Myth Protector-Jamie Hawke

Book 1
Narrated Teddy Hamilton
Length 6 hours 54 min

Book 2 
No Idea and don't care

"We work hard so we play hard" 🚩🚩🙄

So I only decided to listen to this cause Teddy Hamilton had narrated other books I enjoyed, He was the only good thing I can say about this book.

I only managed 11/2 hours before the line "we work hard so we play hard" was stated right after sex, my eyes rolled so hard  I was  surprised my eyes didn't get stuck there.

Its a geek gamer fantasy, video game and story book characters turning out to be real so of course he must now have sex with them. the sex scenes made me cringe.

I tried to give it a chance but just couldn't finish it. 

The Last Magician - Lisa Maxwell

Book 1
The Last Magician
Length 16 hours 7 min

Book 2
The Devils Thief
Length 22 hours 19min

Book 3
The Serpents curse
Length 22 hours 38 min

The Shattered City 

yet to be released

Narrated by
Candace Thaxton

Magic and Time travel, Stop the Magician, Steal the book and save the future.

Enjoyable story but really confusing at times, time travel is always confusing though. you can tell that Lisa Maxwell did a lot of research on the history of the USA including actually historical events and mixed them in well with the fictious story. 
Lisa not only include these events but also the feelings of the different communities in the early 1900's, when new immigrants to the US were viewed with distrust and hatred, forcing them to fear others from different races or religion. Lisa addresses racism directly doesn't sugar coated it and even has some of the main characters to face and question their own racist views. the story also covers gender inequality and some rights or atlest  acknowledgement of the LGBTQ+  perhaps there will be more in the next book?
Candace Thaxton was a good narrator good pacing my only issue that had with it was the editing as some times when changing chapters it jumped in to the first world like it was cut in half it it was a little off putting but a very minor thing.
definitely recommend this book.

In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives. goodreads.com/book

Personal Note: this is my first blog in about 5 months I have been in alot of pain due to an illness and which has often left me housebound if not bed bound, you would think id make the most of this time listing to audiobooks. however its difficult to concentrate on new story's and find myself returning to ones I've listen to a hundred times, it also brings me comfort knowing what is going to happen the predictability is calming. I've often done this with tv and movies. I'm along way for recovered as I need a surgery I will still continue to listen to stories new and old alike and post when I can

xxx

kat 

Tempris- Stephanie Fisher

Book 1

Shardless

Length 19 hours 10 min

Book 2 
Acolyte
length 17 hours 39 min

Narrated by Elizabeth Evans

Love and Hate this series.

Love the books amazing story with so much surprising action, never know whats going to happen next. the relationship between Sky and Taly is fantastic and funny.

 'On Tempris, time magic is outlawed, and suspected time mages are hunted. Humans are second-class citizens, shunned by the immortal fey that live on the island. They even have a name for their kind: Shardless.'Goodreads

Elizabeth Evans is a fantastic narrator I have listen to many books of her's and is one of my top favs 

what I hate about this series.....there are meant to be 7 books and I have no idea on when the next one is due. I am not a patient women.

I smile to myself every time I hear Taly nickname 'Little One' as thats the name of one of my cats lol

Good to the last Death - Robyn Peterman

Book 1

It's a wonderful midlife crisis

Length 9hours 10min

Book 2 

Who's midlife crisis is it anyway
length 6 Hours 43 min

Narrated by Jessica Almasy

"Whoever said life begins at forty must have been heavily medicated, drunk or delusional" 

LOVED IT!

So funny, I was laughing within 60 seconds! 

"Thirty-nine was a fantastic year. I was married to the man I loved. I had a body that worked without creaking. My grandma, who raised me, was still healthy, and life was pretty damned good. But as they say, all good things come to an end. I’d honestly love to know who ’they’ are and rip them a new one" goodreads

How would you feel at 40 suddenly seeing, talking and gluing body parts onto ghosts? think you might be going mad? maybe just a little

I loved this book for Daisy relationship with her best girlfriends, the are BFF goals! hilarious to hangout with and always know that they have your back. I also enjoyed that the main character Daisy is 40 I'm 41 so I can relate to her abit about getting older and not knowing what to expect from it.

Jessica Almasy is a great narrator funny with seriously good pacing, she narrates all the books in this series which makes me very happy. I'm going to add her to my favorite narrators list and see what else she's done.

There are 7 books in this series 6 of them are currently free on Audible plus catalog, I am defiantly going to be listing to the rest of them.

