Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters #3) by Juliet Marillier narrated by, Heather O'Neill

Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters #3) by Juliet Marillier narrated by, Heather O'Neill

Fianne daughter of Niamh and Ciaran comes to Sevenwaters after her mother’s death and is welcomed into the family fold, however things aren’t as they seem because the Sevenwaters clan has no idea she has been tutored not only in the ways of a druid by her father but in the dark arts by her grandmother the evil sorceress who was the one who cast the spell on the sons of Sevenwaters. In a long ago prophecy it states that it will take a child that was neither of Britain nor or Erin but at the same time both, who is marked by the raven to take the sacred island back. Everyone assumes this is Johnny son of Liadan & Bran and the evil sorceress has sent Fianne there to kill him when the moment is right so the prophecy is not fulfilled.

I enjoyed Fianne’s story very much she is as all other Sevenwaters women very strong and goes through a lot but she is being controlled by the sorceress but also still has the good in her that comes from her father’s teachings. She has a very hard road I think the toughest since Sorcha, because she so wants to be good even when the sorceress forces her to do terrible things that injures one of the other daughters of Sevenwaters.

I liked this book because it is filled with the Sevenwaters family no one is really off their own, Fianne is surrounded by people who want her to be good and want her in their lives, her two biggest allies are Finbar the uncle who still wears a swans wing thanks to her grandmother and Darragh her childhood friend. This is also our first look at island of Inis Eala where Bran’s men under the tutelage of his son Johnny are running a sort of school for warriors and we see the families of the men from Son of Shadows including Gull’s wife Biddy who was a favorite character of mine. We also have the creepy Eamonn again and contrary to outward appearances he has not forgiven what he feels are the wrongs done to him by Bran & Liadan.

I would say this is my second favorite of the series after Daughter of the Forest. I thoroughly enjoyed Fianne journey and the outcome, even though fans of the other books may need hankies towards the end, I know I did.

Heather O'Neill’s narration was great, Fianne unlike the rest of her family in Sevenwaters was born in a different part of the county and had a stronger Irish accent more I don’t know maybe lowborn but I thought Heather’s portrayal of her was very well done. I truly enjoyed all her accents. I would definitely listen to more by this narrator.

4 ½ Stars

Son of the Shadows (Sevenwaters #2) by Juliet Marillier narrated by, Rosalyn Landor

Son of the Shadows (Sevenwaters #2) by Juliet Marillier narrated by, Rosalyn Landor

About 15 years have passed since the end of Daughter of the Forest Sorcha and Red have 3 children twins Sean & Liadan, and Niamh, Sean is being groomed to take over Sevenwaters, Liadan is a healer much like her mother and Niamh seems to be the spoiled pretty girl who will marry to further the families allies, but she has other ideas when a druid named Ciaran comes to Sevenwaters he and Niamh start a secret affair, but this will not go well and if you paid attention to ending of  Daughter of the Forest you will know why this relationship cannot go on. When the family finds out about this she is sent off to marry a chieftain who may not be as good a man as the family thinks he is!

Liadan is kidnapped by the mysterious and dangerous Painted Man to heal one of his brethren as she spends more time with this band of men she sees a different side of this man than she previously thought, since he won’t tell her his name she decides to call him Bran and she falls in love with him they have one night of passion and then he finds out who her father is and sends her home. As you can guess the night of passion has resulted in a child. So now you have the gist of what this installment is about.

There were times I really like Liadan I liked her strength at becoming a single mother when that kind of thing was not done however I questioned her thinking when she took her baby into enemy territory to rescue Bran and his man Gull, I mean really who would do that when you have a whole house full of family and servants, so why in the world would you strap your baby on your back for a dangerous rescue mission.

There are parts of this book that are very sad for lovers of the first Sevenwaters book Daughter of the Forest , including  the reveals comes of just who Bran actually is and why he has such a grudge against Liadan’s father Hugh of Harrowfield, I thought this one did a great job of bringing us up to date on the characters from the first book but also moving on from them to the next generation.

Rosalyn Landor narrated this one and if you follow my reviews you know she is a favorite of mine and this was no exception. As always, she does a great job with nice accents and variations between characters.

This was a re-read I read this book years ago and re-read on audio and maybe didn’t like Liadan as much as I remembered.

