A good book spoiled by the narration.

Wish I'd read the reviews before purchasing but I enjoyed the first book so much I just added it straight to basket. As the other reviews have said, the change of narrator was a horrible choice & all the mispronunciation is extremely distracting, not to mention annoying.

(Phonetically) Mif-fany became Muh-wvan-newy, the shek-kay became the check-ee, Bishop ul-rik became al-ar-ik etc... really frustrating, especially Myfanwy and her brand new Welsh accent, sigh.

It is also read quite slowly which I'm not a fan of but you can speed it up so I'll not count that against it, I just really wish they'd either stuck with the same narrator or briefed the new one on basic pronunciation etc

A good book spoiled.

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1 person found this helpful

possibly even better than the first!?!

these books are incredible, great new characters and they continue to be awesome female leads. this one is so m check more diverse with the perspective of multiple leads, including a grafter. really doesn't disappoint as a sequel. Cannot wait for the next!

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great story, shame about the narration

Being book two I expected the narrator to be the same, or to have at least read the first book. It was very grating that she miss pronounced a main characters name most of the way through.

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12 people found this helpful

Much better narration than the Rook

Maggie Mash has done a great job with this book, which was a really enjoyable second instalment of the Chequey Files. Once you get past the obvious issue of pronunciation of the Rook’s name, and her inexplicably adopting a Welsh accent, the story bowls along well. Hopefully Maggie will also narrate the next instalment once it is released.

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Abysmal narration

As the other reviews state, Maggie Mash and the producers of this audiobook clearly didn't bother reading the first book... or even the first 5% of it, when it is explained how Myfanwy (Miffany, to rhyme with Tiffany) is pronounced and that she isn't Welsh. That really irritated me - although I did finish it - and I am now going to return this audiobook under Audible's guarantee and buy the US edition instead.

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9 people found this helpful

Never finished due to narrator

Would you try another book written by Daniel O'Malley or narrated by Maggie Mash?

I love the first book in this series, so will probably read the others in print.While Maggie Mash is not a bad narrator, I found it really annoying that she clearly hadn't read or researched the previous book in the series and kept pronouncing names wrong and giving Myfwany a terrible Welsh accent

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4 people found this helpful

A storming continuation of an exceptional series!

I loved The Rook! I've listened to it many times. I feel a real affection for Rook Thomas (both of her!). There was such a long wait between it and Stiletto that I really thought that was going to be the end of the Checquy Files and I as over joyed to find it here on audible!

Daniel O'Malley is an incredibly talented writer and his development of the characters within this edition are excellent. His new characters are well rounded and you grow to like/loath them quickly. The universe the Checquy inhabit is wholly believable and fantastical all at the same time.

My only bone of contention between Stiletto and The Rook was that the narrator had changed, but within an hour of listening to Maggie Mash it didn't matter. I was hooked! Her performance and delivery was different without being jarring to the first book.

I loved this book, but if you're thinking of getting it get The Rook first or you'll be a bit lost coming in to this one.

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I thought it was a plot device...

Sadly the production company didn't bother giving a copy of book one to the narrator, neigh even read it themselves, so what is a great book is made dreadful by the narration. Mywanny has been aged, made Welsh and lost her cunning edge. She now sounds more like her EA!
If you loved the first audio book, read the second book as you will be driven mad by the mispronunciations!

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Loved concept, enjoyed story, hated narrator

I'm so sad about the change in the narrator. The accents are horrible, the mispronunciations are distracting and I want more Myfanway (Miffany)

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1 person found this helpful

Continuity issues

I've enjoyed reading this series and revisiting it in audio form. I listened to Rook and Stiletto one after the other. It's clear the director and narrator are different from one to the next. There are major pronunciation issues from one to the next that I found jarring.

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