No Better than Beasts
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Max Meyers
-
By:
-
Z. R. Ellor
About this listen
A dark and captivating new take on the beloved Nutcracker story, Z. R. Ellor's YA fantasy debut, No Better Than Beasts, is a perfect standalone novel for fans of folklore, cursed kingdoms, fraught romance, and fairy tales with sharp teeth.
Nabik, a soldier, owes his loyalty to his elder brother Fydir, who lifted him and their sister, Drakne, from poverty. But when Fydir orders him to quell unrest among the city’s beastfolk, the magic Nabik had long buried begins to stir. A wintery voice urges Nabik to desert his post—and his brother’s watchful eye—to journey north into Kolznechia, a frozen, enchanted kingdom ruled by the mercurial Rat King. His power may hold the key to breaking an ancient curse and ending the Rat King’s terrible reign.
Drakne will do whatever it takes to break free of Fydir. As Nabik follows all of their eldest brother’s commands, her best hope of escaping is to seek the protection of the Rat King. And the tyrant king has been looking for Drakne too. She has a gift that can help him find and kill the missing nutcracker prince, rightful heir to his stolen throne.
When the nutcracker prince emerges, Nabik and Drakne take opposite sides of a centuries-old conflict—him to save a kingdom, her to save herself. Then Fydir marches into the growing war, hungry to claim power of his own, and if Nabik and Drakne can’t fix their broken bond, Kolznechia may be torn apart by tooth and claw...
A Macmillan Audio production from Roaring Brook Press.
Critic reviews
"Warm as spiced chocolate in the dark of winter, this retelling of The Nutcracker will charm you with magic and queer love. From soul machines to labor unions, Ellor crafts a world of myth and engaging conflict, where rat kings and pinewood princes are never quite what they seem."—Jes Battis, author of The Winter Knight
"An atmospheric tale of the magic of wishes and dances—and the darkness of betrayal and pain."—Kirkus Reviews
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Don't Let It Break Your Heart
- By: Maggie Horne
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alana and Gray have been the perfect couple ever since they got together before high school—and neither of them think that should have to change just because Alana came out as a lesbian. Sure, things are a little different now: Their romantic relationship is over, but their best-friends-since-forever relationship is stronger than ever. And yeah, Alana sees the way her other friends now exclude her in tiny, almost unnoticeable ways, but she still has Gray, and that’s all that’s ever mattered to her.
By: Maggie Horne
-
Legend of the White Snake
- By: Sher Lee
- Narrated by: David Lee Huynh, Andrew Grace
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Prince Xian was a boy, a white snake bit his mother and condemned her to a slow, painful death. The only known cure is an elusive spirit pearl—or an antidote created from the rare white snake itself. Desperate and determined, Xian travels to the city of Changle, where an oracle predicted he would find and capture a white snake.
-
-
Beautiful.
- By Anonymous User on 10-30-24
By: Sher Lee
-
I Was Told There Would Be Romance
- By: Marie Arnold
- Narrated by: Melinda Sewak
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen-year-old Fancy Augustine is a Haitian American girl with simple desires. She’d like to trade in her floppy, oversize boobs for cute, perky ones. She’d love a boyfriend. And she’s desperate for an invite to the biggest event of the school year: Imani Park’s birthday party. When Fancy learns her BFF, Tilly, has received a coveted invite and has a secret boyfriend, she is (understandably) devastated and wholeheartedly determined to do whatever it takes to get her own happily ever after.
By: Marie Arnold
-
Tangleroot
- By: Kalela Williams
- Narrated by: Maggie Thompson
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tangleroot was built by one of Noni’s ancestors, an enslaved man named Cuffee Fortune—who Dr. Castine believes was also the original founder of Stonepost College, and that the school was originally formed for Black students. Dr. Castine spends much of her time trying to piece together enough undeniable truth in order to change the name of the school in Cuffee’s honor—and to force the university to reckon with its own racist past.
-
-
Such an incredible story!
- By Rebekah on 12-11-24
By: Kalela Williams
-
A Vile Season
- By: David Ferraro
- Narrated by: Jackie Meloche
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After being run out of his castle by vampire hunters, Count Lucian encounters the god of vampires, Vrykolakas, while in hiding. Unhappy with how many vampires have been bested by hunters, Vrykolakas gives Lucian a test: Infiltrate the future duke’s marriage games as a suitor and uncover the clandestine vampire hunters Vrykolakas suspects lurk in their midst. The god strips Lucian of his immortality so he can walk amongst mortals—making him human for the first time in centuries. If Lucian succeeds, Vrykolakas will make him the most powerful vampire in existence.
-
-
Lucian is a villain and I’m OBSESSED!!
- By kaleigh kailani on 12-08-24
By: David Ferraro
-
Prince of Fortune
- By: Lisa Tirreno
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill, James Meunier
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shy Prince Edmund will be a great king one day: it has been Seen again and again. With rare magic giving him dominion over the nation’s plants and weather, Edmund feels a great deal of pressure to live up to his nation’s many expectations, including making a perfect diplomatic alliance through marriage. That is, until he meets Lord Aubrey Ainsley.
