Reviews - The Listeners | The StoryGraph

978 reviews for:

The Listeners

Maggie Stiefvater

3.97 AVERAGE

gryewaren's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

bookbunny22's review against another edition

2.0

All setting, no substance. The book is beautifully written, with vivid descriptions and a strong sense of place, but ultimately, it feels like style over substance. There are too many shallow characters that you never really get to know, let alone form any attachment. The somewhat magical elements of the spring waters are never explained, including why the protagonist is uniquely affected by them. It feels like the story hints at deeper meaning but never quite gets there. A beautifully crafted shell with not much inside.

karaboo30's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

allisonrw96's review against another edition

5.0

Some novels have a green screen setting. When you need to be show something, it’s on and the rest of the time it’s off. Stiefvater novels are a whole world. At any time, you could walk away from the main plot and go hunt for snails in all the hidden corners of the hotel.

cindy_ped's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

rhy2025's review against another edition

4.0

informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

As a historical fiction novel, this is gorgeously written and wonderfully constructed. I expected something exceptional from Maggie and it was. In regard to the fantastical/magical realism elements, I kept waiting for *more* but never got it and found it deeply unsatisfying, the climax anticlimactic, and the overall as a whole kind of disappointing as a result. The “sweet waters” and their peculiar magic were such an intriguing and beautiful idea that felt undeveloped and unfinished, as if she got sidetracked by the history and left the magic behind. I think if a reader approaches the novel as historical fiction with just a breath of magical realism, it won’t be disappointing. Flawlessly read.