and half hours, this audiobook should have taken me a day. Maybe two if work was really busy. But in the end I clocked out at over a week because I had to force myself to listen to it.

Part of me also thought Cassel’s character was a bit dull. Cassel deeply loves the people he cares about and I really felt for him when everything is revealed at the end, but he has a cool detachment that I wasn’t really able to sympathize with. As a kid I was such a goody goody and hearing him strategize ways to steal documents or trick his headmasters went a little beyond me. Once Lila came into the picture with her bad-girl confidence and take-charge attitude, I found myself more interested in her than Cassel.

THE GOOD

I know it sounds like I hated this, but I really didn’t! The story itself is good and I loved the way Holly Black slowly unraveled it piece by piece. We discover the answer to every mystery with Cassel, which was fun to experience. And despite having a hard time relating to the main character, I thought the dark, criminal, mobster side of this story put an interesting twist on the magical world Black built. The powers the “workers” have are so subtle and it was fascinating so see how they effected our modern day society. It added a richness to the setting that I really appreciated.

FINAL WORD
Meh. Actually read it, don’t listen to the audiobook. I think this story would be worthwhile if my own brain had provided the narration.

The Laughing Listener
Format: Hard Copy
Length: 438 Pages

Rating: ALL THE STARS
*Series Spoilers Ahead*

IT’S HERE. FINALLY. THE DAY HAS ARRIVED. I CAN’T HANDLE MY EMOTIONS.



It was taking so long for the audiobook to become available on Overdrive (I still haven’t gotten it) that I ended up having a rage fit, ripped out most of my hair, and went to the bookstore to buy my own copy. Because let’s be honest, I was going to buy it anyway. And WHAT A JOURNEY. I whipped through this novel and was a complete MESS the entire time.

THE REHASH
In this fourth and FINAL installment, the plot starts right where we left off in [b:Blue Lily, Lily Blue|17378508|Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle, #3)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1477103826s/17378508.jpg|24170141]. The women at 300 Fox Way are concerned to say the least. Blue has gotten herself mixed up in an adventure that’s bigger than anyone could have anticipated. Not only was Maura almost lost in a cave hole, but Blue has also brought back the song-obsessed Gwenllian and her father Artemus who enjoys relaxing in dark closets. The strong, amazing women of 300 Fox Way try to help in any way they can while adjusting to life without Persephone (UGH), but it’s not easy.

Meanwhile, the raven gang is going through personal changes of their own.

Blue and Gansey have finally stopped fighting their feelings for each other, admitting their relationship to themselves and their friends (SQUEEEEE!!). While Ronan and Adam hesitantly forge ahead into their own sort-of relationship (DOUBLE SQUEEEEE!!).

But something is very wrong in Cabeswater and in Ronan’s dreams. At first it’s nothing too concerning. A rotten tree here, one bad dream there… But this negative energy starts to slowly pick up speed—Noah is on the fritz attacking people, Adam is being FREAKING POSSESSED (EW WHAT?), and poor Ronan starts having the most terrifying dreams ever. As everything spins dramatically out of control, the raven gang starts looking for answers and eventually realize it’s all because the third sleeper is awake.

This third sleeper

—a.k.a A GIANT FREAKY FLOATING HORNET—

has been busy with Piper and Neeve, generally causing mayhem and destruction. Piper, the wife of Mr. Gray’s brother Colin Greenmantle, is ecstatic about her new evil dream team and hatches a plan to make tons of money. It’s a truly IDIOTIC and TERRIBLE plan, but whatever. Live your best life.

It’s up to our favorite ravenites to stop this evil force and conclude their search for Glendower, which all leads up to the inevitable death of Richard Cambell Gansey III.

"That's all there is."

THE GOOD
EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING IS GOOD. AHHH!

I’m usually so bad at finishing a book series because I always hate how they end. I’m such a grumpy old lady by the time the last installment comes around because I get mad at how things turn out. They’ve burned me one too many times! I’m not bitter. *Sarcasm alert*

So over the years I’ve started to just give up before things get really bad. Right before I started this blog I read [b:The 5th Wave|16101128|The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, #1)|Rick Yancey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1359853842s/16101128.jpg|19187812] and loved it, then gave up halfway through [b:The Infinite Sea|16131484|The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave, #2)|Rick Yancey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1395351812s/16131484.jpg|27237970] because I could tell it was going down the tubes. Same with the Caster Chronicles series. Same with the Divergent Trilogy… You get the idea. I’m just salty when I read books I guess?????

But this is the first series that I have read in looooonnnng time (maybe ever???) that I loved from start to finish. The beginning was good, the middle was good, the ending was good. I love Ronan and Adam, I love Blue and Gansey, Maura and Mr. Gray, the women at 300 Fox Way, the setting, the magic… Hell, I was even in love with Henry by the end. As far as I can tell, there’s no other series like this—filled to the brim with magical fantasy, yet still completely relatable and real.

THE UGLY
I have nothing constructive to say in this section because everything was perfection. So instead, I’ll be using this space to voice some of my frustrations.

Ummmmm, can someone please tell me WHAT HAPPENED TO MR. GRAY??? I was very concerned about his safety towards the end of the book, but then

he just NEVER COMES BACK after that scene with Seondeok and I have SO MANY QUESTIONS! Is he in a mobster war now? Where did he flee to? What’s his plan to change things? WILL HE EVER COME BACK TO MAURA?!?!

I’M VERY WORRIED. Fingers crossed this will all be covered in the new sequel series that’s coming out.

Also, can we all just take moment to appreciate the stupidity of Piper’s plan?? Like, REALLY?!?!?!



FINAL WORD
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

The Laughing Listener
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Will Patton
Length: 10 hours & 4 minutes

Story Rating: 4 Stars
Performance Rating: 5 Stars
Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars

*Breathes heavily* Oh my god, it’s happening. BOOK THREE. IT’S GOIN’ DOWN. I’M FREAKING OUT.


via GIPHY

I’m in so deep now. A book series hasn’t excited me this much since The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. These Raven Cycle reviews are quickly becoming less constructive and more of just me fangirling for several paragraphs, so I’m apologizing now. Remember my first review of The Raven Boys when I said it was just a “fun listen?” I was so cute. So naive. It was a simpler time.

THE REHASH

In this third installment of The Raven Cycle, our favorite characters are a little more scattered than before, both literally and metaphorically. Maura Sargent, for example, is deep underground in a freaking cave tunnel while Blue and her psychic family desperately search for clues about her disappearance. When they come up empty handed, everyone is feeling the stress and emotions run high at 300 Fox Way.

Meanwhile, Gansey and Adam have made amends from their explosive fight in the last novel, but their niceties are only on the surface. Gansey is falling for Blue fast despite his efforts to fight it. As the leader, he doesn’t want to show favoritism and definitely doesn’t want to hurt Adam, but his heart has other ideas. Similarly, Blue is head over heels for Gansey and the misery of knowing his impending doom is really starting to kick in. With that and her missing mother, Blue has definitely had better days. Adam is busy working (as usual) and learning to communicate better with Cabeswater with the help of Persephone, while Ronan tries to find a way to keep dream things alive on their own. Not only would this help Ronan’s mother, but he also wants to cover his bases in case anything ever happens to him in the future. With Adam and Gansey still (kind of) on the outs, and Blue and Gansey’s secret sort-of relationship, Ronan and Adam get pushed together a little more—growing closer than they were before. All the while, poor Noah is slowly going off the wall and Blue is even forced to shut off her energy from him to avoid disaster.

As all this goes on, the Aglionby boys get a new Latin teacher who is none other than Colin Greenmantle—the Gray Man’s brother and former pissed off employer. After not getting the Graywaren like he wanted in Dream Thieves, Colin and his annoyingly basic wife Piper decide to move in and do a little digging. Once the Gray Man knows they’re in town, he confronts his brother to try and get him to leave, but it only ends with Colin threatening to kill everyone Mr. Gray loves if he doesn’t produce the Graywaren soon. With Ronan’s dreaming abilities, Adam’s smarts, and Mr. Gray’s muscle, they come up with a plan to drive them out of town, but not before Piper starts sniffing around the ley line…

None of this drama puts a halt on the search for Glendower or Maura, and the raven gang starts exploring the caves of Cabeswater to find them. When they hit a dead end, it’s obvious that they need another entrance to the underground tunnels, which is how they meet Jesse Dittley. He’s a man who happens to have a house right next to a cursed cave and it’s the missing puzzle piece—the very thing they needed to get inside the underground tunnels with Maura and the “three sleepers.” The whole book, Blue’s psychic family warns them about these “three sleepers” who are underground for them to find and wake. Or NOT wake…

“Also, rabbits, remember there’s more than one sleeper,” Calla pointed out. “Three of them. One is for you to wake, and one is for you to not wake.”

Well y’all, guess who gets WOKE.

THE GOOD

Everything that we love about the first two novels returns for the third installment and at this point in my devotion, a good review was pretty much guaranteed. The slow build of the Blusey (I’m part of the fandom now, so get ready for the lingo) relationship is soooooo good and I love watching their little stolen moments. I also felt the tiny shift between Ronan and Adam and I am TOTALLY HERE FOR IT. Those two are my favorite characters and seeing them together is like double the happiness for me. Both romances are subdued and take a back seat to the Glendower adventure—an aspect I really love about this series. There’s no need to overstate or dramatize their relationships and I think that somehow adds to the magic of it.

