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A review by jenbsbooks
Between by L.L. Starling
5.0
I'm not sure how this one popped up on my radar ... maybe a random FB ad? It was included in Kindle Unlimited (text only, I went ahead and bought the whispersync audio for $7.50). Honestly, at first the length intimidated me a bit, but Storygraph stats have been pushing me to make sure I get at least one 500+ page book in each month. This is quite a bit more than that, but still would also increase my "book length average" (just, I'm a numbers nerd).
This though ... is basically TWO books. I'm not sure why the author decided to bundle them as one. Seems like most authors are writing little 200 page books that end on cliffhangers, requiring multiple purchases, which can get super annoying. Here, it's two for one. Just looking at the TOC, there's (1) The Witches of Old Middleton, with a prologue/epilogue and 20 chapters in-between. Then there's (2) The Wretchedly Melodramatic Tale of the Shadow King, with it's own prologue/epilogue and 17 chapters.
If you glance through the table of contents and read the headers (I really appreciate when the headers are included in the TOC) you'll get an idea of the snark and humor in this book. "Where the Monsters are Small and have Designated Nap Times" is Chapter 3 and perhaps the cutest little header. In truth, often when the characters are SO snarky and constantly so on top of saying pithy things, even as I'm enjoying it, I'll roll my eyes a little, because no one is that funny all the time. Here though, the banter between Sasha and the king, and her friend Lyla ... I found myself smiling as I listened. If I'd been reading on my own, I'm sure I would have highlighted several sections to save. Listening, I only got a couple (as I have to stop what I'm doing, rush to my Kindle or computer, find my spot in the text, then highlight, then go back to what I was doing while listening). I added my highlights to the saved quotes. I love little quotes (even if they are just funny, not profound).
This felt like a bit of a mix of The Princess Bride and Stranger Things ... with the latter, the whole "Between" was a tiny bit like "the upside down" although not as dark and nasty (even though it isn't your traditional fairly tale lovely land). "Stranger things have happened" was even said :) But as for the former ... with the little quips and silly things, it really was reminiscent of The Princess Bride and it's ROUS and fire swamp and giants and albino sucking the life. Not the same things, but things, statements (similar to PB's famous "I am not left-handed either") that could totally fit in a Princess Bride storyland.
It was all 3rd person, past tense. The "book the first" (to be Dickens-ish) is mostly from Sasha's POV, although we get a glimpse into Lyla's head a few times (that did tend to throw me off a bit). In "book the second" it's from Lorn's POV. Emily Ellet and Steve West did a great job with the narration - I'd heard Emily before in [book:The Peach Rebellion|58457598] (also great), Mr. West probably wouldn't be my normal cup of tea, but admittedly, he totally had the voice of a shadow king ;)
I can't help but wonder if this book would do better broken up into two separate volumes - not as a "sequel" per se, but a companion book. In a way, it was vaguely like the Glittering Court trilogy by Richelle Mead. Three books, three POVs, the SAME basic story, so some parts repeated from different perspectives, new things revealed from different perspectives (also, Anne McAffery's DragonRiders of Pern series, I remember reading the YA Dragonson/Dragonsinger first, then moving to the Dragonflight/Dragonquest and having one scene replayed and it was this crazy feeling of deja vu, as I already knew what was going to happen).
I don't own the Kindle copy, as it was included in KU and I have a current subscription. It's not something I keep all the time though ... and I don't know that I'll come back and re-read this, but I still wouldn't mind having a copy in my collection, because I know it made me smile so much throughout. I'm sure skimming through the pages would bring back a lot of those smiles.
There were a couple f-bomb drops, and some talk of sex ... in fact, one of my saved quotes was "according to my last two—three—maybe four boyfriends, I’m too sexually demanding. Which is such a double standard,” she said testily, old grievances making her downright mad. “First, they’re happy about it, and then it’s, ‘I have a headache, Sasha.’ Or: ‘We already did it three times today, Sasha.’ Or: ‘I think you broke me, Sasha.’ " ... totally made me laugh! That's about as explicit as it gets though :)
I don't know that it's totally a 5* read ... but an emotional/it made me happy, I saved some quotes, I'd like to own it, I'll remember it ... I'm gonna 5* it ;) My main concern is ... "coming soon" ... the second book (or books 3 & 4?) was scheduled to be out in 2023. It's 2024 ... Hmmmm. Don't leave me hanging!
