Audio: Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen

Narrated by: Morag Sims

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 12-03-19

Language: English

Publisher: HarperAudio

YA Historical romance Mystery

In exchange for an honest review

I'd say that the only thing that made this one YA, was the lack of smexy times. Because, sure, young heroine, but they can be young in adult too, first season and all. So it was like reading a clean adult romance, except there at the end there is a really dangerous situation. Really raw too. So trigger warning there for, oh but if I say it it is a spoiler, but if I do not say it...well danger of rape. 

Victoria loves the countryside. But then her sister shows up. And then her parents say that Victoria must find a husband this season.

Her options are not that many. The charming and rich Mr Carmichael (obvi the best option), the guy who takes snuff all the time, or maybe the guy she can't even listen too. Yes not that many options.

Then her best friend shows up, former best friend who left for the continent at 14.

Oh and then there is the weird thing that someone might be trying to harm her, and her family.

Mystery and budding romance, but mostly the mystery of these dangerous situations that keep popping up. 

Also, the heroine loves Jane Austen, and she tries to act like the heroines at times, and fail.

I enjoyed the book. Good speed, and less Ton than an adult romance. And more, I shall do this!

Narrator Morag Sims:

I liked the narrator. She made good distinctive voices  and she made some of the suitors sound like such toads in the best way.I do believe this was my first time listening to her, but I would do it again.

Lady Victoria Aston has everything she could want: an older sister happily wed, the future of her family estate secure, and ample opportunity to while her time away in the fields around her home.

But now Vicky must marry--or find herself and her family destitute. Armed only with the wisdom she has gained from her beloved novels by Jane Austen, she enters society's treacherous season.

Sadly, Miss Austen has little to say about Vicky's exact circumstances: whether the roguish Mr. Carmichael is indeed a scoundrel, if her former best friend, Tom Sherborne, is out for her dowry or for her heart, or even how to fend off the attentions of the foppish Mr. Silby, he of the unfortunate fashion sensibility.

Most unfortunately of all, Vicky's books are silent on the topic of the mysterious accidents cropping up around her...ones that could prevent her from surviving until her wedding day.

Audio: Thirteen doorways, wolves behind them all by Laura Ruby

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 10-01-19

Language: English

Publisher: HarperAudio

Historical fiction /YA/ghost

I read this blurb (not this one), and expected something entirely else. More horror in the orphanage, so ok, it was not a walk on roses, but I thought it would be worse. Now there were even good times.

Frankie and Toni is left at an orphanage by their father. He has a new wife (asshat!), and no place in his home for them. They grow up there and he visits twice a month, until he does not. His new wife was a piece of work.

Frankie is the sensible one that tries to be good.

Toni is the one that likes to flirt with the boys, even though they are not allowed too.

The nuns are strict, WWII starts. Family drama.

And then there was the ghost, ok so this was really weird. At first I was more interested in Frankie's story, but then there ghost took more and more space and I liked her more. A young woman hanging around, wondering why, whispering to orphans and slowly we learn her story. And it is a sad one.

So yes, I did feel that the story would have worked great without the ghost. And I also feel like the story would have worked great with just the ghost, as it is now we have both, and sure that works too.

Narration

I liked her ghost voice for Pearl, it fitted great.

The ghost part had this other feel to them and that did work great for the story. It felt more ghostly.

When Frankie’s mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary - just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That’s why Frankie's not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket.

Now, Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans - two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive.

And as the embers of the Great Depression are kindled into the fires of World War II, and the shadows of injustice, poverty, and death walk the streets in broad daylight, it will be up to Frankie to find something worth holding on to in the ruins of this shattered America - every minute of every day spent wondering if the life she's able to carve out will be enough.

I will admit I do not know the answer. But I will be watching, waiting to find out.

That’s what ghosts do.

Soundless by Richelle Mead

Hardcover, 267 pages

Published November 10th 2015 by Razorbill

Ya Fantasy

Own

Well, this was boring. So very very boring. I ended up skimming.

The premise was so interesting. Chinese Lore inspired. People on a mountain and all are deaf.

