AUDIOBOOK REVIEW⤏ ONLY ASHES REMAIN

BY REBECCA SCHAEFFER

NARRATED BY ALMARIE GUERRA

SYNOPSIS FROM AUTHORS WEBSITE⇣
In the much-anticipated sequel to Not Even Bones, Nita is out for vengeance.
Nita knows who sold her to the black market, and now that she’s free, she’ll stop at nothing to get vengeance. But with a video of her using her power posted online, black market hunters from all over the world are coming after her. Caught in a game of kill or be killed with the black market and the person who sold her to it, Nita will do whatever it takes to win.

THE DETAILS⇣

⤏ MARKET OF MONSTERS #2

⤏ REALISTIC, SOMEWHAT HORROR-IF-IC MIXED WITH THE SUPERNATURAL

⤏ MORALLY GRAY CHARACTERS

⤏ TINY SPLASH OF OKAYISHLY AWKWARD ROMANCE
⤏ DARK VIOLENT THEMES WITH SOME BRUTAL DEATHS
⤏ LET'S NOT FORGET MOMMY DEAREST...SERIOUSLY, WTF IS UP WITH HER MOTHER?

⤏ LENGTH OF AUDIO - 12 HOURS, 16 MINUTES
⤏ I LISTENED ON AUDIBLE

MY THOUGHTS⇣

The setting has completely changed for this second book...the first book took place in South America, and most of the story played out from inside a jail cell.  This one has moved all the way to Toronto, Canada, next to the only Great Lake that I've never personally seen, Lake Ontario.

Our morally gray characters have started second-guessing themselves a lot...Nita more so than Kovit, and she did a lot of soul-searching throughout this book.  Eventually, she just decided...fuck it...and did what had to be done, and thank goodness...because it was starting to feel like I was caught up in a self-imposed therapy session.

While there were elements I struggled with, I, for the most part, found this engaging and was totally there for the supernatural-ish world that the author has created, because it's so unlike anything I've ever read before.  I did like learning a whole lot more about Kovit, and also there's a dabble of romance or something of the sort.  Really, the whole theme going on here seems to be the question of whether Nita thinks her and Kovit are redeemable or does it even really matter if they're redeemable...since they're just trying to survive in a world that keeps knocking them down.  Actually, I think they deserve a song...Notorious by Adelita's Way...is Nita and Kovit's song...

The narration was very well performed by Almarie Guerra...she could roll her R's quite nicely.  One little weird tidbit, that wouldn't have even mattered if it wasn't for the shit-show we got going on in the world today; sometimes when she said Kovit's name, it sounded like Covid😔😔😔so very tired of that word.

BREAKDOWN⇣

Narration Rating⇢ 4½ STARS
Plot⇢ 4/5

Characters⇢ 4.3/5

The Feels⇢ 3.8/5

Pacing⇢ 3.5/5

Addictiveness⇢ 4/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity⇢ 3.8/5
Originality⇢ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 3.7/5

World-Building⇢ 5/5
Romance/Chemistry⇢ 3.8/5

Ending⇢ 4/5