This though ... is basically TWO books. I'm not sure why the author decided to bundle them as one. Seems like most authors are writing little 200 page books that end on cliffhangers, requiring multiple purchases, which can get super annoying. Here, it's two for one. Just looking at the TOC, there's (1) The Witches of Old Middleton, with a prologue/epilogue and 20 chapters in-between. Then there's (2) The Wretchedly Melodramatic Tale of the Shadow King, with it's own prologue/epilogue and 17 chapters.
If you glance through the table of contents and read the headers (I really appreciate when the headers are included in the TOC) you'll get an idea of the snark and humor in this book. "Where the Monsters are Small and have Designated Nap Times" is Chapter 3 and perhaps the cutest little header. In truth, often when the characters are SO snarky and constantly so on top of saying pithy things, even as I'm enjoying it, I'll roll my eyes a little, because no one is that funny all the time. Here though, the banter between Sasha and the king, and her friend Lyla ... I found myself smiling as I listened. If I'd been reading on my own, I'm sure I would have highlighted several sections to save. Listening, I only got a couple (as I have to stop what I'm doing, rush to my Kindle or computer, find my spot in the text, then highlight, then go back to what I was doing while listening). I added my highlights to the saved quotes. I love little quotes (even if they are just funny, not profound).
This felt like a bit of a mix of The Princess Bride and Stranger Things ... with the latter, the whole "Between" was a tiny bit like "the upside down" although not as dark and nasty (even though it isn't your traditional fairly tale lovely land). "Stranger things have happened" was even said :) But as for the former ... with the little quips and silly things, it really was reminiscent of The Princess Bride and it's ROUS and fire swamp and giants and albino sucking the life. Not the same things, but things, statements (similar to PB's famous "I am not left-handed either") that could totally fit in a Princess Bride storyland.
It was all 3rd person, past tense. The "book the first" (to be Dickens-ish) is mostly from Sasha's POV, although we get a glimpse into Lyla's head a few times (that did tend to throw me off a bit). In "book the second" it's from Lorn's POV. Emily Ellet and Steve West did a great job with the narration - I'd heard Emily before in [book:The Peach Rebellion|58457598] (also great), Mr. West probably wouldn't be my normal cup of tea, but admittedly, he totally had the voice of a shadow king ;)
I can't help but wonder if this book would do better broken up into two separate volumes - not as a "sequel" per se, but a companion book. In a way, it was vaguely like the Glittering Court trilogy by Richelle Mead. Three books, three POVs, the SAME basic story, so some parts repeated from different perspectives, new things revealed from different perspectives (also, Anne McAffery's DragonRiders of Pern series, I remember reading the YA Dragonson/Dragonsinger first, then moving to the Dragonflight/Dragonquest and having one scene replayed and it was this crazy feeling of deja vu, as I already knew what was going to happen).
I don't own the Kindle copy, as it was included in KU and I have a current subscription. It's not something I keep all the time though ... and I don't know that I'll come back and re-read this, but I still wouldn't mind having a copy in my collection, because I know it made me smile so much throughout. I'm sure skimming through the pages would bring back a lot of those smiles.
There were a couple f-bomb drops, and some talk of sex ... in fact, one of my saved quotes was "according to my last two—three—maybe four boyfriends, I’m too sexually demanding. Which is such a double standard,” she said testily, old grievances making her downright mad. “First, they’re happy about it, and then it’s, ‘I have a headache, Sasha.’ Or: ‘We already did it three times today, Sasha.’ Or: ‘I think you broke me, Sasha.’ " ... totally made me laugh! That's about as explicit as it gets though :)
I don't know that it's totally a 5* read ... but an emotional/it made me happy, I saved some quotes, I'd like to own it, I'll remember it ... I'm gonna 5* it ;) My main concern is ... "coming soon" ... the second book (or books 3 & 4?) was scheduled to be out in 2023. It's 2024 ... Hmmmm. Don't leave me hanging!