4 Stars

Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters #1) by Juliet Marillier narrated by, Terry Donnelly

Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters #1) by Juliet Marillier narrated by, Terry Donnelly

This was a re-read of one of my all-time favorite fantasy books and I have to tell you I loved it just as much the second time through as I did the first and listening to the audio version only enhanced my love of it.

I still loved the characters of Sorcha & Red, this whole story is so beautifully written, Juliet Marillier is such a fabulous writer!

I thoroughly enjoyed this fairytale re-telling (The Wild Swans by, Hans Christian Andersen), this is not a story for the faint of heart, just a warning there is a rape scene, and this love story which to me is so secondary to Sorcha’s quest is chaste and doesn’t overpower the book at all. Sorcha’s quest will break your heart and it amazed me still even on re-reading/listening what a great strong woman she was.

I enjoyed the “magical” elements the fair Folk and the druids it all seems so normal and everyday that you totally believe these people truly lived in this time.

This was my first time listening to Terry Donnelly as a narrator at first I wasn’t sure about her because I was expecting more of an Irish accent from the characters at Sevenwaters but she really grew on me and I was enrapt with the book by the end and was very happy with her narration, I thought she put just the right amount of venom in the Uncle Richard’s voice. I see she narrates another one later in the series and I look forward to it and would definitely listen to this narrator again.

As I said I love Juliet Marillier’s writing she knows how to weave a tale so well that you believe every word. If you are a fan of the quest type fantasy give this series a try.

Still 5 Stars

Lie Still by, Julia Heaberlin

Lie Still by Julia Heaberlin

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When Emily Page and her husband move from Manhattan to the wealthy enclave of Clairmont, Texas, she hopes she can finally escape her haunted past—and outrun the nameless stalker who has been taunting her for years. Pregnant with her first child, Emily just wants to start over. But as she is drawn into a nest of secretive Texas women—and into the unnerving company of their queen, Caroline Warwick—Emily finds that acceptance is a very dangerous game.

It isn’t long before Caroline mysteriously disappears and Emily is facing a rash of anonymous threats. Are they linked to the missing Caroline? Or to Emily’s terrifying encounter in college, years earlier? As the dark truth about Caroline emerges, Emily realizes that some secrets are impossible to hide—and that whoever came for Caroline is now coming for her.

My Review:

The premise of this book sounded really good, however the follow through was not as good as I had hoped.

I did enjoy the first part of this story it was a good build up to an intriguing mystery however the end was so rushed that it kind of ruined it.  This group of women was a caricature of Texas/southern women, and their little group with a bowl of secrets was laughable especially when it was Emily’s first time getting together with these women, if the queen bee of this little group was blackmailing these other women, why would you include the new Chief of Police’s wife?

There were so many secrets and storylines going on here and I could kind of see what the author was trying for but it didn’t work for me. The big reveal at the end had me so confused and made me think I had missed a page because it was so rushed and very unsatisfactorily for my taste it was very anti-climatic for a book with so many story lines and secrets.

Overall I was disappointed in this…some have liked it more than I did so I guess give it a try, I didn’t hate it, it just won’t be one that I’ll tell people is a must read.

2 ½ Stars

I received this from Librarything Early Reviewer program for a fair and honest review 

Touched by Fire by Irene N. Watts

Touched by Fire by Irene N. Watts

This was a fascinating read, I asked for this from netgalley because I am fascinated with the Triangle Fire tragedy but this book is about so much than just that, it is a fabulous immigrant story.

We meet teenaged Miriam and her family when they are living in Kiev, they have already lived through the pogroms (which is a violent massacre or persecution of an ethnic or religious group, particularly one aimed at Jews) and there is hints at more to come, but her parents have a dream, to go to the golden land to America where no one burns you for being a Jew. They start their journey by getting out of Kiev and moving to Germany to make enough money for Papa to go to America first and for him to make enough money for the rest of the family to come over. It is 2 years before enough money is saved and the tickets arrive for Miriam, her mother Sara, her brother Yuri, and baby sister Devora to make the great sea voyage. However Miriam’s brother is a little brat who doesn’t want to leave, sorry Yuri really made me mad in this story and Devora has been sickly and the doctor advises that she not go on this trip. Ok that is all I am going to tell about that part *No Spoilers*.

