No Fast Forwarding required

This story kept me hooked, intrigued and in suspense. In my opinion there was none of the contrived character development or fudged fillers. What I did find was interesting backstories to people and plot so wonderfully intertwined into a well written story.

Simply awesome.

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Mermeels of Mariana

I Chose this after listening to Christine narrate 'imaginary friend' and enjoyed her production. She delivered a pretty good show once again, all characters had a different voice and there was quite a few, however her Aussie accent needed a little bit of love (Sorry Christine!)
I also love a sea story, so this seemed like it was going to be good. Featuring mermaids, the Mariana trench, and a science quest, I was looking forward to something like deep star six, was close, had to settle on a cruise ship instead of a deep sea lab however... Bummer.
The story was good, with the ability to really paint the picture of the sea horrors (mermaids more like eels)
Had a good mix of situations going on and was fast paced enough to hold attention.
However at times the tale suddenly jumped topics, or conversations and left me not really understanding what was happening, but I may of been distracted.
The ending is the only real gripe I have, as without spoiling, it just... Finished, which was a shame as the rest of the book was a bit of fun and an ending a bit more over the top would of paired nicely.
4/5 stars only for the end, good if you like horror/creature feature.

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Solid, Interesting Novel.

I really enjoyed the diversity of this book, and the way disabled characters have their strengths highlighted. It's much nicer as an autistic person to have an autistic character portrayed in a well rounded and more optimistic way, than always negative.
The premise of the novel was interesting and unfolded well. My only issue was that sometimes characters seemed to react so slowly or weirdly (in my opinion) to what was clearly an emergency that it made the pace a little bizarre.
Lakin did a great performance, inflected well and was good at heightening emotion. The accents did not land well though. They were a bit too strong and, as an Australian, hard to listen to.
I'd recommend this novel for anyone looking for a character driven marine science mystery with a solid splash of horror, especially toward the end.

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Mermaid murder. Murmaidor!

Was recommended to me by a freind because of autistic, queer protagonist. Great book thriller.

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Thoroughly enjoyable

This is actually my first Mira Grant novel and definitely won't be my last. A very intriguing presence, wonderfully diverse characters and lots of great science to really root the story in fact made for a wonderful read.
The narrator did a great job, with a voice that lulled you into the rhythm of the story. My only complaint would be her Australian accent. As an Aussie, it just pulled me out of the story whenever she used it.

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pretty great

other than the narrator's butchery of the Queensland accent, my accent, this book was a great way to kill a day during a typical QLD Christmas heatwave. That bloody accent though - it sounded South African. And her French sounded Slavic. But with a bit of work she could fix that because I thought she was a pretty great narrator. and when it comes to audio books, I could happily listen to the fine print on a cereal packet if it was read by the right person. like Stephen Fry, he'd nail a cereal box soliloquy.
in regards the book itself, it was well written well paced and, surprisingly, was about "mermaids" or "sirens" and it didn't suck. Would read more from this author, for sure.

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Variety and Great Storytelling

I liked that it both read as a story but also as a retelling of a historic event.
The inclusivity of people of different walks of life was portrayed so well, there wasn't a huge spot light on LGBTQ+ characters, the telling of sign language and the struggles in the scientific field and life was well captured, none of it felt forced.
The only confusion I had was the epilogue, and what that meant for the 2 characters going forward.

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Fantastic book, Voice acting can be hit or miss

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish! The story, characters are all fantastic, and was completely taken away by how well the book is written. If you enjoy horror, this book is a must!

My only criticism is the voice acting. I am Australian, and when I heard the accent for the Australian, I was completely unimpressed. It was as if you walked up to any American and asked them to give you their best Australian accent. It was that bad. However the rest of the book was narrated pretty well. But it definitely doesn't ruin the experience and I still highly recommend it!

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1 person found this helpful

Into the drowning deep

This story is enthralling - in turns fascinating, terrifying, truly horrifying. The narration is ok overall. Her accents are truly appalling though - the Australian accent was the worst I have ever heard (and I’m Australian and have heard some truly bad accents) and the French-Canadian accent sounded everything but French-Canadian, sliding at times into ridiculous faux-slavic tones. The accents were so bad that I was jarred out of the story, unable to accept the narrative flow. Thankfully, most of the characters are American, so the narration isn’t completely flawed. Dr Tosh, and other main characters, are voiced entirely convincingly and really well.

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wonderful book.

Very suspenseful. Bring tissues - You WILL mourn character deaths . Had to take time out from listening to grieve.

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