Audiobook Review: The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer, Narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt

Audible

The fact that Georgette Heyer wrote The Black Moth at 17 is pretty astonishing. It's such a delightful book which, while perhaps not as polished as her later works, firmly establishes the charm and humour she would display throughout her career.

Heyer apparently first invented the story to tell to her sick younger brother, and it contains all the classic elements you'd expect from such an origin - an engaging hero who flirts with danger but actually has a heart of gold, a beautiful heroine who captures said heart, a ~dastardly~ villain you love to hate, lots of action, scandal and intrigue, plus a bit of bromance on top of all that.

I really enjoyed the characters, especially Jack and his best friend Miles, and I even empathised with the tiresome Lady Lavinia. One of my favourite things about Heyer's writing is not the lavish period descriptions or even the melodrama (though they're great too), but the connections between the characters. Whether it's sibling bonds (or lack thereof), enemies, friends, married couples or people just falling in love, the relationships always feel so very real and universal, enhanced by the witty and engaging dialogue.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt and he does an excellent job. The voices he gives to each character are strong - the male characters in particular - and his pacing and delivery are good.

The story was a little uneven and frankly quite baffling in places (the reason Jack had to leave the country seemed weak, for instance, though maybe I'm imposing too modern a judgement), but overall The Black Moth was a fun read and a great way to start my quest to consume all of Heyer's romances.

Rating: 3.5/5

Fine Print
Published: 2013 (Originally 1921)
Get It: Audible

Bye 2014, Hi 2015

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2014 went by so fast and in the latter half of the year in particular I fell into a bit of a reading/blogging funk. But I'm still pretty happy with how I went on my challenges, the only one I didn't reach was the Australian Women Writers Challenge (bummer!):

Aussie Author Challenge, hosted by Booklover Book Reviews

Aim: "Kangaroo" level. Read and review 12 titles written by Australian Authors.

Achieved: 15 books.

Australian Women Writers Challenge, hosted on its own dedicated page.

Aim: I want to read 20 books by Australian women this year. 

Achieved: 15 books.

Audiobook Challenge, hosted by Hot Listens and the Book Nympho

Aim: "Stenographer" level. Listen to 10-15 audiobooks.

Achieved: 35 books.

New Release Challenge (a personal challenge)

Aim: Read at least one new release a month, a total of 12 books published in 2014.

Achieved: 18 books.

Goodreads Challenge

Aim: Read 75 books.

Achieved: 89 books.

As for 2015 - I've decided I'm not going to sign up for any challenges, I'm just going to read what I feel like and see how I go. I've been umming and ahhing over what to do about my blog and I've come to the decision that I'm only going to blog if I feel like it. No pressure. That means no challenges. Well, except the Goodreads Challenge - which I've set to 100 books this year! But that doesn't necessarily require a review for every book, so hopefully it won't be stressful (although I am a little nervous about the number tbh). I plan to keep track of my reading on Goodreads still and will probably note down thoughts on each book there, but I don't know if I will aim to do full reviews for every one as I have tried (and failed) to do in the past. The goal is to do what I feel like, what makes me happy. It's all about having fun, after all. We'll see what happens! That said, I do have a couple of reading goals I will probably (hopefully) blog about regularly:

-The Heyer Project. I want to read through all of Georgette Heyer's Regency novels in chronological order. It will probably be mostly through audiobooks.

-V.C. Andrews Recaps. I started this last year but got distracted by other things - but I'd like to continue doing it this year, starting (again) with Flowers in the Attic.

So that's my plan for the year. Low key and hopefully fun. 

Happy 2015!