By: Lisa Tirreno
-
Don't Let It Break Your Heart
- By: Maggie Horne
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alana and Gray have been the perfect couple ever since they got together before high school—and neither of them think that should have to change just because Alana came out as a lesbian. Sure, things are a little different now: Their romantic relationship is over, but their best-friends-since-forever relationship is stronger than ever. And yeah, Alana sees the way her other friends now exclude her in tiny, almost unnoticeable ways, but she still has Gray, and that’s all that’s ever mattered to her.
By: Maggie Horne
-
Legend of the White Snake
- By: Sher Lee
- Narrated by: David Lee Huynh, Andrew Grace
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Prince Xian was a boy, a white snake bit his mother and condemned her to a slow, painful death. The only known cure is an elusive spirit pearl—or an antidote created from the rare white snake itself. Desperate and determined, Xian travels to the city of Changle, where an oracle predicted he would find and capture a white snake.
-
-
Beautiful.
- By Anonymous User on 10-30-24
By: Sher Lee
-
I Was Told There Would Be Romance
- By: Marie Arnold
- Narrated by: Melinda Sewak
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen-year-old Fancy Augustine is a Haitian American girl with simple desires. She’d like to trade in her floppy, oversize boobs for cute, perky ones. She’d love a boyfriend. And she’s desperate for an invite to the biggest event of the school year: Imani Park’s birthday party. When Fancy learns her BFF, Tilly, has received a coveted invite and has a secret boyfriend, she is (understandably) devastated and wholeheartedly determined to do whatever it takes to get her own happily ever after.
By: Marie Arnold
-
Tangleroot
- By: Kalela Williams
- Narrated by: Maggie Thompson
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tangleroot was built by one of Noni’s ancestors, an enslaved man named Cuffee Fortune—who Dr. Castine believes was also the original founder of Stonepost College, and that the school was originally formed for Black students. Dr. Castine spends much of her time trying to piece together enough undeniable truth in order to change the name of the school in Cuffee’s honor—and to force the university to reckon with its own racist past.
-
-
Such an incredible story!
- By Rebekah on 12-11-24
By: Kalela Williams
-
A Vile Season
- By: David Ferraro
- Narrated by: Jackie Meloche
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After being run out of his castle by vampire hunters, Count Lucian encounters the god of vampires, Vrykolakas, while in hiding. Unhappy with how many vampires have been bested by hunters, Vrykolakas gives Lucian a test: Infiltrate the future duke’s marriage games as a suitor and uncover the clandestine vampire hunters Vrykolakas suspects lurk in their midst. The god strips Lucian of his immortality so he can walk amongst mortals—making him human for the first time in centuries. If Lucian succeeds, Vrykolakas will make him the most powerful vampire in existence.
-
-
Lucian is a villain and I’m OBSESSED!!
- By kaleigh kailani on 12-08-24
By: David Ferraro
-
Prince of Fortune
- By: Lisa Tirreno
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill, James Meunier
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shy Prince Edmund will be a great king one day: it has been Seen again and again. With rare magic giving him dominion over the nation’s plants and weather, Edmund feels a great deal of pressure to live up to his nation’s many expectations, including making a perfect diplomatic alliance through marriage. That is, until he meets Lord Aubrey Ainsley.
By: Lisa Tirreno
-
Sixteen Minutes
- By: K.J. Reilly
- Narrated by: Phoebe Strole
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Nell knows two things for sure—she’s never going to get out of her rural, dead-end hometown of Clawson, NY and her best friend Stevie B and longtime boyfriend Cole are never going to leave her. That is until Charlotte, a new girl, arrives at their school and their lopsided friend triangle is turned on its axis. While Nell and Stevie B are certain that Charlotte isn’t who she says she is, Cole is caught fully in her thrall. When Nell and Stevie B finally confront Cole and Charlotte, they learn the impossible—Charlotte is actually from the future.
By: K.J. Reilly
-
The Bitter End
- By: Alexa Donne
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh, Phoebe Strole, Brittany Pressley, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip. Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.
-
-
Not her best work
- By Jeff H on 11-20-24
By: Alexa Donne
-
All the Hearts You Eat
- By: Hailey Piper
- Narrated by: Jeremy Carlisle Parker, L Morgan Lee, Alexis Vandom, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ivory’s life changes irrevocably when she discovers the body of Cabrina Brite on the sands of Cape Morning, along with a mysterious poem. How did she die, and why does it seem she was trying to swim to Ghost Cat Island, the center of so many local mysteries? Desperate to uncover the answers surrounding Cabrina’s death, and haunted by her discovery, Ivory begins to see the pale ghost of Cabrina, only to shake it off as a mere hallucination. But Ivory is not alone.
