![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Bryony and Roses
Author: T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon)
Narrator: Justine Eyre
Published: Tantor Audio, 2015
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 215
Total Page Count: 203,120
Text Number: 623
Read Because: personal enjoyment, audiobook borrowed via Hoopla from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A Beauty and the Beast retelling, with a particularly sardonic cast and unusually haunted mansion. At onset, this feels a lot like Robin McKinley's Retellings, the result both of inspiration and parallel evolution; they have the same premise, same setting, similar magic and humor. Bryony and Roses distinguishes itself in its later half, as more of the house's magic is revealed and the tone becomes more diverse, haunting and even morbid, in successful contrast to the banter and irreverence. This isn't a revelatory retelling: it tweaks things and fleshes them out, but doesn't offer much commentary on the source material. But it's absolutely charming, and Justine Eyre's narration is lovely. This was the right book at the right time for me, escapism without being hollow or frivolous, and while hardly my favorite new fairy tale retelling, I'm grateful for it.
As well as being behind on book reviews, I've had a hard time reading at all lately—in part because my current book is hardcopy in shoddy mass-market paperback format & that plus somewhat dense plus the sincere existential angst that is waking in the morning since last November makes it hard for me to find the energy to read. Watching TV while playing video games is easier right now, but I miss books. So I looked into the library's digital audiobooks via Hoopla, and while I've never been completely content with Hoopla—it has a bad habit with bugs, like that time I had to restart my entire device to force a corrupted partial download to dump cache and start over—1) it is so distinctly better than nothing, and 2) libraries are doing so much to make media accessible, and Portland's library system especially so. They have so many titles, so many licenses, offer so many services; I've always been impressed by their ebooks, but they've done a lot to expand into comics, audiobooks, and even television/movies/music. I guess I just have a lot of ~feelings~ right now about public services and accessibility because these things are in so much danger, but the fact that my agoraphobic ass could listen to fairytales without leaving the house, interacting with people, and having a nervous breakdown is a magic atop magic, a comfort read wrapped in a small bit of "see, life isn't entirely awful."
This is the first audiobook I've ever listened to! Devon reads books aloud to me sometimes, but I've never had a use for audiobooks when there's so many other podcasts I'd rather let take up listening time and I'm a fast print reader. But I'm not a fast reader right now, and the ability to speed up audiobooks makes them a competitive option. I wish Hoopla offered speeds faster that 1.5x; if they did, I could see using this long-term—but as short-term, to tide me over until I can read again, frankly it's a relief.
Author: T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon)
Narrator: Justine Eyre
Published: Tantor Audio, 2015
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 215
Total Page Count: 203,120
Text Number: 623
Read Because: personal enjoyment, audiobook borrowed via Hoopla from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A Beauty and the Beast retelling, with a particularly sardonic cast and unusually haunted mansion. At onset, this feels a lot like Robin McKinley's Retellings, the result both of inspiration and parallel evolution; they have the same premise, same setting, similar magic and humor. Bryony and Roses distinguishes itself in its later half, as more of the house's magic is revealed and the tone becomes more diverse, haunting and even morbid, in successful contrast to the banter and irreverence. This isn't a revelatory retelling: it tweaks things and fleshes them out, but doesn't offer much commentary on the source material. But it's absolutely charming, and Justine Eyre's narration is lovely. This was the right book at the right time for me, escapism without being hollow or frivolous, and while hardly my favorite new fairy tale retelling, I'm grateful for it.
As well as being behind on book reviews, I've had a hard time reading at all lately—in part because my current book is hardcopy in shoddy mass-market paperback format & that plus somewhat dense plus the sincere existential angst that is waking in the morning since last November makes it hard for me to find the energy to read. Watching TV while playing video games is easier right now, but I miss books. So I looked into the library's digital audiobooks via Hoopla, and while I've never been completely content with Hoopla—it has a bad habit with bugs, like that time I had to restart my entire device to force a corrupted partial download to dump cache and start over—1) it is so distinctly better than nothing, and 2) libraries are doing so much to make media accessible, and Portland's library system especially so. They have so many titles, so many licenses, offer so many services; I've always been impressed by their ebooks, but they've done a lot to expand into comics, audiobooks, and even television/movies/music. I guess I just have a lot of ~feelings~ right now about public services and accessibility because these things are in so much danger, but the fact that my agoraphobic ass could listen to fairytales without leaving the house, interacting with people, and having a nervous breakdown is a magic atop magic, a comfort read wrapped in a small bit of "see, life isn't entirely awful."
This is the first audiobook I've ever listened to! Devon reads books aloud to me sometimes, but I've never had a use for audiobooks when there's so many other podcasts I'd rather let take up listening time and I'm a fast print reader. But I'm not a fast reader right now, and the ability to speed up audiobooks makes them a competitive option. I wish Hoopla offered speeds faster that 1.5x; if they did, I could see using this long-term—but as short-term, to tide me over until I can read again, frankly it's a relief.
