Written in Red (The Others, #1) in Read, Reading, Planning to Read and More

Feb 23, 2017 Jillian rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-reviewed, audiobook, urban-fantasy, read-on-kindle, magic, bounty-hunter-cop-pi-lawyer, vampires, shifters, first-in-series, fantasy

A large part of my review is going to be about the audible because I have some strong feelings about it...as in, just say no to this audible. I need to read this book again sometime because I think I will enjoy it so much more when I read the entire thing rather than listen to more than half of it.

Before we go there though, I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed about Written in Red. I really liked the story-line but there was also a lot that was just meh for me. I feel like small but important things A large part of my review is going to be about the audible because I have some strong feelings about it...as in, just say no to this audible. I need to read this book again sometime because I think I will enjoy it so much more when I read the entire thing rather than listen to more than half of it.

Before we go there though, I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed about Written in Red. I really liked the story-line but there was also a lot that was just meh for me. I feel like small but important things were missing, like what is life like for the Others typically. I know what happens while they run their businesses but there has to be so much more to these interesting, complex, and dynamic beings. Another thing that bothered me is the lack of consequence for the "bad guys". For example, a nefarious plan was totally foiled and the character was like oh that's okay, I can just do this now and they spin it to a positive. No. I want to see that there is some frustration and panic to a massive plan getting totally shut down before it could be pulled off. Also, I want to see a bit more anger/rage from the Others when handling and killing the people who came for Meg and Sam. Don't imply, show me. I don't know, perhaps this was too YA for that? But it's pretty much a letdown when you've spent a good portion of the book eagerly anticipating a character’s demise and when it arrives it isn't nearly what they deserve.

I really like the Others and I was excited to learn about them and see what their powers are. It was fun and interesting. It was also cool to see that the Others pretty much control the world. The world building could have been a bit better but then again, what all can you do with a ton of snow and more snow? A lot of the names and descriptions, such as the days of the week and the business names, used were whimsical so I had to overlook that for the sake of the story. I liked that Simon changed and evolved as the story went on. I was really hoping to see something happen romantically between Simon and Meg. They would be perfect for each other. It seems like that might be the road they are on though so I guess I'll have to continue this series to see more. I adored the supporting characters. Jake, Henry, Tess, Nathan, Sam, Vlad, Vlad's grandfather, Winter, Jester (and I might be missing a couple of others) were all great and I loved reading the scenes with them involved. I found myself thinking how amazing it would be to have them as my group of friends if I lived in a fantasyland too. I'm anxious to see more of them.

There were a lot of twists and turns and when it was all said and done, it ended well and happy, albeit abrupt. I'm hoping the lack of epilogue means that book two will pick right up where this book left off.

Now to my greatest source of frustration with this book. Silly me tried to do something nice for myself. We all know how that ends up... Here it goes.

AUDIBLE WARNING!! I truly think listening to the narration took a lot away from this story. I would recommend a hard pass on the audible. I wouldn't even waste your free audible per month on this title. It's so disappointing. In addition to spending $7.99 on this Kindle book, I decided for a treat I would add the $12.99 audible narration to my kindle book. I like to add the narration whenever available so I can listen during my work commute and while taking care of menial tasks, but I rarely ever add it on if it costs more than $5.99. I think $9.99 is the highest I have paid in the past on rare occasions. Those narrations were completely worth it so I thought in comparison, wow, this one must be great if they are charging that much. Silly me.

The narrator wasn’t a good fit for this story. I will say that her voice isn't annoying or anything like that. She has a nice voice. She is pleasant. She would be really good for something like a kids book or perhaps a book with maybe only two characters that moves at a slow pace.

My problems with her reading of this book:
Ultimately, the narration was extremely flat. It took a while to get used to her reading and I had to replay a lot of the first few chapters (multiple times) to actually focus on what she was saying and understand what was happening. There were some parts I just opted to read instead but, again, I spent $12.99 on adding the narration FFS; I wanted to get my money's worth of listening. Most of the supporting characters did not have distinct voices, in fact several were interchangeable, and the accents she chose for the supporting characters were inconsistent. She would slide out of character, sometimes within the same sentence. She was not able to do believable male voices either. Unfortunately, our main male character, Simon sounded enraged and like a horrible man throughout the entire story but whenever I paused the narration and just read it, it was clear he was showing concern and care or something else not being conveyed through narration. Her voice for Sam sounded like a squeaky gnome. Worst of all, she made the main character Meg sound whiny the whole time. My other complaints are that her enunciation was poor, her pronunciation was pretty bad as well, and she read at an exceptionally slow pace. She did have a good wolf howl though, especially for little Sam. That was cute. Sadly, overall this narrator wasn’t the right match for this story. I’m bummed to find out that she is the same narrator used for the other books in the series because I do enjoy the option of listening when I can’t read.

Anyway, there you have it in a nutshell. For now, I will rate this as 3.5 stars. Whenever I get around to giving this another chance and reading rather than listening to it, my rating may increase. I am for sure interested in seeing where this series leads us and can’t wait to get more of the Others. ...more

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May 05, 2017 Victoria rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

DNF at 21%

Where to start? I've been waiting to read this series for so long and finally I got my hands on the audiobook from the library after months wait (literary). Most of the bloggers I know have raved and bested this book/series and I'm clearly in a minority *-- don't hate me please*, I simply can't go on listening.

The narrative is just plain boring; perhaps it improves but from some of the less-than-stellar reviews I've read, it sounds that it continues this way throughout. I'm sorry but DNF at 21%

Where to start? I've been waiting to read this series for so long and finally I got my hands on the audiobook from the library after months wait (literary). Most of the bloggers I know have raved and bested this book/series and I'm clearly in a minority *-- don't hate me please*, I simply can't go on listening.

The narrative is just plain boring; perhaps it improves but from some of the less-than-stellar reviews I've read, it sounds that it continues this way throughout. I'm sorry but mail delivery services do not read "exciting" to me.

The narrator - Alexandra Harris does a poor job switching between characters, to the point where events/actions taking place are the only thing alerting the reader of the POV change (also, there are multiple POVs, but they don't feel distinct enough). Honestly Ms. Harris's delivery made me think of re-doing annual work ethics web-based seminar (where a monotone voice reads over-the-top illustrative in-office situations) with cheer.

The world building we get both gives us very little and a lot at the same time. There are some info-dumps happening throughout the narrative more in a way of giving us the detail than showing, yet it doesn't help paint a clear picture of the world. Then we get tediously trivial detail of little things to do with opening doors, using a microwave, sorting mail (of course!) - well, you get the idea.

The heroine, Meg who is clearly being portrayed as Mary Sue is meek, special, and dimwitted due to some circumstance of who she is, but I just can't bring myself to care or like her. And don't get me started on her special powers, that require her cutting herself.

Simon, who is clearly our intended hero and future love-interest, is all about growls and not much else. Yes, I get it you are alpha male, werewolf, but he's more animal than anything else. Ms. Harris's narration does not help give him any redeeming qualities either.

I'm only 21% into this book, there's yet to be a clear villain or conflict. I am sad because maybe I'm missing something great but I refuse to give this any more of my time. ...more

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