Let me start by saying I’m not a big fan of David Stifel as a narrator in general. His “narrator’s voice” (when he’s not reading dialog) just rubs me the wrong way. It’s an odd match for a story about teenagers and early twenty-somethings. His tone and inflections remind me of a dorky uncle or a side-kick deacon at a Methodist church… not that there’s anything wrong with people who match those descriptions. It’s just that he kind of hams it up and I find his vocal inflections jarring. Also, his female voices are horrid.
That aside, this book was in keeping with the quality and tone of the other side-quests in this series… there’s a bit more hand wringing than I will normally put up with, but seeing as how this whole series is about teens breaking out of their self-imposed, low self-esteem prisons you kinda have to expect a certain amount of self-obsessing and woe-is-me whininess.
If you liked the other books in the series then this one will deliver.