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Sierra Sugar

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Beautifully done YA set in a harsh dystopian AU.

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-27-25

First, I have never resonated more with any character in any book than I do with the MC, Violet! Without going into too many details, I'm 4'7" and grew up as the shy bookworm that was often over protected, sheltered, and underestimated. Fourth Wing is a wonderful coming of age, and coming into your own story for anyone has ever felt overlooked and disregarded due to physical differences.

Second, this also has a slow burn romance element. It takes a while to get to the spicy parts, but when it does get there it is intense! If you are put off by graphic sexual content, then this might be a series to avoid.

The characters in the Fourth Wing are all young adults in a violent, unrelenting dystopic magical world. There is violence, though not necessarily bloody or overly graphic, but it is still there in abundance. There is death and outright murder. There is foul language a plenty. To me, all this adds up to a realistic representation of the characters. This is not an idyllic flowery romantacy. This is unapologetically gritty and harsh, with an explosive romance to match.

If you are a fan of the Divergent series, Game of Thrones, and... I don't know... a touch of 50 shades, then you'll definitely enjoy this book.

Lastly, I'm an audiobook reader. The narrator does a wonderful job at all the characters. She has great timing, pacing, and even her male voices are believable and likeable.

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Not what I expected

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-20-25

I have long been a fan of the movies; however, this is actually my first time reading the original book. While I love high fantasy, immersive world building, and expansive descriptions, I found this story difficult to get through. I felt bogged down, as in quick sand. There were more than a few times I wanted to give up, but I forced myself to keep on, much like Frodo and the Fellowship. I am glad that I did, if for no other reason than to say I have actually read the book.

This is no slight to Tolkien. He built a deep, beautiful, and captivating world. There were parts of the book where I truly got lost in the story. Sadly, they were far too few.

Perhaps I set my expectations too high. Most of us will agree that books are almost always better than the movies (or TV shows). And I went in fully expecting that. In this case, for me, I enjoyed the movies far more. Maybe that is high praise for the actors, directors, and producers behind the original films. The movies stayed fairly true to the books. The casting was as perfect as any could ever be, and the on location filming captured the beauty of real land, of Middle Earth.

During my visit into Tolkien's Middle Earth, I listened to both the Andy Serkis and Phil Dragash versions. At first, I enjoyed Dragash's version until I got to Tom Bombadil. The character and constant sing song rhyming grated on my nerves so badly that I couldn't follow the story. I switched back to Andy Serkis and sped Audible up to 1.2x speed and found I enjoyed the Serkis version much better.

My plan was to get through all of the books in one go. But, I realize now I will have to break these books up with other books inbetween.

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Interesting Twists!

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-29-25

I wasn't sure what to expect with thiS book, but i definitely vasn't this. This ystopian futuristic story truly made me stop to think .c over morals and ethics the face of potential human extinction. There are several twists, turns, and revelations that were both surprising and interesting. 'm looking forward to book 2 in this series.

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Fan-FRIKKEN-tastic Narration!!@

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-27-25

If Robin Williams narrated books I imagine this is what we would have gotten. This narrator is off the wall crazy good!! He truly brings the book to life with his unique and distinctive character voices. I found myself literally laughing outloud throughout the whole book.

As far as LitRPG books go, this one is pretty formulaic and mostly predictable, yet still quite enjoyable. The ending definitely gave me a bit of a surprise. While not the most imaginative story line, the character personalities and the great narration help give this book that little something extra to keep it from falling into the boring side. I'm looking forward to listening to book 2!

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Catching Fire (Hunger Games, Book Two) Audiobook By Suzanne Collins cover art

Confusion, but in a good way.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-21-25

I felt as confused as Katniss throughout this book all the way to the ending. In fact, I had to listen to the ending multiple times and still didn't really understand what was going on. Maybe that was the whole point, as Katniss herself didn't know what was going on and we see the world through her perspective.

That being said, the confusion isn't necessarily a bad thing. It certainly sets things up for continuation in the next book. I simply must know what has been going on. So many hands in play in the book, and I need to know who was doing what and why.

Also, I can understand Katniss's confusion regarding her feelings for Gale and Peeta. Her life has been in upheaval and open for public scrutiny since the reaping. It's hard to feel anything but fear when your life is in constant fight or flight. My initial skepticism towards Peeta is lessened and I've grown to like him. I even am starting to like and understand Haymitch.

