Audiobook Review: Legion by Brandon Sanderson

Legion
(Legion #1)
Brandon Sanderson
Release: September 11, 2011
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A novella from #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, Legion is a fast-paced, witty, and supremely fun thriller with a psychological bent.

Stephen Leeds is perfectly sane. It’s his hallucinations who are mad.

A genius of unrivaled aptitude, Stephen can learn any new skill, vocation, or art in a matter of hours. However, to contain all of this, his mind creates hallucinatory people—Stephen calls them aspects—to hold and manifest the information. Wherever he goes, he is joined by a team of imaginary experts to give advice, interpretation, and explanation. He uses them to solve problems…for a price.

His brain is getting a little crowded, however, and the aspects have a tendency of taking on lives of their own. When a company hires him to recover stolen property—a camera that can allegedly take pictures of the past—Stephen finds himself in an adventure crossing oceans and fighting terrorists. What he discovers may upend the foundation of three major world religions—and, perhaps, give him a vital clue into the true nature of his aspects.

Review by Rose Red:

Oh my goodness! How do you review an 88 page novella without spoiling the plot? I don't know but I'm going to gush about Legion by Brandon Sanderson for a minute. For those of you that don't know, I love Brandon Sanderson's books just as much as I love Patricia Briggs's and Ilona Andrews's books. Seriously. I've loved all of his books that I've read so far and that is all but two. I went into this novella knowing that I'd probably love it, but Sanderson surprised me again. I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved this! It was so good guys!

The characters are freaking amazing and so different from each other! I loved the main character, Stephen Leeds, and his ‘aspects’! As much as I loved Leeds, his aspects (aka his hallucinations) are what stole the show for me. I will say that J. C. and Tobias were my favorites!

Not only are the characters amazing, but so is the whole premise of the story! A genius whose knowledge manifests as hallucinations was a story I never knew I needed! It was so interesting how Leeds has almost continuous hallucinations. I loved the fact that to learn new things he imagines one of his aspects learning it and just telling him what to do. If we weren't in Leeds's head it would be kind of scary how he just happens to know things that he didn't hours before.

This novella is seriously a great take on how much we just don't understand about the human mind. Then there is this whole other awesome sci-fi element that was just too cool, especially because the characters discussed it with insights that I hadn’t thought of. Honestly, this is one of the best novellas I’ve ever read. It was perfectly paced and I was enthralled the entire time. The character development and the mystery were spot on!

I listened to the audiobook of this and the narrator did such an amazing job! I’m going to have to look up what other books he’s narrated because he did a great job making each character’s voice distinct! And I’m always a fan when a male narrator can do a convincing female voice. Seriously. That narrator nailed all the voices exactly! This was just so great! I’m really kicking myself for not listening to this novella earlier. I loved it! The audiobook was definitely one of my favorite ones that I listened to this year!

I can't wait to start the audiobook for the second novella in this series! I just want to continue listening to the adventures of Leeds and his aspects for forever. Is that too much to ask?

    

  5 / 5 Stars!

Audio Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Fairest
(The Lunar Chronicles #3.5)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Narrator: Rebecca Soler
Release: January 27, 2015
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Audible

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?
Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

Review:

Fairest is a novella, albeit a long one, in The Lunar Chronicles series. Its titled as being #3.5, but really it should be called #0.5 as it tells the story of Levana growing up as a child, a teenager, and finally her rise to Queen, all happening before the first book in the series, Cinder. I went into this story a bit apprehensive as I knew it would be told from Levana's point of view and I didn't know if I would really enjoy it, but I am happy to say that I really loved reading Levana's story! This novella will whet readers' whistles, so to speak, while we all wait impatiently for the final book in this series.

Fairest begins with Levana as a young girl and most of the story follows her as a late teen. Right from the start its easy to tell that Levana is different from Meyers' other heroines. I noticed bits of her future madness woven into the story from the get go, hinting at what she would one day become. Levana wasn't always a power hungry crazy person though, and it was nice to see the journey she took to get there. In fact, in her younger days she actually had the best for her people in mind.