And speaking of magic, despite this being categorized as a fantasy and one of the minor characters having hooves for feet, it feels real. I feel like I could drive five hours north to Henrietta, find the psychic hotline in the phonebook (those still exist right?), or look up Aglionby academy online. Even though Ronan is pulling magical stuff out of thin air, Adam can speak to a forest, and Gansey is ordering around giant herds of magical elk, the emotions are so vivid I can taste them. Stiefvater’s writing is beautiful and somehow manages to make the impossible seem possible.

Oh! And of course, Will Patton is amazing and rules the world.

THE UGLY

The only negative thing I have to say about this third installment is that it felt transitional to me. Despite being part of the same series, both The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves had unique stories that stand out in my mind separately. This one, however, seemed to lean more on it’s predecessor in terms of plot and was just one giant build up to The Raven King. Don’t get me wrong, this is an amazing book and I still loved every second. I just know that in the future when I think of Blue Lily, Lily Blue, I’m probably going to mush it together with The Raven King. It’s like when I think of the Mortal Instrument series by Cassandra Clare and the fourth and fifth books (City of Lost Angels and City of Lost Souls) sort of blur into one giant novel. Know what I mean? No? I’m talking to myself now?? Okay moving on…

FINAL WORD

YES. DO IT. SO GOOD. NO TIME TO TALK, GOTTA GO READ RAVEN KING.


via GIPHY

The Laughing Listener
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Will Patton *Applauds*
Length: 12 hours & 46 minutes

Story Rating: 5 Stars
Performance Rating: 5 Stars
Overall Rating: 5 Stars

*Series spoilers ahead my friends*

This was my second foray into the Raven Cycle series and I'll admit, I was a tad apprehensive when I started. Instinctively, without really reading anything about it, I knew things were going to start getting crazy for our Raven Boys and I was not wrong. It's reassuring to know my instincts are still very much in tact. In the first novel, we get a taste of the magic they're dealing with and in this one it's GAME ON. About 60% of the novel feels like you're on a bad high from one of Kavinsky's pills, but somehow it TOTALLY WORKS. Even with all the freaky magical dream shit going on, this book leaves you frothing at the mouth for more.



THE GOOD

Okay. Listen. Hold the phone. We need to talk about how awesome Will Patton is. In my review of the first novel The Raven Boys, I touched on his stellar performance, but it needs to be said again. He has the BEST southern accent—the kind that makes you buttery—and it perfectly fits this series like a missing puzzle piece. The different voices Patton uses for each character has such a grand individuality, that it has greatly shaped the way I "see" each one. When that creeper Kavisnky first rolled up, I just about died at Will Patton's old-timey gangster sounding voice. Freaking perfect.

This time around I really enjoyed the subtlety of Blue and Gangsey's building relationship. During the first book I was worried their forbidden romance would turn into the main story line and overshadow everything else. That's not why I liked the first book, and after novels like Shiver and Twilight (sorry guys, I'm jut not a fan), I didn't want to see this series ruined. My worries were all for naught though. Steifvater does an amazing job using small actions or phrases to create an undercurrent of romantic tension that I love. I can't wait to see it play out over the next two books.

And I've saved the best for last. RONAN YOU GUYS. RONAN. He's just the best and I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS.



To me, the "bad boy" characters always feel hollow. They're too much like a stereotype and not comparable to any real person, but Ronan is a take on the classic "bad boy" that completely feels genuine. I hate even mentioning that stereotype because I don't want his character to get pigeon-holed. He's a loving person with a big heart that's been hurt, and he's pissed as hell, and I totally get it. Maybe this is just me personally, or maybe it's just where I'm at in my life right now, but Ronan is one of the most relatable characters I've read in a really long time. I'm so happy he was the central character in this book and I CANNOT WAIT to keep going.

These are people that I feel like I know. It feels like I went to high school with them, or that we're neighbors in the same town and that's the quality really tying me to this series. I'm completely invested in what happens to the raven gang and I'm a little sad I didn't find this series sooner. Despite all the fantastical monsters and magic, Stiefvater has written a unique coming-of-age tale that everyone can identify with.

THE UGLY

This isn't really a negative comment about the book, but more of a personal observation.

