Sophie and the Odd Ones

By: Gwen DeMarco

Narrated by: Janine Granda

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

Sophie Feegle needs a break. Rent is due on her crappy apartment and she's halfway through her last loaf of bread.

Sophie doesn't have big ambitions. She only wants a job that will keep her landlord off her back, enough extra cash for whiskey at the neighborhood bar and a bit of free time to hang out with the naughty old lady next door.

When a chance encounter with a quiet stranger leads to a job offer at the San Francisco City Morgue, Sophie jumps at the opportunity. She never expected to find her calling on the graveyard shift surrounded by dead bodies and the strange characters that make up the morgue's staff. Finding out that your friends and co-workers are shifters, ogres and other non-human creatures is a shock, but Sophie quickly realizes that these are her people, and she has finally found her perfect gig.

And then things get odd. Well...odder.

Unusual murders keep ending up on Sophie’s autopsy table, hinting at strange powers working within the city. Something nefarious is building in San Francisco, and it is up to Sophie and her friends to thwart the evil powers on the rise.

©2020 Gwen DeMarco (P)2021 Gwen DeMarco

I'll buy the next ten in this series ...

I'm an appreciative reviewer, not an analytical one ... so I'll just say, that if you take your favorite "young adult" book, full of snark and critters and unexpected magic and likeable beings you'd easily keep around as friends, and you translate it emotionally up to full adult level writing, you've got this book. And, even better, it doesn't rely on superfluous adrenaline or sex to keep your interest, the book actually has a good plotline, that is actually a plot -- NOT just "one thing after another" .... it's got good storylines, great characters, a pub you'd adopt as your own, people you wish were in your life, and the two MC's make the whole process likeable, fun, and keep your ears tuned up to the story. If you don't need blood splatter on every page, and you don't need sex scenes on every other page, and you do like mythical critters, mystery, light hearted laughing morticians, and shifters of all varieties, then this is your book too. I'm so ready for the next one. BTW -- this is a complete book, not a cliffhanger, this is adult fantasy of the best kind.

Odd balls rule

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. In fact, I loved it. I looking forward to the next one. I hope it comes out soon.

WONDERFUL START!!! Hopefully new series.

Great story!!!! A little different from your usual urban fantasy...but it’s an interesting and welcome difference. Hopefully it’s first in a series with many more to come. The characters are all unique and meld with other nicely. And the narrator helps make the story that much more enjoyable! Looking forward to more of Sophie and her odd ones!

fun take on urban fantasy

Likeable MC with diverse paranormals and friends made this a fun book. The MC is snarky with no filter. There is some adult humor. This book defines the world and characters as an investigation around recent deaths progresses. I think there is much more to the MC which has not been revealed. Looking forward to continuing the series. Narration was good with good pacing, voices and snarky dialog.

Paranormal Wonder

A refreshing paranormal romance with a human with strange visions who gets a job as as an autopsy assistant and finds herself embraced by her odd colleagues who work the night shift with her. She learns they are shifters and they have to work to stop a serial murderer. Narrator Janine Granda is super talented. She brings this book to life.

A decent start

World building is so important to urban fantasy romance series. Discovering who the main character is and what world she lives in is super important as it makes that world real and readers wanting to explore that world further. This novel has that in bits, well at least more than many in this genre. I don't mind bad language but listening to the narrator said F**K practically every sentence was a bit much; it was as if it was the default setting for the author. Was the author trying to show how badass Sophie was. Nope, not necessary. Thankfully, the second book does not have so many F Bombs.

I do envy how quickly and how many new people enter Sophie's life and become her friends. I did like that Sophie already had preexisting friendships with her neighbor Bertie, and the bartender at her bar. That way getting the other new people in her life didn't seem too forced.

It was interesting enough that I also bought the second novel and hope to see the third one available soon.

too predictable

The reader is why I finished the book. She does a good job making a mediocore story interesting. The story is too predictable.

Worth listening to more than once

I have actually listened to it a lot. And book 2 as well. Kinda bummed book 3 isn't available yet on audio. The series flows well each book ends with the secondary plot wrapped up but it ends on a cliffhanger for the main plot, which is very frustrating. At the end of the book the author gives us a little info about the real city and some of her favorite places. This book is a new spin on an old story line but it works.

I liked the world created in this book.

Fun easy listen. I hate when you need to have are least 15 words to leave a review. I am not a writer.

Good listen

Interesting book. Good narrator except she speaks too slowly. If you increase the playback to 1.2x it sounds much better.

Excellent story

Would highly recommend. Narration was a bit monotone at times at the start but got better (or I stopped noticing) as the story drew me in. Looking forward to the next instalment. Would recommend to all paranormal fantasy fans looking foe something a bit different.

Enjoyable

I liked this. I don't know this writer's previous work, but this was creative story with a nice bite to the humour (similar vein to Deborah Wilde). Creative supernatural world and a clear love of San Francisco. The overall plot felt a little thin in places, but it keeps you listening. It also sometimes feels weird that it's told in the third rather than first person as it's exclusively from the protagonist's point of view and we're in her thoughts. The narrator is okay-ish - some weird word pronunciations and strange pauses but overall it's fine. If you're looking for a fun urban fantasy, particularly if you love San Fran, this is for you.

Good story!

Good story, and a bit different from the others out there in this genre. I really liked it and will begin listening to the next book straight away!

Sophie and the odd ones

What can I say but wow what a story m, loved it!
It combined mystery and shifters all in one. I loved Sophie and the way she handles her new calling.
Can't wait to start book 2.

Excellent start to a new series

Loved the take on mythical creatures not just vamps and wolves. Hero is human and relatable. Narration is good. Hints at romance but not full on description. If you want that try blackdagger brotherhood. If you like dannika dark then you will like this book. I listened to it over 24 your period and can't wait for the next book.

Loved itl

Loved this book, wonderful interesting premise, brilliant sarky lead character who discovers a world that she had no idea existed. Entertaining and enthralling story with a lovely sense of fun with a bit of an edge. All the characters are well rounded and described. The audio book has a superb narration which adds wonderfully to the story. I loved everything about this book and look forward to more in the series. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I received a complimentary copy of the audio book from the author and am leaving a honest voluntary review.

A fantastic read!

This book hooked me from the start, it grabbed my attention an held on tight right to the end, and left me desperate for more. The story flowed beautifully, with an intrigueing mystery and some great plot twists, I fell in love with the characters immediately, they were unique, original and incredibly sweet. I'm desperately hoping for a book 2, this was just too good to be left as a single book, great narration by Janine Granda. I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

excellent

very engaging characters. looking forward to further stories. love the fact that it is not the usually paranormal types. highly recommended.

A new automatic purchase series.

This book was recommended in a FB UF group and having a few credits to spare I decided to take a chance on this book. This proved an excellent decision. The writing flowed, the story flowed and although originally I had doubts about the narrator now I can't imagine anyone else narrating. I'm looking forward to the next installment.