The Stroke of Thirteen

By: Carrie Gessner

Narrated by: Kristin Price

When Grace Pembleton inherited her grandfather's business in rural Pennsylvania, she had no idea what else she was in for. She thought life as a bed-and-breakfast owner would be a quiet one, that the only trouble she'd encounter would be making enough coffee for guests. What she gets instead is a violent gnome, a resident ghost, a secret society, and continuous brushes with the supernatural. Even with new friends at her side, she struggles to fulfill her family's legacy of protecting the town. Then a new threat arises, and it wants Grace.

©2017 Carrie Gessner (P)2018 Carrie Gessner

Not Good...

This story was just flat out not good. It had potential but the main character was depressing and just never rose to the occasion. I tried twice to listen and each time fell asleep. Hopefully the author can bounce back from this mistake as a story.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review'

enjoyed

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Overall I really liked this story asks found it original. The characters are pleasently unique also. The only thing that stopped me from fixing a 5 star rating wad the narration. When using her normal voice the narration was great, but some of the characters were voiced snippet cheesy.

A Modern Twist of a Witch’s Tale and then some

Disclosure: I received a free download without any expectation of a review. While I do know the author, this is an unbiased review. This is not your average tale of a witch curse. It’s so much more. The plot follows a young woman’s struggle to find her place in a town that’s plagued by supernatural occurrences and murders that are linked to her family history. Grace must unearth the secrets of the past and restore balance in the town, but the clock is ticking and the death toll is rising. The beginning of the story has a number of characters to keep track of and a style that plays on the use of social media that may take the listener a chapter or two to get used to but it’s well worth continuing with the story. As events unfold, the characters become even more engaging, each with their own problems to resolve. The narration is top-notch and really brings the story to life. I’d love to see more from these characters in future stories.

fun, quirky romp

Fun, quirky romp through the supernatural. All the tropes are present, and the plot is a bit predictable, but the characters are unique and spout great dialogue: pithy, charming and lovable. I laughed out loud a few times. Very talented Voice Artist.

Makes you feel confused while listening...

I really needed a day or two to think over what I was going to write about the book... so finally here it is:)

It's a confusing book, even more so when you listen to it, I think.
On the one hand, it has quite a unique, intriguing and really engaging story, with the Pembleton family being the centre of all that is going on in the town and the magic/paranormal occurances that happen. It also has a bunch of interesting characters, both positive and negative. The imagery is rich, the plot fast, the ending rather surprising... and yet I felt confused almost all the time.
Why? There are several reasons for that (some of them already mentioned by other reviewers), like the hash tag blah blah - I did not follow fully even one of those exchanges - or the fact that Grace talks too much (that inner constant comment/monologue made my brain go totally blank... ) My biggest problem with the book though was that I constantly felt as if I was missing some parts of the story - I caught myself wondering several times what was going on, why Grace was doing what she was doing and what (and to whom) she was talking about... It's as if my brain did not register some important pieces of information - and I have no idea whether it was the result of the way the book was written or the way it was narrated - or maybe it was my wavering focus that made me "sleep" over some parts of the story... Which in itself means that the pace was uneven and the story less engaging than it might have been. I don't usually lose focus when listening to a story whose pace is right and plot intense... Somehow I didn't feel any real danger, any 'race against time' kind of tension in this story... Pity, because the premise sounded really great.

As for the narration, it's quite good, but again uneven. Ms Price does narrative parts really well, but some of the voices she gives particular characters just don't ring right for me, and the 'hash tag' parts were read so fast that I just couldn't follow them at all. But I would listen to another book read by her with pleasure.

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.