I did appreciate that the author didn't make her all sweet and innocent and then have one big event turn her crazy. Her journey to the Queen Levana we know after reading three books in The Lunar Chronicles was actually pretty complicated. Teenage Levana is just slightly..."off". She doesn't read other people and situations the way that normal people do and she seems to get lost in her own fantasy world a lot. However, the most detrimental events that finally broke poor Levana revolve around a romance that was just heartbreaking, especially since, as the reader, we can see all the problems with the romance arising and can predict how things will end up. Everything involving this romance we so unsettling. Combine that with the upbringing with her parents and the bullying by her older sister and you get one looney toon ruler of the moon.

Some questions from the other books get answered here, so I recommend that readers who love the series don't skip this novella, and definitely read books #1-3 before reading this one. In Fairest, we learn more about Levana's disfigurement, which is alluded to often in the series, as well as how Cinder got separated from her family and ended up where she did. A unexpected treat was all that we learn about Winter. I didn't realize her backstory, so that was an interesting addition.

Overall this novella was entertaining and enlightening and it flowed just like all of the other books in the series so far. I loved getting more insight into Levana's background and how she came to be the deranged, sadistic, starved-for-power Queen that she is in current books. Highly recommended!

Notes on the Narrator: Rebecca Soler narrates all of the books in The Lunar Chronicles, and she manages to make each narrator sound just different enough to give them their own personality. Her narration for Levana was wonderful...a bit sweet, a bit cunning, even a bit creepy at times later in the story. The way her voice grew and changed as Levana grew older and became crazier was great. As always, I highly recommend this entire series on audio, including this novella!

Recommended for fans of: The rest of The Lunar chronicles, stories told from the villain's POV, and young adult sci-fi.

    

  4 / 5 stars

My reviews of other books in this series:
Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)
Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)

Really Short Reviews: Audios of Beautiful Bastard Novellas

I've been listening to the Beautiful Bastard series on audio and I must admit, this series is turning around all my previous feelings about contemporary erotic romance. I'm reviewing the full-length books as I listen to them and I'm reviewing the novellas here, in our Really Short Reviews format. 

Have you started this series yet?

Beautiful Bitch

(Beautiful Bastard #1.5)

Author: Christina Lauren
Narrator: Grace Grant, Kirby Heybourne

Release: July 9, 2013

Goodreads Amazon
Audible

Really Short Review: 
This novella did not do it for me like the full length book that preceded it. I gave Beautiful Bastard a solid four star review, but this one falls a little flat for me. The focus here is a much-needed vacation that Bennett and Chloe decide to take but the focus is more on the sweet side of their relationship than their panty ripping sex. As much as I enjoyed all of the sweetness, I still could have used more of the hotness and tension that makes their relationship so enjoyable. The other drawback here was the addition of Kirby Heybourne as the voice for Bennett. Not only was this completely unnecessary, but it just plain didn't work. Kirby's voice is NOT EVEN CLOSE to how I would have imagined Bennett sounding. His voice is smooth and "everyday guy", not Bennett worthy at all. It should be noted that clearly I wasn't the only one who felt this way because in later novellas Kirby is replaced by another narrator who does a MUCH better job. This novella is a must listen, as it furthers the series and the relationship of these two, but I'd recommend reading it in print or in ebook format before starting the next full-length book in the series.

 1/2

2.5 / 5 stars

Beautiful Bombshell
(Beautiful Bastard #2.5)
Author: Christina Lauren
Narrator: Jonathan Cole, Sebastian York
Release: September 3, 2013
Goodreads Amazon
Audible

Really Short Review: 
Remember my issues with that first novella? My lackluster review? WELL. This second novella is on the completely opposite end of the spectrum. Not only was Beautiful Bombshell spectacular, it was actually my favorite book in the Beautiful Bastard series so far! I wish this somehow could have been made into a full-length novel, but at 160 pages it is a decent length for what it is. Beautiful Bombshell is dually narrated by Bennett and Max. In this one the boys travel to Vegas for Bennett's bachelor party but - surprise! - the ladies are secretly there too! Feisty, hot, intense, romantic, surprising sex ensues! Fun for everyone! The best thing about this novella? That male narrator for Bennett Ryan whom I did not enjoy has been replaced by perhaps the sexiest voice ever. Bennett's voice here is deep. Extremely deep. And a bit gravelly and smooth at the same time. Whoever was in charge of finding this guy gets a big BRAVO from me. And Jonathan Cole is back with his sexy British accent, of course. The other great thing about this novella? Seeing how both men adore their women so damn much. They genuinely see themselves as unbelievably lucky to be with them and they melted my hearts. Beautiful Bombshell was absolutely delightful, super super dirty, and completely wonderful. I might have to go back and listen to this one again.

