Amazing story and performance!!

I adore this book - I own it in Kindle ebook, paperback, and now Audible formats. I love audiobooks; I listen to them while driving, doing chores, and at work... so basically all day. While I’m not super picky about voices, I will say that the narrator for this book is fantastic. I absolutely loved all of the character voices. I can see myself listening to this story again. And again. And again.

4 people found this helpful

It was okay.

I checked out this book on the recommendation of readers in a Reverse Harem fan group, and to be honest, very little about it lived up to expectations. I was intrigued by the idea of a lady in love with Death. For probably about three quarters of the book, the main character got on my nerves far more than she appealed to me. She's the genre's typical gorgeous girl who doesn't know she's gorgeous and spends far too much time doubting that the many men in love with her could actually be interested. Smart and talented, doesn't believe anyone could be interested in her. Very self-absorbed and insufferably obtuse. Things which should be obvious take forever for her to understand and then she gets taken wildly by surprise and there's a lot of rehashing how much she's surprised. In the last quarter of the book I finally did start to warm to her, though. She does eventually start showing some dynamic and less trope-y character.

The male characters are more likeable, and they carried the book for me. The main male (Death) was a little bland but not unforgivably so. The character of Sam is probably the most interesting and endearing, and his relationship to Death is very compelling.

I feel like a great deal of the narrative was telling instead of showing, which made the story drag quite a bit until again, probably around the last quarter, where it became more engaging. I think my biggest turn-off was the narrator for the audiobook version, whose cadence was extremely repetetive and while it wasn't exactly flat, it was monotonous in a way that it felt like every sentence was inflected exactly like the last, and that kicked me out of the read a lot. From time to time I had to stop listening and go to something else because I was so tired of it.

I probably would have given the book a 2.5, if it weren't for the ending chapters. As I mentioned, around the last quarter of the book it picks up and becomes more unique and interesting, where prior to that it felt too trope-y and formulaic. But the last portions made up for it enough that I might pick up the next volume to see what the characters get up to. Other titles in my TBR pile will probably come first--I'm not dying to read The Demon's Muse Book 2, in other words--but I'll probably pick it up some time in the future and give the series at least one more chance to hook me.

2 people found this helpful

Bad, Robotic Narration. Sounds like cheap AI

Every line is a statement. All endings -ed, -ing, -er, -st were totally over pronounced. Breaths in between were very distracting. Cadence was totally off. Was waiting for her to say "look here see...yeah" in between lines. Really disappointed. Read the books a while back and decided to read them again with audio now that the 3rd one is releasing soon. Don't listen to this narration!!! it will ruin the book for you. Just read it instead.

1 person found this helpful

So disappointed!

Auryn Hadley is one of my most favorite authors and I was SO excited to get this audiobook! Unfortunately, I only made it 5 minutes into it before the narrator ruined it for me. I’ve never had a reaction like this before- but the narration has literally given me a headache and eye twitching. I’m praying her next book uses a different narrator!

1 person found this helpful

Intense and Different

I’ve been immersed into the world of RH for the better part of half a year now. This book is the latest in my RH conquests and it moved to the top of my long list the minute I saw the narrator was Laurel Schroeder. First off... Wow. This was... very different. I’m a Buddhist, and if I wasn’t - I would be an Atheist. The story has a completely different take on Angels and Demons and it’s extremely well thought out. But when you grow up thinking of the world in one way, this book is A LOT to take in. Even though I’m not Christian or anything (and don’t believe in a God) I felt like such a sinner for listening to it, lol. That’s not to say this book is bad. It’s really great actually. Very nice writing and well thought out. The author tends to run on with all of her points, which I have heard other reviewers say too, but it all matters to the story and helps along the character and plot developments nicely. This book is very long - and if another author had done it - I’m sure it would be half the length. But ... I like it. The way it is. And why? Because this author has a VERY different tone when she writes. Which is actually very refreshing. I’ve been reading a lot of RH where the authors are similar and it can start to get tedious. Plus, a lot of RH authors have started to speed release as well which affects the quality of their books. You can really tell the author took her time. So far, this is one of the most unique stories I’ve read - just in general.

But I will give a warning... if you believe in God and are not open minded... this book will not be for you. As I said... I’m not even a Christian or Catholic ... and this book was hard for me to handle!

As for Laurel Schroeder? She continues to be my own personal Audio muse. She inspires me completely. I love listening to her and I tend to buy books just because she’s narrating. Her performances are always 5 stars to me.

1 person found this helpful

Loved it!

This one was very exciting. I didn’t want it to end. She had a head injury and the doctor told her the thoughts she had was just from the drugs they gave her. She had made a deal with the devil. Four years later she was in college studying art and she kept drawing pictures of death. Nick was in her art class and he was hot. Then the fireworks start. WOW what a tale!!

1 person found this helpful

I loved it

I loved the whole book. I only wished it was slightly steamier. Please add more to the series.

1 person found this helpful

Love this book, but...

I really wish I had realized who the narrator was. This woman has the strangest caddence to her narration, super distracting. I bought the audio because I loved the book. Disappointing waste of a credit. Darn.

4 people found this helpful

Fantastic!

This audible book packed a lot of punch for just one credit. This is my first read by this author, but it won't be my last. I can't wait to read what comes next.

LOVE!

I love Auryn Hadley's writing style and this story is no exception. It took a while to get used to the narrator's cadence and speaking patterns, once that was done then it wasn't so bad. I look forward to the rest of them being released. Sia and her obsession with death is wonderful. I also enjoyed the flip of demons being the good guys.