Good story - bad narration

It was overall a good story with a solid plot which helped me get through listening to the entire two books. Honestly, the narration almost turned me off of wanting to finish it. The narrator actually made the story boring. There was little difference in any of the voices, if at all, and she spoke in the same monotone throughout the entire story. I think with the right narrator, the book could really come to life and make it a completely different experience.

10 people found this helpful

I wish I had read this book instead of listened

Would you consider the audio edition of The Rose and the Dagger to be better than the print version?

No.

I had just finished listening to The Raven King and that narrator was so talented at telling the story. Considering that these books are based on the retelling of stories you would think the narrator would be just as strong.

It was like going to a Jr High school play where the kids just learned their lines the week before. I was more forgiving while listening to the first book thinking she just had to find her feet but by the end I didn't even want to keep listening

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The story and character development was well done, the story is what kept me listening!

7 people found this helpful

So disappointed

This narrator, oh man. She sounds like she's reading out loud in English class. I remember not liking her with the first book, but the first book was so engaging that I could ignore the bad performance.

I was so excited for this book. But in my opinion, it didn't live up to the first one. The last half was better for sure, but by that point, I was so bored and sick of the narrator, that I just wanted the book to be over.

If you loved the first book like I did, get the print version of this one. I almost switched to Kindle, but I'm blind, and the robot voice would have butchered so many names.

6 people found this helpful

Get this if you want the conclusion to the series

Personally, I enjoyed the first book better. Because I love the palace and the focus on Khalid and Sharzad's chemistry. This is not to say that we don't get the chemistry on Book 2. We do. But not as much as Book 1 in my opinion.

On the other hand, if you loved Book 1, I think it would be a shame not to get The Rose and the Dagger. The author made me care for those two lovebirds in Book 1. And it was a joy to see how their story concluded in Book 2.

Just be warned that you might be bored with the first half of this book as it was basically a build up of the second half. On the other hand, the second half (I feel) is so worth it

4 people found this helpful

story great, narrator not so much.

narrator was so not good it took away from the awesomen story. but worth the read.

3 people found this helpful

Loved it

A lot of people complain about the reader, but I thought she did fine. I enjoyed it. it's a wonderful story and I appreciate being able to listen to it.

1 person found this helpful

Well done conclusion!

This was a great conclusion to the original story line. the narrator NAILED IT!! I wholeheartedly enjoyed this from beginning to end.

1 person found this helpful

Started Out Strong But Ended Rushed

All in all a pleasurable read, but I didn't think it quite lived up to the build up of the last book.
Edit: Upon rereading this book, I've decided to bump it up to a 3 star rating. I'm not sure why I was so hard on it. I vividly remember reading it twice in a row to try to give it another chance, but never being able to focus on it, finding it to be incredibly slow moving and boring.
Maybe I'm just in a better headspace because I must have tuned out and skimmed most of this book. It was like reading it for the first time during this reread, and I liked it so much better this time around. I still don't think it's the perfect sequel to live up to the first book, which I still really like, but there is a lot here to enjoy that I didn't see the first time I read it.

1 person found this helpful

Disappointing

I loved the first book, but I read the physical copy. I'm not sure if switching to the audio version for the second book is why I didn't like it, but I listened to the sample first, which was fine. The narrator has a pleasant voice.

However, there is so much whispering at important moments. Instead of just getting a little softer and saying they whispered, she literally whispers then immediately goes back to being loud. Throughout the book, I felt like I was either missing information or blasting my ears as I adjusted the volume back and forth. I often felt confused about what was going on in the story.

When reading the first book myself, I also read some of the dialog as more playful or sarcastic, whereas it was all serious or dramatic in the narrators voice, which really changed the tone of the book for me and wasn't as fun or similar to real life.

Could have been better. Don’t waste your time.

As for the book itself, it was awful. I listened to the audiobook because I couldn’t get myself to read it. Orientalist, illogical, and unappealing.

The audiobook made this experience worse because the narrator couldn’t even properly pronounce the characters’ names. The way she’d say “baba” really made me cringe.

I decided to skip right over the better part of the book and listen to the last 3 chapters because I wanted to know how it would end. Let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t waste my time with the whole book.