Just the kind of series I love to listen to!!

OK, so I've listened through book nine & am eagerly awaiting book ten. 'The Ministry of Curiosities' is an organization that monitors and tries to manage to keep secret the paranormals in the world. It's a warm & wonderful world that the author has created. The characters (for the most part) are likable & well developed. Each book has a new murder or mystery to solve and they don't feel redundant to me.
The series is through the eyes of the heroine who is strong willed, kind, courageous & in love with the hero. The romance is slow with a really good angsty part. (I happen to love me some angst) Her paranormal gift is that she's a necromancer. Meaning, that she can call back the dead & control them. This is a very rare gift that she uses to either find out who murdered them or gets them in their bodies to help her save herself or others.

Other series that I've enjoyed are: Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs; Night Huntress and Night Prince by Jeaniene Frost; The Phoenix Pack by Suzanne Wright;

48 people found this helpful

A good performance hindered by repetitious plot.

I enjoyed the first book, was a bit less enthusiastic during the second novel and by the start of the third feeling frustrated with the repetitious nature of the storyline. Once I got over halfway through the third book, I was feeling a bit better about the story which finally advanced a bit.

On the whole, there is too much of the main protagonist brushing aside warnings and having to be rescued, over and over. I did like the lead characters but would have liked to know a bit more about the supporting characters.

I am happy enough that I read the first three in this series but I don't believe I'll venture volume four or beyond. There are better stories to read.

12 people found this helpful

Please don't waste your credit

I've been a member of Audible for years and I've never written a review--until now. While waiting for the third-installment of the Dark Days Club (an excellent series), I thought this "boxed set" would be a good deal and good listen. I was wrong. I listened to the first two books of the series, hoping the characters would become more interesting or the story would become more exciting. I can go no further. The main characters are not likable. At all. And any story about necromancy is an aside. Nearly the entire story is about our "heroine" chasing after the brooding, runs hot-and-cold bad boy. Ugh. The dialogue between the two is cringeworthy. Really. It's intolerable. The more I listened, the more I disliked both characters. Please do yourself a favor and spend your credit on something else.

32 people found this helpful

I’m hooked, to my surprise!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this boxed set because it is a great launch into the rest of Charlie and Lincoln’s story at a great price for three whole books.

What other book might you compare The Ministry of Curiosities Boxed Set to and why?

This is a period supernatural fantasy set during a favorite period of English history and it combines suspense, romance and mystery with engaging characters as do the books of Laurie R. King, Elizabeth Peters and Deanna Rayburn among others.

What three words best describe Shiromi Arserio’s voice?

Ms. Arserio has a very pleasant voice, easy to listen to, and her English accents are believable. However I don’t feel she is as skilled at other nationalities and her range isn’t broad enough for the range of men’s voices as I would like.

Any additional comments?

Perhaps if I were younger or if I hadn’t listened to all three books one after the other, I wouldn’t have grown impatient with Charlie and Lincoln’s drama. I had to remind myself repeatedly that Charlie is very young and both characters have been emotionally handicapped by their unconventional childhoods. It also helped to remember that all three books occur over the course of only a few months. I was sympathetic but I got tired of Charlie describing herself as “pathetic” and of Lincoln’s confused stubbornness. Still, I’m hooked and want to see these two continue to grow in their selves and their relationship.

21 people found this helpful

Mixed review

I was excited when I found this series because I enjoy Victorian/steampunk but have decided to stop listening. I believe I stopped somewhere in the middle of Book 2. The only thing that got me that far was the narrator did a good job with the characters but the overall story seemed to get slower as I listened. The main character started to irritate me as she did not progress to a stronger female character after events started to unfold. Maybe the story was just too slow for me.

12 people found this helpful

thought it would never end!

boring, shallow repeatedly went over the same thing. I kept hoping something would actually happen but no.

6 people found this helpful

returned

i got about halfway through the first book. content warning for sexual assault attempts first of all but that’s in the first scene and is not why i stopped.
spoilers to follow
firstly, he like wanted to make a point that she couldnt survive on her own, but it’s complete bunk because he removed all her tools for surviving before turning her loose, and then said “see i told you so”. this was acknowledged to a small degree by the narrative so whatever, its still some grade A BS, but whatever. the real thing that i could not live with was that i KNOW her LOVE INTEREST paid that man to assault her so that he could save her and “prove” his point about her capability to take care of herself (which again i shall reiterate, he had thoroughly and deliberately sabotaged already). i hope to god it comes up later but the information was present during the scene, fitzroy paid him to do that. (the rapist says he had been given coin, and then his ghost tells fitzroy “you tricked me” before disappearing) and that’s inexcusable. that he would purposefully put her through the trauma of a rape attempt to make his point is unforgivable. and she is seriously traumatized by it, and needs him to save her, and then she is comforted by him. it’s NAUSEATING to listen to him acting concerned and her being comforted by it. i was prepared to overlook a lot but i will not read a series where she falls in love with someone who did that to her, whether she finds out and forgives him or not.
im capable of enjoying books that showcase relationships that would not be healthy in a real situation, but some things are un-overlookable.

2 people found this helpful

Pretty good

Good story, interesting characters. Performance was good, the narrator does a good job with the voices and accents.

5 people found this helpful

Too much formula romance

There is a good story in this three volume set. If you took out all of the excess sexual obsession it might have been worthwhile. there was never a good ending and the lack of emotional growth made sure I will not continue reDing the series.

4 people found this helpful

Wish I could "reclaim my time"

This series is little more than a bodice ripper pretending to be a sci-fi/fantasy fiction thriller. Another reviewer, Book Wyrm (whose review I wished I'd read before buying this book), accurately sums up the series with this sentence: "The stories are actually little more than an angsty YA romance."

That said, why do female SFFF writer feel the need to turn their books into quasi-romance novels? Why must almost every female SFFF character spend half her time worrying about whether some guy likes her?

To the narrator's credit, she does a good job of infusing personality into her characters. So much so, that I actually spent 18hrs of my life listening to Charlie obsess about Lincoln like a petulent, love sick teen, until her woman-child antics became too unbearable and I just decided to delete the book.

9 people found this helpful