Review: Vandemere

Vandemere by Kimberley D. Tait
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Narrated by Kyle Shive

Sorry to say this one was not for me. It follows circus brat Vandy, who does tricks on horses and also has magic of some form thanks to his gypsy blood?

It's set in 1930s Southwest USA, but aside from a few references to the heat I never really felt it. The language - particularly as it was first person narration - didn't seem to suit the setting at all and there wasn't enough description of the environment for me to fall into the location.

Aside from that, the characters weren't great. Vandy is an arrogant kid determined to hate everyone and everything, and he actually kinda cries a lot for someone constantly being told 'you don't have to be tough all the time!' I guess those more familiar with teenage boys might be kinder to him, but to me he was an unlikable protagonist. The rest all seem pretty stereotypical, with the bully, the mean girl, and the mum's awful boyfriend all here, along with more. I didn't warm to any of them at all.

Horse lovers will enjoy the amount of detail in this story, but it was too much for me. It detracted a bit from the story, I felt, because there were so many descriptions I almost had to google horses to work out what was what. It slowed down a story that already felt rather dragging.

The narration I had to bump up to double speed, and the accents were AWFUL. Vandy's mother's accent seem to fluctuate between Spanish, Russian, German, and who knows what else. Some of the other voices put on were terrible, and I hated the tonal change for Vandy's visions. It just rubbed me the wrong way. Would not listen to this narrator again. But I can see from other reviews that I'm in the minority for that, so listen to a sample yourself before taking my word for it.

The pace was too slow for me, and I think the setting never changing added to the dull feel of the story. I just didn't really care about anything being related. It felt more like it wanted to be historical fiction, and the 'magie' element was more of a gimmick that seemed out of place.

Perhaps horse fans will get more out of this, and those who prefer slower fantasy and who have more time for angsty teenage boys. It really wasn't for me at all.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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