  

5 / 5 stars

Audio Review: Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren

Beautiful Stranger
(Beautiful Bastard #2)
Author: Christina Lauren
Narrator:Grace Grant and Jonathan R. Cole
Release: April 16, 2013
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Audible

Escaping a cheating ex, finance whiz Sara Dillon’s moved to New York City and is looking for excitement and passion without a lot of strings attached. So meeting the irresistible, sexy Brit at a dance club should have meant nothing more than a night’s fun. But the manner—and speed—with which he melts her inhibitions turns him from a one-time hookup and into her Beautiful Stranger.
The whole city knows that Max Stella loves women, not that he’s ever found one he particularly wants to keep around. Despite pulling in plenty with his Wall Street bad boy charm, it’s not until Sara—and the wild photos she lets him take of her—that he starts wondering if there’s someone for him outside of the bedroom.
Hooking up in places where anybody could catch them, the only thing scarier for Sara than getting caught in public is having Max get too close in private.

Review:

Here's all I really need to say in this review: This is a sexy erotic romance where the man is British and the male narrator's accent is British. The narrator's accent is British. Did you just add it to your TBR pile? That's what I thought.

Beautiful Stranger is the second full-length novel in Christina Lauren's Beautiful Bastard series, which is shaping up to be a super sexy and super fun series so far. In this one we get to actually meet Max Stella, who we were briefly introduced to in the novella between books one and two when Bennet had a phone conversation with him. Max meets Chloe's good friend Sara while they are all out at a night club, and wonderful spur-of-the-moment sex ensues. You might remember that Sara was in a relationship in book one, but here some time has passed and she has since broken it off with that boyfriend - under not so great circumstances.

Sara is a good leading lady, smart and successful with a great personality but a bit of a guarded fragility at times due to her past relationship. What's really wonderful is seeing her through Max's eyes. Even when its just sex between them in the early stages of their relationship, Max sees Sara as an absolutely stunning beauty who has an inner beauty as well. His nickname for her, "Petal", rolls out of the mouth of the male narrator in the most delicious way, and Max's affection for Sara is adorable.

Max and Stella have a lot of roadblocks in the way of their relationship. Unlike Bennett and Chloe, who knew each other for a while before beginning their sexual relationship, Max and Sara meet for the first time in this book. Max is a bit of a local celebrity who the local paparazzi love to photograph and Sara wants to avoid the limelight at all costs (and for very good, understandable reasons). I also felt like the climax in this book that led to the inevitable drama toward the book's end was better and more realistic than the one in book one. Although I felt like Sara was a bit quick to jump to conclusions, her past and the situation made her reaction make sense to me.

And, OH, the sex! Both Max and Sara realize together that they are both exhibitionists that enjoy having sex in public where people might see. This leads to some creative locations for their sexual encounters. A little fooling around in a cab while a cabbie is driving, anyone? Sex on a rooftop during a fireworks show? And always, the pictures! Max likes to take pictures during sex as well! Geez, could these two have more inventive things going on during their sex? I loved them. I loved all of Max's British words and phrases and the obvious love he had for Sara. I loved how Sara was interesting and mysterious and a worthy match for Max. Beautiful Stranger was another knock out of the park for the Beautiful Bastard series!

Notes on the Narrator: Beautiful Stranger has the same female narrator as book one, Grace Grant. However a male narrator was added for Max's POV in this one, Jonathan R. Cole. His British accent was spectacular. At first it sounded like he was having difficulty deciding is Max was English or Scottish, but as the book went on his accent smoothed out. He nailed everything he said. My especially favorite words of his were when he said Sara's name and when he called her "Petal"......and everything sweet and dirty he said to Sara when they were having sex.......

Recommended for fans of: Beautiful Bastard, erotic romance with fully fleshed out characters, hot British guys, and public sex.

    

  4 / 5 stars

My reviews of other books in this series:
Beautiful Bastard (Beautiful Bastard #1)

2015 Audiobook Challenge - March Update!

2015 Audiobook Challenge

March Update!

It's time to check in and see how we're all doing on the 2015 Audiobook Challenge, hosted by The Book Nympho and Hot Listens! 

You can join the challenge or link up your update post HERE.

For this challenge, I chose the level Binge Listener 20 - 30 Audiobooks.

