Rebecca’s review of The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5) > Likes and Comments
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i’m having a difficult time understanding all of the high praise… her ridiculous, over the top descriptions regarding the most insignificant of items or the various smells attached to such trivialities made me want to rip my hair out by page 12!! there was just soooo much unnecessary verbiage that did next to nothing except annoy the you know what out of me. and the more i read the more i questioned whether deborah actually wrote this without outside influence / help. i’ve loved every other book in the series, but this one fell very flat, and that’s putting it nicely.
I agree 100% with this review. Disappointed by this book
Agreed—this was a treading-water book, an excruciatingly long trailer for the next one. Disappointing.
I could not agree more with your review. Such a disappointment. This book felt like filler, with build up then nothing happening. And there is no way the Diana and Matthew of previous books would have allowed Satu anywhere near their children. Ever!
Agreed, feels like a length trailer for the next one is accurate and a bummer
As a true fan of this series, THANK YOU FOR TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!
1. I want my money back
2. The book could’ve literally been cut in half, and it would’ve been a good story. The other unnecessary half was clearly meant for the people who never read the other books 🙄
3. Deborah knows she’s wrong for making us wait this long and this is what she gave us. SMH
I’m hoping that she has a full recovery from the cancer and chemo. I’d rather call this a recovery from cancer book. It was just not her best.
I wish I’d read your review before I bought it. 😩 I completely agree with your assessment!
It was so disappointing. She could have cut out fifty pages by not describing every single cup of tea the characters drank.
I was so eager to read it. I grabbed it as soon as it was out. And I have to agree with everything you wrote, unfortunately. But - it convinced me to re-watched the TV series :-D
All the freaking cups of tea. These are just not the same characters from the original trilogy. I did like the old aunt but she was about all I liked about the book.
How the hell was Satu even allowed that close to the children and still allowed to live? No. I do not buy any of this. Diana is much more powerful due to her having the book of life in her, being a weaver, and now learning from her Auntie. Satu doesn’t have all of this. You cannot just up and change everything. Oh sure you can it’s your book. I’m sure you will lose lots of your dedicated followers if that’s the path you choose. We do not like Satu because you wrote her that way for us. The fact that we even made it to the end of the book to find her touching the children was hard enough. Unbelievable! Give us a better book! 🤦♀️ I ordered all the copies so I had all the different covers. They do speak the truth about the tea. What the hell?
I agree with your review. I love the All Souls books but really had trouble getting into this one. I ended up putting it aside to try again later.
Totally agree with everyone especially about the tea, and every single detail way over the top and drawn out. I’ve been struggling to finish it as I rented it from the library and so glad I didn’t buy it.
Yes this book had not same quality. Big fan of other books. It did not make sense at all. Why not go with another story line, explore history of one of the other characters like in time s convert. Take gallowglass. Explore what happens to him when he left at end book 3...
I agree. This is such a disappointing book.
Well said. I didn’t enjoy it and was bored.
Ugh, I was hoping this wouldn't be the case. She did the same thing in the first book. I just don't have the patience to read a bunch of unnecessary nonsense due to lack of editing. I might pass on this one....but I don't know *sigh*
This was a disappointing slog. The characters feel like strangers and I almost feel like this could have been ghostwritten for the ways the world building changed and how Diana and Matthew interacted.
Very underwhelmed. Loved the prior books in the series, but this was long, meandering, lacked the pace and momentum, the characters didn’t demonstrate their usual depth - a let down.
Agree with everyone. Way too much witch information. Started to look up the words then decided not worth it. And yes Matthew was hardly a part of this book and his strong emotions, anger and protectiveness of Diana and the family never came through. And that’s what we love about him. It didn’t feel like him at all. And way too many Proctors and Bishops to keep that of. And yes the testing of the children was such a let down.
Totally agree. Could have used a good edit. The baddies were underwhelming and the “tests” of the characters were disappointingly lacking in real tension. I feel bad because I was so looking forward to this book. Clearly the next book will be coming and I hope it will be better.