 

Indie Saint- VK Fox

Indie Saint
Book 1 The words of power
Length 7 hours 52 min
Narrated by Chelsea Stephens

Confused, so very confused  

"Jane Davis has modest new-adult goals: pay the bills, keep her job, and - oh yeah - control her raging saint-like superpowers before they kill her"

Good reads

I really struggled to understand the storyline, its weird and they way its way its written it makes it difficult to follow and quite boring. I will say its an interesting concept that a person can obtain power by reading a book infused with magic, just didn't like they way this one was written.

Wont be listing to others in the series 

 

Chelsea Stephen needs more practice at narration I feel she has potential and I will listen to her other readings. 

The Invisible life of Addie Larue- V.E Schwab

The Invisible life of Addie Larue

Length 17 hours 10

Narrated by Julia Whelan

"Never pray to the Gods after dark"

"France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets."

Good reads

My greatest fear is not the dark or spiders it is to be forgotten, this book was amazing and upsetting. imagine meeting people over and over again and them never remembering but you remember EVERYTHING and everyone. Being unable to leave a mark on the world not even being able to use your own name for 300 years! For Addie you will only remember her while she is there as soon as the door closes behind you you forget she ever existed.

This is don't make a deal with the devil story, the story often jumps around in time to learn how and why she made a deal for freedom.

so worth a listen, I was engrossed from start to finish.

It is a story I wont forget in a hurry.

Narration was really good and suited the characters with good pacing 

its currently free in the Audible plus catalog 

 

The Unconventional Heroes Series - L.G. Estrella

 

Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat and an Elf

Two Necromancers, an Army of Golems and a Demon Lord

Length 13 hours 5 min (Publishers Pack)

Narrated by Fred Berman

LOVE IT! so funny!

“People often said that the only certainties in life were death and taxes. As a necromancer, Timmy knew better. Taxes were the only certainty in life, especially when they were collected by an agency that was remarkably bloodthirsty and well organised.”
― L.G. Estrella, Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf

After nearly being eaten by his latest creations, a zombie hydra-dragon-bear, wanted criminal Evil Master Necromancer Timmy and his scheming dark shadow welding adorable 10 year old apprentice Kaite decide its time for a less dangerous career path.

I love the characters in this book  

• Timmy a shovel welding master necromancer
• Katie a 10 year old adorably evil necromancer apprentice with plans to over throw her master
• Gerald a bumbling bureaucrat terrified of his own shadow and enjoys meticulous paperwork
• Avraniel a pyromaniac elf  with love of killer plants
• Invisible Nija Rats!

I feel like this is a DnD campaign thats been written down with how surprising it can be

Fred Berman does a fantastic job at the narration, his pacing and sense of humor plays so well for theses books. He narrates the other 4 books and I cant wait to listen to them.

You can find the Publisher pack for free on audible plus right now! 

Dead in the Water- Hailey Edwards

 Dead in the Water

Gemini Book 1

Length 7 hours 10 min

Narrated by Stephanie Edwards

"Camille Ellis is the Earthen Conclave’s golden girl. Her peculiar talent solves cases with a touch. She isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty, but every bright star casts a shadow, and her deepest scars lurk just beneath the skin"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27409891-dead-in-the-water

Bored, so bored 

Managed an hour but almost feel asleep listing, not the writing the narration is just so dull lacking all emotion. they where fighting a frinkin  kraken and I was zoning out from boredom. 

Needs a better narrator before I will return to this book 

Spell Weaver Series - Annette Marie

The Night Realm

Length 11 hours 33 min

The Shadow Weave

Length 9 hours 43 min

The Blood Curse

Length 10 hours 55 min

Narrated by Jorjena Marie, Melissa Moran, Greg Tremblay

"Clio would love nothing more than to go home. But as the illegitimate daughter of the nymph king, she's stuck in the human world, exiled until she can earn a place in the royal family. Then her half-brother offers her a chance to prove herself. All she has to do is acquire some magic … by stealing it from the most dangerous spell weavers in the Underworld"

Goodreads.com

I enjoyed this series and the character development was great, I did struggle with the world descriptions. Understanding how the days and nights work in the underworld confused me. I also feel that Annette Marie defiantly likes the male body, she followed The Guild Codex series style by spending alot of time describing the male form I mean the main male character is a freaken  INCUBUS a literal sex demon! its interesting having him use his power to turn people on during a fight, being able to arouse the person while trying to kill them is quite unique. 

