All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

Amy     

fantasy, young adult

I almost gave up on All the Crooked Saints after the first 1/8 (the audio book is divided into eight pieces) because it was boring—it was mostly descriptions about characters, and insufficient ones at that. There were too many people being introduced and no meat to the story. Then, finally, the storyline started to emerge and I decided to stick with it, as far-fetched as it was. In the end, I enjoyed it. And I enjoyed the author’s humor which made me laugh out loud a few times. But I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.  It's about a family of saints who live out in the desert and receive pilgrims who are trying to remove the evil from their lives.

Maggie Stiefvater’s novels have sort of fallen out of my favor. I loved her Shiver series so intensely that I’ve given her more chances than I’ve given any other author. After Shiver (aka The Wolves of Mercy Falls series), I read all of her other novels but none of them were as good as the Shiver series. I couldn't even finish The Raven Cycle series. So, I decided to be done with Maggie.

I only gave this one a try because, like all her other novels, it got great reviews and, for some reason, Maggie has a place in my heart. I’m really not sure if I’ll read any more of her novels. I guess I’ll figure that out later. I would like to add that I do not like the title of this novel. It does deal with saints, but I don't believe they're crooked (in any definition of the word).

Meanwhile, the narrator of this audio book, Thom Rivera, was very enjoyable—probably perfect for this story. His accents and acting were wonderful. I give him an A.