DNF Audiobook Review – The Hidden Library (The Collector’s Society, Book 2) by Heather Lyons, Narrated by Gemma Dawson (2/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 285 pages
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Release Date: February 26, 2015
ASIN: B00TE8270U
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd volume in The Collector’s Society series
Source: Borrowed from Audible Escapes
Rating: 2/5 stars

“Alice Reeve and Finn Van Brunt have tumbled into a life of secrets. Some secrets they share, such as their employment by the clandestine organization known as The Collectors’ Society. Other secrets they carry within them, fighting to keep buried the things that could change everything they think they know.

On the hunt for an elusive villain who is hell-bent on destroying legacies, Alice, Finn, and the rest of the Society are desperate to unravel the mysteries surrounding them. But the farther they spiral down this rabbit hole, the deeper they fall into secrets that will test their loyalties and pit them against enemies both new and old.

Secrets, they come to find, can reveal the deadliest of truths.”

This is the 2nd book in the Collector’s Society series, there are four books total in this series. I stopped listening to this audiobook about 60% of the way through. I just didn’t really care anymore; the story moved too slow and the characters became annoying.

Alice, Finn, and the rest of the Collector’s Society are still on the hunt for Sweeny Todd, who’s been destroying timelines. This time their search will have them back in Finn’s home timeline.

I listened to this on audiobook and I think that might have been part of my problem with this. The narrator just sounds really overly dramatic; I actually had trouble figuring out if it was the way the story was read or written that was bugging me so much…but the narration didn’t help.

This story just moved way too slow. There was way, way too much of Alice and Finn talking about how much they adore each other. Seriously, there were whole chapters where Alice and Finn just preached about their feelings for each other…it was nauseating.

Additionally, I also didn’t really enjoy the time spent in Finn’s timeline. I felt more and more distanced from the characters and story as the audiobook continued. When I realized I just didn’t care what was happening anymore, I decided to stop listening to this.

Overall this was just a complete miss for me. I really liked some of the creative elements in the first story and loved venturing into Wonderland. This book just didn’t build on that enough and was plain boring. Also, the readers get that Alice and Finn like each other…a lot. We don’t need to hear about it over and over and over, we can see their love for each other in the way they act…no need to spell it out ad-nauseum.