What I got was the only Chinese thing was the names.

Fei was dull, her lover was dull.

The lead up was long

The climb took a page. I mean come on, no one else tried this?

The resolution was put together really quickly and was just stupid. Oh please. All these people should be dead.

It felt like a series put together into one book. Also one very boring book.

Though considering I have not liked anything else by the author then srsly, what was I expecting? ;)

For as long as Fei can remember, no one in her village has been able to hear. Rocky terrain and frequent avalanches make it impossible to leave the village, so Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink. Many go hungry. Fei and all the people she loves are plunged into crisis, with nothing to look forward to but darkness and starvation.

One girl hears a call to action…

Until one night, Fei is awoken by a searing noise. Sound becomes her weapon.

She sets out to uncover what’s happened to her and to fight the dangers threatening her village. A handsome miner with a revolutionary spirit accompanies Fei on her quest, bringing with him new risks and the possibility of romance. They embark on a majestic journey from the peak of their jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth will change their lives forever…

Audio: The Downstairs girl - Emily Woo Zeller

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 08-13-19

Language: English

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Historical fiction YA

In exchange for an honest review

Narrator: 

I like the narrator as I have listened to her before, but I did have to up to 2.2 since I felt it was narrated too slowly, but that just makes the story go faster so all good in my book.

She was the perfect voice for Jo.

Story:

Jo lives with her guardian in a basement. Atlanta after the war means no rights for Chinese people, they are not even citizens.

She loses her job and starts working for the family she worked for before, including a certain bratty daughter. She also starts writing an agony aunt column that takes the city by storm.

Did I see the city going crazy over it, nah, not really. I liked what she had to say, she wanted equality and liberty. But far fetched sure, but hey this is a story after all and I really liked how she went after everything. Though the author did try to put in too many issues at once, I know the time gives a lot to talk about, but a focus on a fewer would have been better.

There might be a romance blossoming at the end, nah, did not feel that. I will just choose to see her not going after that.

There is also drama regarding who she is. Who were her parents? I am not saying no to a bit of mystery. I really enjoyed that part. Even if grrrr, it made me want to hit people.

I enjoyed the story, and it did actually never feel particularly YA. I did not even realize it was YA to be honest.

By day, 17-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie". When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender.

While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light.

Audio: The Arrival of Someday by Jen Malone

Narrated by: Katherine Littrell
Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 07-23-19
Language: English
Publisher: HarperAudio
YA Fiction
In exchange for an honest review

It made me cry! I did not expect it, but there I was, crying. Sometimes a good cry is good, it has been a while since my last.

Amelia was born with a liver disease, but it has never really affected here. Until her last year of HS when it gets worse. She needs a liver transplant.

I liked Amelia, she tried so hard to go on with her life. To do the things she loves, painting, hanging out with her bestie. Not to be the dying girl since she felt almost like before anyway. She does not want the pitying looks.

Her best friend Syb tries to rally people to sign up for organ donation. She wants to fight!

An old friend shows up and is a light in darkness, sometimes you need that one person that does not talk about it.

No romance. Just a girl trying to come to terms with the fact that she might not get the liver that she needs to live.

And it made me cry! I had to say that again. It felt so real, she was so real, so normal.

A good book, and about a subject that I have not really read about before. And I realised that so many die every day when they do not get the transplants they need, all because people do not sign up to be donors. It does feel like a real waste.

Narration Katherine Littrell

The narration did a great job with Amelia, I really was in her head. Her other voices were great too. She made me feel. 

Hard-charging and irrepressible 18-year-old Amelia Linehan could see a roller-derby opponent a mile away - and that’s while crouched down, bent over skates, and zooming around a track at the speed of light.

What she couldn’t see coming, however, was the flare-up of the rare liver disorder with which she was born. But now, it’s the only thing she - and everyone around her - can think about.   

With no guarantee of a viable organ transplant, everything Amelia’s been sure of - like college plans or the possibility of one day falling in love - has become a huge question mark, threatening to drag her down into a sea of what-ifs she’s desperate to avoid. 

Then a friend from the past shows up. With Will, it’s easy to forget about what’s lurking between the lightness of their time together. She feels alive when all signs point elsewhere.

But with the odds decidedly not in her favor, Amelia knows this feeling can’t last forever. After all, what can?

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

Paperback, 506 pages

Published September 7th 2010 by Disney-Hyperion (first published October 6th 2009)

Series: Seven Realms #1

YA fantasy

Own

I should just stop reading YA fantasy. I thought it would be good, but then it just got worse and worse, and boring and then I skimmed.

The thing is, it had lots of promise, interesting world, but the characters!

Raisa is all why do I have to wear a dress and sit still?! She has been away for 3 years, relax girl, you can sit still for a dinner. She is supposed to become queen one day and I fear for the Queendom.

There seems to be a lot if wars at the border, she knows nothing about that.

I am not slutshaming, but why these hookups? And then we get told oh no you can't be in the presence of a boy your rep will be ruined...right, and no one else has noticed her sneaking around? What are her guards doing?! Aren't they you know, supposed to keep an eye on her?

Her chapters were so dull. And she was TSTL, I do not know how she was not murdered and raped, the things she thought of, mindboggling.

Han, he had promise, but sigh, he was the stereotypical YA Character. Super awesome! *eyeroll* AT 17 he has retired from a life of crime. He was the best, he was a gangleader, he is talked about, and sure if you were ruthless and smart I could believe it, but that this 17 year old has been a boss I do not believe. He also does not have a single cent to his name.

Evil wizards cackling in the background.

I did like her dad! The 5 pages he was in it, lol.

ALso the queen, srsly, does she know anything about her country?

It was close to ok, if it had not become boring, and yeah I just do not like Raisa. It needed stronger characters, not so obvious cliches and better world building.

One day Han Alister catches three young wizard setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. Han takes an amulet away from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to ensure the boy won't use it against him. The amulet once belonged to the Demon King, who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece so powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.

Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana'Marianna has her own battle to fight. She's just returned to court after three years of riding and hunting with her father's family. Raia aspires to be like Hanalea, the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But it seems that her mother has other plans for her-plans that include a suitor who goes against everything the Queendom stands for.

Carole's Monday: The King's Trial by ML Farb

Author: M. L. Farb 

Title: The King's Trial

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: ebook

Published:   June 27th 2019 

Where I Got It: My shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for my honest and unbiased opinion)

In a land where stories of the Shadow Demon keep children shivering in bed and tales of the Yorel bring hope to the commoner, Yosyph is both the reason for their fear and their hope. 

By day Yosyph appears nothing more than a mute tavern-hand. By night he plans a revolution and slips through shadow, rescuing those marked for death by the xenophobic queen.

When he learns that thousands of his people will be sent as slaves to the mines, he must choose—fight the royal army with an ill-prepared rebellion or journey to the land of his ancestors through the deadly King's Trial. If he succeeds, he'll win his kins' loyalty and their help.

His journey grows complicated when he rescues a maiden and enrages a prince, but if he doesn't return with help in time, the people he's loved and secretly served will be gone. 

I was a little iffy going into this one since I've had such meh luck with YA fantasies lately. I was worried for sure. But this gave me hope for the genre!

The story follows Yosyph who seems to be just a mute tavern-hand that people do not notice. However, he is planning the revolt against the evil, xenophobic queen. Things get a touch complicated as his journey goes on. Should he fight head on with his ill-prepared rebellion or attempt the deadly King's Trial and earn his kins' loyalty and their aid in his rebellion. 

I was hooked from page one. I finished this in two sittings! I simply could not put this down. Sooooo good. 

Yosyph was a fun character even though there were times I wanted to shake him. His POV was the best. The rest were okay and necessary to moving the plot along, but eh. I want more of him! 

The world building was okay. I wanted more of this too. I still have some questions about the world. Hopefully more will be answered in the upcoming book. This was a lot of character-building and getting the story going. A lot more story to come, so hopefully we get more world-building in the next. 

Oooooo that ending! AAAAH! I need to know what is going to happen next. I have some worries that I won't share since I don't wanna give away spoilers. But I am a touch worried especially with that twist there. We shall have to wait and see I suppose. I can't wait to get my hands on book 2. 

Overall, a good story and good characters. I liked Yosyph a lot. The world-building was lacking a touch for me. I am hopeful we'll get more in the next book. If you need a breath of fresh air of the YA fantasy genre, this is the book for you. It gave me hope for the series. A quick read for sure, but I was so invested in everyone here. I can't wait for book 2! Soon I hope! I'll give this 4 stars. 

Audio: The rest of the story by Sarah Dessen

Narrated by: Rebecca Soler

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 06-04-19

Language: English

Publisher: HarperAudio

YA fiction

I received this book in exchange for an honest review

Emma is sent to her grandmother for the summer as her dad goes on his honeymoon, and her other grandmother travels. But she has not seen any of her mother's family for 10 years, she can not remember them at all.

I did feel her anger was a bit misplaced at times, as she got to know them she grew to like them, and she was angry at her dad for not taking her there sooner. But the road goes both ways, none of her mum's family came to visit her either. And I do get why her mother never wanted to go there (as the story progresses.)

But this is a story of finding yourself and family. Her mother od, and all Emma remember are the stories she told of the Lake. Her mother was in and out of her life a lot since she was an addict. Now she gets to know more about her mother, and again, I understand her father's reluctance, that place means the place that made Emma's mum an addict. But at the same time it was a wonderful place where they fell in love.

I also felt her dad changed in a strange way at the end, like he also had to learn the lesson of what family means. Maybe I am too old, but I get where he is coming from, Emma might have it in her genes and he feels like the lake brings it forward. It is about summer, drinking and having fun.

Ok, I need to get back to the surface now. I liked Emma, even if I did not get the whole call me Saylor thing.  And how it felt like she wanted to live there forever, she did have other friends and family too.

I liked the lake and it's drama, Lake North and North Lake. Her newfound family, her newfound crush (and I liked that it moved really really slow, like not almost happening at all.)

It was a good book. Real and true.

Narrator

I liked the narrator (even if at times she changed the voices a bit before remembering.) I think this was my first time listening to her, and I would listen to her again.

Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when Emma was 12. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges. 

Now, it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable...until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family, whom she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl. 

When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working-class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is also divided into two people. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.

Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake - and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well. 

For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her - Emma or Saylor - will win out?

Audio: Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh

Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 06-04-19

Language: English

Publisher: HarperAudio

Fiction YA

So nothing really happens, and a lot of fancy words are used, but, it was just so lovely to read a YA book where ok so there was some drama, but it was real drama. It was calm, and then a storm might come, but they weathered it.

Patience, aka Plum and Ginny lives with their mum in a crumbling house. Too big, too old, plumbing that goes out, not enough money to care for it.

Their mum only works part-time at the uni, her paintings does not sell. Money is a problem.

Ginny is a dramaqueen in the old sense, I mean 19th century way. All those Austen and Bronte heroes, or wait, Anne, yes totally Anne. Ginny is really smart, but worries constantly how to get into College, and then pay for it.

Plum is the calm, normal one, she is the narrator as she worries about their home, about her sister who is always in the spotlight, and then she gets a secret of her own. And I liked that, something just for her, all so very calm and by accident.

The prose is very flowery, and yes all those fancy words that P likes to use might not be to everyone's taste. But it works so well

It is very sweet, upbeat, and even when they struggle they push forward, at least Plum does. I enjoyed it.

Narrator

Oh she nailed Ginny when she was despairing at the world at times, so drama. She gave  Plum a great voice too. I liked it and made the story flow.

It was my first time with this narrator and I would listen to her again

For siblings as different as Plum and Ginny, getting on each other’s nerves is par for the course. But when the family’s finances hit a snag, sending chaos through the house in a way only characters from a Jane Austen novel could understand, a distance grows between them like never before.

Plum, a self-described social outcast, finally has something in her life that doesn’t revolve around her dramatic older sister. But what if coming into her own means Plum isn’t there for Ginny when she, struggling with a hard secret of her own, needs her most?

I received this audiobook free of charge in exchange for an honest review

Audio: Like a love story by Abdi Nazemian

Narrated by: Lauren Ambrose, Vikas Adam, Michael Crouch

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 06-04-19

Language: English

Publisher: HarperAudio

YA Fiction

Maybe emotional YA fiction is the fiction for me. It always have a bigger impact.

This book has 3 narrators and it works so well when they read their chapters. First there is Vikas Adam as Reza, and yes I absolutely love his voice so that was a big yes for me. Reza is the one fighting his feelings for other boys. He grew up in Iran, he was there during the revolution, and now he has a new life in NY. He is the one in the closet, the one afraid that just being gay will give him AIDS. Since no one is explaining things. I liked Reza, it is not always easy to be brave.

Judy wants to be a fashion designer, at school she is known as the girl with the gay bff and well, for being overweight. She was voiced by a good narrator too. She was the one standing in the shadows, wanting to break out. I also liked her parents, sure her mum could say the wrong things, but considering Art's parents, yes, Judy had the best ones. The book is also about her uncle Stephen who is dying from AIDS. And that does brings so much more into the book. Stephen was so wonderful, and seeing him on what must be his last breath was so hard. I know the 80s was bad, but reading about it is always different. Heartbreaking.

But yes, last there is Art, out and proud, and not giving an f who knows. I really do not have anything more to say about Art, other that he did break my heart at the end.

It was a great story, I knew it from the moment it began. It pulled me in at once, the voices was well done and brought the characters to life.

It was heartbreak, love, fake love, love for Madonna, love for life. Love for being alive.

A great listen

Narrators

I already say that I love Vikas Adam, and I do, he has the perfect voice.

It was my first time listening to Lauren Ambrose and  Micheal Crouch, but their voices fit really well with the characters they voiced.

It's 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing.

Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He's terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he's gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media's images of men dying of AIDS.

Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance...until she falls for Reza and they start dating.

Art is Judy's best friend, their school's only out and proud teen. He'll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs.

As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won't break Judy's heart--and destroy the most meaningful friendship he's ever known.

I received this book from Harper Collins in  exchange for an honest review

Skyward - Brandon Sanderson

Hardcover, 513 pagesPublished November 6th 2018 by GollanczSeries: Skyward #1Sci-fi YAOwn

Oh Sanderson, I do love your books! And at the same time, OMG man, finish one series at a time. ONE. He keeps coming up with new ones, and I do realise that I will be 60 or something when he finished Stormlight, just in the mean time he will have started 20 new ones. Oh wait, and he will be dead by then too. Sigh.

But anyway, he is an amazing writer!

I can't say Spensa is very likable at first, she is angry and driven. But he is so good that it works. She wants to be a pilot, and everyone sneers at her since her dead was a coward. People are the worst!

I mean this is a society that is under constant attack by aliens, one would think they need all the pilots they can get!

Interesting world, humans crashed and tries to survive in caves as aliens attack from the sky.

Seeeecrets!

And at the end I crave more. The book is is so light and easy to read. 100 pages fly by in a second. I totally needed that!

And at the end I like her too.

Great book!

Defeated, crushed, and driven almost to extinction, the remnants of the human race are trapped on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters. Spensa, a teenage girl living among them, longs to be a pilot. When she discovers the wreckage of an ancient ship, she realizes this dream might be possible—assuming she can repair the ship, navigate flight school, and (perhaps most importantly) persuade the strange machine to help her. Because this ship, uniquely, appears to have a soul.

Audio: The Secret of a heart note - Stacey Lee

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 04-30-19

Language: English

Publisher: Tantor Audio

YA fiction

To review

What can I say, YA fic is just so fun in audio. Light, fun and they tend to be shorter. Perfect.

In this one we meet Mimosa, an aromateur. She spends her days mixing "potions, and taking care of flowers. And now she is even in High School.

Brief sidetrack. How on earth do they stay a float if they do not charge people?

And then her mum leaves on an assignment, and Mimosa makes a mistake fixing two people up. And meets Court, and falls in love.