I had a hard time with Adam in this novel. Most of the time I felt bad for him in a wow-that-sucks kind of way, but I had a hard time wrapping my head around his motivations and actions. Obviously Adam was acting different because of his sacrifice to Cabeswater, but it almost felt too out of character to me. It made me sad, because I really loved Adam the way he was and I hated seeing him so out of it. But now that he has a better handle on what's happening to him, I'm hopeful it will get better for the poor guy. *crosses fingers*

FINAL WORD

This book is better than the first one. There, I said it. More action, more drama, more crazy magic, and MORE RONAN! If you even remotely enjoyed the first novel, do yourself a favor and give this one a go.

The Laughing Listener
Format: Audio Book
Narrator: Tim Curry again!! *Screams*
Length: 14 hours & 45 minutes
Rating: 4 Stars

The saga continues! I had some serious doubts going into this sequel since the beginning of Sabriel was such a freaking bore. But once again, the promise of Mogget and Tim Curry made me take the dive and I'm happy I did. So far this Old Kingdom series hasn't been pulse-racingly thrilling, but it's a fun adventure with talking animals. That's all I really need.


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THE REHASH
*For some reason, this summary is super long. I don't know what's wrong with me. Feel free to skip my rantings and head straight to the review on the bottom. I promise not to be offended.*

The prologue opens with a mysterious man named Hedge carrying the bells of an Abhorsen, instantly making the reader question where in the Old Kingdom timeline this is taking place. Last we heard, Sabriel—the new Abhorsen—was definitely female. Is this far in the future, or far in the past? He begins speaking with another powerful sorceress named Chlorr and it becomes obvious that they are followers of Kerrigor, the evil-being Sabriel defeated in the first novel. Hedge makes Chlorr his new servant and apparently these two goons are the new evil dream team.

This book is broken up into four parts, the first taking place 14 years after the ending of Sabriel. We see a girl named Lirael, who's turning 14 and hates birthdays. They're just a reminder of everything she doesn't have. She's a member of the Clayr, a group of mostly women infamous for their ability to see into the future, and Lirael has waited her whole life to get the Sight without success. Plus, her whole aesthetic is the complete opposite of a normal Clayr who are tan skinned with blonde hair, while Lirael is pale and dark featured. Now she is alone, her father's identity a mystery and her mother long gone, with only an abrasive aunt as family. She is an outcast in every way—no easy thing for a 14 year-old—and goes to great lengths to push people away so she can't get hurt.

After an abysmal birthday morning, Lirael spends most of chapter two listing all the benefits of suicide and plotting how to do it. In the end she settles on jumping off a cliff. You know, casual. The Clayr's home is already set in the mountains and they have a paper plane hanger that would be perfect to throw one's self from, so Lirael sets off. She arrives after a long hike and immediately hides, waiting for the guards to get lost to make her final move. As she waits, a paper plane comes gliding in and we finally see Sabriel and King Touchstone. They've come to visit the Clayr hoping for a vision that could help their current quest. Hedge is purposely causing problems as a distraction, though they don't know this yet—only see the effects of his actions. The older Clayr deny having any related visions, and the now married couple set off again, but not before Sabriel spots Lirael hiding in the snow. Once the two are gone, the older Clayr demand to know what Lirael is doing and she breaks down. Without giving away her plan for suicide, she admits how miserable she's been and how worried she is about not gaining the Sight yet. For some reason, the Clayr women are shocked and ask if it would help to have a job to take her mind off things. Lirael is overjoyed and accepts a position in the library, making you wonder why no one offered this to the poor thing earlier.

Contrastingly, fast forward four years and Prince Sameth is busy being a wholesome, trouble-free teen playing cricket with his cricket team. On the way home from a game, they belatedly realize that the driver has been going the wrong way and leading them straight into a trap. There's a whole lot of zombies coming and Sam demonstrates his prowess as a leader, which is important because you'll want to slap him in the coming chapters. Recognizing that the undead are being controlled by another necromancer, Sam decides to go into death to find them. On the other side, he sees Hedge who immediately tries to cast a control spell. It's obvious that this entire plot was a grand scheme to get to Sam specifically and he just manages to thwart Hedge with some pretty kick ass moves. Sam goes back to reality barely making it out alive, with Hedge following close behind, determined to get control of the prince. For an awful moment it appears that Hedge succeeds, embedding something evil in his opponent's heart, but we learn that he mistakenly hit Sam's friend Nicholas instead. Nick is now unknowingly the host of an awful spirit that the creepy Hedge is trying to please. It's all very Harry Potter, Professor Quirrell-esque.


via GIPHY

The cricket team narrowly escapes and they all go home, unaware that the danger has just begun.

