Sorcery of Thorns (Daily React)

New Author, New Narrator!

Chapters 1 thru 10

This book was such a wonderful surprise both in terms of story and the narrator. I am new to both of these wonderful ladies.

When choosing an audiobook I first go by the title and while almost all books feel like they have the same kind of title these days, the cover tends to figure into my interest as well. The next thing I look at is who is narrating it and, if I am not familiar with them already, I listen to a sample of the reading. If the voice doesn’t appeal to me or they sound very flat and uninspired I will skip the book entirely. As an aphant, reading is not something I get a lot of pleasure out of which means if I can’t find a good narrator for a book then I will most likely never be able to experience it. There are a lot of books I want to experience but the narrators are very poor or the book was published so long ago back when audiobook meant “just read the text” and those are impossible to listen to given the audio quality of those back in the day.

Emily’s voice leapt out and grabbed my attention IMMEDIATELY in the sample and I hit BUY NOW after the first few sentences. I can tell right away from a voice if its going to have that special quality that makes a book truly come alive. I was not mistaken about Emily’s. She’s outstanding and I could tell right away that she was someone who uses their voice professionally as an actor or singer. The sound of such voices is very different from those who are just gifted readers. I’m in love with her work and I plan to see out more. She will absolutely be going on my list of favorite narrators.

I’m trying to read more fantasy novels because they are the hardest for me to engage with as an aphant. I can’t imagine things I haven’t seen before so fantasy novels tend to create a lot of disconnect for me and I focus mainly on dialogue. I have found, through great narration, that strong world-building really helps me “feel” the story better. I discovered this during Allison Saft’s recent book especially.

Margaret Rogerson‘s world is vivid and also feels like something I can easily wrap my mind around without too much trouble. I can “see” the things she describes because they feel very much like things I have reference for from other fantasy films I have seen. I ADORE the world she has created and especially the class of Library Wardens … that is absolutely ticking so many boxes for me.

The first 9 chapters kept me AWAKE! I couldn’t fall asleep. I was absolutely sucked into Scrivner’s world and circumstances. I cannot wait to get back in there tonight!

Story this session: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Narration: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

How Much Do I Love This Book?

Chapters 23 thru 31

I wish I knew how to express things better. I wish I could write those amazingly delicious sounding GoodReads reviews that would make people instantly understand how I was feeling or really capture the excitement and power of the book.

This book is not only keeping me awake at night, but it’s filling such a wonderful gap that I didn’t know was there. You know what I mean? You know when you encounter a story or a movie or some form of media that gives you feelings you didn’t know you were missing or combines so many wonderful ideas that you couldn’t have imagined you’d ever need to experience such epicness until you do? Sorcery of Thorns is giving me so many wonderful feelings. It’s hitting me in places I didn’t know I had.

My favorite aspect of the story is the relationship between the 3 main characters. I LOVE the depth and the complexity of this throuple so deeply that I wish there were more of these books, more adventures with these amazing characters she has created. I don’t think there are. I think this is just a one shot story. Sometimes that’s the best … sometimes it’s like a gift you have to hold onto do dearly because there is no more and that makes it so much more powerful and special.

I love these kinds of books, the kind where you want so BADLY to find out what happens but you also want to savor it as long as possible so it doesn’t end. I felt that about Rin Chupeco’s The Bone Witch as well …

Story this session: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Narration: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0