My final card for #bookspinbingo November!

I filled the whole board...granted 5 of them were DNFs. I was DNFing books left and right this month because I actually had a total of 7. But since DNFs count...I filled my whole board...yay me!

My #bookspin and #doublespin were not DNFs though. I finished both of those.

@TheAromaofBooks

4.25⭐
This is not one of those books with twists galore…it‘s more of a character study of a few different characters. It‘s one of those stories that gets inside your head and creeps you out. Eva Kaminsky‘s narration was great…but a male narrator (at least) would‘ve been preferable for the male POVs.

4⭐
This is unlike anything I‘ve ever read…a fresh idea…it takes genre mash-up to new never-before-seen heights. The story is intense and dynamic and I was so invested in how it would end…I couldn‘t listen fast enough. Unfortunately, the ending didn‘t completely come through for me. It was a little OTT and a little cheesy…sadly. Lisa Flanagan was fantastic…she made all three POVs sound different.

𝟒.𝟓⭐
This story was not only powerful but also engrossing, and the narration was also great, the ending was satisfying and twisty…I really can‘t complain too much, although it did have a few small but problematic plot holes. Susan Dalian & Elisabeth Rodgers did a perfect job of narrating the tough subject matter.

𝟐⭐
- a university mystery
- with only a splash of thrills
- multiple POVs

My biggest issue was the choice for only one narrator, she was nowhere good enough to hold her own with this many characters. It made the story difficult to stay in and unfortunately, even when I did…I found the story to be quite bland. The only action was in the last 45 min. of the audio. Those two things combined made this a very blah kind of book.

𝟒.𝟕𝟓⭐
Everything comes full circle in this (original) final book in the series…eventually, JLB writes a novella that takes place after this book and it completely sets it up for the series to continue. Which I hope it does. Despite being YA, this is a great series, even for adults. If you like profiling type of content and can deal with some young adults being “young” sometimes…then I highly recommend it.

𝟒.𝟓⭐
I recently finished With Regrets, this author‘s latest release, and stumbled upon this one by her… it intrigued me so I picked it up. It was tough to listen to at times with the way the world is lately but overall I was there for the journey it took me on, also I liked it much more than With Regrets. The fact that it‘s a standalone doesn‘t hurt. The narration by Cassandra Campbell, Joy Osmanski, & Rebecca Lowman was top-notch. I loved it.

Now it wasn‘t quite as indelible as Paris Hilton‘s memoir was but she definitely put her heart into this…it‘s tragic how awful her own family treated her. It‘s really sad how she didn‘t seem to ever have anyone in her corner, and if they were…they didn‘t stay that way for long…other than her fans, of course. Her naivety is evident and she had to learn the hard way not to trust anyone. Michelle Williams did a fine job of narrating.

𝟒.𝟓⭐
I mostly loved it…just a few minor issues…like the jealous ex-lover, and the “he doesn‘t love me because he isn‘t truthful” & the length…holy crap it was long. It was a whole 8 hours longer than book one. That ending, though…😲 I still love Tairn & Andarna the most…they seriously steal the show. Also...I'm really looking forward to listening to this series from Graphic Audio...Part 1 is coming out on 12/8.

𝟑.𝟓⭐ Low Pick
An interesting premise…that hooked me in like what. The pacing was really quite intense. But the ending was kind of out of left field…and I‘m not really sure how I feel about that.
The narration by Luke Arnold & Sibylla Budd was primarily performed by Luke Arnold, other than the female screams, and he wasn‘t a fav for me. His voice was so deep that at times I didn‘t hear him clearly.

𝟑.𝟓⭐
What if you‘re at a dinner party on the other side of town when the apocalypse hits and your kids home with a sitter you weren‘t keen on leaving them with? You‘d be desperate to get home to them.
While I thought it focused too much on the dinner party and all their drama instead of the apocalyptic event itself and it threw the whole experience off for me…the ending did shed some light but overall, I still wanted something more from it.

𝟑.𝟕𝟓⭐
Now, mind you, not all the stories are picks...For me, the stand-outs include (in order of appearance) Dune Sea Songs of Salt and Moonlight, Satisfaction, My Mouth Never Closes, Gone To the Winner‘s Circle, Divine Intervention, The Impossible Flight of Ash Angels, Ending Protocol, The Ballad of Nanta, Wolf Trap, The Extra Five Percent, The Chronicler, & Brotherhood. Rewatching the movie as I listened made this so much better.

