Hemmel M. > Recent Status Updates

It gets rather tedious. I am at 60% and this is still no romance or mystery. Aaron does not want to believe in graphology and keeps looking for possible tricks. I wished he just stopped bothering others with it, and me. I am so annoyed, after 4 hours of listening.

At 20 percent I read the blurb to find out where this is going. At the moment it feels like a travel guide, describing the city and customs.

I am struggling. From the fascinating love story in book one, it peters out to a history lesson about Anubis through the centuries, with way too many points of view from several groups of people knowing facts about the monsters and throwing in new words when talking to others.

It is an entertaining story with tempered drama. I am again unhappy with the low quality of the sound. The narrator is fine but could perform more emotional depth. Also, he rushes from one pov to the next without a break, making me miss the switch.

I have to drop a note so I can stop composing a review while listening.
This is a modern fairytale. We have a woman without education or experience, who is advising the real estate owner and the contractor how to do a better job. They are both very grateful.
Further, she sells candles on line and has to send orders, which she does maybe once a week. How she pays for her car, energy bill and food is a mystery to me.

I have to make a little note for myself: the audio quality is appalling. The narrator talks like a little girl. I know I downloaded a feelgood novel, but still don't want to be talked to like a child getting a bedtime story.

Something needs to change, soon. We get two rather bland characters living an uneventful life. I understand why I could not rate this after the first time I read it. I suspect I remembered nothing,, directly after finishing.

I am not sure I will finish this. There is this ancient spell, history and forbidden religion. And the characters are theorizing chapter after chapter about how it actual works and who might know what secret.
This is sooooooo not my genre.

I am skimming. There are several POV, because this first title introduces the characters of other novels. I do not want to know the coloring and dress of 6 people in a row?
My main problem is the repetition. We see Anna enter through Avery's eyes, taking up several paragraphs. Then, Anna sits down and we read about all her thoughts since she knocked on the door. And next, Anna writes her friend the same story, again.

This has two weirdly distant points of view. Two people meet every few months and talk, making the 'plot' rather fragmented. We learn nothing about interests, hobbies, families, or future plans. They talk about memories and objects and doing so, we learn nothing about their personalities, too. They are interchangeable. The calm, thoughtful narrator sounds nice but does not make it any more emotional.

Being on another hemisphere, It is smart to check the atlas when describing the scope of your research. From Italy to Sweden? You mean they exclude Norway? I think not. Next, they define their scope as 'from Scotland to Sicily'. Which excludes the whole Eastern part of Europe. But soon it becomes clear they should have said 'Crete', as it is 1000 kilometer farther to the East, and they do include the East.

Reading a history of Europe throws me for a loop in the Preface. No, my first jolt of confusion was Table of Contents. They mention The Empire at several places and I think: Which emperor? Napoleon, Ceasar, Otto, who? Turns out, they mean the Brits. Who never ruled Europe. The writers are Canadian, and forgot Europeans will read their book about Europe.

At this point, at 15%, I am still struggling with this pairing. Adam has had his career and his family, and now the wants Riley too. Riley comes in the third place in Adam's life, and now Adam left the first two, he is making an effort for the third. Riley pulls my heartstrings, how he struggles with alcohol, grief and depression, lacking hockey and love. He deserves a partner who puts him first from the beginning.

I think some characters get too little introduction. I don't feel for the protagonists. What I find awful are the details every meeting with the coaches gets. About several youngsters in a row we hear what their stats are, how to use their strong points, how they can get better when paired with someone else, what their bad plays were in the past, and next, how the other two coaches disagree and why. Spare me! Please!

I am at 50% and am enjoying two seriously damaged characters and have no idea how it ends. What is really weird, is me calmly reading about blood, gore, torture and sadisme, but jolting back as Ashey gets slapped around by his dad.

I am at 40% and still am reading what is stated in the blurb.
It's a pageturner, though. With the number of flashbacks it's not a novel about a man in a cabin.

I am not sure how correct the language is, in this novel. Regularly, I am looking at a sentence and wonder what the subject is or what words are missing. The writer's bio says she is a language teacher. And other reviewers don't mention the language used. So I must be wrong, not?

This is breathtaking. I am sometimes aware of an unnecessarily long information paragraph, or an editing error. Buy I refuse to emerge from this world.

I like the story and am only slightly annoyed by a village where 90% of the inhabitants are gay.
I would stop listening because of the narrator. Arthur and Jordan have distinct voices. But both protagonists have the same voice as each other and for speech and thoughts, and the narrator rushes along without pause, making me very confused.

This is my first EH novel and I took care to pick the one my GR friends liked best. I know little about 1730 London. Orphanages serve their pupils meat, cheese, fruit and biscuits, I find. And the upper class roll their eyes and shrug their shoulders. The names are original, like Lord Dark and Lady Care.
I am entertained, don't get me wrong. But setting the story in a phantasy world would have been more to my taste.

And how come he does not know what to say when his client is unwilling? Did he become executive manager without ever having done this negotiation before?

So, the executive financial manager of South Asia and Australia is the one who has to visit the bank's clients at home to discuss their loan. Doesn't sound like an executive manager. And why does he live and work in New York when these clients he has to visit live across the world?

I am captivated by this audiobook!

I soooooooooo had it, with this kind of stories. Homophobia, meager social security, injustice. It makes me sad, and I read romance to feel happy.

Can you have too much unresolved sexual tension? I thought not. But after 8 hours listening to two people analyzing their feelings, talking sweet confessions, several near kisses, glimpses of nude flesh, and Imre carrying Luca around, I am getting annoyed. Either the plot or the characters have to evolve. And soon.

I like the story and trope and am happy it is set in a fictional world. What I dislike with a passion is the cookie cutter husband with no other characteristics than a surly mood and struggles to contain his attraction. Eyeroll.
Mind me, he does not know himself he is attracted. What a surprise... not. Every chapter I read 'what is this strange feeling?' and 'why do I react so strongly to her sadness?' Very annoying.

This series gets more cruel with every novel. I prefer feelgood novels, so this is not my cuppa. Suffering, injustice and abuse novels I only finish because I want a happy ending so much. I have no idea where this is going.

I am at 60% and relistened several chapters. I have no idea why I am forgetting what I just heard. The previous book I had the same issue with.

It was interesting as long as they were fighting. And the story was nicely fleshed out and took it's time. The sex scenes happened relatively late, and are way too long and way too many. I hope it turns for the better, soon.