While Sam recovers from the attack physically, he still suffers from post-traumatic stress and has become paralyzingly afraid of death—not too convenient for the Abhorsen-in-waiting. For a long while we follow Sam while he mopes about the castle, wondering how to tell his mother he doesn't wish to be the next Abhorsen. We also see him get bossed around by his insensitive older sister Ellimere, which is apparently suppose to show us that she'll be a great Queen someday. Just as the two royal siblings get word from their parents that things in the kingdom have gone from bad to worse, Sam receives a letter from Nick saying he's coming to visit. This would be good news, but Nick didn't want to bother Sam to come pick him up, so he decided to hire a random guide instead. It's so obvious this "guide" is Hedge that even Sam sees how sketchy the situation is and decides to sneak out of the castle to go save his friend.

The now 18 year-old Lirael, on the other hand, is having a grand time working at the library by day and exploring it's hidden rooms at night. She's very gifted with charter magic and uses it to sneak around after hours. During one of these excursions she accidentally unleashes a freaky praying mantis monster and in the chaos, finds a little dog figurine. Once she manages to get away safely, she casts a spell to bring the dog figurine to life and OH MY GOD THERE'S A TALKING DOG NOW. Sassy Tim Curry dog is just as amazing as sassy Tim Curry cat and ALL MY DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE. Together they team up to defeat the scary praying mantis and explore the library in more depth, eventually finding the secrets of Lirael's past hidden in one of the old rooms. The elder women of the Clayr help her find some answers and confess they've seen Lirael in a vision helping a sick young man.

They send her on a quest to find him, where she sails—quite literally—into Prince Sameth and they discover they're looking for the same person. Both Lirael and Sam join forces to save Nick and *crosses fingers* defeat Hedge. In the end, we're left on a cliffy and have to read book three to find out what happens.

THE GOOD

My main gurl Lirael is awesome and I really loved the parts told from her perspective. Even when she was having a major pity-party at the beginning, on the verge of throwing herself off a cliff, she was still relatable. What person hasn't felt like an outcast at some point during their life? Plus, the Clayr seemed so oblivious to her plight that it really made me feel for Lirael. Once she gets the job in the library, though, she becomes magical bad ass and it was amazing to watch her grow as a character.

Plus, let's not forget Lirael's bff, the TALKING DOG. Mogget the cat really saved me during the first novel and the Disreputable Dog (I'm calling her DD for short—that name is way too long.) saved me during this one. Its kind of poetic. I'm really hoping this is a theme that runs throughout the series and we'll just get more and more talking animals. Talking dragon. Talking horse. Talking bird. Talking fish. The possibilities are endless. When Mogget and DD finally met and bantered together towards the end it made the whole book for me.

I also think Garth Nix did a good job in the way he arranged the plot, and it really made everything more exciting. The way he switches perspectives between the two characters is great, and it helped build a lot of excitement for when Sam and Lirael finally meet. At the end of Sabriel, there was a time crunch and a sense of urgency that this book was lacking since it cuts off before the main confrontation. Breaking it up into different parts and characters was a good way to compensate for that.

And I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Tim Curry makes this audio book worth listening to. He has the best voice and does an amazing job acting out the story. I have already mentally added "animal voices" to the list of reason why I love Tim Curry so much.

THE UGLY

By the end, Sam is not my favorite person. It's odd because I started off really loving him after that whole cricket team battle, but my opinion just got progressively worse and worse as the story went on. When he goes into death to hunt for Hedge, some horrible things happen and it's completely understandable that this would freak him out. I never blamed him for the post-traumatic stress, and even felt for the guy when he went back home and had to deal with his awful sister without any help from his parents. After a while though, his whining starts to get old and by the end I wanted to kick him. My new literary best friend Lirael is making plans to go save Nick, and Sam says he wants to stay back and let her go without him. What?!? Are you kidding me right now? After everything you've been through and the countless times she's saved your sorry butt, you're just going to let Lirael rescue Nicholas (who's your friend to begin with, by the way) alone? UGH. GTFO. I think part of the problem is that the book cuts off and we only see half of Sam's character transformation, but that doesn't make it any less infuriating.

Plus, I can't lie, parts of this book were a little boring for me. Particularly Sam's sections that depict him depressingly roaming about the castle and dancing terribly as a bird. I loved Lirael so much that I found myself anxiously awaiting her parts and not paying too much attention to his. It was nowhere near as dull as the first one, but still a little on the subdued side nonetheless.

FINAL WORD

This was really fun to listen to and definitely a better overall book than the first one. How often does that happen? If you liked the ending of Sabriel and loved the characters, this is definitely worth reading. All of the good ones come back and I really enjoyed seeing the story continue. On the the third!

And again, do yourself a solid and LISTEN TO THE AUDIO BOOK.