As expected, good enough, but not stellar.

After the author-read prequel, I was a bit skeptical about starting this series. The concept is so cool: historians getting the power to time travel and getting into a bunch of random historical timey-wimey trouble!

The book was...almost what I expected. The time travel aspect was cool, and the story made so much more sense (the prequel was written sometime after book 4, and I've since read you need to read them in publication order rather than chronological order). The narrator was FAR superior than the author, though the first-person narration made it hard to determine what was dialogue or internal thoughts. And I found that it was hard to separate characters unless there was an obvious accent as the voices weren't too dissimilar.

The plot of this book was as expected, and not high literature. There were some good surprises and plot twists, including an evil band of time travellers out to stop St. Mary's. Some good confrontations led me to want a bit more, though I was at times confused about what was happening, why, and how. It's the classic problem of a time travel plot, but seemed even less explained.

While there were many good elements of this book, I did find the lead character a bit annoying. She starts as a recruit and ends up as the senior historian - ok it's possible and makes for a good establishing of the main character - but the drama and volatility with relationships and the outcomes of events got tiring. I'd listen to the second book in the series, but it's not a high priority.

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8 people found this helpful

Disappointing

The narration is great, but the story itself falls short. not entirely sure how there is an entire series after this, I was barely intrigued enough to finish just the one. It's a decent premise with lots of promise in the beginning, but even being interested in history and science I felt underwhelmed. The flow of the whole story was also strange, I felt like there were many climaxes where you'd think this is where the story was going and then it didn't go that way, or it was only a minor plot point. By the time the whole thing was done I felt like I had just listened to 6 or more short stories, none of which were compelling enough to have been the main intrigue of an entire novel. I read through all the reviews before using my credit on it, it definitely sounded like I should like it. It was by no means a terrible listen, the narrator had a nice voice and brought life to it, it's just not one I would necessarily recommend.

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1 person found this helpful

I'd love to have drink with the author!

Rollicking fun and the Narrator was spot on. Brilliant. Moments of well built tension as well as laugh out loud bits. I listened twice back to back to make sure I caught it all. St Mary's has a new fan.

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very fun read!

loved the narrator - her diverse voices made me forget I was listening to one reader & immersed me in the adventure. fun, exciting read with very real characters in a bizarre world made to feel strangely possible.

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I just don’t care

There is just too much formula mixed into not enough empathy. I made it a good way through the book but when I hit the penultimate dramatic arc with time travel used to bluntly build a despised enough set of villains, I realized I just didn’t care.

I set it down and don’t imagine I’ll return.

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Awesome book

I throughly enjoyed this book. I wish there were more. It was funny, sad, suspenseful and just wonderful.

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Love it! And it really is one Damn thing after another!!!

This is one of my favourite books! Max is an absolute delight and I wish my workplace was as delightfully chaotic as St Mary’s!! Zara Ram’s performance is fantastic!!

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A Fun Adventure!

This was very fun! I really enjoyed he historical and time travel aspect. The characters were great, and I really enjoyed the plot. It moved quickly, but we still had some good world building. We spent the right amount time on each plot point and it didn't feel rushed, even though so many things happened! The writing was great, and I enjoyed the humour.
Overall, a very fun read, and a great adventure . #Audible1

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Just one damn thing after another

This book really is one thing after another without much let up or breathing room. It's an interesting book but the pacing needs some work. I enjoyed the narrator.

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The Best of Everything

Love this book and have listened to it several times. It has some of everything.

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