𝟑⭐
It's an interesting premise…although it seems like using someone's real name in a book could be grounds for suing…and it was never mentioned as an avenue for the MC, which just felt off to me. Overall, the story was entertaining enough but something about it just didn‘t sit well with me. I think it had something to do with the back-and-forth between the story in the book and Petal‘s version of what happened…I couldn‘t keep the two straight.

𝟒.𝟐𝟓⭐
I tend to think that I‘m going to like romantic suspense books way more than I do…they always come off as cheesy to me, I just can‘t with the cheesiness. But this book hit differently…it actually wasn‘t cheesy. Although I could‘ve been happier with fewer sex scenes, there was a touch too many for my liking. But overall, it had a mystery that was on point with twists that I didn‘t see coming…so not too much to complain over.

𝟑.𝟕𝟓⭐
You could call this dystopian…but I‘m leaning more towards dystopian-ish since it feels very similar to the real world. If there is a part 2, and it did somewhat lend itself towards one…I‘ll listen to it. It would also help that ending to suck a little less to have a second book.

𝟒⭐
Just when you think you know exactly where this one is going…it pulls the rug out from under you and completely surprises you. I enjoyed this one enough that I have been persuaded to continue the series.
- Marcio Catalano & Veronica Pace‘s narration was absolute 🔥 once again…an Audrey J. Cole book that completely blows me away.

Here's what November's #bookspinbingo board is shaping up to be.

#bookspin = Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
#doublespin = Her, Too by Bonnie Kistler

I broke Iron Flame and From A Certain POV: Return of the Jedi into two parts. This works so much better for me when I have long books. I have a much better chance of getting more squares completed this way...which gives me the incentive to finish these chunksters.

𝟒.𝟓⭐
First off…the narration was 🔥🔥🔥second, the action in this was non-stop and super intense. The story never lags with unnecessary info and yet even with how short it was it still packed a sizable punch plot-wise. I also loved how the ending wrapped up all the key players in the story so thoroughly. My thoughts on the narration can be seen in the comments...

My final results for OCTOBER #bookspinbingo board!

I finished all but 4 squares this month including my #bookspin (which I DNF'd) and my #doublespin

Faded squares are the ones left unfinished and most have been added to Novembers #bookspin list.

@TheAromaofBooks

𝟒.𝟕𝟓⭐
Not going to lie…I never thought that Paris Hilton‘s story would impress me this much. So much heart and angst in this book…like wow, I seriously had no clue that she had gone through so much when she was a teen.
- She narrated this herself…which also surprised me….she did an excellent job at telling her story. I had no idea her voice was as deep as it is….she always used her baby voice in everything I ever heard from her.

My November #bookspin list picks.

I broke Iron Flame up into two parts because of its length. But I am looking forward to it. I'm #350 in line and I'm still going to get one on the day it comes out because my library has 901 copies. Isn't that just crazy? I'm actually looking more forward to Graphic Audio releasing this series....because I'm definitely going to have to listen to those.

@TheAromaofBooks

𝟒.𝟐𝟓⭐
You shouldn't go into this thinking it‘s a mystery thriller…although there is some drama, for sure. It‘s more of a look into actions and consequences. A cautionary tale of the devastation in the wake of a drunken teenage party gone wrong…way wrong. The narration by Karissa Vacker…was great, of course. She is one of my all-time favs.

𝟓⭐
This was so freaking good, I haven‘t been that pulled-in emotionally by a story in quite some time. This story is exactly what it says in the blurb and it‘s also so much more. It‘s quite complex, weighty, even. The rave reviews don‘t lie…it‘s a standout. If only they had went with a standout narrator...

𝟑.𝟕𝟓⭐
There is a lot of people on GR that reviewed this without having read The Perfect Child first. I don‘t know how it could be enjoyable otherwise…but hey, a lot of them seem to think it was. Anyway…I have listened to the first book prior and I‘ll say that if you‘ve read TPC beforehand, than this is definitely a worthwhile listen. Especially since it‘s available on KU.

𝟒.𝟓⭐
I feel like an outlier here because most didn‘t really like this all that much, but I‘m over here loving it. It didn‘t feel like any other murder mystery out there, that‘s for sure. Yeah, it did wax on about the woes and worries of motherhood quite a lot, so if that‘s not something you‘ll be into…than it might not be a good fit. January LaVoy was flipping fantastic, she might have something to do with why I enjoyed this as much as I did.

