"A colourful cultural journey"
I've listened to Kate Reading before and always enjoyed her performaces (particularily The Wheel of Time series). She speaks clearly with a certain dryness, cut when applicable by the required emotion.
I picked up this book because I've always been fascinated by foreign cultures, and from the preview this appeared to be a venture into the lives of young women in Riyadh. This is exactly what I got. It's full of reasons and situations that are similar and at the same time very different from what I've grown up with, and forms of expression in dialogue that seem to be plucked straight from Arabic, which I find absolutely fascinating (I don't speak Arabic but intend to learn).
I quickly grew to root for the four main characters, and followed them through their ups and downs. At the end of the book I was sad to leave them.
I've already recommended this book to most of my friends. That in itself is n indication of how much I enjoyed it.
"Self-contained gem of a story"
I tried this because of the Sherlock TV-series. I adored it. I was sorry to come to the end of it. It was easy to follow, well formulated all the way through, and revolved neatly around a top notch plot/mystery. I'll definitely be reading more Sherlock Holmes stories in the future.
"Fairy tale princesses rebooted"
The fairy tale princesses didn't end up with their happily ever afters, no matter what Disney says. Instead they end up in a sort of magical Charlie's Angels attempt to rescue a prince.
I had good fun listening to it and its mouth-quirking humor. But the story didn't hook me as much as I had hoped. I listened through because I cared about the characters, but I think I cared more because I wanted to see how their fates had been twisted from their fairy tale originals than because these new versions caught my interest.
To me, this was light entertainment with little need for own brain power. I'm glad I read/heard it because the concept appeals to me, but I don't feel any inclination to buy the sequel.
"Fun, engaging, refreshingly acerbic"
It's been more than a month since I listened to it, but it stands out vividly in my memory for being funny. The humor was often sarcastic, but if you're into that, this book is great. Picture a supervillian whose acerbic comments fall on his own ability and habits as often as on the superheroes, and society in general. He's not a bad guy. Just not always very nice, either.
But when the world's population is enslaved and needs saving, he suddenly finds himself on the superhero side... Even though he has to remind himself on a daily basis that teargas is not your first choice for dealing with hungry civilian mobs. Neither, apparantly, is thrown cars.
Two quotes: