3.75/5 Rosedale in Love

June 29, 2021June 24, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, historical 20th century, Lev Raphael, Robin Siegerman

Narrated by Robin Siegerman

Genre: historical fiction

Disclaimer: Not a genre I read a lot.

Summary:

A rich Jewish man desperately trying to climb the social ladder in early 20th century America, has chosen a woman well out of his league whose fortunes are fading fast.

Additional Comments:

– I maintain than all these kinds of books would be worlds better if somebody up and kidnapped the heroine.

– 4/5 Performance- The performance fits the narrative very well. There is a nice rhythm and flow.

– 4/5 Main Characters: I liked Florence and her mother troubles and her unacknowledged love for her cousin.

– 3.5/5 Plot – maybe I just read too much mystery thriller stuff. It makes things like this almost deadly dull. He pines, makes a social blunder, pines some more, goes to a party, goes to the theater, pines some more, hears something scandalous, more social blunders, attends another tedious party, etc, etc. It would seem odd and futile if there wasn’t still a set of uber rich people who put on airs to fit in.

– side characters: they aren’t very likable. Except for Florence’s eccentric actress friend.

– It has a happy ending. Sort of.

– There are a lot of fifty-cent words in here. I think that is part of it being a period piece, but still, I would not have finished the book if it wasn’t in audio format. The narrator handled the biggie words well.

– The cat and mouse games people play with each other in here are well-described but still frustrating. The people are exceedingly fake to come across as kind and generous. It’s exhausting. Guess it’s a commentary on people in general, and in that way, it’s accurate.

– This sort of reminds me of The Great Gatsby, which a lot of people love, love, love. I thought that one was a waste of my time, but it has been a while. Maybe I would have a different opinion if forced to read it again. I did like this book better than Gatsby, but to be honest, that’s a low bar to hop for me. I think the mental link is rich people being snobby to each other.

– Who is this book for? Fans of early 20th century literature. Historical fiction buffs.

– While the book didn’t connect well with me, I have hotdog/hamburger/French fries taste in books and this is caviar/lobster/and fooffy super-expensive icky foods fare. There is certainly a set of people who love this sort of thing.

Conclusion:

A study of a man who thinks he’s in love but really loves himself, his wealth, and the great social climb.

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Many of my 50 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
River’s Edge Ransom – Prequel to Redeemer Chronicles (Amazon) (email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)

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Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian. (Amazon) (free codes)
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live. (Amazon) (Please email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift. (Amazon) (free codes)
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma. (Amazon) (free codes)
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother. (Amazon) (free codes)
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble. (Amazon) (free codes)
More Scifi:
Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there. (Amazon) (free codes)

Guardian Angel Files:

Spirit’s Bane – Allister and Mina are training to be Guardians. Satan’s out to get them. (Amazon) (free codes)
Kindred Spirits – Mina’s exiled to Earth. Allister’s stuck in the Heavens. (Amazon) (free codes)

Book Review 4.5/5 Stars Mercy’s King

June 26, 2021June 13, 2021 Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, Christian, dragons, Fantasy, medieval Christian, Katy Huth Jones, Medieval Fantasy

*spoilers are possible in discussion

Summary:

Probably the most violent and action-packed of the series to date.

Additional Comments:

– The king ails under something mysterious, but it’s time for the annual tournament. Dragons are attacking outlying villages. Valerian gets some of the blame. He and Merry ride hard to discover what has happened.

– When the king succumbs to the mystery ailment, Kieran smuggles Drew and Valerian’s family out of the keep. Sir Greggory becomes the head of the regency council with Rafael as the puppet king.

– Rafael’s part was kind of frustrating. The light cast on him turns from him being painfully naive to dumb to helpless to sort of coming to his senses.

– the beginning part involved a lot of setup so was relatively slow paced.

– Content Warning: things come to a head here. Though nothing is described in gruesome detail, there is mention of and treatment of torture, beheadings, skulls on spikes, threats of rape, etc.

– Valerian and his family spend a lot of time in exile, hiding.

– The setup had good payoffs.

– The story should probably be taken as a ginormous start to finish one with the others in the series. If so, this has a climax-y feel to it.

– I get that medieval women didn’t do much but it’s a tad disappointing that Merry has only a bit role in the story.

– Valerian’s strong faith is interesting.

– Dolan looks like he will be a fun character in the future. Joy’s kinda useless but I guess that’s to be expected of an 11-year-old kid. She will likely have a bigger role later. I think there is a spin-off series.

– The title fits. At first, it doesn’t seem to, but by the end, perhaps it fits better than some of the others.

– Yes, I cried at the end or at least wanted to cry.

