So much emotional value for your credit!

What made the experience of listening to The Shining Girls the most enjoyable?

This book is totaly absorbing from the very first chapter. Its hard to stop listening too, i was unsure about it and decided to go for it after reading other reviews and seeing how long it was (the longer the better for me). The brutal scenes in it aren't as horrific to listen to as they are to read and are pefectly in context with the story. The narrator does a fantastic job, bringing scores of characters to life and really sucking you in. You really get two threads to the book. One of the time-traveling murder element,of a man driven to horrific acts being thrown through the years addicted to murdering beautiful, strong women and then the story of the survival of one of his victims. Both are as compelling as the other. Also each of the murder's other victims is beautifuly written, a real rounded character that you feel for and i found that quite astounding as some of them feature very briefly.Infact every character comes roaring to life, due to some superb writing and some excellent acting skills from the narrator. I was expecting the end to be a let down, because it built so beautifully, but it isn't. Clever, moving and make an impossible situation completely believable.To listen to all the time jumping back and forth through the decades can be confusing, but i dont think it really made any difference , you can tell where you are from the context of the story itself. Really worth the credit, even if sci-fi or detective storys aren't you thing, its got such a lot of weight to it that those points aren't even the main focus, the characters are and their story just has to be heard, it stayed with me for days after and i found myself re-playing chapters afterwards.

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2 people found this helpful

grusome

It may well be my age ,but I'm beginning to find the repetitive description of the mutilation and torture of women heart breaking and infuriating. When you reach the point where small children are sobbing at their dead mothers grave, the urge to throw the damn phone out of the window is overwhelming.
This is yet another of those time line books where we go backward and forwards ,whilst some lunatic murders all in his path, the trouble is we never find out why. I enjoyed the story set in the present and was genuinely interested in the heroines well being ,however once you realise the murderer can go back and rewrite history the whole thing become a farce.

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2 people found this helpful

Interesting read

Novel somewhat in the style of Stephen King (I mean that in a good way): supernatural, slow-burn but well-paced and interesting. Not outstanding: neither powerfully gripping, nor beautifully descriptive, nor intellectually intriguing. But a rewarding listen nonetheless. Oh dear, feels like I'm damning it with faint praise: not my intention, it's just that this book is neither "meh" nor "wow", it's simply a good read. And boy, there are plenty of very BAD reads out there, right Harlan?

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1 person found this helpful

Confused

Agree with other reviewers about narration - the different voices were extremely irritating. Better not to have tried to take on various characters.
I felt baffled most of the way through this and didn’t understand the changes in time Probably missed some crucial parts as attention kept wandering.

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Would recommend to anyone.

I loved this book. It was a bit confusing at the start, but got into the swing of things quickly enough. Really interesting and well formed characters, and an interesting story line. Would definitely recommend.

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Great tale but.....

I enjoyed this story from Lauren Beukes but it felt amazingly thematically similar to NOS4R2 by Joe Hill. This normally wouldn't be a problem as Hill's a great author as well but I'd only just finished reading it before starting to listen to this. Just bad timing on my part so couldn't mark the story down at all.

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Slow building, complex and unusual .

What made the experience of listening to The Shining Girls the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the narration - very good voices and characterisation and plenty of life in the reading. And the unusual twisty story.

What other book might you compare The Shining Girls to, and why?

Not sure what I could compare it to. It's a serial killer story with a difference.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The last few chapters where it all sort of comes together. Very tense!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Well, it's a long book so no! I listened to it as I listen to most of my audio books - an hour or so every afternoon while I have a rest.

Any additional comments?

It's quite a graphic book - a fair amount of detailed violence and profanities. If you're ok with that, you will probably enjoy this unusually told tale of a serial killer with a strange element. Quite weird and complicated though. It takes time to fully get the idea of what is going on. And the ending takes a bit of thinking about.

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Time traveling serial killer/

Any additional comments?

A time traveling serial killer.A girl who survived his attack.She tries to put her life back together and put an end to his murderous ways.
Harper Curtis is a dirt bag-with a meager life,until he stumbles on a house that takes him through time and he enjoys it.Harper stalks his Shining Girls through time and the House helps him. He visits the girls when they are children, takes mementos from them and tells them he'll be back for them when it's time. When that time comes, he leaves their bodies with a new memento, one taken from a different Shining Girl. His goal is to kill them all, all who Shine, and his mission is complete. Except one survived. And now she's the one looking for him.
This book flits through time and characters so much you may lose the plot and be confused-however saying that it was enjoyable and I listened in two consecutive sittings.

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loved the book, didn't love the performance

this is an excellent and gripping book, with characters you'll love and hate with a passion. however, the narration is a bit too much, very over the top and almost silly voices.

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So well written!

I don’t know how this author has escaped me until now, but she’s my new favourite!

Absolutely amazing writing, and a really unique story:)

A great listen/read!

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