Agreed! And also wondered if it was me, being tired of the series/outgrew the story. I loved Discovery of Witches so much and Marcus’ book. Sigh.
I really do feel like it was 444 pages of nothing important. I’m glad I’m not the only one
I'm stuck on p168 and mostly bored! There seems to be an unending backstory to the various witches (alive and dead) with virtually no “life” or action. I keep trying to get a look at the family tree but, at least in the Kindle edition, it can’t adequately be expanded so as to be readable (either so tiny that I can’t read the names and relationships or so huge that only a few words fit on the page).
It seems to me that as a parent of young children who is living and nurturing and suspect of of the Congregation's plans for those children, Diana and Matthew would not have had such a cavalier attitude about Diana leaving them for so long. The writing, IMO, is flabby and needs tightening (eg, the scenes thus far in the tea shop seem unendingly long).
As I've denoted above, I'm not very far into the book. I sure do hope the pace picks up and there’s more character and relationship development but I fear, after reading other reviews that it’s not to be.
I’m trying to finish this and am at about 65% through! It’s so boring!! The last book was dreadfully boring as well! Not sure I can finish.
You had me at "next in the series". I'm rewatching the show now. I'm in like Flynn.
Thank you. About 100 pages in and sad to feel I don’t care enough to finish. Sending it back to the library.
Agreed! Nothing happened! The only thing saving it from being one star is the witchy vibes.
I really enjoyed her other books, but I am having a really tough time with this one. It is much too long and I’m just not interested in what is happening.
I'm so happy to hear its not just me that was thinking "what the f**k" throughout the whole experience
Deborah Dunsmore wrote: "It was so disappointing. She could have cut out fifty pages by not describing every single cup of tea the characters drank." TRUTH!
I am so glad I wasn’t the only one wondering why I was still reading it 3/4 of the way through. I couldn’t agree with your review more!
Agree with most of your comments and I’d like to add one; who is this Diana? Her bravery is gone, her smarts are not with her. Loved that we got to read more in this world but you’re right, it needs a lot of changes.
Thankful it’s not just me! Diana is barely tolerable - whiny, immature and only 30% of the way in the story-I don’t think I can take more.
Thank you for being honest and giving me warning. What is with beloved author's writing overly long and boring books after their series becomes popular? Diana Gabaldon did the same thing with the latest Outlander book "Bees". Thar book was over 900 pages long and over half was boring filler. You could have cut that book in half and it would have been so much better and still would have been long enough and made complete sense. Thank you so much for warning me that this was another case of bad writing by a previously good author that got a ton of unnecessary praise just because they wrote a previously popular series that was turned into a tv show.
Sadly, I agree. The characters felt so different, like they were completely different people to ADOW. I wanted to live this book because it is part of my favorite book series but it was painful to finish. I also think that the introduction to wand usage and fairies in the woods was too much of a stretch for me, it just didn’t fit the world of ADOW.
And was it just me or was a lot of the magic very very Harry Potter-esque?? I was so excited there was so much magic until I remembered Molly Weasley's self-cleaning dishes, the wizard's self-stirring tea in the leaky cauldron, the howler, the light putter-outter, the memories in bottles!! I always praised this series for being more intellectual. The Harry Potter magic is whimsical AF but put that an all-souls book and it feels a bit juvenile.
Cannot agree with you more about Diana and Matthew still not knowing each other, and others' comments about the kids being non-entities, the length, and in general, with all that happened to Diana at the hands of Congregation witches, the fact that they're listening to ANYTHING the congregation tries to force them to do... Explain that!! I was also really disappointed at the very sudden complete character assassination of Aunt Sarah!! What was this book?!?!
And the writing was dreadful. So overwritten and florid. She used 2-3 adjectives when none would have been perfectly fine. And the back story about & connection to Salem
agree so much with all the comments! I was soooo disappointed with this book… Diana was a brat kid that can’t hear no or a different opinion than hers and Matthew (loved him so much in the first 3 books) became nothing more than a housewife through this whole book.