I wasn't keen on Melissa Moran at first but by the second book The Shadow Weaver she found her pacing and enthusiasm for the character, i wonder how she might be in other books.

Greg Tremblay played the incubus well and defiantly suited the character and worked well with Melissa and Jorjena

Jorjena Marie takes over for Melissa part way through The Blood Curse, she did really well continuing on with Clio, I didn't even notice when it happened.

the series continues with the Steel and Stone trilogy narrated by Jorjena Marie i tried to listen but I think Jorjena had a bad cold or something I just kept wanting to hand her a tissue and a hot lemon drink, the fact that I'm recovering from covid I don't need to hear that.

The Daevabad Trilogy- S. A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass
    Length 19 hours 36 min
The kingdom of Copper
    Length 23 hours 14 min
The Empire of Gold
    Length 28 hours 37 min
Narrated by Soneela Nankai

A con women Nahri who doesn't believe in magic yet has the ability to understand every language and can identify illness in a person with a look But when Nahri accidentally summons an djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real

I like this magical world with its rich history and details. however I did struggle with the story no fault of the author or narrator but from my own lack of knowledge of the Muslim and Islamic religion and history.  I feel I would get more from these books if I learned more about eastern cultures, I have become to stuck in my own little world and need to expanded my knowledge.

I plain to relisten to these at a later date once I understand better.

I also recommend The World of Daveabad website to help with terms and descriptions of the world

Soneela Nankai was ok I guess didn't feel like she was able to capture the essence of some of the charters, she did have good pacing 

A Court of Mist and Fury- Sarah J Maas

Court of thorns and Roses Book 1  

Book 2

Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda

Length 23 hours 16 min

Spoilers ahead aswell as possible triggers.

very enjoyable from start to finish highly recommend

Feyre survived Amaarantha but at a terrible cost, learning to live as high fae is not easy in a court that wants to lock her in a guiled cage.
this book brings alot of issues that survivors feel after traumatic event, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety and so on. 
It also shows how love and infatuation can hide the red flags of an unhealth relationship. I want to throat punch Tamlin, I never liked him even in the first book and was proven right hes a selfish and controlling prick. I believe that reading this book it can help people to recognized unhealth behavior in a relationship

• Love bombing is an attempt to influence a person by demonstrations of attention and affection
• Gaslighting describe a person (a "gaslighter") who presents a false narrative to another group or person which leads them to doubt their perceptions and become misled
• Controlling and Threating behavior

Abuse is more than just hitting someone

Sarah J Maas also talks about sexual abuse but with females being the predators, how women can also use their position and power to force men into their beds. I have never read a book were it was discussed and how it mentally affects the men, they are Raped its as simple as that. everyone has the right to say no!

Love Rhysand, there is so much more to him. he's not just Amaarantha's whore, he is selfless, caring and kind. He hides so much from the world letting them think the worst of him. He shows what a healthy relationships are and how with love, support and time people can heal.

Jennifer Ikeda narration has improved alittle but still abit slow

https://www.lifeline.org.nz/services/lifeline

https://victimsupport.org.nz/

https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/social-services/social/victim-support-2/

Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J Maas

 Book 1 Court of Thorns and Roses
Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda
Length 16 Hours 7min

I can divide this book into 2 opinion's.

The first half....boring its the typical beauty and the beast Stockholm syndrome. Feyre a poor huntress struggling to survive and to feed her family kills a wolf in the woods and a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. It was so difficult to get through this part of the book as its so predicable.

However once Feyre ends up under the mountain things finally get interesting. great charterer devolvement and an introduction of a much more interesting male lead.

I recommend persevering to get past all the stupid romantic bullshit as the books later in the series are fantastic.

Jennifer Ikeda is a good narrator alittle slow for me but still enjoyable to listen too.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16096824-a-court-of-thorns-and-roses

 

Mystic Bayou- Molly Harper

 Book 1 How to Date your Dragon

    Length 6 hour 24 mins

Book 2 Love and Other Wild things

    Length 6 hours 41 min 

Book 2.5 Even tree Nymphs get the Blues

    Length 3 hours 3 mins

Narrated by Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis

There are 5 more books in this series that I haven't listen to yet. 

