Hmmm...this was...just okay. Let's say a 3.5, but that is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for me on these books.

Accents aside, the narration was fine, but... it could have been better. (I just read a review saying that all the male characters sounded like Barney Rubble for some reason. Ha.) I guess Kimberly is supposed to be from the midwest (wait, or Oklahoma? Does Aaronovitch think that Oklahoma is the Midwest? And wouldn't someone from the state with such a large Native population maybe, you know, know more about the stories of Native Peoples in this country? It kind of helps with the use of "momma" though.) And the British narrator apparently grew up in the US? It's funny how much these details matter, and yes I think there SHOULD have been a beta reader. Aaronovitch was also treading a chancy line with his portrayal of Native American (Ojibwe) spiritual life. He did a decent job (William takes Kimberly to task for asking about "legends" and he's like, "It's a religion. Is the bible about "legends" to you?") but there are so many ways it could have gone badly.The MC - let’s call her Karen, cause that’s what she is - is insufferable. She’s every American stereotype rolled into one person and the writing definitely comes across as lazy as a result. Alternatively, he'll love the DOIY Designer Cheese Board Set. It's got everything he needs to set up a tasty antipasto platter, except for the cheeses, meats, anchovies, and olives. What are some good gifts for people who are always cold? If you’re going to write about living in winter, learn about living in winter first. Literally millions of people do this every year, so it shouldn’t be hard to find someone with first-hand experience. Aaronovitch's choice to make Kimberly be a person raised as an Evangelical Christian who calls her mom "Momma" has always grated on me a bit, as it's a stereotype of Americans that's not my favorite. I will say that she got a lot more human here, and I think that might be his intent, but... still not my favorite. One of our best gifts for a wife in winter is the Jurlique Home Spa Hamper. It has everything she needs to forget the freezing weather outside and focus on a pampering day inside by herself or with friends.

Meh. Part of my dissatisfaction might be with the audiobook itself, but it was only like five hours long and it took me three weeks to finish it. First, Kimberly has never been my favorite character, though she grew on me a bit here chasing paranormal activity in a snowed-in Wisconsin lake town. Second, she kept meeting people once and that was it, though a few made a brief second appearance. The story was a lot of disconnected events that only began to come together at the very end, and it was hard to latch on to.I’m on the fence between 1 and 2 stars; while the novella has major issues, the writing itself is excellent. Call it 1 star for story and 4 stars for technical. Karen is SHOOK to learn another character isn’t a practising Christian. I can only assume this is Karen’s first foray outside the compound, and she qualified for the FBI over Zoom. I have been spoiled by the likes of Kobna Holdbrook Smith and Nigel Planer. They virtually disappear behind their voices, so I didn't expect much out of this reader. I have yet to hear a woman doing a decent male voice. But I can enjoy the books anyway. I'm just totally in love with Nigel and Kobna. But I have one word for this reader. "Parker." She slipped up once and said "parka." Maybe I listen to too much BBC and American accents have started to sound weird to me. But "parker"? In a book where it's cold and snowy, everyone is going to be putting one of these on and off all the time. It was jarring. All the men sounding like adolescents was a bit weird too. But the "parkers" were grating on me. This is supposed to be an Oklahoma accent? I know of only one place where the "r" is added where it doesn't belong and that's Massachusetts. We had a neighbor from "Maather's Vinyaad." But she also removed Rs. She called me "Maather" all my young life. Being a novella it was mercifully short. Seriously, this type of “I don’t need to know about winter to tell you all about winter” hubris is the reason the Franklin expedition failed.