Conclusion:

You should probably start the series at the beginning. This is a beautiful, tragic, action-filled entry in Christian epic fantasy.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

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Audiobook Reviews: 4/5 Stars Liar’s Paradox by Taylor Stevens

June 23, 2021June 13, 2021 Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, Audiobooks, thriller Taylor Stevens, thriller

Narrated by: Jennifer O’Donnell

Run Time: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Summary:

Jack and Jill get mysterious calls from Clare (their mother, trainer, task master, etc). When they rush over to her off-the-grid house, it explodes. The trail weaves in and out as a oddball cat and mouse game where they’re not sure who to trust and what to believe.

Additional Comments:

Characters 3.5/5: The characters are realistic in some senses and not in others. They’re also mostly annoying. The feuding and one-upmanship thing between Jack and Jill gets old. That makes it hard to like them. Holden’s okay. Clare’s complicated. Bad guy is suitably bad guy-y. I even liked Frank. Robert was just annoying too. Poor guy. Was kinda rooting for somebody to off him.
Plot 4/5: Fun but it occasionally gets bogged down in history. It’s simple really. If you get rid of the flashbacks, I’m not sure this book would top 150 pages.
Action 4.5/5: The fight scenes are well-described and thrilling.
Closure 4/5: The way Clare chooses to end things with the bad guy is kinda awesome and makes her a heck of a lot more likable in my book. It’s definitely open for more. So, I guess if you want the whole family saga you’d have to read book 2 as well.
Performance 4/5: Jennifer O’Donnell does a solid job with a performance. I played it faster than normal, so I’m not sure if all the male voices sounded fully distinct, but they were distinct enough.
Unlike the Munroe series, the main characters don’t do much traveling in the present. In the past, sure, but not the present, so the reader misses out a bit on the authentic feel of unique culture immerse-ment that the Informationist had in spades. It’s been a while since I read a Taylor Steven’s book. Mostly, I listen to her podcast with Steve Campbell. She’d got a lot of great insights into the traditional publishing world.
There are a LOT of flashbacks. Some are necessary, some probably not. It slowed things down quite a bit.
Content Warnings: Pervasive swearing. Adult situations implied without being really described. Lots of violence.
Cover is okay. A tad cheesy but fits the genre.
Favorite part: Clare’s solution.

Conclusion:

A meandering, history filled, yet still satisfying action-packed thriller.

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4/5 Stars Borderline Beautiful by Dr. Jason Ohler

June 20, 2021June 13, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, drama, Family Jason Ohler, Kathleen Li, psychological disorders

Narrated by Kathleen Li

Run Time: 7 hrs and 10 mins

*Disclaimer: this is not a book I would have picked up from the description.

*Mild spoilers possible in discussion.

Summary:

Felicia and Matt embark on an odd relationship experiment in an attempt to do some good and deal with pain from their pasts.

Additional Comments:

3/5 Plot: There’s not much action. Okay, so there’s zip in terms of action. Some references to past action, but absolutely nothing in the current timeline. But there’s still a series of events that unfold and character choices being made here. A lot of it is far-fetched, but then again, many books have far-fetched plots. They talk. They space out. They talk some more, walk in the woods, and talk some more.
2.5/5 Suspension of Disbelief (Coincidences Abound): So, the MC insults a bunch of academics, and this alone gets the other MC to like her immensely? The MC also is a mathematical genius and just happens to meet an abused kid who’s a mini-me?
4/5 Main Characters: Felicia’s mood swings are interesting, but I probably would have put the book down ¼ in because of them. Her past is tragic, yet her mathematical genius lets her sort of cope. Matt’s an angel. He’s fun to read about but he’s preposterously OP’d when it comes to “good” and “desirable mating skills” if you want to be coldly clinical about it. (Tall, handsome, former soldier, wounded warrior, hero, can cook amazingly, can build stuff, etc) Nicole’s probably the most realistic character, math genius thing aside. She’s a survivor, but not a fighter.
This is a personal bias, but I don’t really like flashbacks and this book is about 80% flashbacks.
4/5 Unique factor. Not sure I’ve ever read a book with a MC with Borderline personality disorder.
3/5 Felicia’s and Nicole’s tragic pasts are WAY too similar. To be clear, it’s not hard to believe that two girls growing up face sexual assault and abuse, that’s just a sad part of society. What’s hard to sort is the other details. Abusive brothers. Deadbeat dads. Mothers who tried to save them. Helping along the drug trade but certainly not partaking of drugs.
4/5 Reading: Solid performance.
4/5 Ending: Everything works out perfectly. Yay. Happy endings. While that’s to be expected, I think everybody was too accommodating. Not one person who heard their plans was like y’all out of your blessed, naïve little heads?
Content Warnings: Talk of abuse. Random curse words.