But love witches can't fall in love, if will destroy their nose, and without a nose you can not work.

Also, no wonder there are not that many around, I am sure the stake took a lot.

I enjoyed it. Mimosa was nice, there was romance, drama, but all in good amounts.

Narration

The narration was well done and I easily fell into this world. She made me scent the flowers. She did well with different voices and made the story come alive

Sometimes love is right under your nose. As one of only two aromateurs left on the planet, 16-year-old Mimosa knows what her future holds: a lifetime of weeding, mixing love elixirs, and matchmaking - all while remaining incurably alone. For Mim, the rules are clear: falling in love would render her nose useless, taking away her one great talent. Still, Mimosa doesn't want to spend her life elbow-deep in soil and begonias. She dreams of a normal high school experience with friends, sports practices, debate club, and even a boyfriend. But when she accidentally gives an elixir to the wrong woman and has to rely on the lovesick woman's son, the school soccer star, to help fix the situation, Mim quickly begins to realize that falling in love isn't always a choice you can make.  

Carole's Sunday: The Channeler - Jenna Ryan

Author:   Jenna Ryan
Title: The Channeler (Continuum Series, #1)
Genre: YA, Paranormal, SciFi, Fantasy
Pages: ebook
Published:  January 18th 2019 
Where I Got It: My shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for my honest and unbiased opinion)



Caleb Swift knows he's a complicated guy. He sees the unseeable: winged beings that haunt both his dreams and his waking visions. He knows the unknowable: horrifying visions of countless unspeakable futures he feels powerless to prevent. And if that weren't bad enough, these potent revelations might be driving him insane.

Who needs that kind of trouble?

Not Caleb. He's doing his best to live a totally uncomplicated life, to ignore the visions of doom that hound him relentlessly. But no matter what he does, one particular vision still plagues him. The one with the girl. The girl who's in mortal danger (or will be soon). The girl only he can save.

Now Caleb has a choice. To ignore his gift, to live the ordinary life he so desperately desires, even if it means letting her die...

Or to act. To interfere. To become extraordinary. And let one girl's future turn his present completely upside-down.

This immediately caught my attention. The cover, the title, the story, and the character. I knew I wanted and needed to read this story right away. 

The story follows young Caleb. He has visions of countless unspeakable futures and it kills him he can't change any of them. He tries to live a totally normal life, however, there is a girl who he sees in one of his visions that he can't get out of his head and knows he needs to try and save.

I gobbled this story up. I finished it in a couple of sittings. I was enthralled with Caleb and the world right away. Sure it was slow-paced at first, but we were getting introduced to Caleb and his pals. It takes time. The slowness bugged me a touch, but I think it needed it. 

Caleb was a fun character even though his moodiness bugged me sometimes. I liked Darla and I really adored Gav. He was a hoot. 

As much as people wish they want the power to see the future, it is not all daisies and rainbows. It honestly is a pain the romp and I felt sooooo bad for Caleb. I can't imagine that life! He was so miserable and it drained him. Poor guy. 

It did drive me bananas about his enemy. We don't get much on it. Maybe in the next book we'll get to see more that enemy and more of the supernatural part of the world. There was some, but I felt we spent a lot of time in the mortal world. Buuuuut I have hope for book 2! I wanna see more of the supernatural and I want to see that enemy of Caleb's get it's butt get kicked. 


OoooOOOooo that ending. It was good. Very cliffhanger-y...but it worked for this. I am invested and want to know what happened. I have hope! But we shall see. 

Overall, I did enjoy this. It was a quick read and I finished it in two sittings. A couple little, minor things that bugged me, but nothing extreme or something I couldn't look past. The ending, oddly, was good. I'm not usually one for cliff-hangers of that magnitude, but it worked for the story. Are you surprised? I AM! I am excited for book 2! I'll stamp this with 4 stars. 

Soulbinder - Sebastien de Castell

Paperback, 400 pages

Published October 4th 2018 by Hot Key Books

Series: Spellslinger #4

YA Fantasy

Own

My Thoughts

I did like the book, but at the same time, I do not know, I feel that it is starting to drag on, It could well have been a trilogy, but at least 2 more books are coming. I just want to know if there is a cure for the shadowblack! And the next one does sound thrilling, he is gonna kill a queen!