Concerned that technology is about to chase mythological creatures out into the open, the League for Interspecies Cooperation is sending Jillian to Louisiana on a fact-finding mission, funny but bit boring.
while a fantasy story with shifters and witches. found the stories just didn't move fast enough for me. the story is more focused on the romantic relationships than the fact that there's a crack in the world

Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis work reasonably well together, I'm still not a fan of more than one narrator at a time. I also found Jonathan Davis pacing to be abit slow and took long pauses while reading I kept thinking the chapter was over. Amanda Ronconi was great I'm going to look into other series that she has done.

these books are currently free on audible

From Blood and Ash - Jennifer l Armentrout

 Book1 Blood and Ash

Narrated by Stina Nielsen

Length 19 hours and 46 mins

Love this book so much,

The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself.

I love the world that has been built for this story, so much detail and history 

Stina Nielsen is a wonderful narrator, great pace and suites Poppy personality, i can feel Poppy's  embarrassment and humor though the narration.

White Trash Warlock- David R Slayton

Book 1 The Adam Binder novels

Narrated by Michael Axtell

length 9 hours 19 mins

LOVE IT!

Think  Brokeback mountain meets supernatural.

Its a fantastic urban fantasy with well rounded characters, good pacing and excellent LBBTQ+ representations.

Adam Binder hasn’t spoken to his brother in years, not since Bobby had him committed to a psych ward for hearing voices. Bobby sees his brother as useless redneck until he suddenly finds he needs Adams help to save his wife.

Michael Axtell was an excellent choice to narrate white trash warlock, his pace is great and he is well suited to all the characters.

 

grimdarkmagazine.com gives a great overview of this book 

https://davidrslayton.com/books/white-trash-warlock/

Queen of Volts - Amanda Foody

King of fools

Ace of shades

Book 3 of the shadow game

Narrated by Shiromi Arseio

Length 16 hours and 33 mins

A corrupt election and a brutal street war

Enne Salta has become the most wanted gang lord in the city. she is now viewed as the villain of  New Reynes. 

I couldn't finish this book, I'm bored. not sure if its the story or the narrator Shiromi Arseio, so slow. got about 9 hours in might try again later 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37545599-queen-of-volts

King of Fools - Amanda Foody

Book 1 Ace of Shades

Book 2 of the shadow game

Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

length 17 hours and 30 mins

In Ace of shades Enne Salta a proper upright young lady travels to the city of sin to find her mother within 20 minutes of arriving finds herself running for her life. desperate for help Enne seeks the help of Levi a street lord and con man. Enne now a street lord and running her own gang, Enne and Levi must play a dangerous game of crime and politics. so much betrayal and backstabbing, don't trust anyone!

I found Saskia Maarleveld narration in Ace of shades to be abit slow and not quite right for the story however she improves alot in this book, more energy and much more engaging.

Ace of Shades- Amanda Foody

Book 1 of The Shadow Game

Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

length 12 hours and 12 mins

City of sin is definitely a good description of New Reynes where loyalty and blood matter. Street gangs and crime family's rule the northside where all desirers can be obtained. Magic is in the blood and will determine your future 

Saskia Maarleveld is a good narrator her voice is soothing I could almost fall asleep listing to her it doesn't quite suite this story but its ok to listen too.

Enne Salta a proper upright young lady travels to the city of sin to find her mother within 20 minutes of arriving finds herself running for her life. desperate for help Enne seeks the help of Levi a street lord and con man.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30238163-ace-of-shades

Daughter of the burning city- Amanda Foody

 Daughter of the burning city by Amanda Foody is a magical murder mystery set in the a moving city called the Gomorrah festival. 12 hours 37 min long

The main character is Sorina an eyeless jix worker capable of creating illusions that can become real. a few of the characters in this book are openly gay which is wonderful to see as I find that that there aren't as much LGBTQ+ representation in many of the popular books. often their whole thing is that they are gay and thats their whole personality, not in this one its known but not cared about.

very good narration by Emily woo Zeller, easy to listen too and characters are well presented  

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30237061-daughter-of-the-burning-city

The Warriors Chronicles- K.F Breene

1. Chosen
2. Hunted
3. Shadow Lands
4. Invasion
5. Siege
6. Overtaken

While this is a 6 part series I have only listened to the first 3 and only cause3 they were free on audible otherwise I wouldn't have listened at all. The story is ok not great but ok had potential but just fell flat. but what really got me was the narration, Caitlin Davies not sure what was up with her but the narration was weird the side characters had personality and great inflection but the main character was flat, monotone lacked all personality. 

Not going to bother reading the last 3 if its the same narration its not worth the cost of the books.