AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ➯ POISONED

 

BY JENNIFER DONNELLY

NARRATED BY ROSIE JONES

❐SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE❐

THE DETAILS✎

❐ THE SNOW WHITE RETELLING THAT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR...

❐ MULTIPLE POV'S

❐ DARKISH YA FANTASY

❐ VERY TINY SPLASH OF ROMANCE

❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 10 HOURS, 36 MINUTES

❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

Jennifer Donnelly has got fairytale retellings on lock.  I loved this...absolutely fantastic...I do believe I liked this one more than Stepsister even.  It was the perfect blend of fantasy, darkness, badassness, and heart...so much heart in this one.  

As for the narration by Rosie Jones, well, she grew on me.  At first, I found her to be overly juvenile sounding...but eventually, as the story progressed and Sophie grew as a person she lost that childish voice more and more...until at some point I didn't notice it at all.

I wonder what fairytale this author is going to take on next...I think the ending hinted at the possibility of Rapunzel...so we will see.  Whatever it is or whichever...I am there for it.

BREAKDOWN✎

Narration ➯ 4½ STARS

Plot ➯ 5/5

Characters ➯ 5/5

The Feels ➯ 5+/5

Pacing ➯ 5/5

Addictiveness ➯ 5/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 5/5

Originality ➯ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 5/5

World-Building ➯ 5/5

Ending ➯ 5/5

SUMMATION ➯ 5+ STARS

I LISTENED TO THIS FOR THE SQUARE

FOR HALLOWEEN BINGO 2020

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW ● THE LIAR'S DAUGHTER ●

BY MEGAN COOLEY PETERSON

NARRATED BY MELISSA MORAN

SYNOPSIS & BUY LINKS ON AUTHORS WEBSITE⇣

THE DETAILS●●●

● REALISTIC FICTION

● TWO TIMELINES --SAME POV (BEFORE & AFTER)

● A RAW, ENTRANCING LOOK AT LIFE IN A CULT

● BEFORE:  FROM THE BRAINWASHING TO THE ABUSE

● AFTER:  ADJUSTING TO NORMAL LIFE

● LENGTH OF AUDIO - 7 HOURS, 7 MINUTES
● I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

MY THOUGHTS●●●

You can tell that this book is well researched...it felt so realistic.  An absolute triumph of a story.  At the end of the book, there is an afterward where the author explains why she wrote this story and how she once lived in a cult-like community herself...maybe not exactly like the one depicted in this book...but I believe it was a basis for her story...and it shows. 

 

This book is a short quick read/listen that never gets bogged down with too many details...I flew through it and I was finished before I knew it.  I dug the setting of an abandoned theme park for the community...so very urbex.   The narration really pulled this story together for me...Melissa Moran was wonderful.  She really channeled that cult feeling and nailed the voice of Piper.  

BREAKDOWN●●●

● Narration Rating⇢ 5 STARS 

● Plot 5/5 

● Characters⇢ 5/5 

● The Feels⇢ 5/5

● Pacing⇢ 5/5 

● Addictiveness⇢ 5/5 

● Theme, Tone or Intensity⇢ 5/5

● Originality/Believability⇢ 5/5 

● Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening)⇢ 5/5

● World-Building⇢ 5/5 

● Ending⇢ 4.7/5 

● Summation 5 STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW⤏ WHAT UNBREAKABLE LOOKS LIKE

BY KATE MCLAUGHLIN

NARRATED BY JESSE VILINSKY

SYNOPSIS ON GOODREADS⇣

THE DETAILS⇣

⤏ SEX TRAFFICKING
⤏ SURVIVOR STORY
⤏ FINDING YOUR WORTH AFTER IT'S BEEN STOMPED ON & STOLEN FROM YOU
⤏ GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF RAPE, DRUG USE, AND ABUSE
⤏ SPLASH OF ROMANCE
⤏ AUDIO LENGTH - 11 HOURS, 18 MINUTES
⤏ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

MY THOUGHTS⇣

Jesse Vilinsky gave a wonderfully realistic performance and really brought Lex/Poppy to life...the MC's dialogue is choppy, with short sentences...but with the help of her narration it not only worked, it felt completely authentic given all the circumstances of the story.  