By: Hailey Piper
-
Never Trust a Gemini
- By: Freja Nicole Woolf
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s Libra Season, and Cat Phillips is ready to run headfirst into love. The only problem is that her crush is on her best friend, Alison Bridgewater, who is more interested in chatting with boys. Maybe Cat should take this as a sign to get over Alison, even if that means dating the musically challenged Jamie Owusu. After all, a new boyfriend is the best cleanse, at least according to Cat’s friends. Unfortunately, having a boyfriend is a lot harder than Cat expected.
-
-
Punchy and Hilarious
- By Beyonce Williams on 08-29-24
-
Inevitable Fate
- By: Lindsay K. Bandy
- Narrated by: Andrew Bates
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For seventeen years, Evan Kiernan’s life has felt like painting by someone else’s numbers, moving and transferring schools every time his mom has a breakup. But when he’s accepted into NYU’s Promising Young Artist program for his senior year, the future suddenly feels like a blank canvas. However, it becomes clear that the city has peculiar ties to his past. A thunderstorm finds him under the same umbrella as an eerily familiar green-eyed girl. A visit to an art gallery brings him face-to-face with a heavily tattooed portrait of himself. He sees things that aren’t there—at least not anymore.
By: Lindsay K. Bandy
-
Wish I Were Here
- By: Melissa Wiesner
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Type-A mathematician Catherine Lipton’s carefully calculated life goes awry when a university’s human resources system rejects her employment paperwork. Soon after, her credit card is declined. At the Social Security office, Catherine makes a shocking discovery—she’s disappeared from the government’s records, and there’s no evidence she exists at all. The one person who offers to help is Luca Morelli, her attractive but aggravating doorman who spends more time flirting with Catherine’s neighbors than he does enforcing the building rules.
-
-
My Least Favorite Book by This Author
- By Gliknis on 11-05-24
By: Melissa Wiesner
-
Key Lime Sky
- By: Al Hess
- Narrated by: Curtis Michael Holland
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Denver Bryant's passion for pie has sent him across Wyoming in search of the best slices. Though he dutifully posts reviews on his blog, he's never been able to recreate his brief moment of viral popularity, and his trickling income isn't enough to pay rent next month.
By: Al Hess
-
Catch and Keep
- By: Erin Hahn
- Narrated by: Zura Johnson, Michal Norman Johnson
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At thirty-three, Maren Laughlin's just turned down her boyfriend’s proposal, walked away from her decade-long position as a park ranger, and returned to her childhood playground in Northern Wisconsin to accept her inheritance: a decrepit waterfront bait shop. After a lifetime of letting things happen to her, she’s ready to start making her own moves, even if everyone else thinks she’s making the wrong ones. Well, not everyone—at least the local heartstopper and resort owner is on her side.
By: Erin Hahn
-
Inferno's Heir
- By: Tiffany Wang
- Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teia Carthan abandoned her morals long ago. Now, there's nothing she won't do to stay alive. So far, she has survived her parents' deaths, the ire of the Council, and innumerable attempts on her life orchestrated by Jura, her half-brother and soon-to-be king of Erisia. Teia's rare control over two elements marks her as both an outsider and a formidable opponent. But once Jura is crowned king, there will be no way to survive him—not for Teia, not for anyone.
-
-
Not amazed
- By Krysta Joyce on 11-04-24
By: Tiffany Wang
-
Januaries
- Stories of Love, Magic & Betrayal
- By: Olivie Blake
- Narrated by: Alexandra Palting, Daniel Henning, David Monteith, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, a wish-granting spirit rapidly approaches burnout. Meanwhile, a banished fairy answers a Craigslist ad, a Victorian orphan navigates an occult situationship, and a multiverse assassin contemplates the one who got away. With both iconic fan-favorite stories and entirely original pieces, Januaries features modified fairy tales, contemporary heists, absurdist poetry, and at least one set of actual wedding vows. Escape the slow trudge of mortality by diving into these enchanting new worlds with a master of imagination.
-
-
This was beautiful
- By Sydni Silver on 12-12-24
By: Olivie Blake
-
Libby Lost and Found
- By: Stephanie Booth
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Libby Weeks, author of the mega-bestselling fantasy series the Falling Children—written as “F. T. Goldhero” to maintain her privacy. With the final manuscript months overdue to her publisher and rabid fans around the world growing impatient, Libby is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Already suffering from crippling anxiety, Libby’s symptoms quickly accelerate. After she forgets her dog at the park one day—then almost discloses her identity to the journalist who finds him—Libby has to admit it: she needs help finishing the last book.
By: Stephanie Booth
-
If I Stopped Haunting You
- By: Colby Wilkens
- Narrated by: Curtis Michael Holland, Kyla Garcia
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's been months since horror author Penelope Skinner threw a book at Neil Storm. But he was so infuriating, with his sparkling green eyes and his bestselling horror novels that claimed to break Native stereotypes. And now she’s a publishing pariah and hasn’t been able to write a word since. So when her friend invites her on a too-good-to-be-true writers' retreat in a supposedly haunted Scottish castle, she seizes the opportunity. Of course, some things really are too good to be true.
-
-
Disappointed
- By readingcornercozy on 11-02-24
By: Colby Wilkens