Here's my progress so far:

1. Wicked (A Wicked Saga #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

2. Dead of Winter (The Arcana Chronicles #3) by Kresley Cole

3. By A Thread (Elemental Assassin #6) by Jennifer Estep

4. The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines #6) by Richelle Mead

5. Deadly Spells (Prospero's War #3) by Jaye Wells

6. Widow's Web (Elemental Assassin #7) by Jennifer Estep

7. Jinn and Juice (The Jinni #1) by Nicole Peeler

7 out of 20 - 30

Looking good! If I keep up this pace I'll make my goal for sure!

Let me know if you're participating in the challenge and feel free to leave a link to your update post in the comments!

Audio Review: Deadly Spells by Jaye Wells

Deadly Spells
(Prospero's War #3)
Author: Jaye Wells
Narrator: Morgan Hallett
Release: February 10, 2015
Goodreads  Amazon
Audible

After the grisly murder of a dirty magic coven leader, Kate Prospero and The Magical Enforcement Agency team up with the local police to find the killer. But as the infighting between covens turns ugly, an all-out war brews in the slums of Babylon.
When a tenacious reporter sticks her nose in both the investigation and Prospero's past in the covens, old ghosts resurface. The team will have to use all the weapons in their arsenal to stop the coven war and find the killer before the case brings down all their careers - and their lives.

Review:

In my opinion, Deadly Spells is the strongest in the series and my favorite so far. Fans of the series that have been looking for some more character development of the side characters as well as some progress in Kate's personal life will really enjoy this installment. Kate Prospero is back and as feisty as ever in book three in the Prospero's War series, even showing off her colorful mastery of language right off the bat on the first page of the book.

This is my favorite in the series so far because I feel like some of the side plots finally moved forward a little bit and when this book was over I was dying to read the next one. Kate's relationships with both Volos and Morales become both more complicated and more simplified in Deadly Spells. Some questions about Kate's true feelings for each man get answered and I was really pleased with the result, as well as the way the book ended! Kate's relationship with her brother, Danny, also smoothes out a little bit here, which is nice after the overabundance of teenage angst we experienced from him toward her in the previous two books.

Deadly Spells is definitely more about character development and advancing the series' overarching story than one tight murder mystery. This book's plot was interesting enough, but it tied largely into developing the back story of some side characters as well as propelling Kate forward in her quest to end the covens' power in Babylon rather than act as a stand alone mystery. There is still definitely action in this book and that feel of being authentic to the real world of a cop that I have come to associate with this series is still very present. But the central focus is somewhere different than past books. I am actually happy with this choice though, as I felt more involved in the story than in the previous two books.

This series won't appeal to all readers. As a rule, the romance element is light and the police procedural feel is heavy. Kate curses like a sailor, which I greatly enjoy and love hearing on the audio. This is straight urban fantasy, with human magic as the fantasy element, so if you are into that or need a palette cleanser between heavy romances or young adults, this is a great series for just such a thing. I personally take pleasure in how straightforward and no nonsense Kate is in her professional life while being so damaged and obtuse in her personal life. Its a great balance to a character that I have come to love, and lord knows I love a heroine with a troubled past.

After reading this book I felt a really solid direction that this series is heading and I'm very interested see where everything will end up. Many ends were left loose here: Kate's team and how they will conduct things from this point on, Volos' connection to the MEA team, Kate's relationships with Volos and Morales, Danny's side plot, and Kate's relationship with her Uncle Abe. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Notes on the Narrator: I'm still loving Morgan Hallett's voice for Kate. So much so, that after beginning the print copy I received for review, I switched to the audiobook because I missed her voice so much! Man, she nails that colorful language I mentioned earlier. Morgan Hallett IS Kate Prospero for me.

Recommended for fans of: strong female leads, police procedurals, the Sabina Kane series, and curse words.

This review is based on an early finished copy of the book and the audiobook.

    1/2

  4.5 / 5 stars

My reviews of other books in this series:
Dirty Magic (Prospero's War #1)
Cursed Moon (Prospero's War #2)

2014 Audiobook Challenge Wrap Up!

Hosted by The Book Nympho and Hot Listens


This is my wrap up post for the 2014 Audiobook Challenge! If you're interested in joining this challenge for 2015 you can sign up HERE!

Here's what I listened to in 2014:

I listened to 22 audiobooks this past year! 

That makes me a Binge Listener!