A Touch of Book Madness
Welcome! I'm glad you found us. A Touch of Book Madness is a nutty book blog where anything can happen, but mostly book reviews and bookish related discussions. We are all Mad about books here, and we know you must be too, otherwise you wouldn't have come here. So please, make yourself comfy and share a cup of tea with us.
To be completely honest, if it weren’t for the amazing cast and music I would’ve lost interest in this book at first. It has a really slow start and each chapter felt like a separate story in Bod’s life at the graveyard, not all of which I found of interest. Nevertheless, about halfway through the book, things start to pick up and my interest was caught. As it turned out, everything leading to Bod’s age 14 was a set up to what was to come, and trust me when I say stick with this book, it’s worth it.
The ending was amazing. It’s bittersweet and left me with my heart full. I think I even shed a tear or two. It is a beautiful growing up tale about finding love (any kind of love) in the most unexpected places and of letting go in order to move forward.
I thought the paranormal elements fit perfectly with the story, with the exception maybe of the true nature of Silas and Miss Lupescu. I think ghosts and some magic where perfectly good with the story but some of the others creatures didn’t strike me as realistic as the majority. I loved however, the subtlety in which Mr Gaiman revealed these characters true colours.
Overall, this story is worth your time, although I would definitely recommend the audiobook over the written book. I think maybe it does a better work in holding your interest at the beginning of the story.
THE NARRATION
Holy Cow! The narration was awesome! I had never listened to a full cast audio before and know I will most definitely be on the search for another of this marvellous piece of work. I loved everything about it. The different characters, the music at the beginning and end of each chapter and some sound effect like when the sleer spoke. It certainly gave me the creeps. My favourites though were the narrator and Silas. I loved their voices! They were perfect! Brilliantly capturing the essence of the story and mood of the characters. The narrator’s voice was whimsical and held my attention all the way, while Silas’ voice was sort of dark and serious, perfect for his character. If you are still not convinced about this, just try out the sample.
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