Conclusion:

It’s an odd, but oddly beautiful modern fairy tale wherein two wounded people unite to save a third.

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Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

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3.5/5 Stars 8 Paradoxes of Leadership Agility by Yeo Chuen Chuen

June 17, 2021June 13, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Nonfiction Chuen Chuen Yeo, Kathleen Li, leadership

Narrated by Kathleen Li

Run Time: 3 hrs and 25 mins

Summary:

This book covers some of the basic conflicts and choices leaders face and goes through a case study on each.

Additional Comments:

This is a good overview of the types of problems people face when they have high pressure jobs. Do you pay attention to family or marry the job? Do you focus on fixing one slacker or spread your attention for the good of the team as a whole? Do you go with a top-down approach and rain directives from on high or go with a bottom-up approach and fix the bottom, hoping it’ll work its way up from there?
Not all books translate well to audiobook. I think this is one such book. You can get a pdf of the worksheets, which is fine, but since not everybody’s going to have all 8 of the paradoxes, it would probably be easiest to have a paperback and be able to flip to the one you need to cover.
The reading by Kathleen Li is clear and articulate. Can’t speak much to pacing because I played it faster than normal speech.
The book kind of comes across as a big ad for the author’s business. Many books are and this is a fine tactic, but if I had to hear about the “proprietary”, Re4 coaching model one more time, I was gonna chuck the book.
Pros: it’s a straightforward book.
Cons: it’s a repetitive book. A choice was made to include the backmatter, which involved the people’s answers to the questionnaire. I’d rather that have been in the heart of the book and then be given the author’s commentary, analysis, and happy-ending news. As is, the entire book wraps up and then we get to hear what the people actually answered, which is almost identical to the summary provided within the text. The positioning makes it lose pretty much all power.

Conclusion:

A solid overview of some problems faced by modern leaders.

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4/5 Stars Mass Effect Andromeda: Nexus Uprising

June 14, 2021June 5, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, scifi Fryda Wolff, Jason M. Hough, K.C. Alexander, Mass Effect Andromeda

By Jason M. Hough, K.C. Alexander

Narrated by: Fryda Wolff

Summary:

Six hundred years from home, Sloane Kelly, security chief, and 2 others have to navigate the volatile emotions of scared colonists and the mounting problems of survival as the Nexus space station sustains significant damage before getting fully functional. Exploration of Andromeda has begun, but it could fail and fail hard if this expedition collapses under its own ineptitude.

Additional Comments:

Content Warning: contains very strong language throughout
I liked Sloane Kelly’s no-nonsense attitude and willingness to work with the mutineers.
The blurb focuses on Sloane, but there were 2 others who also factor in. This being a prequel novel, I vaguely recalled the at least one of the others from the video game. I never finished the video game though because it made me motion sick and I got tired of driving that stupid car all over the desert.
The story is nicely described but way longer than it needs to be for the amount of plot that happened.
Fryda Wolff’s performance was lovely. Liked her voice for Sloane best. The others were okay, but there’s nothing like a sophisticated high-brow British RP accent.
One can sympathize with the fears the colonists have. It’s like a post-apocalypse book set in space.

Conclusion:

Fun prequel novel. If you like the Mass Effect books, this one will likely satisfy.

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3.45/5 Stars Easy Peasy Potty Training by Julie Schooler

June 11, 2021June 5, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Nonfiction Julie Schooler, Kathleen Li, nonfiction

Narrated by Kathleen Li

Performance 4 stars, story 3-ish stars

Run time: 3 hrs and 9 mins

*Disclaimer – not in the target audience

Summary:

A collection of anecdotal stories and a survey of some of the differing opinions about how to potty train a child.

Additional Comments:

There’s a disclaimer that this should not stand in for medical advice and doesn’t cover situations with mental, physical developmental issues.
Honestly can’t evaluate the effectiveness of the advice in a real-world situation, but all the advice given seemed to be common sense stuff. Praise small triumphs. Be specific about what the praise is for. Going to the potty involves a lot of steps – kid needs to recognize the urge to go, get to the appropriate location, etc. Be calm and cool about accidents.
Book came across more as a cheerleading, rah-rah, you can do this spiel.
I did appreciate the lengthy list of terms for body parts, kids, and bodily functions in the beginning. And, yes, I found that part amusing. Tiny human is indeed a favorite term for toddlers.
Part of the advice was to not read a certain section unless you had to in order to avoid potentially muddying the issue. That makes me think that audiobook format is not the best medium for the book.
Narration was fine. The reading was clear and engaging. There wasn’t much need for alternate voices due to it being nonfiction.
The stages thing was helpful until the general note that stage 3 could last until high school. Me: ???? Pretty sure unless something is horribly wrong that will sort itself before then.
The other piece of advice I found less than stellar was basically lie to the daycare if needed and/or conveniently forget to send in the proper supplies like diapers. I’m not saying there’s never a situation where a lie is the lesser of two evils, but condoning, normalizing, and even encouraging young parents to flat out lie to a daycare seems irresponsible.
Advice is pretty surface-level, but it’s still nice to have it laid out in an organized manner.
The book claims to contain all the info one needs for potty training and nothing you don’t need. The claim’s baseless and hard to prove or disprove, but it sounds hella good.