The book goes on with Miriam’s story her sea voyage , what that was like and the conditions for these passengers was pretty grim, but I liked how the author let us see through Miriam’s eyes that first look at New York harbor  the Statue of Liberty and arriving at Ellis Island. I thought her descriptions of this and the Lower East Side made you feel like you were there and was well written. So there is so much more to this book than the Triangle Fire which I’m sure you have guessed is where Miriam gets a job and after still having nightmares from the Pogrom’s of her childhood this was a pretty tough time. One caveat here, the description of the fire is very graphic so teens or adults with a weak stomach may have a hard time with that.

I really enjoyed this book and pretty much read it in one sitting, this was my first book by Irene Watts though I have been meaning to try her books, I will now  be reading more of her books. I really enjoyed her writing and the descriptions of time and place were well done.

I would recommend this to teens and adults alike and will be buying the paperbook for our library!

4 Stars

As I said I received this book from netgalley for a fair and honest review.

A Bitter Veil by Libby Fischer Hellmann Narrated by, Diane Piron Gelman

A Bitter Veil by Libby Fischer Hellmann Narrated by, Diane Piron Gelman

PUBLISHER : Libby Fischer Hellmann

LENGTH: 9 hrs and 29 mins

A Fascinating look at a time of turmoil in Iran with the fall of the Shah & the rise of the Ayatollah. This book felt very well researched and wasn’t a slam on an entire country or religion. We meet a young couple in love in America, Nouri  and Anna they are young and in love Nouri is Iranian but this makes no difference to Anna in fact she is looking forward to the day they make their home in Iran. However Iran is in the beginning stages of upheaval and when the Shah falls everything in Nouri & Anna’s life changes too and definitely not for the better.

I found this story fascinating in how fast people’s allegiances and loyalty and personalities changed with the revolution and how many different reasons for the changes. Anne married a sweet man in Nouri who was involved in human rights activism while he was studying in the US and even after they had gotten to Iran he seemed to still hold the same beliefs until after the fall of the Shah and Nouri is arrested he comes back a very different man and Anna’s whole life changes.

I don’t want to give too much away about what happens between Nouri and Anna but let’s say he becomes a different man than she married. The unrest in Iran is fascinating the way the people flip-flopped on what It was they wanted from their country it makes me wonder how different the middle east and Iran in particular would be now if the ones that wanted to embrace the modern and give the rights to everyone had won this particular battle.

The narration by Diane Piron Gelman was very well done her accents weren’t over done and as far as I could tell she did a good job at speaking Farsi and French when called for. I was impressed with her narration as a whole and would listen to her again.

In the author’s afterword she talks about interviewing many Iranian Americans for this story and I felt like this rang true to what I know of this time period. One thing the author said in the afterword is she is a crime writer and needed a crime but I kind of felt like the crimes were on the people of Iran although the crime did add the ending and fit well in the story.

If you are at all interesting in this time period or setting or just a fan of historical fiction I would highly recommend this book.

4 Stars

I received this book from the author & the Audiobookjukebox for a fair and honest review

Sweet Tea & Jesus Shoes By,Various Authors narrated by, Lee Ann Howlett

Sweet Tea & Jesus Shoes By Sandra Chastain, Deborah Smith, Donna Ball, Virginia Ellis, Debra Dixon, Nancy Knight Narrated By Lee Ann Howlett

Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins

This was a cute collection of southern short stories; is it odd that my favorites are the ones about funerals and death. Each story is a unique look at a day in the life of a southern family.

I’m sorry, if I had read this in paper I would have had the name of each story and a little something about each one but since I listened on audio I’ll just have to wing it. My favorites were Nola’s Ashes and the Aunt Betsey’s funeral story, also the one about Grandma telling a story made me giggle hard! Also the Outhouse story had some funny moments too.

Lee Ann’s narration took a little bit to get used to but I ended up enjoying it very much, I felt at times she was channeling Lorna Raver, she has a similar husky note to her voice that serves Lorna so well. Although some characters may have sounded older than they were written, I was still very happy with the narration. This was my first book narrated by Lee Ann but I would listen to her again.

If you are a southern fiction fan I would recommend these short stories.

3 ½  Stars

I received this audiobook from the Audiobookjukebox and the narrator/publisher for a fair and honest review.