A raw, arduous look at the life of someone who is trafficked and held in a hotel only thirty minutes from her home.  This book is difficult to read at times, with graphic depictions of rape, forced drug use, and the degrading/warping of one's mind.  But, it's so damn indelible, it will gut you.  There is one particular memory of hers that literally almost made me throw up in mouth a little bit.

This book could have been a five-star read but unfortunately, it fell apart towards the end.  This is going to get <spoiler-y...but>...I felt like she made a complete turn-about in her recovery way to quickly and was ready to have sex all of sudden...what...that just felt like it was disingenuous to her recovery.  The romance between them was absolutely awesome...very well done, even, they or her (the author) just shouldn't have taken it to that level.  I apologize, I don't usually do spoilers of any kind but this had me a little pissed off.  I can't really bring myself to call this YA...despite most of the character's being teens.  Maybe, YA-ish, but even that's difficult.

BREAKDOWN⇣

Narration Rating ⇢ 5 STARS
Plot ⇢ 3.7/5

Characters ⇢ 4.5/5

The Feels ⇢ 4/5

Pacing ⇢ 3/5

Addictiveness ⇢ 5/5

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

Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ⇢ 4.5/5

Romance/Chemistry ⇢ 4/5

Ending ⇢ 3/5

Summation ⇢ 3¾ STARS

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW⤏ DECEPTION AND CHAOS

BY S.M. SOTO

NARRATED BY AVA LUCAS

SYNOPSIS FROM AUTHORS WEBSITE⇣
Sophia Cova lived a quiet, normal life, shadowed in sadness after the loss of her parents in a tragic airline accident. With her older brother being her only living relative and her anchor, Sophia is sure she’s destined for a brighter future. But that was until she was taken.
Stolen from her mundane, orderly life, she was drugged, and woke to every woman’s worst nightmare.
With only four grimy basement walls and a rancid mattress, she loses her sense of time, and preserves what’s left of her dignity by hurtling herself into the safety of her mind. The men, the beatings, they come and go with no reaction, until she hears one word that sends an arctic chill through her body. Sold.
On the eve of Sophia’s bidding, all hell breaks loose in the mansion of horrors. Gunfire and screams erupt all around her, as panic rises.
Snatched by one monster only to be taken by another, Sophia slowly starts to learn that not everything is as it seems. When secrets unravel, and the twisted game of cat and mouse ensues, The Puppeteer pulls his favorite strings and chaos brews. Lives are lost while the clock ticks, and only time will tell who will be killed next…

BOOK TAGS⇣

⤏ CHAOS SERIES #1 
⤏ GORGEOUS COVER
⤏ HUMAN TRAFFICKING
⤏ DARKISH ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
⤏ SEX-PLICIT
⤏ LENGTH OF AUDIO - 9 HOURS, 22 MINUTES
⤏ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY

MY THOUGHTS⇣

This started out rather dark with subject matter that was difficult to read/listen at times...but quickly moved away from that...and then became kind of boring and left me thinking too much about whether it was believable or not.  Sometimes a slightly unbelievable plotline can be overlooked if the story keeps you engaged enough, but this failed to do that.  And yet...

I was pretty caught up in the ending, enough that I might even try the second book.  It's a big maybe because the narration is abominable, her male voices are so awful...I think maybe she tries too hard to make them sound manly and they just come off as a cringe-worthy kind of cheesy.  Although, it could be doable since the next two books have added a male pov/narrator.  

BREAKDOWN⇣

Narration Rating⇢ 2/5

Characters⇢ 3.5/5

The Feels⇢ 2/5

Pacing⇢ 3.5/5

Addictiveness⇢ 3.7/5

Theme, Tone or Intensity⇢ 3.5/5
Originality/Believability⇢ 3/5

Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 3/5

Romance/Chemistry⇢ 3/5
Steaminess to Story Ratio⇢ 40/60

Ending⇢ 3.8/5

REVIEW⇢ THIS DARKNESS MINE

BY MINDY MCGINNIS

SYNOPSIS FROM AUTHORS WEBSITE⇣
Sasha Stone knows her place—first-chair clarinet, top of her class, and at the side of her Oxford-wearing boyfriend. She’s worked her entire life to ensure her path to Oberlin Conservatory as a star musician is perfectly paved.
But suddenly there’s a fork in the road in the shape of Isaac Harver. Her body shifts toward him when he walks by, and her skin misses his touch even though she’s never known it. Why does he act like he knows her so well—too well—when she doesn’t know him at all?
Sasha discovers that her by-the-book life began by ending the chapter of another: the twin sister she absorbed in the womb. But that doesn’t explain the gaps of missing time in her practice schedule, or the memories she has of things she certainly never did with Isaac.
Armed with the knowledge that her heart might not be hers alone, Sasha must decide what she’s willing to do—and who she’s willing to hurt—to take it back.

BOOK TAGS⇣

⤏ PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
⤏ LOVE & STUFF
⤏ SLIGHTLY HORROR-IF-IC
⤏ YA
⤏ WEIRD AF

BOOK DETAILS⇣

AUDIO PERFORMED BY⇢ BRITTANY PRESSLEY

SOURCE⇢ LIBBY AUDIOBOOK (LIBRARY)

AUDIOBOOK LENGTH⇢ 7 HOURS, 56 MINUTES

MY THOUGHTS⇣

I'm not sure that weird AF quite encapsulates how I feel about this.  It kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth...especially by the end.  At least it was narrated by one of all time fav narrators.

I love Mindy McGinnis, I just finished The Female of the Species a few days ago, and I loved it.  I've read most of her other books and liked them all, really.  But I don't know how I feel about this one.  On one hand, I want to say this a masterpiece and on the other hand, I want to say it's a freaking nightmare...so, nightmarish masterpiece it is.

What if you found out you had a twin that you absorbed in the womb before you were born?  What if you thought that other twin...who you believe to be a part of you...was trying to take over the rest of your mind and body?  I thought I had the direction this book was taking all figured out...and I was so wrong, weirdly and nightmarishly wrong.

BREAKDOWN⇣

Plot⇢ 3.8/5

Characters⇢ 3/5

The Feels⇢ 3.5/5

Pacing⇢ 4/5

Addictiveness⇢ 4/5

Theme or Tone⇢ 2/5

Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 4/5

Originality⇢ 5/5

Ending⇢ 2.7/5

REVIEW⇢ RUST & STARDUST

BY T. GREENWOOD

SYNOPSIS FROM AUTHORS WEBSITE⇣
The gripping, heart-wrenching novel of Sally Horner, the 11-year-old kidnapping victim whose abduction in 1948 inspired Nabokov's Lolita.
Camden, NJ, 1948. When 11-year-old Sally Horner steals a notebook from the local Woolworth's, she has no way of knowing that 52-year-old Frank La Salle, fresh out of prison, is watching her, preparing to make his move. Accosting her outside the store, Frank convinces Sally that he’s an FBI agent who can have her arrested in a minute―unless she does as he says.
This chilling novel traces the next two harrowing years as Frank mentally and physically assaults Sally while the two of them travel westward from Camden to San Jose, forever altering not only her life, but the lives of her family, friends, and those she meets along the way.
Based on the experiences of real-life kidnapping victim Sally Horner and her captor, whose story shocked the nation and inspired Vladimir Nabokov to write his controversial and iconic Lolita, this heart-pounding story by award-winning author T. Greenwood, at last, gives a voice to Sally herself.

