Great all-round

Loved the story. Narrator suited the story perfectly, great voice. Looking forward to next book in the series 🤞

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Worth listening to but needs perseverance

Slow start and at times rambling. However got to finally enjoy it and will be getting the second book

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Excellent start to new series

I hadn’t realised that this was by the Karen Maitland who wrote Company of Liars but had I known, that would have guaranteed I read it. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and characters and the particular setting. The Bristol flooding made a great backdrop to the story.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

The Drowned City

I thought this was a good story and as such it was a good listen. But I really didn’t like the style of the reader. The reading style was choppy and there was no difference between when something required emphasis and something was not disturbing or frightening. There were pauses in the middle of sentences and emojis on words where it was not required.

I only listened all the way through as the story was good and interesting. But I guess this might have just been me.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

Good book, soothing narration!

Enjoyed this book! Resonant, calming narration that suited the text well. Best listened to on some decent headphones.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

A great start to a new series.

I love Karen Maitland's historical novels, I've not read a bad one. They are something to get your teeth into and she brings the past alive in all its gritty and harsh reality. Lots of twists and turns. One criticism was the narration wasn't quite right at times and you could hear where bits had been edited it in but it only slightly detracted from my overall enjoyment. I look forward to the next instalment.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

Spoiled by Narration

I’ve listened to most of Karen Maitlands books and have really enjoyed most of them. This one, not so much, and the narration is a chief culprit. He actually has a good voice and does great accents but there are so many pauses where they shouldn’t be and things accented where they don’t need to be it really spoiled it for me. He could be a great narrator and I don’t get why no one at the recording studio pointed this out or gave him some direction. The story itself I didn’t feel was one of the authors best but if read properly might have been better. I found I was quite glad when it was over if I’m being honest. But don’t get me wrong, I really like a lot of Karen Maitlands books.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Jacobean murder mystery

Narrative set in Bristol after Tsunami. Explores political chaos of religious loyalties under King James.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Good story, distracting reader

I'm a big fan of Karen Maitland's books - I'm currently re-listening to Company of Liars for the 3rd time(!), but of course, this has the benefit of the great David Thorpe to read it. Unfortunately, the Drowned City doesn't and I found the north western accent (notably hanging on the 'g's at the end of words) distracting. Similarly diverting was his habit of breaking sentences at odd places, where I would have thought it should have been linked rather better. All in all a good story, especially as we now have a new character, and hopefully, David will return for the second (we assume) in the series.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

So-so, but worth a second chance

As a big fan of Suzana Gregory's Thomas Chaloner series I thought I'd give this one a go. I find the narration of those books on Audible entirely too dreadful to listen to, so I'm in need of a good substitute.

I've rated this book squarely in the middle. Didn't meet my expectations but I will reserve final judgement until I've heard the second.

Good points about the book are that the plot is sturdy and looks like it will carry on building in book two. The voice actor has a good range of accents and it sounded believable.

What brought down the overall score is that there seems to be a whole back story to the main character that is barely touched on, but it feels like you're supposed to know more. I kept checking that this was the first in the series because there were a lot of points at which it felt like I'd missed a whole book. I also don't like the flicking between first- and third-person narration in alternate chapters. Somehow to me it feels like you're being reminded that you're in a fiction because it jars each time. That's probably just me though.

With the voice acting, although the chap is clearly accomplished, I found some of the pausing to be a bit odd and stilted. There's be random beats missed in sentences where you wouldn't expect them, as though he'd lost which line he was on. And at times he did sound a bit bored to be honest.

The first Gregory book I read was the debut of the Matthew Bartholomew series, and I wasn't blown away by it. But I thought the premise was good so I gave it a second chance and have been completely hooked on both that and the Chaloner series ever since. I'm hoping this will be the same.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful