The Emily Box Set (What Doesn't Kill You Series 5-7)

The Emily Box Set

What Doesn't Kill You, Books 5-7

By Pamela Fagan Hutchins

Contemporary / Romantic Mystery

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HALL WAYS REVIEW: 5 Stars stories/4 Stars narration. Audio Book Review. (I bought the eBooks and added Audible narration.) I had already read (in print) the third book in the Emily sub-set, #7, of the What Doesn't Kill You series, Hell to Pay, but it was fun to go backwards and read (with my ears) forward with books 5 & 6 to learn the back-stories. Main character Emily is a mess and a HOOT, and so real.  "Oh spit," did I laugh a lot, and "Mother Goose," I could relate to Emily with her coffee love and crooked teeth and alternative vocabulary.

These books are chock-full of memorable characters and notable quotables, and I enjoyed and related to how Emily struggles with her faith, how to worship, how to pray, and how to be grateful. One of my favorite quotes from book one was, "I'd done a little too much of the 'why me' and the 'not fair' instead of just being thankful for what I did have." The point was not lost on me that often when Emily does the "Christian thing," it ends up badly. The slow-burn relationship between Emily and Jack is well-done, especially as things begin to smolder in book two, and again, just like Emily, the relationship feels real. It's not perfect: there are mis-communications and missed signals and uncertainty -- and a fair share of embarrassment, thanks to Emily's mother.

The narrator, Tracy Hundley excels in her female Texan voicing -- she has an accurate Texas accent and uses the right lilt and cadence in her speech and author Pamela Fagan Hutchins's fabulous phrasology. Initially, it seems like there is almost no attempt to make the male characters' voices sound male, though they do have different inflections, but that got better over the course of the three books. I am not a fan of her voicing of children and young people, and those pop-up with some frequency, but the adult females and a few selected male characters were so excellent, I didn't much care. (Melinda, described as "As shallow as a Texas river in August," sounded a bit Miss Piggy-ish, but you know, I think that is pretty accurate!)

I intend to go back to the beginning of the series -- and read the books after this set -- to get to know Emily's other friends and their stories. I like that though the books main friend group characters are what tie the full (now 9 book) series together, they work as stand alones, too. Pamela Fagan Hutchins is an immensely talented writer and has created a world with endless possibilities for storylines, each approached to match the unique women in this friend circle. There's humor, action, suspense, and romance a'plenty! HIGHLY recommend.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pamela writes overly long e-mails, the What Doesn't Kill You romantic mysteries, and (possibly) hilarious nonfiction. She resides deep in the heart of Nowheresville, TX and way up in the frozen north of Snowheresville, WY. Pamela is passionate about hiking with her hunky husband and pack of rescue dogs (and an occasional goat and donkey), riding her gigantic horses, experimenting with her Keurig, and traveling in the Bookmobile.

Pamela's mysteries have won a lot of awards, from the 2017 Silver Falchion for Best Adult Mystery WINNER (Fighting for Anna) to the 2016 and 2015 WINNERS for USA Best Books Fiction: Cross Genre (Hell to Pay, Heaven to Betsy). With downloads of nearly 2,000,000 for the What Doesn't Kill You series, readers seem to enjoy her smart, sassy female sleuths.

Get free exclusives from Pamela when you sign up for her newsletter at https://www.subscribepage.com/PFHSuperstars, 

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Buddha Boy

Koja, K. (2004). Buddha Boy. NY: Full Cast Audio.

YA / Realistic Fiction / Audiobook / Bullying

I gave this audiobook 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Blurb:

With his shaved head and begging bowl the new kid is an audience target for the bully boys of Edward Rucher High--"an easy mark for this casual cruelty. Watching this, Justin would gladly stay as far from the newcomer as possible--"until their economics teacher pairs them for a project and he finds himself becoming fascinated by the kid the others mock as "Buddha Boy." The thing is, friendship with an outcast always carries a price, and soon Justin must decide if he can stay silent in the face of what he knows. A scorching portrait of contemporary high school life, featuring a character listeners will never forget. 

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I listened to this quick story, and I enjoyed the effects that were used in the audio: for example, using music to signal chapters/transitions and using an echo-y effect on the voice of the main character, Justin, when he had internal dialogue. I also enjoyed that the narration was truly full cast, so there were different actors for each character.  There were just a couple of times when it sounded like the wrong voice was speaking for a part, but it wasn't frequent.

This is a semi-typical bullying story but it does have a less-than-typical victim, Jinsen, and a good twist to his story. There were some very poignant observations and commentary about church, religion, and karma, and for a delightful change of pace, several adults are actually honorable and role model-ish. The high school setting and characters felt authentic, and though sometimes the messages were excessively beat upon the readers, the messages were good, nonetheless. Sensitive readers beware; there is some swearing -- including an F-Bomb - and some violence, but it's not graphic.

Thank you to SYNC for providing the free audiobook download with absolutely no strings attached. Good stuff.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kathe Koja (born 1960) is an American writer. She was initially known for her intense speculative fiction for adults, but  has turned to writing young adult novels.

Koja is also a prolific author of short stories, including many in collaboration with Barry N. Malzberg. Most of her short fiction remains uncollected. Koja's novels and short stories frequently concern characters who have been in some way marginalized by society, often focusing on the transcendence and/or disintegration which proceeds from this social isolation (as in The Cipher, Bad Brains, "Teratisms," The Blue Mirror, etc.). Koja won the Bram Stoker Award and the Locus Award for her first novel The Cipher, and a Deathrealm Award for Strange Angels. Her prose has been described as "stunning".

Koja won the Bram Stoker Award and the Locus Award for her first novel The Cipher, which was also nominated for the Philip K Dick Award. She also won a Deathrealm Award for Strange Angels.

Learn more on Kathe's WEBSITE or BLOG on TWITTER or FACEBOOK.