BOOK TAGS⇣

⤏ FICTION BASED IN TRUTH
⤏ WITH NAMES AND FACTS KEPT 
⤏ SALLY HORNER KIDNAPPING
⤏ 1948
⤏ PEDOPHILIA (IT'S DIFFICULT TO READ/LISTEN TO AT TIMES) 

BOOK DETAILS⇣

AUDIO PERFORMED BY⇢ THERESE PLUMMER
NARRATION RATING⇢  4.5/5
BOOK COVER⇢ IT'S STRIKING

SETTING⇢ CAMDEN & ATLANTIC CITY NJ, BALTIMORE, MD, DALLAS, TX, & SAN JOSE, CA

SOURCE⇢ LIBBY AUDIOBOOK (LIBRARY)

AUDIOBOOK LENGTH⇢ 10 HOURS, 34 MINUTES

MY THOUGHTS⇣

I've never read Lolita, and after listening to this...I'm pretty sure I don't want to.  I'm not sure who's pov it's told from, but if it's told from the pedophiles pov, I won't be able to get through it.  For me, it wasn't just the forced intercourse (which is not overly explicit, thank goodness), it's the lies he fed her...the terrible lies, I just wanted this girl to know more, to know better than this.  It was gut-wrenchingly sad at times.

This is really well-written and the story is poignantly told, and still, it didn't wrench me out of this slump.  I haven't rated anything 5 stars in quite some time...pretty much the whole year, actually.  I thought for sure this one would do it too.  I did love the way the title of the book and the cover are woven into the story.

Therese Plummer's narration doesn't always work for me...but in this story she did.  Her voice was a little whispery, but she did a little girl's voice perfectly...endearingly so.

MY RATING⇢ 4¼✰STARS✰

BREAKDOWN⇣

Plot⇢ 4/5

Characters⇢ 4/5

The Feels⇢ 4.5/5

Pacing⇢ 3.8/5

Addictiveness⇢ 4/5

Theme or Tone⇢ 4/5

Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 4/5

World-Building⇢ 5/5

Originality⇢ 5/5

Ending⇢ 4.3/5

REVIEW⇢ SAVE YOURSELF

BY KELLY BRAFFET

SYNOPSIS FROM AUTHORS WEBSITE⇣
Patrick Cusimano is in a bad way. His father is in jail; he works the midnight shift at a grubby convenience store; and his brother’s girlfriend, Caro, has taken their friendship to an uncomfortable new level.  On top of all that, he can’t quite shake the attentions of Layla Elshere, a goth teenager who befriends Patrick for reasons he doesn’t understand and doesn’t fully trust. The temptations these two women offer are pushing Patrick to his breaking point.
Meanwhile, Layla’s little sister, Verna, is suffering through her first year of high school.  She’s become a prime target for her cruel classmates, not just because of her strange name and her fundamentalist parents: Layla’s bad-girl rep proves to be too a huge shadow for Verna, so she falls in with her sister’s circle of outcasts and misfits whose world is far darker than she ever imagined.
Kelly Braffet’s characters, indelibly portrayed and richly varied, are all on their own twisted path to finding peace.  The result is a novel of unnerving power—darkly compelling, addictively written, and shockingly honest.

BOOK TAGS⇣

⤏ REALISTIC GRIT-LIT
⤏ DARKISH AND COMPELLING
⤏ YA-ISH MIXED WITH ADULT-ISH
⤏ DEALING WITH MANY HOT-TOPICS
⤏ WITH EVERYTHING FROM BULLYING TO SOMETHING LIKE MASOCHISM

BOOK DETAILS⇣

AUDIO PERFORMED BY⇢ MICHAEL GOLDSTROM
NARRATION RATING⇢  4/5
BOOK COVER⇢ MEH...

SETTING⇢ RATCHETSBURG, PA

SOURCE⇢ LIBBY AUDIOBOOK (LIBRARY)

AUDIOBOOK LENGTH⇢ 11 HOURS, 40 MINUTES

MY THOUGHTS⇣

The lives of all these people are on a collision course...and this is the sorted story of how they arrive there.  You know some shit is going to hit-the-fan in a town called Ratchetsburg...