It really felt like it was written by a completely different author! Not sure how we will have 2 more books after this 🤷🏼♀️
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Jul 20, 2024 07:39PM
i’m having a difficult time understanding all of the high praise… her ridiculous, over the top descriptions regarding the most insignificant of items or the various smells attached to such trivialities made me want to rip my hair out by page 12!! there was just soooo much unnecessary verbiage that did next to nothing except annoy the you know what out of me. and the more i read the more i questioned whether deborah actually wrote this without outside influence / help. i’ve loved every other book in the series, but this one fell very flat, and that’s putting it nicely.
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I agree 100% with this review. Disappointed by this book
Agreed—this was a treading-water book, an excruciatingly long trailer for the next one. Disappointing.
I could not agree more with your review. Such a disappointment. This book felt like filler, with build up then nothing happening. And there is no way the Diana and Matthew of previous books would have allowed Satu anywhere near their children. Ever!
Agreed, feels like a length trailer for the next one is accurate and a bummer
As a true fan of this series, THANK YOU FOR TELLING IT LIKE IT IS! 1. I want my money back
2. The book could’ve literally been cut in half, and it would’ve been a good story. The other unnecessary half was clearly meant for the people who never read the other books 🙄
3. Deborah knows she’s wrong for making us wait this long and this is what she gave us. SMH
I’m hoping that she has a full recovery from the cancer and chemo. I’d rather call this a recovery from cancer book. It was just not her best.
I wish I’d read your review before I bought it. 😩 I completely agree with your assessment!
It was so disappointing. She could have cut out fifty pages by not describing every single cup of tea the characters drank.
I was so eager to read it. I grabbed it as soon as it was out. And I have to agree with everything you wrote, unfortunately. But - it convinced me to re-watched the TV series :-D
All the freaking cups of tea. These are just not the same characters from the original trilogy. I did like the old aunt but she was about all I liked about the book.
How the hell was Satu even allowed that close to the children and still allowed to live? No. I do not buy any of this. Diana is much more powerful due to her having the book of life in her, being a weaver, and now learning from her Auntie. Satu doesn’t have all of this. You cannot just up and change everything. Oh sure you can it’s your book. I’m sure you will lose lots of your dedicated followers if that’s the path you choose. We do not like Satu because you wrote her that way for us. The fact that we even made it to the end of the book to find her touching the children was hard enough. Unbelievable! Give us a better book! 🤦♀️ I ordered all the copies so I had all the different covers. They do speak the truth about the tea. What the hell?
I agree with your review. I love the All Souls books but really had trouble getting into this one. I ended up putting it aside to try again later.
Totally agree with everyone especially about the tea, and every single detail way over the top and drawn out. I’ve been struggling to finish it as I rented it from the library and so glad I didn’t buy it.
Yes this book had not same quality. Big fan of other books. It did not make sense at all. Why not go with another story line, explore history of one of the other characters like in time s convert. Take gallowglass. Explore what happens to him when he left at end book 3...
I agree. This is such a disappointing book.
Well said. I didn’t enjoy it and was bored.
Ugh, I was hoping this wouldn't be the case. She did the same thing in the first book. I just don't have the patience to read a bunch of unnecessary nonsense due to lack of editing. I might pass on this one....but I don't know *sigh*
This was a disappointing slog. The characters feel like strangers and I almost feel like this could have been ghostwritten for the ways the world building changed and how Diana and Matthew interacted.
Very underwhelmed. Loved the prior books in the series, but this was long, meandering, lacked the pace and momentum, the characters didn’t demonstrate their usual depth - a let down.
Agree with everyone. Way too much witch information. Started to look up the words then decided not worth it. And yes Matthew was hardly a part of this book and his strong emotions, anger and protectiveness of Diana and the family never came through. And that’s what we love about him. It didn’t feel like him at all. And way too many Proctors and Bishops to keep that of. And yes the testing of the children was such a let down.
Totally agree. Could have used a good edit. The baddies were underwhelming and the “tests” of the characters were disappointingly lacking in real tension. I feel bad because I was so looking forward to this book. Clearly the next book will be coming and I hope it will be better.