Conclusion:

The strong point of the book is it has a survey of a lot of the collective wisdom gained over the years by every set of parents to ever accomplish the feat of potty training a youngster.

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4/5 Stars Dawn Empress by Faith L. Justice

June 8, 2021June 5, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, historical Faith L. Justice, Kathleen Li

Performance and story 4 stars

Narrated by Kathleen Li

Run Time 12 hrs and 41 mins

Summary:

When her parents die young, Pulcheria takes it upon herself to protect her younger siblings. Her brother, Theodosius II, becomes emperor as a kid. The plots and schemes of church people, guardians, and many more keep the princess busy. She practically raises her kid brother, but can she save him from himself?

Additional Comments:

Historical fiction of the sort isn’t my typical audio-fare, but this was good.
It goes into a tad too much detail on certain developmental life stages for the young princess, but that’s forgivable and probably a necessary evil in terms of discussing certain schemes launched at her and how she countered the moves.
Kathleen Li provides a solid performance and keeps the reading engaging.
Pulcheria had quite the handful keeping her brother safe. The intrigue in here is more subtle than I’m used to. It’s more about controlling the emperor than getting in a sword fight. Sweeping changes were made with little more than whispers placed in the man’s ears. The golden apple affair true or not was fun. Still wanted somebody to run the scheming eunuch through with a sword, but alas, sometimes, history is more boring than that.
I could feel Pulcheria’s frustration when her brother gave her the “gift” of retirement. I mean, that’s essentially what she did years earlier with some of the scheming people in charge of her brother.
I enjoyed the descriptions of her work with the poor.
Pretty sure I missed some important details throughout like the significance of certain political moves or alliances. Still, I enjoyed this bit of history.
Thank goodness for the beginning part that explained titles.

Conclusion:

A fascinating look into the life of a brave young empress.

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Choices Stories Review: 4/5 Stars Blood Bound II

June 5, 2021May 15, 2021 Julie Gilbert Choices Stories, Fantasy, Horror horror, vampires

Genre: Fantasy (Vampires)

Summary:

Congrats. You’ve managed to live through your first stint as a vampire’s assistant. But the danger’s only beginning.

Additional Comments:

I like that this round they went deeper into the lore and made it more of a quest/mystery.
They gave the MC an actual power, sort of. It’s a nice touch that makes her seem less like the helpless damsel.
Good guys are back: Adrian, Lily, Jax, and Kamilah are there to help you along the way.
The quest has you globe-trotting. Convenient that they made Adrian a super-rich dude.
The makers are still all about getting you to buy special scenes that tell you more history.
Plot is stronger than the first story.
You kinda have to be able to tolerate vampire stories to enjoy this.
The world-building is kind of fun. Vampire councils, secret cults, etc.

Conclusion:

Should probably be explored after Blood Bound since it continues that original story. I suppose you could jump right in.

Audiobook Promotions …

Many of my 42 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

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Choices Stories Review: 4/5 Stars Blood Bound

June 2, 2021May 15, 2021 Julie Gilbert Choices Stories, Fantasy, Horror horror, vampires

Genre: Fantasy (Vampires)

Summary:

This gets lumped up there with mindless ridiculousness that manages to be fun. The premise is that you’re a hot young personal assistant for Adrian Raines, and first day on the job, you manage to discover the boss is a vampire. Welcome to a world of weird.

Additional Comments:

Good Guy Characters: Adrian, your boss and vampire hottie 1, struggles with his inner darkness. Lily Spencer’s your best friend and roommate. She’s the lovable geeky sort. Jax Matsuo’s leader of the clanless vampires and hottie 2. Kamilah Sayeed’s also a romance option. She’s ancient and kinda awesome.
Bad Guy Characters: The Baron’s a sicko even for a vampire in the world. Ferals are vampires who kinda didn’t take to the whole turning thing. Think zombies but faster and more bug-eyed.
History: The premium purchases tend to revolve around seeing history scenes and occasionally getting a cool outfit or a weapon. Weapons are way more tempting than outfits.
They managed to throw in a few balls and parties and opportunities for general debauchery.

Conclusion:

Check your brain at the door and enjoy the ridiculousness.

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