Starling
Author – Lesley Livingston
Narrator – Lesley Livingston
Publisher – HarperAudio
Date Published – August 2012
Audio Length – 8 hours
Rating 3 Stars
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Starling quickly drew me in with a fast paced and fascinating story. It simply starts with a bang, Mason and friends become trapped in a gym as a storm rages outside when suddenly they find themselves under attack by strange mythical creatures. The situation seems hopeless until they are unexpectedly saved by a hot naked guy bearing a sword and no idea who or where he is or how he came to be there. The story continues with hints of prophecy and norse mythology and epic battles to be waged with dark forces and it sounds altogether absolutely wonderful and I found myself really enjoying the first part of this and eager for more!
The audio narration certainly added to my enjoyment of this story. I think that the superb narration by the author, Lesley Livingston added that extra element that may have been missing for me in the book. I could tell how completely she understood her characters personalities by the way her performance communicated their individual personas and added a depth that was somewhat lacking in the story itself.
Unfortunately the story began to fall off for me in the dialog and character interactions as well as the far reaching plot and the odd pacing of the story flow. One moment, the book was action packed and exciting, the next the story seemed to drag painfully with a lot of information being thrown out but not weaved into the tale in a way that kept me engaged, instead I became a bit bored and confused. And finally a cliffhangery ending...blah. I'm never a fan of those.
Ultimately, I liked Starling and I'm hopeful that the series continues with more of what I enjoyed of the first half of the story and less info dumpy-ness. I still think that this has the potential to be a series that I really enjoy so I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I think I would still recommend this to fans of YA mythology themed books.
RATING 3 STARS
