My original Watch Me Burn by Sharon Bayliss audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
David Vandergraff seems to be under a spell to try to find an missing girl. The only problem is that this girl belongs to a family of summer wizards, and David is a winter wizard. Both kinds of wizards have been at war since forever but there is something strange in this situation that makes David try to help Julia’s family. In the meantime Amanda, David’s wife, is growing weaker and weaker but tries to keep it secret. While both parents are busy with their own problems, their children will discover some clues about the missing girl, making them to take many risks.
The story of the first book was interesting so I wanted to see how it continued on this second book. I found the storyline a bit erratic and the end very anticlimactic. It could also be the issue that Sharon Bayliss constructs interesting characters with complex relationships among them but they lack the spark to make them alive. I enjoyed the dialogs but there was still something missing that prevented me to care for them.
There is quite some action at the beginning and at the end but the story in between is slowly paced and without a clear direction. The end comes very fast, many things not making a lot of sense and, as I have said, it feels anticlimactic after all the build up.
For the rest, I quite enjoyed the book. It is one of those easy listens that can be devoured in a couple of days without being overwhelming. Maybe this is my issue with Bayliss’ books. They are just too easy, they come and go, but do not really leave anything behind on me that makes me think further about them.
I felt Dennis Holland’s narration a bit better than in the previous book, adding more nuances and it seemed that the characters’ voices were more differentiated.
There is a resolution at the end of the book but we are left with a cliffhanger that will probably be developed in the next book. It is interesting enough to make me want to listen to it.
This book does not need to be read exclusively by fantasy readers, since the magic in it is subtle enough to enjoy the book by the story and its characters.
My name is Elena. Since I was a little child I loved science fiction and fantasy, and I can’t resist a good novel. In 2015, while wait I started to listen to audiobooks and I discovered the pleasure in being able to read while doing my daily tasks, so there’s always an audiobook playing on my phone. If you see me with my Bluetooth headphones on, please be gentle, I get easily startled.
I live with my boyfriend, which I met during my six-year stay in Belgium, four cockatiels, eight lovebirds, and a hamster in Madrid, Spain; and I like to spend my free time knitting and sewing while listening to audiobooks.