Kellen goes to find some monks that can cure him....and I can not say a lot cos spoilers!

They are light and easy to read. Fun adventures. And I did like that he was on his own, but Recihis was not with him! This was horrible, that squirrelcat brings all the wit and makes the books fun.

Ugh, I am not good at writing today. I need to sleep.

What conclusion had a reached? Yes, this series could have been shorter. Less hijinks, more something real. But they are still fun.

Blurb

Kellen and his murderous squirrel cat, Reichis, are on their own. They've heard rumour of a mythical monastery, known as the Ebony Abbey. It's a place that outsiders can never find - but Kellen is getting desperate. He's been told that the monks inside the Ebony Abbey know more about the Shadowblack than anyone else - and that they even know how to cure it.

Then Kellen and Reichis are separated and for the first time, Kellen must face the world alone - and venture deeper into shadow magic than he ever knew he could.

Audio: The tiger at midnight - Swati Teerdhala

Narrated by: Sneha Mathan

Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 04-23-19

The tiger at midnight #1

Publisher: HarperAudio

Fantasy YA

To review

My Thoughts

When it comes to YA fantasy I do always have to suspend belief, as the teens are always the best in the world at something ;) But hey you can still enjoy the ride.

Esha, is 16-17, and the fiercest deadliest assassin spy in the world. Everyone fears the Viper. Did I feel that it as shown, nah, not really, she makes mistakes and sure I can see her take out someone, she has trained after all, but best in the land? No. Also why send a kid to take out the general? Best in the land *snickers* 

She lusts for vengeance and I liked that she truly was a grey person. She kills without remorse.

Kunal is also supposed to be this great soldier, and I do say that his tracking skills are awesome, but otherwise he is a bit of a bumbling fool. Omg the times he gets hit over the head, this poor guy must have brain damage! When I think about it it felt a bit, look, women are just superior than men, look at this silly man.

But I liked Kunal, he is nice, he was a follower but he learns some hard truths.

Again, I get that it is YA, but why are always the best fighters kids? Why do they always send out kids? Srsly, are there no adults with like 20 year experience that would fare better? That will always be my issues with YA. Kunal is sent out with some other guys to track down the Viper, sure, send out the 16 year old boys, I am sure all the adult soldiers are dead.

Ok, dang, this sounds so negative now! No no! I enjoyed this book, what else could the author do, this is YA, they have to be best and young.

I liked the Indian fantasy setting, I never see that in fantasy. I liked the feel of the lush jungle, tigers sneaking around and the talk of food and customs. I liked how the countries need a woman ruler and a man ruler in their own country. And now there are two male rulers and one country is suffering. It was fascinating. She created this amazing world.

Conclusion

And when it ended, arghhh, why is there no blurb for book 2? I need to know what happens to Kunal and Esha, mostly Kunal cos I like that bumbling fool

Narration

She has this smooth voice that I enjoyed listening too. The accents were really fitting and went so well with the characters. Nice distinctive voices too

I'd listen to more by her,even if she sounded older I'd say she was perfect for YA.

A broken bond. A dying land. A cat and mouse game that can only end in bloodshed.

Esha lost everything in the royal coup - and as the legendary rebel known as the Viper, she’s made the guilty pay. Now, she’s been tasked with her most important mission to date: taking down the ruthless General Hotha. 

Kunal has been a soldier since childhood. His uncle, the general, has ensured that Kunal never strays from the path - even as a part of Kunal longs to join the outside world, which has only been growing more volatile. 

When Esha and Kunal’s paths cross one fated night, an impossible chain of events unfolds. Both the Viper and the soldier think they’re calling the shots, but they’re not the only players moving the pieces.

As the bonds that hold their land in order break down and the sins of the past meet the promise of a new future, both the soldier and the rebel must decide where their loyalties lie: with the lives they’ve killed to hold on to or with the love that’s made them dream of something more.