𝟏.𝟓⭐
This book in no way lived up to the badassery that this cover promises. The story really needs some work starting with the writing, it was super cheesy, repetitive, and not really engaging at all. The MC is supposed to be a comedian but she really wasn‘t even remotely funny…not even when she was trying to be. The bit with the ghost hunter was OTT ridiculous.

My book pick for October #blues #titlesandtunes is Antimatter Blues by Edward Ashton. Did you know they're turning this into a movie with Robert Pattinson playing Mickey (The title is Mickey 17)?

My pick for a song is Blue Monday by Orgy (I like the remake better than the original)
https://open.spotify.com/track/5267gVdYWrLoz6ClOhlqmE

@BarbaraBB
@Cinfhen

𝟑.𝟐𝟓⭐
Mickey7 is back…and I‘m not sure if I even like Mickey as a character. I guess he does have his moments. I know I didn‘t love Mickey in the 1st book, so why did I listen to the 2nd book? If I had to guess…it was probably the cover. I‘m a sucker for a pretty cover and this one is gorgeous. The plot was a touch aimless and the negotiations felt like they went on forever…but as a whole, it was thematically solid.👊

𝟒.𝟐𝟓⭐
While the over-arching mystery is fully resolved by the end of the book there was still the matter of the potshot presumably taken on Ben Packard, and I‘m sure that will be the focus of the next book in this series.

It didn‘t lack in suspects or family drama to keep you guessing on this one and overall it was a solid follow-up to And There He Kept Her…although, I didn‘t like this one as much as I did that one.

𝟒.𝟕𝟓⭐
The intertwining of these characters' backstories with their current stories and also with each other's stories is what makes this series so dynamic. I‘m also really glad the whole love triangle has been resolved. The romance in general takes a back seat to the mystery in this book. Each book, so far, gets more intense, more insane, and more intricate. Overall, it's just an amazing series, that I highly recommend. ⬇⬇⬇

𝟑.𝟐𝟓⭐
The idea of this story was really quite compelling….but the delivery left me feeling mostly confused. The ending was possibly more so. It was presented in a way that felt like an acid trip gone wrong…like way wrong. Elisabeth Rodgers was a competent narrator.

𝟓⭐
This was a re-listen…since I last listened to this audiobook back in 2018, I figured it was high time I did so again. I still loved it. You could ask yourself…could this really happen in real life? Honestly, I don‘t know…but I wouldn‘t rule it out in this day and age. Did the Author sell this as something that could happen? I have to say, yeah, he did…totally.
My OG review and thoughts on narration is in the comments ⬇⬇⬇

3⭐
After listening to Such Sharp Teeth a few weeks ago and loving it…I really don‘t want to admit how much I didn‘t click with this. Honestly, it was just so boring. It also lacked the energy and heart that SST had. It wasn‘t bad by any means just not what I was expecting or hoping for. Jeremy Carlisle Parker's narration was okay…it‘s possible my feelings towards this book were exacerbated by the narration…I‘m not really sure.

𝟑.𝟕𝟓⭐
You know, I wanted to love this since the cover is amazing. So, it‘s possible gallows humor isn‘t my thing…because this is the second book that I just didn‘t get the humor within it. Otherwise, this was a rather terrific story about a haunted house…and so much more. The back-and-forth between the mother and the daughter did get on my nerves super bad at one point, though. It really got more and more gruesome as the story progressed.

𝟑.𝟓⭐This is a decent YA mystery thriller…that tried to be horror but was only marginally so. For me, nothing about it set it apart from other similar books. I feel like the Ghost Tour aspect of the plot was either unnecessary or needed more development…I‘m leaning towards the former. I didn‘t really see where the ending was going, although, I‘m not sure if it was believable. The narration was quite good...which made for an easy-going listen.

One last post before I'm out the door for my vacation.
Here is my #bookspinbingo board for October.

#bookspin = Gothikana
#doublespin = an Unforeseen Libby Hold.

See you next week.

@TheAromaofBooks

𝟒.𝟐𝟓⭐
Having read May Cobbs other books…I wasn‘t sure what I was getting into, since they center around “friends who are really more like enemies”, this one was so much different from those. I have to say she should write more books like this because I was totally there for it. Especially all the 80s nostalgia it had going on.
The narration by Brittany Pressley & Caroline McLaughlin was superbly performed.

