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A review by danileighta
Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
4.0
I love this series! Listen to the books, if you can!
About the writing: It's inventive and fast-paced, without feeling like a modern blockbuster thriller that races through the story. You will care about the characters even if you don't listen to the whole series, but it's recommended as they do build on each other. Aaronovitch writes women preeeetty well, though he definitely gives his male characters more depth and there are just usually more of them. I like how the author names the ethnicity and race of many (if not most) of the folks we meet throughout the book. Peter Grant, the main character, is a man of color and rather than only stating that fact about him, the author very organically talks about the racial identities of characters.
About the voice actor: Again, if you can listen, please do. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith has a great and versatile voice. His various British accents are fun (though I can't say if they are particularly accurate, I'll leave that to readers from the UK) and his Irish and Scottish accents feel really natural. The voice he uses for the American female in this book got on my nerves at first, but she is not too central and I got used to it mid-way through.
About the story: It's fun and well-told! Think detective story/magic fantasy. I like this version of the UK, specifically London, the author is building and it keeps getting more and more interesting with each subsequent book. I hope Aaronovitch does a bit more with Leslie's character. She doesn't need to fall in love with Grant or anything, but she's so main in the story and I just want to feel her a bit more. I'm super happy with this third book and I just ordered the fourth from my local library!
About the writing: It's inventive and fast-paced, without feeling like a modern blockbuster thriller that races through the story. You will care about the characters even if you don't listen to the whole series, but it's recommended as they do build on each other. Aaronovitch writes women preeeetty well, though he definitely gives his male characters more depth and there are just usually more of them. I like how the author names the ethnicity and race of many (if not most) of the folks we meet throughout the book. Peter Grant, the main character, is a man of color and rather than only stating that fact about him, the author very organically talks about the racial identities of characters.
About the voice actor: Again, if you can listen, please do. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith has a great and versatile voice. His various British accents are fun (though I can't say if they are particularly accurate, I'll leave that to readers from the UK) and his Irish and Scottish accents feel really natural. The voice he uses for the American female in this book got on my nerves at first, but she is not too central and I got used to it mid-way through.
About the story: It's fun and well-told! Think detective story/magic fantasy. I like this version of the UK, specifically London, the author is building and it keeps getting more and more interesting with each subsequent book. I hope Aaronovitch does a bit more with Leslie's character. She doesn't need to fall in love with Grant or anything, but she's so main in the story and I just want to feel her a bit more. I'm super happy with this third book and I just ordered the fourth from my local library!