A Marvellous book!

Again, I have spent lovely hours getting embroiled in this book. So unusual a concept and yet it's perfectly believable after a while. Some comments have mentioned how they felt the voices were 'over the top' but I thought they were perfect. To me, the narrator was so good, it felt as if I was listening to a full cast production! Besides how else are Frankenstein, two elderly protectors, Dracula and various other crazy characters going to sound? just superb!

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An absolute hoot!

I love this series of novels. It’s hard to know where to start! As another reviewer said, the narration is so entertaining and vivacious that it feels like you are listening to a dramatisation. It’s wonderful entertainment. The story is off-the-wall, quirky, original and gripping. You find yourself smiling, sometimes laughing out loud and completely invested in the story. The characters are larger than life and charming. These stories transport you into a hilarious world of curious indefatigable women, magic and mayhem in Whitby. I can’t get enough of them. Wonderful.

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Quirky and very entertaining

I love these stories, it's hard to stop listening. The characters are quirky but somehow real, and the storyline continues to draw you in.

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Wonderful Romp

I loved this story. The characters became familiar friends as the outrageous, funny and at times endearing story unfolded. Beautifully written.

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Shlock, horror!

Another romp through the labyrinth of Gothic Whitby. So nice to see the diva Karla still strutting her devilish stuff through the tawdry tinsel of the Christmas Hotel. Always enjoyable to relish the unique humour of Mr Magrs, cultish charity shop old biddies and all!

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Good, but not great..........

The story was ok, but the portrayal of Frank was awful, the voice was irritating and the constant third person references were tedious. Didn't enjoy this one as much as the others, think there are too many characters and parallel stories going on. Joanna Tope is usually good at these, but several voices in this were just full on ham and eventually distractingly annoying. Overall disappointed.

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1 person found this helpful

Irritating OTT accents

I so wanted to like this but ended up having to force myself to complete this audiobook.
It's set in Whitby, I'm from the north and was pleased to get northern based tale.
The problem for me was the exaggerated accents, laborious and often excruciating. I love our northern accents but this was painful. When the narrator wasn't doing an attempt at the accent it was fine.
It distracted from the story which wasn't actually bad.
The book was a disappointment. I won't be reading any others in the series.

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3 people found this helpful

AWFUL!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If it had been an entertaining story.

What was most disappointing about Paul Magrs’s story?

Everything, annoying, frustrating and awful.

What didn’t you like about Joanna Tope’s performance?

The accents and the voices are very unbelievable and annoying.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Hell's Belles?

All but maybe the first few chapters.

Any additional comments?

I have been a member since 2011 and rarely give reviews but I felt I had to as this one was easily the worst I have listened to.

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oh dear!!

Not my cup of tea at all but felt I had to endure until the end. Wish I hadn't. The story and the voices.........aaargh.......frightful!

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Disappointing

Unfortunately a poor plot dragged out. I would have enjoyed a shorter story with less repetition. The ending felt jammed together with a sudden explanation of events.

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