This third volume in Yarros's fantasy romance series offers an engaging listening experience. It centers on Violet Sorrengail, who after nearly 18 months at Basgiath War College, embarks on a dangerous quest beyond the crumbling Aretian wards to gather allies against both internal and external threats. With her dragons, family, and love interest, Navarre, at risk, the story is both tense and emotionally rich. Rebecca Soler delivers a subtle, nuanced performance as Violet, capturing her strength and vulnerability through understated yet authentic expression. Jasmin Walker offers a measured delivery, Justis Bolding contributes a warm tone, and Teddy Hamilton provides a steady portrayal. Their individual interpretations add depth to the series and elevate its dramatic intensity, unifying each element and ensuring entertainment for devoted fans.
Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2025
Duration: 23 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781705085110
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
It all makes for absorbing listening.
Narrator Ciaran Saward brings excitement and heart to this compelling fantasy. In a world where powerful entities move castles from one location to another like they’re playing a giant game of chess, it’s the everyday people who suffer the consequences. After 15-year-old Burr’s father is executed by the lord of one of the castles, Burr and two of his sisters, along with a ragtag group of villagers, find themselves inside the castle as it's relocating. Can they claim the castle as their own, and can they survive as rebels? With a variety of mostly British accents, Saward keeps the many characters, both children and adults, distinct, always taking care to make the emotional threads between them clear.
It all makes for absorbing listening. (Fantasy. 13-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
Duration: 13 hrs, 16 mins
DD ISBN: 9798898840914
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2026
This highly satisfying quest brims with humor and friendship courtesy of Church.
During a magical adventure set in a traveling bookshop, narrator Imogen Church ensures that each conversation is a dramatic experience. Listeners meet failed book witch Louella Twig, whose strident tones mask her loneliness. She encounters former thief Everett Sharp who, intrigued, parries Louella's defenses with his deep, rolling voice. When Louella's former mentor, Feralorn, asks for her help finding pages from his grimoire, Louella accepts the quest. Church's voice for Feralorn is that of a creaky trumpet—highly distinctive, occasionally overwhelming. Church gives each character their own voice and mannerisms, including gnomes and a European wizard. Pacing, phrasing, and inflection are deployed skillfully to denote emotion, especially between Louella and Everett.
This highly satisfying quest brims with humor and friendship courtesy of Church.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798898856663
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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