While some of the characters are teens, the story itself is rather heavy.  If you are looking for a happy ending...this isn't it.  It's all about getting the short-end of the straw in life.  It's raw and not pretty.  It's both deeply disturbing and deeply affecting at the same time.  It even almost pulled me out of my slump (I haven't been moved enough to give anything 5 stars lately)...not quite, but close.  Hopefully, I find a book that does, soon.

The Audio is performed really well by Michael Goldstrom, they just should have had a female narrator for the female voices.  It would have upped the narration rating to a full five stars, then.

MY RATING⇢ 4¼✰STARS✰

BREAKDOWN⇣

Plot⇢ 4.2/5

Characters⇢ 4/5

The Feels⇢ 4/5

Pacing⇢ 3.5/5

Addictiveness⇢ 3.5/5

Theme or Tone⇢ 4.2/5

Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 4.5/5

World-Building⇢ 4.3/5

Originality⇢ 4.3/5

Ending⇢ 4.5/5

REVIEW⇢ PRISONER (CRIMINALS & CAPTIVES #1)

BY ANNIKA MARTIN & SKYE WARREN

SYNOPSIS FROM AUTHORS WEBSITE⇣
HE SEETHES with raw power the first time I see him—pure menace and rippling muscles in shackles. He’s dangerous. He’s wild. He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
So I hide behind my prim glasses and my book like I always do, because I have secrets, too. Then he shows up in the prison writing class I have to teach and he blows me away with his honesty. He tells me secrets in his stories, and it’s getting harder to hide mine. I shiver when he gets too close, with only the cuffs and the bars and the guards holding him back. At night, I can’t stop thinking about him there in his cell.
But that’s the thing about an animal in a cage—you never know when he’ll bite. He might use you to escape. He might even pull you into a forest and hold a hand over your mouth, so you can’t call for the cops. He might make you come so hard, you can’t think.
And you might crave him more than your next breath.

BOOK TAGS⇣

⤏ DARK-ISH CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
⤏ SUSPENSE WITH SOME THRILLING MOMENTS
⤏ TWO BROKEN PEOPLE 
⤏ A RIVETING BACKSTORY

BOOK DETAILS⇣

AUDIO PERFORMED BY⇢ JACOB MORGAN & LAUREN SWEET
NARRATION RATING⇢  5/5
BOOK COVER⇢ IT WORKS...

SETTING⇢ AT ONE POINT THEY ARE IN MICHIGAN, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHERE MOST OF THE BOOK TAKES PLACE...???

SOURCE⇢ AUDIBLE AUDIOBOOK

AUDIOBOOK LENGTH⇢ 9 HOURS, 15 MINUTES

MY THOUGHTS⇣

I was in the mood for some dark romance...this ended up fitting the bill even though it wasn't quite as dark as I thought it was going to be.   I found the backstory of the Hero to be rather compelling...and the narration by both Jacob Morgan & Lauren Sweet was phenomenal.

While I liked the story on this one, the feels were a little lacking for me.  Since I listen/read romance mainly for the feels...because let's face it, most romances are rather predictable as far as the ending goes...the feels really make the story when it's all said and done.  I was worried this would be one of those stories with more sex scenes than an actual story...but it actually had a perfect balance of each.  Overall, I liked it and I think I will definitely give the second book (HOSTAGE) in the series a listen.

MY RATING⇢ 4✰STARS✰

BREAKDOWN⇣

Plot⇢ 4.2/5

Characters⇢ 4/5

The Feels⇢ 3.5/5

Pacing⇢ 4.5/5

Addictiveness⇢ 4.5/5

Theme or Tone⇢ 4/5

Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 4/5

Steaminess/Story Ratio⇢ 25/75

Originality⇢ 4/5

Ending⇢ 4/5

BOOKS WITH A SIMILAR VIBE...

OR FOR SOMETHING TRULY DARK, THIS SERIES SHOULD DO...

