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A review by jscarpa14
Darke by Angie Sage
4.0
I started out listening to the audiobook then switched to reading it myself a little over halfway through. The rating above is based on the writing and the book itself. The audiobook would receive and entirely different rating all together.
I feel it should be noted that the audio version (at least the version owned by the NYC public library) is irritatingly riddled with mistakes and will make it very hard to enjoy the novel because you'll spend half the book confused about who exactly the narrator is talking about. After the fifth time the narrator said a different character name than was written in the book as well as different from who he was actually talking about I was finished with that rubbish audio version. I do not recommend the audio version in any way shape of form and if I was rating based on the narrator of that I'd give the rating a 2, and that's being nice. It really deserves lower. If you can't even keep the character names straight you don't have any business narrating a book. I prefer to listen to audiobooks when I have other things I need to be doing or when I'm trying to sleep. It's incredibly frustrating to be interested in a book and know you're not getting a clear version of the story because you've gotten to the point you're keeping the book handy to look up any scene that doesn't make sense only to learn that the words on the page don't match the ones coming out the narrator's mouth. And then you're faced with three equally frustrating choices - drop what you're doing to read the book yourself, deal with constant moments of confusion or wait until you're done with what you're doing to read the book yourself. Since I have no self discipline whatsoever I chose option one.
My biggest complaint about Sage's work and the main reason I don't give her top marks on many of her wonderful novels are how often she contradicts something she's said in other novel to make a scene in the current one work. It's a regular occurrence in this series and drives me up the freaking wall. Contradictions in series are probably one of my biggest book pet peeves. Putting that aside Darke ups the ante more than any previous book in this series has and was a page turner from beginning to end.
I'm a little confused about the relationship between Septimus and the sleeping Syrah and the connection he felt to her from their very reacquaintance in the previous novel, but I'm hoping the next novel will sort that out. I mean she's considerably older than him considering their ages, not counting the 500 years as a possessed Syren. And it's during ages that it kind of matters. No one wants to see a 14 year old hook up with a girl that's what almost 20? Is she still not aging while she's disenchanted and just going to wake up when he's old enough to date her? Is he even allowed to date her, I mean none of the other extraordinaries seem to have spouses or children that have been mentioned. I'm really hoping for a clearer explanation in the following novel.
I have a lot of questions still about the different characters and magicks that Sage has presented throughout this series and only one book left in it to read so I'm hoping that Fyre is long enough to provide those answers.
Overall I'd recommend the book, but I'd also recommend skipping the audio version of it.
I feel it should be noted that the audio version (at least the version owned by the NYC public library) is irritatingly riddled with mistakes and will make it very hard to enjoy the novel because you'll spend half the book confused about who exactly the narrator is talking about. After the fifth time the narrator said a different character name than was written in the book as well as different from who he was actually talking about I was finished with that rubbish audio version. I do not recommend the audio version in any way shape of form and if I was rating based on the narrator of that I'd give the rating a 2, and that's being nice. It really deserves lower. If you can't even keep the character names straight you don't have any business narrating a book. I prefer to listen to audiobooks when I have other things I need to be doing or when I'm trying to sleep. It's incredibly frustrating to be interested in a book and know you're not getting a clear version of the story because you've gotten to the point you're keeping the book handy to look up any scene that doesn't make sense only to learn that the words on the page don't match the ones coming out the narrator's mouth. And then you're faced with three equally frustrating choices - drop what you're doing to read the book yourself, deal with constant moments of confusion or wait until you're done with what you're doing to read the book yourself. Since I have no self discipline whatsoever I chose option one.
My biggest complaint about Sage's work and the main reason I don't give her top marks on many of her wonderful novels are how often she contradicts something she's said in other novel to make a scene in the current one work. It's a regular occurrence in this series and drives me up the freaking wall. Contradictions in series are probably one of my biggest book pet peeves. Putting that aside Darke ups the ante more than any previous book in this series has and was a page turner from beginning to end.
I'm a little confused about the relationship between Septimus and the sleeping Syrah and the connection he felt to her from their very reacquaintance in the previous novel, but I'm hoping the next novel will sort that out. I mean she's considerably older than him considering their ages, not counting the 500 years as a possessed Syren. And it's during ages that it kind of matters. No one wants to see a 14 year old hook up with a girl that's what almost 20? Is she still not aging while she's disenchanted and just going to wake up when he's old enough to date her? Is he even allowed to date her, I mean none of the other extraordinaries seem to have spouses or children that have been mentioned. I'm really hoping for a clearer explanation in the following novel.
I have a lot of questions still about the different characters and magicks that Sage has presented throughout this series and only one book left in it to read so I'm hoping that Fyre is long enough to provide those answers.
Overall I'd recommend the book, but I'd also recommend skipping the audio version of it.