🎧SEPTEMBER RECAP🎧

It was a good month. I had four 5-star books. Which is amazing, and they were amazing. This is also my longest time listened in a month for the whole year. But...I didn't get any actual reading accomplished this month...oh well.

fav book of the month was Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
fav cover of the month was The September House by Carissa Orlando

Final results for September #bookspinbingo looks like this.

#bookspin = completed
#doublespin = completed
5 Bingos total. There were only four squares that I didn't finish...so pretty good month.

@TheAromaofBooks

𝟐.𝟓⭐
This is my first ever James Patterson book and I‘m not sure that I would try another.
This book had potential but it never really got there. It felt like it was meandering and never really knew what kind of story it wanted to be. It‘s billed as a mystery thriller…but it didn‘t feel much like that to me.
- Barrie Kreinik gave a excellent performance.

𝟑⭐An interesting enough take on what the Bloody Benders of Kansas might have been like, albeit a tad boring one. The story lacked something for me…something that maybe would‘ve made it all a little more compelling to listen to. Maybe that‘s what happens with the business of murder…and maybe, it was exactly what it needed to be. I guess what I‘m trying to say is…three-star reviews are a pain in the butt to articulate.😏I love my graphic, though.

Here is my October list for #bookspinbingo!

We will see how many I actually can accomplish this month. I'm going on vacay to the UP (Michigan) next week.

@TheAromaofBooks

𝟒.𝟐𝟓⭐
This was a fun, quick listen set in the Star Wars Universe. It‘s the type of Star Wars book that I enjoy most. I like the ones based on characters you never knew about from the movies but still have the old favorites show up here and there. Also, I‘m a sucker for a dramatized audio edition.

The audio narration was excellently performed by all…

𝟐.𝟕𝟓⭐
This was super creepy but also super annoying. I got so tired of hearing the brother and sister (the 2 MCs) bickering between themselves. It made this extra-long story drag immensely. It did have its moments where the story f*cked with my head for sure but I don‘t feel like they made up for the other less likable moments.
- Mikhaila Aaseng & Jay Aaseng were okay…but again, the constant bickering…made it difficult to enjoy the narration.

𝟓⭐
Believe the hype, this book was fantastic. It had me so hooked, I was so completely reeled in the real world didn‘t matter…I couldn‘t stop listening.

- Brittany Wilkerson & Henriette Zoutomou…were both decent, they could use some work on their male voices but overall, at least there were two narrators for the two POVs.

𝟑.𝟕𝟓⭐
You are literally dropped right into the action at the beginning of this and it left me feeling like I accidentally moved ahead in the audio. I looked but I hadn‘t done that…so I just had to go with it…which I did and eventually the story, both from the present and in the past, unfolds amongst the action. The action never really lets up…not until the very end. The setting was fantastic. The narration by Eliza Foss was sufficient.

Take a well-used serial killer thriller trope and give it an innovative premise involving cloning and this is what you get. I really liked this right up until the VR gaming aspect came into play and then it pretty much lost me…not completely, mind you, but enough that I wasn‘t as invested in the ending as I could‘ve been.
- Rebecca Lowman's narration was sufficiently performed.

𝟑.𝟓⭐/Low Pick
This had the makings of something compelling…but sadly it fell short. I want to say I loved it but I just can‘t. Was it the protagonist? Could be; because she did make a lot of rather sketchy decisions. Was it the antagonist? Maybe…but really it was the atmosphere…we were told about the atmosphere but we weren‘t made to feel it. The writing needed to be more descriptive and clearly I‘m not alone in this. ⬇⬇⬇

I really wasn‘t prepared for how much I would like this. It made becoming a werewolf feel relatable. I loved all the snark…and the heart; so much love in these pages, especially between the twin sisters. I don‘t usually like stories about shifters but this one took me by surprise. I‘ll have to pick up her other books in short order.

- Kristen Sieh was amazing and really made these characters come to life.

𝟓⭐
Wow, this was really quite good…and while there may be some believability issues for some…it wasn‘t an issue for me. The premise felt like a refreshing change from the normal domestic suspense out there and I gobbled it up.

- January LaVoy was phenomenal…usually, I would complain about having separate narrators but between the writing and her exceptional narrating skills; that wasn‘t much of an issue.