Preview
  • Our Year in Cria

  • The Mating Grounds
  • By: Ciree Hawthorn
  • Narrated by: Laura Horowitz
  • Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)

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Our Year in Cria

By: Ciree Hawthorn
Narrated by: Laura Horowitz
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Publisher's summary

Quinn and Leo have been chosen to represent their zones at the Mating Grounds—a genetic diversity breeding program run by the government. Can they choose a mate before their year is up or will they be assigned to someone and lose out on their chance at a love match?

Quinn has been waiting for years to escape her father’s house. Now that she’s one of the Chosen she has the perfect opportunity to cast off her broken family and finally find happiness. When she arrives at the Mating Grounds can she open herself up to a partner knowing how vulnerable it may leave her? This may be her only chance to start fresh and make her heart whole again.

Leo has led a privileged life as the son of a Governor when his scheming father finds a way to get him chosen. As Leo settles into his new reality can he focus on his happiness or will politics continue to rule his world? One look at the girl his father would loathe has him questioning his priorities. Power or pleasure?

If you enjoy dystopian romances (like Katniss and Peeta’s), a race to partner up (are they your type ‘on paper’?) and a shot of heavy angst, then you’ll love Our Year in Cria.

Previously published as Our Year in Cria: The Mating Grounds [Episodes 1-10] on Kindle Vella.

©2023 Ciree Hawthorn (P)2023 Ciree Hawthorn
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What listeners say about Our Year in Cria

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Good

I enjoyed this book. I liked the premise behind the Mating Grounds where each zone has to send two (or four if ruling zone) people- one male and one female- to spend a year together and chose a mate from a different zone from their own to have children with. The downside for me is that this is a short story with a lot of characters to remember who's who and since I am listening to it instead of reading it, it's get hard for me to keep track and remember names to their personalities and where they are from. Since each chapter is a time jump, you don't get much character development or relationship building. I liked Leo. Quinn half and half. She's an introvert and has suffered abuse, so I understand that aspect. But she was also cold and could be nasty unnecessarily.

I thought Laura Horowitz did a good job bringing this book to life and differentiating the character's voices. This is my first listen to her.

Overall: 3.5 stars
Performance: 4 stars
Story: 3.5 stars

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1 Year

I enjoyed this story. It is an excellent subject, and one I find extremely interesting. I felt so much info was provided in too short a story. This could easily be expanded on, and it would be better. I listened to the audio version. It was hard to follow along at times. The book covers a year, so much happens in the year that there are jumps in info which I would love to have learned more of. Overall, a good story. I received a free coy of this audiobook from Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving my review.

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fascinating

Our Year in Cria by Ciree Hawthorn offers a fascinating concept—a dystopian world where chosen individuals attend a "Mating Grounds" to secure genetically diverse partnerships. This setup provides an interesting glimpse into a government-regulated future where pairing up isn’t just personal but political.

Quinn and Leo’s stories are compelling on their own: Quinn’s yearning for freedom from her broken home and Leo’s struggle between duty and desire make for an emotional listen. The characters are well-defined, and the challenges they face—like societal pressure and their personal baggage—keep you invested. However, while the plot has potential, it does feel a bit repetitive. Each book in The Mating Grounds series follows a similar structure, making the storylines predictable after the first book.

Still, if you enjoy dystopian romance with a side of drama and angst, Our Year in Cria hits the mark. It’s thought-provoking and engaging, with enough emotional depth to keep listeners interested, even if the formula doesn’t stray too far from the series’ usual pattern. A solid 4-star listen for fans of futuristic romance!.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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Our Year in Cria!

This is a short and quick read/listen that is cute and fun. It is a sexy spin on Hunger Games but a lot shorter. The story is about Quinn and Leo who have a year to find someone to mate with. There is a lot going on in the story for the length. I did enjoy the cute story.

