The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen

By: Katherine Howe

Narrated by: Jesse Bernstein, Kathleen McInerney

Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

A haunting, contemporary love story from the New York Times best-selling author of Conversion

It's July in New York City, and aspiring filmmaker Wes Auckerman has just arrived to start his summer term at NYU. While shooting a séance at a psychic's in the East Village, he meets a mysterious, intoxicatingly beautiful girl named Annie.

As they start spending time together, Wes finds himself falling for her, drawn to her rose-petal lips and her entrancing glow. There's just something about her that he can't put his finger on, something faraway and otherworldly that compels him to fall even deeper. Annie's from the city, yet she seems just as out of place as Wes feels. Lost in the chaos of the busy city streets, she's been searching for something - a missing ring. And now Annie is running out of time and needs Wes' help. As they search together, Annie and Wes uncover secrets lurking around every corner - secrets that will reveal the truth of Annie's dark past.

©2015 Katherine Howe (P)2015 Listening Library

Kill me now

What disappointed you about The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen?

Loooong periods of internal dialogue or first-person narrative with no tension or build of any kind, interspersed with oh-too-brief instants where something actually happens. I never felt that I was actually in the scene, just watching from afar (and falling asleep). There were far too many improbabilities in the story, and I don't mean the ghost. It's as if it's the sketch of a book that someone meant to go back in and develop at a later date.

What could Katherine Howe have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Take me into the smells and physical senses of the scene. Edit out the long stretches of scenes that seem to go nowhere (lots). Overlong scenes of one of the major characters wandering in the fog shouldn't be there. Annie, a gently bred young woman going alone in the streets of New York in the 1800s? That is not historically accurate. And the Annie character seems awfully dim, even for a ghost.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jesse Bernstein and Kathleen McInerney ?

Kathleen McInerney is an okay reader, given that she has dreadfully dull prose to read aloud.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No gratuitous violence?

Any additional comments?

I was trying to get a craft project done and wanted to listen to the book while I worked. It was so bad that I kept repeating, "Oh my God, kill me now." Fortunately, that didn't happen.

I enjoyed so much the Physik Book of Deliverance Dane, and hoped this one would be a good story. It wasn't.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A Modern Day Ghost Story

Would you listen to The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen again? Why?

Yes, probably. I'd wait until it'd been a long time since I last listened to it and I didn't have any books I had to listen to instead, but I might. It was fun!

What did you like best about this story?

The way they took a ghost story and gave it strong backing. I also like how it switched characters and the voices changed too.

What does Jesse Bernstein and Kathleen McInerney bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The fact that they switch off is fantastic, I love how you get a good feeling of each character as an individual since it's done by different actors.

Any additional comments?

A very good listen, lots of fun for anyone who's into ghost stories, historical fiction, or just a good little read.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A ghost story that never uses the word ghost

Would you consider the audio edition of The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version but I enjoy listening to the audios while I knit

What did you like best about this story?

I loved Annie and all about her. some of the things I loved most would be spoilers but I loved the way things connected as the story progressed. This is one of Katherine Howe's talents as an author

What does Jesse Bernstein and Kathleen McInerney bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I enjoyed the performance. I also would have enjoyed reading it if I had the time. They did a good job though.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to it a bit at a time because that is how my time worked out

Any additional comments?

If you are a fan of Katherine Howe. I really enjoyed the book but it doesn't have the lasting impact that the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and The House of Velvet and Glass had for me. I wish she would write another book more like them. I'm not giving up reading her though.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Not sure how I feel about the ending

In the beginning if this book I wasn’t thrilled with the Narrater and it was very slow moving. I think the story was good but the ending left me flat.

Surprisingly good read

When I started reading this book, I felt bogged down by the details of Wes and Tyler with their film projects. The author goes to great lengths to describe the film world and I kept asking, "When is this going to get good?" I almost considered not reading it altogether.

Around the halfway point of the book (when we get Annie's perspective), things started to change! The book became more of what I was interested in....a ghost story or in this book's case-a Rip Van Winkle story. We learn how Annie lived life in 1825 which I find to be very interesting! We see how she affects the mortal world of nowadays and the impact she makes on Wes, Tyler, Eastland, and Maddie in her quest to find her cameo.

The only strange thing I would say were the scenes were Wes is going ga-ga over Annie which I felt was creepy and crazy seeing how she was a Rip Van Winkle!

Other than that, it was a good book! It definitely allowed this southern girl to learn about New York City both past and present. I've never been but would definitely like to explore it after reading this book.

0 of 2 people found this review helpful