Mini Review Dump #6: All Audio's Today

 

Recent Mini Reviews

Let's face it, most of my reviews lately are what most people consider "mini" anyhow. Most of the time I'd rather be reading than writing an essay deconstructing every part of a book, so it is what it is. Here are the quick takes and the thoughtless thoughts about the recent(ish) books I've read. This week it's all audios. I hope you find something you might like to read here!

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

⭐⭐⭐

Wow, this is a long book! I know most people will love that fact but for me it felt overstuffed in the middle with needless (and annoying) drama to add some conflict into the romance. The beginning was perfect and the end really drew me in but I didn't love some of it as much as I did Fourth Wing. I'm really mostly here more for the dragons.

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We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

⭐⭐⭐

I listened to this book on audio and had a bit of a struggle getting used to the narrator whose accents didn't work for me. The writing style also had a lot of telling instead of showing which is odd since I've read a few Cat Sebastian novels in the past and this sort of thing never stood out to me. I stuck with it and eventually - around the 80% mark, both the narrator and the characters grew on me. Both sweet and charming with a lot of external elements forcing stress on them.

I'd recommend listening to a sample first to see if the narrator works for you in this one, but I understand if you don't because I never do. Or maybe just give it a read in paper. It's your reading life, after all!

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Hope: How Street Dogs Taught Me the Meaning of Life by Niall Harbison

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I follow Niall Harbison's account on social media and feel like I already know all of these dogs and it was a joy reading about their stories and also about Niall's road to recovery in more detail. I think you will get more out of this book if you follow him on Instagram, YouTube or even the hellhole that is Twitter. The audio is read beautifully by the author. Definitely recommended but I believe the book has photos which the audio does not so you might want to check that out first if you're unfamiliar with the dogs. Any way you discover the stories, I think you'll be inspired by these stories of survival, heartbreak and hope.

All the stars for both Niall and the dogs.

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Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

This was such a cute romance featuring characters in their late 40's/early 50's. Both introverts who prefer online interactions to reality, they become guild members and fast friends before they ever meet in real life. I found it hilarious that she is super grumpy and hates people and portrays herself as an elderly butt-kicker so she won't get hit on by her guild members - including her soon-to-be love interest, and they all assume she's in her 80's. There's humor and heart and some pain in the way of shitty parents, toxic people and homophobia.

The narrators were excellent and never tossed me out of the story as some tend to do when they try to raise or lower their voice when character switching. A definite recommend if you want a fun, slow-burn romance.

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That's it for now. Have you read any of them? Or read something else that you want the world to read? Let me know in the comments!