Books I Re-read This Year via Audio

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on December 27, 2019 | 0 Comments


I’ve been a huge fan of re-reading with audiobooks this year! It frees up time to physically read the books I want to get to sooner, and also gives me another perspective on books I loved.

LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff
Series: Lifelike #1
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Published by Knopf (5.29.2018)
Format: Audiobook, 416 pages
Source: From Publisher

5 Stars

On an island junkyard beneath a sky that glows with radiation, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.

Seventeen-year-old Eve isn’t looking for trouble–she’s too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, she’s on the local gangster’s wanted list, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive is the money she just lost to the bookies. Worst of all, she’s discovered she can somehow destroy machines with the power of her mind, and a bunch of puritanical fanatics are building a coffin her size because of it.

If she’s ever had a worse day, Eve can’t remember it. The problem is, Eve has had a worse day–one that lingers in her nightmares and the cybernetic implant where her memories used to be. Her discovery of a handsome android named Ezekiel–called a “Lifelike” because they resemble humans–will bring her world crashing down and make her question whether her entire life is a lie.

With her best friend Lemon Fresh and her robotic sidekick Cricket in tow, Eve will trek across deserts of glass, battle unkillable bots, and infiltrate towering megacities to save the ones she loves… and learn the truth about the bloody secrets of her past.

Original review

Erin Spencer is FABULOUS!! I think I loved it even more with her narration. She did a smashing job of bringing the book to life and I have to say I think she’s one of my favorite female narrators! I’ll definitely be looking for more of her narrations in the future – I already bought DEV1AT3 on audio. Highly recommend!

Audiobook Review: Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff & Amie KaufmanAurora Rising by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Series: The Aurora Cycle #1
Published by Knopf (5.7.2019)
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Audiobook, 473 pages
Source: NetGalley

5 Stars

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

Original review

I enjoyed this book when I read it the first time, but I loved it even more via audio! Just like the Illuminae Files audiobooks, it’s full cast, and probably scores as one of my top fave audiobooks of all time. They did a SUPERB job casting! I adored each and every one of the characters, and every single narrator did a perfect job of bringing each one to life. I’ve got a little breakdown by narrator in my original review (see link above)!

ARC Review: Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa (Inuyasha in book form)Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
Series: Shadow of the Fox #1
Published by Harlequin Teen (10.2.2018)
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Audiobook, 400 pages
Source: Traded

5 Stars

Every millennium, one age ends and another age dawns…and whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers holds the power to call the great Kami Dragon from the sea and ask for any one wish. The time is near…and the missing pieces of the scroll will be sought throughout the land of Iwagoto. The holder of the first piece is a humble, unknown peasant girl with a dangerous secret.

Demons have burned the temple Yumeko was raised in to the ground, killing everyone within, including the master who trained her to both use and hide her kitsune shapeshifting powers. Yumeko escapes with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll. Fate thrusts her into the path of a mysterious samurai, Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan. Yumeko knows he seeks what she has…and is under orders to kill anything and anyone who stands between him and the scroll.

A wish will be granted and a new age will dawn.

Original review

I originally gave this book 5 stars even though I didn’t love it quite as much as I wanted to the first time I read it, but I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around on audio! I didn’t care for Yuki’s narrator (Joy Osmanski), but I adored the narrators for Yumeko (Emily Woo Zeller) and Tatsumi (Brian Nishii). Especially Tatsumi! They were both perfect, and brought the characters to life!

Review: Iron Gold by Pierce BrownIron Gold by Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising #4
Published by Del Rey (1.16.2018)
Genres: Adult, Science Fiction
Format: Audiobook, 601 pages
Source: I own it

 

They call him father, liberator, warlord, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the pale blue planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-second of his life.

A decade ago, Darrow was the hero of the revolution he believed would break the chains of the Society. But the Rising has shattered everything: Instead of peace and freedom, it has brought endless war. Now he must risk everything he has fought for on one last desperate mission. Darrow still believes he can save everyone, but can he save himself?

And throughout the worlds, other destinies entwine with Darrow’s to change his fate forever:

A young Red girl flees tragedy in her refugee camp and achieves for herself a new life she could never have imagined.

An ex-soldier broken by grief is forced to steal the most valuable thing in the galaxy—or pay with his life.

And Lysander au Lune, the heir in exile to the sovereign, wanders the stars with his mentor, Cassius, haunted by the loss of the world that Darrow transformed, and dreaming of what will rise from its ashes.

Original review

I can’t put into words how freaking much I loved this audio!! I’m actually still in a bit of a hangover from it, to be honest. When I read Iron Gold, I was disappointed in it. I gave it 4 stars, but it just wasn’t the same as the original trilogy, and I didn’t love it. The audio 100% saved it for me!