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Excellent

This is an entertaining audiobook in a matchmaking scenario where males and females are considered chosen to go to this close proximity grounds to find their mate. The storyline is intriguing as the couples interact and try to find their person. The characters are well written with interesting personalities. I enjoyed this audiobook.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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She was enjoying the freedom, but ignoring the pur

I enjoyed this book in The Mating Grounds series. I particularly enjoyed Leo, and the lengths he went to in order to communicate his feelings toward Quinn. Gotta admit, initially I appreciated her hesitation to pay much mind to alot of the bantering going on around her. With the family life she came from, she was simply enjoying the respite given to her. As it droned on, however, I grew tired of her insistence to keep everyone (especially eligible males) at arms length. She was going to end up in a forced pairing if she didn't stop acting better-than and holyier-thou with everyone.

For whatever reason, Leo had been taken with her from the start, and was not going to let her prickly defenses deture him. He had a sense underneath was someone special he wanted to know much better. The idea that she was just the opposite of his father's agenda was simply icing on the cake (not that he really gave it much mind).

Would he wait around while she coldly rebuffed every nice thing he did (even when he could see her physically respond to them)? Yeah, essentially while she played games! He was on a 1-year clock to pair too. Would Quinn over get tired of the game and be honest? Let her heavily guarded walls down enough for Leo to see the real her? Or were they destined to be the only unpaired Chosen at the end of a year?

It was an interesting book, especially as I have a much better understanding of the community in which the Chosen are living, including their sleeping arrangements and the overall "lack of privacy" mentality of the organizers. I received this Audible recording as an ARC, and though I got it out of sequence I'm not sure it made much difference. I definately recommend this series as it encourages an open mind and outside the box thinking. Enjoy!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Quinn and Leo

Part of the Mating Grounds, Quinn and Leo have both been entered into the Chosen. I enjoyed listening to Laura Horowitz narrate their short story. I found the story to be well written with a good storyline.

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The Rich Boy and the Poor Girl

Quinn and Leo have been sent to Cria as Chosen to increase the genetic diversity of the human population. From opposite backgrounds, somehow these two are perfect for each other. A cute story - I liked how Leo called Quinn “firecracker” - with a wee bit of angst and some sweet romance. Laura Horowitz did a great job bringing this short novella to life. A great listen.

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Loved it

Our year in Cria is follows Quinn and Leo's journey through their first year in at the Mating Grounds. Both from very different backgrounds Quinn grew up poor and abused while Leo enjoyed the better life as the Govnors son. The story is well written and keeps you entertained throughout the book.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Premise, Unsatisfying Execution

I've listened to this series’ prequel as well as this first book. I think the series has an excellent premise, but so far, each book in the series has been far too short to really tell the story that should be told, and as often happens with novellas, far too much is crammed into the relatively limited short form. When I started listening to this, I had a hard time figuring out who the featured couple was; it actually wasn’t 100% until the pool scene well into the middle of the book. Most romances only feature one couple, but this 1 hour 45-minute book had a LOT of people who could be a part of a couple. In general, being introduced to a lot of characters in an audiobook can be a bit confusing. You're trying to sift through relationships and potential couplings without having the text to refer to in case you become unsure. This book is divided into chapters by time. In this very short novella, an entire year goes by! As such, we only get tiny glimpses into each time period covered. Each only has a handful of scenes. This doesn't allow for any sort of in-depth exploration of characterization or complex plot. Because the premise is so excellent, I really wanted more. The book is really just about the interactions between a relatively small group of people, some of whom couple up; it doesn’t have much tension or any subplot or conflict outside the romance. But again, I felt frustrated by the lack of word real estate; so, no character growth or even a proper romantic arc for any couple. I believe from the book blurb that this is supposed to be Quinn and Leo's story, but their story really didn't stand out as much as it should have, as the ensemble cast of other characters had important scenes (that ultimately didn’t go anywhere). An excellent premise, but not executed as satisfyingly and as well as it could have been.

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