Stolen Songbird

Dance Magic Dance

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this audiobook, but with a weary warning.

So I have always enjoyed me some good regular-gal-meets-powerful-man-to-form-a-strong-relationship stories. “Stolen Songbird” has a whole lot of potential especially because it is only book one of a trilogy. The premise is strong with this one. Magic, a doomed race, royalty, abused servants, and sooo much more. How can one NOT be invested in the plot and characters?

This is where the BUT comes in (unfortunately.) I was hoping Jenson would trust her readers (listeners) to understand the situations and happenstances as they came to be. Don’t spell things out. Don’t dumb the plot down and dress it up with pretty words. I don’t want to get frustrated when the audience and Cécile are given the same information and the audience pieces the clues together faster than the main character.

Oh boy. Don’t get me started on Cécile. That girl piece of work. Like her, but she has some growth the take in.

What other book might you compare Stolen Songbird to and why?

I was constantly reminded of three stories, actually.

"The Princess and the Goblin" because, well, for the obvious.

"The Hollow Kingdom," by Clare B. Dunkle. This novel follows Kate Winslow as she is captured by the goblin king, Marak, as his future bride. Fighting back is the easy part as she slowly starts to fall in love with the "deformed" goblin.

"Labyrinth" the film, you know, the one where David Bowie is the singing Goblin King who captures a girl's brother, forcing her to come to his magical kingdom.

What does Eric Michael Summerer and Erin Moon bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I believe that this audiobook should have only had one narrator. With how many times Tristan has his own point of view (around seven or eight times with only a half hour talking time) there might as well have not been a second narrator at all. Let alone one that really doesn’t fit a teenager. Even if said teenager is the most mentally sophisticated teenagers I’ve been privy to. There is really no point in even getting another narrator if he barely has any point of views to narrate. I’d go as far as to say that Moon should just narrate those sections herself to keep from jarring the audience from her voice for solid two hour blocks only to be slapped with by ten minutes of some voice that doesn’t match with a boy let alone how Moon presents Tristan.


I’d say if one must have two narrators for this (because the trend right now for Young Adult audiobooks with at least two point of views is to have to narrators) then try to find two people who sound somewhat the same. That way we aren’t startled by the extreme contrast from the two. Or at the very very VERY least try to have them speak the same way.


Really, though, I’d rather have stuck with Moon. Sorry movie trailer narrator guy…

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"The true trap is what lies in the heart."

Any additional comments?

There is certainly a whole bunch of imaginative imaginings, here. There are many different magics, jobs, customs, physiques, rules, and so much more. There was clearly a lot of thought for this underground society, and I could definitely appreciate how one can tell that everything was strictly planned out.

16 people found this helpful

There isn't anything bad about it

I just feel like they dragged it out and it isn't that well written... It's not bad but it's not good either. Ugh.

6 people found this helpful

Could have been better

The story was good enough as a twist on Beauty and the Beast, but I don't understand why they'd have a different narrator only for the few chapters with the different perspective than the heroine. It would have been better if it were more consistent, if the other narrator did the hero's voice in the heroine's chapters as well. It bugged me having to adjust to the completely different cadences and voices so abruptly.

9 people found this helpful

A Diamond in the Rough

I bought this book on a whim when I ran out of things to read. It sounded kind of interesting and thought I'd give it a try. I started and dropped it a few times, never making it past the first chapter. Finally I decided to sit down and just listen for as long as I could. Next thing I knew I was deep into the story of Trollis.

This book has left me empty. It's one of those tales where afterwards, you feel so lost without it in your mind. Cecil and Tristan are characters with so much depth you can't help but love them. The story is well developed and the web of plots and subplots interlock together taking you for ride.

There really aren't enough words to describe how much I love this book. Definitely a must read for a bookworm.

19 people found this helpful

Odd vocal pattern

The narrator has a very odd vocal pattern and the words she stresses makes everything sound like a question. It detracts from the story line which is very engaging. I listened to the story at 1.25 speed which helped overcome some of the narration problems.

15 people found this helpful

Sound premise, lackluster execution

The story had interesting components and was decently written, but it has a lot in common with another book I've read, The Hollow Kingdom, only Stolen Songbird didn't use it nearly as well. I don't want to spoil either book, but I'd recommend reading the Hollow Kingdom because it's simply a pleasure and then comparing for yourself, if you feel like continuing with this.

The romance portions tend to reek of that sickening Romeo and Juliet kind of love. It's a little sickening and more than a little frustrating to watch drama unfold as a result of their puppy love mindset and terrible decision making. Rational can't really describe either of them.

There are numerous plot holes when you consider the author's own world setup for more than half a second, to boot.

I'm torn between getting the next one and, well, just something else. It was engaging enough that I want to know how it ends, but I just really can't recommend it. "Still a better love story than Twilight", as they say. It's a step above, for sure, but still lacking.

The narrator(s) did well, for the most part, but I hated when the lady spoke for any men. I hear it often in opposite gender character readings, and it gets me every time. in this case, she does that bizarre "masculine" voice that sounds like a joke or mockery. Still, I've heard worse attempts. Her female voices were great. The male narrator did women and men appropriately, which is a rarity.

6 people found this helpful

Couldn't get into it.

I just couldn't bring myself to care about the characters, and the narrator constant pauses in the middle of sentences was driving me crazy. I did finish it, but won't go for book 2.

5 people found this helpful

quite possibly the worst "French-ish" accent ever

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Reading it might have been better - the narration by Erin Moon was simply horrible. It's so bad I won't go on with the series. Story itself was alright, but a little too YA simplistic, and waaaaaay too much of the female protagonist fretting over self-worth.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Interesting take on different fantasy worlds of humans, trolls and magic.

How could the performance have been better?

Erin Moon did the worst "French-ish" accent I've ever heard. Truly horrible - just skipping the attempt at all would have made it so much better. Her breathy contrivances of male characters, and wretched portrayals of some royal characters put me off entirely. Horrible narration makes it impossible for me to finish the book and I won't go on with the series.

What character would you cut from Stolen Songbird?

The miserable royal uncle, but this could be due to the narration.

2 people found this helpful

for the younger audience

As the not typical YA reader/listener, I love that with YA books they stay more to the story without as much vulgar language. While I was determined to listen to the entire book. It was not a great start... I did however become attached to the characters. So still a decent book... especially for younger audiences .

8 people found this helpful

okay.

It was okay. i felt like the author tried to get things going to fast. I was pretty confused and honestly uninterested for the first quarter of the book. It did pick up eventually. I also dont understand the part of her singing? she hardly sings at all and i feel like it was just thrown into the story. But other wise a decent book.

4 people found this helpful