Agreed! And also wondered if it was me, being tired of the series/outgrew the story. I loved Discovery of Witches so much and Marcus’ book. Sigh.
I really do feel like it was 444 pages of nothing important. I’m glad I’m not the only one
I'm stuck on p168 and mostly bored! There seems to be an unending backstory to the various witches (alive and dead) with virtually no “life” or action. I keep trying to get a look at the family tree but, at least in the Kindle edition, it can’t adequately be expanded so as to be readable (either so tiny that I can’t read the names and relationships or so huge that only a few words fit on the page). It seems to me that as a parent of young children who is living and nurturing and suspect of of the Congregation's plans for those children, Diana and Matthew would not have had such a cavalier attitude about Diana leaving them for so long. The writing, IMO, is flabby and needs tightening (eg, the scenes thus far in the tea shop seem unendingly long).
As I've denoted above, I'm not very far into the book. I sure do hope the pace picks up and there’s more character and relationship development but I fear, after reading other reviews that it’s not to be.
I’m trying to finish this and am at about 65% through! It’s so boring!! The last book was dreadfully boring as well! Not sure I can finish.
You had me at "next in the series". I'm rewatching the show now. I'm in like Flynn.
Thank you. About 100 pages in and sad to feel I don’t care enough to finish. Sending it back to the library.
Agreed! Nothing happened! The only thing saving it from being one star is the witchy vibes.
I really enjoyed her other books, but I am having a really tough time with this one. It is much too long and I’m just not interested in what is happening.
I'm so happy to hear its not just me that was thinking "what the f**k" throughout the whole experience
Deborah Dunsmore wrote: "It was so disappointing. She could have cut out fifty pages by not describing every single cup of tea the characters drank." TRUTH!
I am so glad I wasn’t the only one wondering why I was still reading it 3/4 of the way through. I couldn’t agree with your review more!
Agree with most of your comments and I’d like to add one; who is this Diana? Her bravery is gone, her smarts are not with her. Loved that we got to read more in this world but you’re right, it needs a lot of changes.
Thankful it’s not just me! Diana is barely tolerable - whiny, immature and only 30% of the way in the story-I don’t think I can take more.
Thank you for being honest and giving me warning. What is with beloved author's writing overly long and boring books after their series becomes popular? Diana Gabaldon did the same thing with the latest Outlander book "Bees". Thar book was over 900 pages long and over half was boring filler. You could have cut that book in half and it would have been so much better and still would have been long enough and made complete sense. Thank you so much for warning me that this was another case of bad writing by a previously good author that got a ton of unnecessary praise just because they wrote a previously popular series that was turned into a tv show.
Sadly, I agree. The characters felt so different, like they were completely different people to ADOW. I wanted to live this book because it is part of my favorite book series but it was painful to finish. I also think that the introduction to wand usage and fairies in the woods was too much of a stretch for me, it just didn’t fit the world of ADOW.
And was it just me or was a lot of the magic very very Harry Potter-esque?? I was so excited there was so much magic until I remembered Molly Weasley's self-cleaning dishes, the wizard's self-stirring tea in the leaky cauldron, the howler, the light putter-outter, the memories in bottles!! I always praised this series for being more intellectual. The Harry Potter magic is whimsical AF but put that an all-souls book and it feels a bit juvenile. Cannot agree with you more about Diana and Matthew still not knowing each other, and others' comments about the kids being non-entities, the length, and in general, with all that happened to Diana at the hands of Congregation witches, the fact that they're listening to ANYTHING the congregation tries to force them to do... Explain that!! I was also really disappointed at the very sudden complete character assassination of Aunt Sarah!! What was this book?!?!
And the writing was dreadful. So overwritten and florid. She used 2-3 adjectives when none would have been perfectly fine. And the back story about & connection to Salem
agree so much with all the comments! I was soooo disappointed with this book… Diana was a brat kid that can’t hear no or a different opinion than hers and Matthew (loved him so much in the first 3 books) became nothing more than a housewife through this whole book. It really felt like it was written by a completely different author! Not sure how we will have 2 more books after this 🤷🏼♀️