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

FEATURING⇢

The Tox
Possibly Apocalyptic
Quarantined Island

Dark Academia - All-Girls School
A Splash of Girl 2 Girl Romance
Horror-if-ic Body Altering

With Audio Perfectly Performed by Eileen Stevens & Jessie Vilinsky

LINK TO SYNOPSIS (AUTHOR'S WEBSITE)

MY RATING⇢ 4 STARS | GRADE B+

MY THOUGHTS⇢

The reviews I read for this almost derailed me from listening to this...but when the Library bought the Audio and automatically checked it out to me (I had recommended it), I was like, why not...it could be interesting, and I'm glad I did.

Wilder Girls is quite different from anything else I've ever read.  The premise alone, an apocalyptic type virus affecting the entire island, not just the school, but also the wildlife, in fantastically bizarre manners.  Added to that, the almost magnetic writing that sets it apart from other Dark Academia out there.  I was warned that it is very gory...and it is, although, the way people went on about the gore, I thought it would be more so than it was.  The romance is subtle and just a small part of the story because seriously, these girls got a lot on their plates, and very little of it is actual food.

But alas, while I dug this for all the above reasons...overall, its most significant issue is the lack of answers by the end of the story.  In that respect, it reminded me of Lost (The TV Show), which I loved right up until the final episode.  The ending of Wilder Girls needs a sequel...and so could Lost, actually...now that I think about it. 

THE BREAKDOWN⇢  

Plot⇢ 4/5

Narration Performance⇢ 5/5

Characters⇢ 4/5

The Feels⇢ 4.3/5

Pacing⇢ 4.2/5

Addictiveness⇢ 5/5

Theme or Tone⇢ 4.3/5

Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 4.3/5

Backdrop (World Building)⇢ 4.3/5

Originality⇢ 5/5

Ending⇢ 3/5 Cliffhanger⇢ Well...yeah it sorta did.  It felt like there should be a second book...but nothing about that yet.

_____

Book Cover⇢ Wow, this could easily be Best Cover of the year.

Setting⇢ Raxter Island

Source⇢ Libby Audiobook (Library)

Length⇢ 8 hours, 49 minutes.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

FEATURING⇢

Dystopian Setting/Alternate World
Society Where Men Have the Power
Oppression Of Women

Horror-if-ic

Death, Lies, & Betrayals
Splash of Romance
Women Supporting Women
Stand-Alone

LINK TO SYNOPSIS (AUTHOR'S WEBSITE)

MY RATING⇢ 5+ STARS | GRADE A++

MY THOUGHTS⇢

Wow! This book...

This book is a lot of things...dubious, challenging, frustrating, darkly horrifying, curing, wonderful, loving, saddening, hopeful & most of all empowering. 

I first started reading this about two months ago and had to stop because I just wasn't feeling it...I thought this is a premise that would never come to pass...or so help us all.  I couldn't wrap my head around this society where women not only outnumber men, but their rights are so marginalized by these men, it's unthinkable, unbelievable.  They are treated as property and made to go through a year away from everything they know to expel their magic.   When they come back from this supposed magic-letting they are forced to marry the guy that chose them...and if no one chooses them (because women outnumber the men)...they have to work for the good of the community.  This book will push your buttons...for sure. 

The second time I started it, I found this enthralling...I devoured it in very little time.  The Grace Year has earned a spot as one of my favorites of all time and I don't think I will ever forget it.  I especially won't forget how it made me feel by the time I finished it.  I was stunned, with everything that happens, and...So. Much. Happens.  This one has all the feels, from the good to the bad, and everything in between.

THE BREAKDOWN⇢  

Plot⇢ 5/5

Characters⇢ 5/5

The Feels⇢ 5+/5

Pacing⇢ 4.8/5

Addictiveness⇢ 5/5

Theme or Tone⇢ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style)⇢ 5/5

Backdrop (World Building)⇢ 4.5/5

Originality⇢ 5+/5

Ending⇢ 5/5 Cliffhanger⇢ Not really...

_____

Book Cover⇢ Love it.  It's absolutely perfect.

Setting⇢ Garner County & a remote island within a great lake.

Source⇢ I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

eBook Length⇢ 416 pages

I Read This for Dystopian Hellscape (and it's so fitting for that)

(Transfigured from Relics & Curiosities)