The chaotic and harried ending really makes you feel Karltniss's fear and confusion. I don't feel the book ended so much on a cliffhanger, but a pause. Like this was the best, most logical point to break and overlong story into two parts. Now onto part 2, or really, book 3.

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The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, Book One) Audiobook By Suzanne Collins cover art

Amazing Narration!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-20-25

First, the narrator is phenomenal! Carolyn McCormick really makes each character stand out. Both her male and female voices are believable, which isn't always easy to accomplish. Audiobooks are my favorite book format, so I am able to devour a plethora of books throughout the year. Finding a gem of a narrator like Carolyn is such a wonderful bonus!

I am late to reading this book, even though I've watched the movies. As always, the books are better and this one is no exception. I do remember being confused and conflicted about Peta during the movie, and that sentiment remains true during this book as well. It's been YEARS since I watched the movies and I honestly don't remember the ending, not even sure I watched the last one. So, I am curious to see how my feelings towards Peta evolve or change.

Overall, I love the character descriptions, the world building, the relationships, and the dystopic story. Dystopian futures are one of my favorite genres, probably because of books and movies like this one and Divergent. Now it's time to dive into book 2!

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What a wonderful rollercoaster! ❤️

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-18-25

The emotional journey I went through with this book... Seriously, I think I cried more in this first book than almost any other book I've read to date. But I also laughed out loud, found myself giggling at antics, and feeling taught as a bow string with anticipation (both fear and romance).

Freye is my new hero! And Rhysand, I think we all want a man like Rhys. I fell in love with his hilarious yet loyal crew.

This book is beautifully written with immersion world building, beautiful descriptions that are perfectly balanced with action and dialog. The whole thing just draws you in and makes you want to stay. The writing and story is so good that I finished all 5 books in a little over a week I could not stop listening! Now all I can do is hope for a 6th book.

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Amazing Narration!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-18-25

I usually don't like narrator changes, but Stina Nielsen really captured the essence of Nesta, Cassian, and Azriel! She especially brought forth the fire between Nesta and Cassian. The only voice of hers I didn't like was of Freye.

Regarding Nesta and Cassian, this book is significantly more spicy than the previous books, but it fits the characters. It is actually now my top favorite spicy book of all time! Stina made me feel all the emotions, the tension, the desire, even the hopelessness and despair. I loved her interpretation of Cassias. To me it was a perfect pairing, like Henry Cavill as Geralt.

I loved seeing the world through Nesta's eyes and voice, and even the little bit we saw through Cassian's. I hope in the future we get an Azriel centered book and Stina Nielen is the narrator. From the little bit we heard from Azriel in this book, I feel she captured him perfectly as well.

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High Anxiety!

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-25-25

Let me start by saying KT Hanna is one of my favorite fantasy writers. Up til now I have enjoyed everything she's put out. That being said, I'm struggling with this series. I wanted to absolutely love it, like I have everything of Hanna's. Sadly, most of the time while listening I'm just annoyed.

I mostly enjoyed the first book, but found myself thinking Quinn really needs to chill with her constant snark and yelling/freaking out. I get it. Her whole world, scratch that, whole universe has changed and all the emergency alarms are going off. But man, after a while the constant aggressive, high-pitched, freak out voice gets annoying!

I love that Links (Lynx) uses a cat form. I really love the whole "who done it" vibe thrown into the mix. Fantasy and Mystery? Why yes please! But Quinn's freak outs, yelling, and sarcastic snark are just too much in this second book. I'm REALLY struggling to get through it without having constant panic attacks myself because of Quinn.

Credit to Parsneau, she is always a wonderful narrator with the ability to create uniquely identifiable character voices. I am also aware that her ability to bring life to a character and to express emotions through her voice might actually be the downfall here for me. She does too good of a job on the voice of Quinn. Quinn reminds me of the overly panicked lady in the old spoof comedy movie "Airplane." Can I line up to slap some sense into her?

I will take a break from the book for awhile, then come back to finish the last half of book 2 later. Hoping book 3 starts to show a more level-headed, less reactive Quinn. She is in desperate need of character growth.

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I really wanted to like this one.

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 03-28-25

I really did. I may look for it on Kindle and read it. But this narrator's voice was so monotonous, montone, flat, and boring. It was like listening to a professor lecture about the life cycle of fruit flies droning on and on about absolutely everything and nothing. Seriously, I think watching paint dry would have been more entertaining. I can't tell you how many times I zoned out and lost track of what was going on due to the constant low buzz of his voice. After two days of trying to get into the story I finally just gave up.

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