Audiobook Review and Free Download

Wondrous Strange-  Lesley Livingston


For the first time, I'm posting about a book I haven't finished listening to yet. That's because it's available as a free download through Audiobook Community...but only until tomorrow.


***Wondrous Strange blends faeries with the human world and Midsummer Night's Dream into reality (there's even a "real" Puck playing Puck onstage). Things are not what they seem, and Kelley isn't who she thought she was. But this mixing of the worlds could have dire consequences for more than just Kelley and her new-found friends.***

As a Reader:


I love books that use theatre and/or literature to enhance the story. This one does it well. The twist of a mortal stealing a fairy baby in revenge for her stolen son also worked for me, along with using Central Park as the "porthole" between the two worlds.


As a Writer:

Kelley (the protag) living independently in NYC at seventeen felt like a bit of a stretch for me. It made it seem like an adult book pushed into YA. Kelley does do some reckless things to make her seem like a teenager but also some overly mature things. The voice also mixed between teen and adult sounding to me. And it felt like we were missing info about Kelley's social life before she moved to NYC.  I'd be curious to know why the author made some of the choices she did.



If You Like This, You might also like:

Valiant- Holly Black
Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity- Melissa Marr
Minister's Daughter- Julie Hearn 
Keturah and Lord Death- Martine Leavitt
Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle series)- Libba Bray 
Carter Finally Gets it- Brent Crawford 
Undercover- Beth Kephart
Enthusiasm- Polly Shulman

Don't forget, this is a free download until tomorrow.

For those of you who haven't plunged into the audiobook world yet, this is a great chance to do so. Make the most of your time when driving, doing dishes, mowing the lawn, or doing laundry by getting some extra reading in.

And for my fellow writers, not only do audiobooks help improve your skills because you're reading more books, but I'm convinced that hearing books read out loud has helped me improve the flow of my own writing when I read it out loud.