The Stroke of Thirteen

By: Carrie Gessner

Narrated by: Kristin Price

When Grace Pembleton inherited her grandfather's business in rural Pennsylvania, she had no idea what else she was in for. She thought life as a bed-and-breakfast owner would be a quiet one, that the only trouble she'd encounter would be making enough coffee for guests. What she gets instead is a violent gnome, a resident ghost, a secret society, and continuous brushes with the supernatural. Even with new friends at her side, she struggles to fulfill her family's legacy of protecting the town. Then a new threat arises, and it wants Grace.

©2017 Carrie Gessner (P)2018 Carrie Gessner

Not Good...

This story was just flat out not good. It had potential but the main character was depressing and just never rose to the occasion. I tried twice to listen and each time fell asleep. Hopefully the author can bounce back from this mistake as a story.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review'

enjoyed

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Overall I really liked this story asks found it original. The characters are pleasently unique also. The only thing that stopped me from fixing a 5 star rating wad the narration. When using her normal voice the narration was great, but some of the characters were voiced snippet cheesy.

hard to follow

book was ok but unless your tech savvy it's a bit hard to follow...had trouble with hash tag this and that otherwise story like was good just too hard to follow for me

Not What I expected

The Stroke of Thirteen by Carrie Gessner is full of vivid imagery and unexpected twists. I enjoyed the paranormal aspect to this story. The storyline is original and the plot well developed. I thought the narration by Kristin Price was well done. She added the right emotions to her performance. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. I would listen to more books by this author and narrator.

fun, quirky romp

Fun, quirky romp through the supernatural. All the tropes are present, and the plot is a bit predictable, but the characters are unique and spout great dialogue: pithy, charming and lovable. I laughed out loud a few times. Very talented Voice Artist.

Makes you feel confused while listening...

I really needed a day or two to think over what I was going to write about the book... so finally here it is:)

It's a confusing book, even more so when you listen to it, I think.
On the one hand, it has quite a unique, intriguing and really engaging story, with the Pembleton family being the centre of all that is going on in the town and the magic/paranormal occurances that happen. It also has a bunch of interesting characters, both positive and negative. The imagery is rich, the plot fast, the ending rather surprising... and yet I felt confused almost all the time.
Why? There are several reasons for that (some of them already mentioned by other reviewers), like the hash tag blah blah - I did not follow fully even one of those exchanges - or the fact that Grace talks too much (that inner constant comment/monologue made my brain go totally blank... ) My biggest problem with the book though was that I constantly felt as if I was missing some parts of the story - I caught myself wondering several times what was going on, why Grace was doing what she was doing and what (and to whom) she was talking about... It's as if my brain did not register some important pieces of information - and I have no idea whether it was the result of the way the book was written or the way it was narrated - or maybe it was my wavering focus that made me "sleep" over some parts of the story... Which in itself means that the pace was uneven and the story less engaging than it might have been. I don't usually lose focus when listening to a story whose pace is right and plot intense... Somehow I didn't feel any real danger, any 'race against time' kind of tension in this story... Pity, because the premise sounded really great.

As for the narration, it's quite good, but again uneven. Ms Price does narrative parts really well, but some of the voices she gives particular characters just don't ring right for me, and the 'hash tag' parts were read so fast that I just couldn't follow them at all. But I would listen to another book read by her with pleasure.

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

The stroke of Thirteen

I liked this story,though it was sometimes confusing.Once I gave u trying to make sense of some things it went better.It seems Grace has inherited more than an inn from her grandfather.Ghosts,gnomes,etc exist in this Pa town.Fun story.Kristen Price was a very good narrator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

A Modern Twist of a Witch’s Tale and then some

Disclosure: I received a free download without any expectation of a review. While I do know the author, this is an unbiased review. This is not your average tale of a witch curse. It’s so much more. The plot follows a young woman’s struggle to find her place in a town that’s plagued by supernatural occurrences and murders that are linked to her family history. Grace must unearth the secrets of the past and restore balance in the town, but the clock is ticking and the death toll is rising. The beginning of the story has a number of characters to keep track of and a style that plays on the use of social media that may take the listener a chapter or two to get used to but it’s well worth continuing with the story. As events unfold, the characters become even more engaging, each with their own problems to resolve. The narration is top-notch and really brings the story to life. I’d love to see more from these characters in future stories.

This was an interesting take on a b & b.

Was anyone else left feeling as though there should have been another book prior to this one? Maybe it was just me. After reading the synopsis, I was left with the impression that Grace would either be moving into her grandfather’s place or she would have been there for a short period of time, as the story began. Either way, I thought this story would be more of her being introduced to the supernatural world. Needless to say, she seemed to already know all about it, albeit not everything. I was somewhat disappointed there.

The only big issue I'd say I had with this story was the in-between chapter text/social media messages. I guess the way they were written, well it was somewhat confusing as to what was even going on/being said between the characters. I would have either deleted those from the narration script or rewritten them for easier understanding. I wasn't a fan of those.

The narrator did a great job. The only things that stood out to me were: 1. There were times when Grace’s mother sounded Jamaican, like before I realized she was actually Indian. 2. Clara’s Brazilian accent was questionable. While I don’t personally know any Brazilians, after listening to some youtube videos of Brazilians speaking English, I’m curious to know how long Clara had been in this town and why she spoke so slowly? Other than those two, I had no other issues. I’d definitely listen to her narrate again.

Questions/Comments:

I might have missed this part, but where did the ghost in the b & b come from?

How long had her two best friends (supernatural hunters) been in this town?

There was mention of the sheriff wearing a Kazastani flag on her uniform. What was that all about?

When it came to introductions, why was Allison the only described as being a “young, white woman?” There was no other mention of race when it came to the characters, like with Grace, I didn’t realize she was part Indian for a good portion of the book.

The funniest or most questionable part was after Aaron’s/Erin’s death. A sketchbook was found nearby, and it was believed that she had sketched her killer prior to death. How much time did she have to where she could sketch, yet couldn’t run away?

There was a part when Grace was sitting in the back of an ambulance, wrapped in a blanket. Her friend comes over to her and they talk for a while. This was when Grace told her friend (the male one-not sure how to spell his name) that she knew he liked Clara. Anyways, they’re on the ambulance bay when suddenly it goes back to them and Grace is sitting in the grass (after it’d been raining) and Clara and Roland are suddenly in the ambulance bay. I might have misunderstood that scene but yeah…

Tilly ends up trying to kill Grace. What does Grace do? She knocks her out and ties her to the staircase, then goes in search for clues, leading her to her father’s journal. Why didn’t she call the sheriff? Or her friends?

How did Grace know that she’d be able to stab the witch statue? This was another part in which I felt like I was either clueless about what was going on or…I don’t know what. I thought there was only a little mention of the statue here and there throughout the story. Yet, I felt like Grace was learning all this information that wasn’t actually in the story.

How did Grace know that Perry was an immortal? Again, I felt lost with that news also.

Seems like a decent cozy, but couldn’t finish

This is a new author for me and I was looking forward to this story, which sounds really interesting, but I was unable to finish. After the second or third repeat of “white dude” generalizations, I just can’t listen to the casual racism/sexism. I’m disappointed, but it’s going to eat at me if I try to finish this and have to hear more comments like that.