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robynriddle15's review against another edition
5.0
Mary Robinette Kowal did an excellent job with Ghost Talkers. Although this is a piece of fiction and can almost be regraded as fantasy at times, Kowal does justice to those who served in WWI especially the women who served.
jessihonard's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jenny_hedberg's review against another edition
3.0
I'm a dedicated follower of Writing Excuses, a writing podcast, hosted by Kowal together with my favourite author Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler and more recently a couple of other people too. BUT, the only author whose works I've actually read is Sanderson's (although I have read a couple of pages of Schlock Mercenary). So, I decided that it was high time to read some of Kowal's work and this came highly recommended.
I will say that I really liked the story, the setting and the premise: WWI-ghosts, murder-mystery and treason. There was a lot of interesting problems with ghosts and loads of plot twists and thrilling reveals, one that I saw coming (it still hurt). There was some feminist defiance (go go go!) that I thought was appropriate, but sometimes a bit repetitive, but to be fair it was probably realistic. Ginger had to, again and again, fight to be "allowed" to go to dangerous places and do her job and would adamantly protest that her sex should not make any difference. So really, I'm not annoyed with Kowal's writing but upset that women at the time had to fight to be treated as equals daily.
But hey, did I enjoy it? Yes I did. Why am I only giving it three stars then? Because I find it dreadful to listen to audio books, I've discovered. The first audio book I listened to properly was The High Lord and it was so frustrating. I'm a fast reader and when I say fast I mean fast. The pace in audio books is so slow that I struggle to pay attention. I also find that it's difficult to take in what is happening when I don't have the words in front of me on a paper, it just becomes a bit of a blur. I must be a very visual person.
I will say that I really liked the story, the setting and the premise: WWI-ghosts, murder-mystery and treason. There was a lot of interesting problems with ghosts and loads of plot twists and thrilling reveals, one that I saw coming (it still hurt). There was some feminist defiance (go go go!) that I thought was appropriate, but sometimes a bit repetitive, but to be fair it was probably realistic. Ginger had to, again and again, fight to be "allowed" to go to dangerous places and do her job and would adamantly protest that her sex should not make any difference. So really, I'm not annoyed with Kowal's writing but upset that women at the time had to fight to be treated as equals daily.
But hey, did I enjoy it? Yes I did. Why am I only giving it three stars then? Because I find it dreadful to listen to audio books, I've discovered. The first audio book I listened to properly was The High Lord and it was so frustrating. I'm a fast reader and when I say fast I mean fast. The pace in audio books is so slow that I struggle to pay attention. I also find that it's difficult to take in what is happening when I don't have the words in front of me on a paper, it just becomes a bit of a blur. I must be a very visual person.
gogotheque's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: War
xeyra1's review against another edition
4.0
Full review to come but the tl;dr gist of it is: really liked the characters and the concept, but felt like the plot and execution could have been a bit better written.
fogisbeautiful's review against another edition
4.0
I don't what it was about this book, but it was somehow... less than what I thought it would be. I don't have anything specific to criticize. In fact, the thing I remember most about the book was the touching and surprisingly romantic ending. All that to say, you should read this book. It's really good. I think I just built it up too much in my mind and it therefore fell short of perfection :)
soph_e_c's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
empiepaps's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
squirrelsohno's review against another edition
3.0
Much more of a whodunnit than I would have expected or cared for TBH. But I loved the general premise, even though Ginger's backstory was not well developed beyond having a rich aunt and being an American heiress.
3.5/5
3.5/5
whatsmacksaid's review against another edition
3.0
Three and a half stars. The writing itself was masterful, but the story couldn't always hold my interest.