Audiobook reviews

Audiobook Reviews 4/5 Stars: Written in Blood by Rebecca Deel

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, contemporary, romance, suspense, women's fiction , , ,

 

 

Typical Romantic Suspense

(I’ll try to keep this relatively spoiler free.)

Narration provided by Kristina Fuller Yuen

Summary:

Megan Cahill is a news editor who happens to be in the dark park to meet her friend when that friend is murdered. The killer knocks her cold, giving the lady nightmares. So, of course, she provokes him at every turn, daring him to capture or kill her. I know it’s fiction, but the way the murder went down isn’t very realistic. It would have been more realistic if the killer had tried to off Megan in the beginning and simply failed instead of letting her live.

Additional Comments:

– It’s a 3 star story with nice narration. The characters are distinguishable. The editing’s pretty smooth.
– Plot 3.5/5: There are some events that have nothing to do with the murder mystery, which I appreciated. Despite the lack of a true twist and an end sequence worthy of a low budget movie, complete with cheesy confrontation between the villain(s) and our heroes, it’s a satisfying story. Happily ever after is achieved. There is a good amount of action along the way.
– Writing Style 4/5: There’s decent flow to the work.

Main Characters 3.5/5: I like that the author tried to give the police guy a backstory that was deep and full of tragedy, but it felt forced. Megan’s spitfireness got annoying too. There’s usually a line between aggressive, bold, and stupid. I could totally see her being dumb, but then owning it and being contrite.
– Side Characters 4/5: I got a tad confused about who each of the side characters were, but they were fleshed out enough to make them feel realistic.

  • Not sure the title makes much sense to me. Or the book cover, but they fit the genre well enough.

Side note: The whole “she’s an identical triplet” thing was mentioned several times, but never really meant much. The main character confesses to being worried for her sisters, but it would have been nice if they were in it a little more. I have not read the others in the series, so I don’t really know them well enough for cameos to be sufficient.

Favorite side character: the old lady Megan hires to do some part time writing.
– It’s formula writing, but the formula works. She’s in danger. He protects her. They’re in danger. They protect each other. He’s got a painful past. She’s stubborn. They overlook each others’ flaws and fall in love. The end. Who’s ready for the next?
– Would I read/listen to another story by the same author? Sure.
– Would I listen to the same narrator? Certainly.

Second side note: If you liked this story, then you would probably like Choices Veil of Secrets (It’s an app with “free” stories, though to make all choices you’d have to buy game currency). I’ll write more about those later.
– Who would I recommend the book to? Fans of the genre. If you like romantic suspense, then you’re not going to be surprised by anything in here, but it’s a relatively fleshed out world with varied characters.

Conclusion:

Romantic suspense fans should be pleased with this. You might get the most out of the series if you actually start from the beginning, but it’s perfectly understandable jumping right in here.

*I received a copy of the audiobook, and I chose to review it.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 … not kidding, that’s basically it.)

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.


OR

Audiobook Reviews 3/5: Sam & the Secrets of the Universe: Book 1: Monad by JA Cawood

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Fantasy, middle grade, scifi , , ,

3/5 stars Interesting Twist on Boy Learns he has Cool Gifts

Summary:

Sam’s dead (not a spoiler, that’s in the blurb). He goes to a place called Havona to learn the secrets of the universe. You’ll have to forgive my lack of details. I’m partly trying to avoid spoilers and it’s been a while since I heard the audiobook. I meant to write this ages ago.

 

Additional Comments:

– Worldbuilding (3.5/5) – This book contains a lot of really cool ideas. They’re pretty hard to describe though, and the author does an admirable job of attempting the feat. For example, the switching bodies section was very cool.

– Characters (3.5/5) – Sam meets several aliens. Only about 4 of them remain central to the story. Can’t remember the names right now, and besides, my spelling of them would be atrocious anyway. I don’t feel like you really get to know the pre-death Sam well enough to like him as a character. I did like his friend, but our time with her is short too. That may be purposeful.

– Plot (3/5) – The book splits roughly 1/5 to 4/5 before death and after death. The after death sections play out like most “training” sequences with the added bonus of very neat new worlds being thrown in the mix.

– Closure (1/5) – Clearly, this book is meant to be a series. I have a thing about closure, as in I REALLY like it and this book severely lacked it. That said, there are definitely good parts to the book. The end fails to satisfy. It’s not quite a true cliffhanger, but the end sprang up and ran right to the edge of … something, a gentle slide into “well, there’s definitely more to come.” Please note, this might just be a personal taste thing. I absolutely hate endings that feel like teasers/ setup for a new book.

– Why couldn’t I connect with the book?

After some soul-searching, I’m ready to conclude “not my cup of tea.” It’s a decent book. One of my major pitfalls in buying into the story was a lack of a real sense of danger. They’re already dead. The sense of “oh, wow, this could truly be the END” never really kicked in throughout the story, even with the threat of “Reset”. That removed a lot of the tension for me. Without tension, I couldn’t get into the conflict. Without conflict, there’s not much of a story.

– Aside: Much of this story, probably right down to starting with the cover, felt stylistically like the “new” Willy Wonka movie with Johnny Depp or the Oz, the Great and Powerful. They’re over-the-top, crazy colors everywhere kind of movies.

– Who do I think would like the book?

Middle grade boys, an underserved market if there is such a thing in literature. This is not a knock against them in anyway. It’s an acknowledgement that their tastes and mine will differ.

– Narration (2.5/5) – Usually, I’m cool with narrators. This one is okay, but his voice isn’t my favorite. He has a very matter-of-fact style of reading that made parts come across as choppy.

Conclusion:

The plot feels like the beginning act of a much larger play. If that sort of thing bothers you, avoid. If you’re cool with that, go for it. What it lacks in closure, it makes up for in imagination and neat concepts. Sam’s a likable guy. Give the audio sample a shot and see if you like it. Or read a few pages from the preview and take the leap if you like what you see.

Associate links to follow…

This book …

Amazon Prime

 

Audible – If you’d like some free codes, please email me at [email protected] with requests for any of my works.