📖 Story comment: honestly, i’m a little confused.
I’ve been mulling over a review for a couple of days, and it sort of all feels just a bit of a non-event. For me, the Hansel and Gretel vibe was more symbolic than actual plot (but I’m not familiar with the original Grimm fable only the modern re-telling, so that’s on me). With a book from this author, I normally feel a connection between the main characters, emotionally connect and become absorbed in the story …. and I’m sorry, but I didn’t really get any of that with this one.
Overall I did enjoy the story in itself, a long time fan of this author, it wasn’t as “dark” as I was expecting, I don’t know if it’s because it was short, spanned quite a few years (which I did enjoy watching Johnny living a normal life) and felt like the MC’s were apart more than they were together .. it just lacked that usual Fielding “magic” I’ve come to expect.
What i’d call an easy pace, not “insta-love” as it takes years for the hard won HEA. Not what I call “dark and gritty”, but it’s not light and fluffy either – definitely high on angst. Johnny has a great group of friends as supporting characters which I enjoyed – there wasn’t really enough of Zimri for me to connect with him.
🎧 Narrator comment: Joel Leslie is one of my favorite narrators and as always he gives a stellar performance. I had no problem distinguishing characters and the rhythm, inflections and intonations all worked to bring the book to life.
📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 4
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn’t like the narration • 3 didn’t keep my attention [3⭐]
• 4 was good, but once was enough • 5 enjoyed it • 6 will listen again if i’m in the mood for the narrator • 7 goes on the “re-listen” list • 8 kept me up past bed-time • 9 recommended to family/friends • 10 own it in multiple formats • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]