I actually wasn’t sure about it to begin with – I’m not a huge fan of male narrators – but as I went on, they grew on me, and I was soon helplessly addicted to it. I listened to this book while I did my first diamond painting, and I found myself craving it.

Here’s a breakdown of the narrators:

Darrow – Tom Gerard Reynolds did a fantastic job! Not at all how I imagined Darrow to sound, at least not in the original books because he was younger. But in this one it really worked and he pulled it off!

Ephraim – at first, the way John Curless breathed really grated on my nerves, but I got used to it and ended up really enjoying his narrating. He really brought Ephraim to life (in all of his sardonic glory lol), and his voice reminded me of Bill Nighy, who happens to be my favorite voice actor! (P.S. I loved the way he narrated Volga! I usually hate males narrating females, but he pulled it off and it made me love her even more – and hate Ephraim even more for treating her like a puppy that he enjoyed kicking *angry face*)

Lysander – the narrator (Julian Elfer) even sounded like a pompous little shit. And by that I mean he was spot on perfect for Lysander.

Lyria – the only narration that bugged me. I enjoyed her lilting Scottish accent, but when shit got real in her POV, Aedin Moloney tended to make everything one big incoherent run-on sentence and it was a bit annoying. The parts were supposed to be intense, sure, but it just seemed over-exaggerated to me the way she read it.

Review: Zero Repeat Forever by G.S. PrendergastZero Repeat Forever by G.S. Prendergast
Series: The Nahx Invasions #1
Published by Simon & Schuster (8.29.2017)
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Audiobook, 496 pages
Source: I own it

5 Stars

He has no voice, or name, only a rank, Eighth. He doesn’t know the details of the mission, only the directives that hum in his mind.

Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall.

His job is to protect his Offside. Let her do the shooting.

Until a human kills her…

Sixteen year-old Raven is at summer camp when the terrifying armored Nahx invade, annihilating entire cities, taking control of the Earth. Isolated in the wilderness, Raven and her friends have only a fragment of instruction from the human resistance.

Shelter in place.

Which seems like good advice at first. Stay put. Await rescue. Raven doesn’t like feeling helpless but what choice does she have?

Then a Nahx kills her boyfriend.

Thrown together in a violent, unfamiliar world, Eighth and Raven should feel only hate and fear. But when Raven is injured, and Eighth deserts his unit, their survival depends on trusting each other…

Original review

I loved Siiri Scott and James Patrick Cronin! I am now a fan of James as a narrator and will actively be searching for more books narrated by him in the future. I LOVED him as August! It made me love August all the more. He really brought his innocence to life. Siiri was the perfect Raven, too – exactly how I would imagine her sounding! The audio made the characters feel so much more real. I will say, though, the beginning was waaaay slower on audio. I forgot how slow the book starts off, honestly. I got pretty bored with it until August and Raven met, and even after the trailer park scene I had forgotten how long it took for them to come back together and I was getting a bit impatient >.<

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Series: The Illuminae Files #1
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Published by Knopf (10.20.2015)
Format: ARC, 608 pages
Source: Gifted

5 Stars

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

Original review

The first time I listened to the audio for this one, I was absolutely blown away. I’m sad to say I didn’t enjoy it as much this time, because after listening to Gemina practically over and over again (it’s my fave of the series, what can I say), this book seems boring in comparison. It’s MUCH slower than Gemina, I don’t love the characters like I do in Gemina (Hanna > Kady and Nik > Ezra, sorry), and the plot is also not as fast paced and action packed. Don’t get me wrong, I still love it! But Gemina will always and forever be the BEST of the series.

I listened to this with my boyfriend – it was our first audiobook together, and he really enjoyed it! We’ve already started on Gemina!

Review: Skyward by Brandon SandersonSkyward by Brandon Sanderson
Series: Skyward #1
Published by Delacorte (11.6.2018)
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, 528 pages
Source: I own it

5 Stars

Spensa’s world has been under attack for hundreds of years. An alien race called the Krell leads onslaught after onslaught from the sky in a never-ending campaign to destroy humankind. Humanity’s only defense is to take to their ships and combat the Krell. Pilots are the heroes of what’s left of the human race.

Becoming a pilot has always been Spensa’s dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring above the earth and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with that of her father–a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa’s chances of attending Flight School at slim to none.

No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, but she is determined to fly. And the Krell just made that a possibility. They’ve doubled their fleet, which will make Spensa’s world twice as deadly . . . but just might take her skyward.

Original review

The audio for this one was FANTASTIC! I absolutely adored Suzy Jackson as a narrator for Spensa. She brought her to life absolutely perfectly! I also loved her narrating for M-Bot, it had me cracking up! I loved this book just as much the second time around on audio. I’ll definitely be looking for more books narrated by Suzy in the future!

Jessi (Geo)

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