Puatera Online, and Dawn Chapman hold a special place in my heart. I came to this series right after I discovered the Litrpg genre. Now, I don’t mean discovered in the sense that Columbus “discovered” America. I mean that I had just sort of stumbled into this magical thing, and Dawn was there to guide me. Putera was very different from the other books I had thus far read, it was sci-fi based (a plus for me) and starred and NPC rather than a player. That was a hook I could enjoy. Dawn, herself, was incredibly open to her fans, and always found time to answer any questions or to let me know when her next book was coming out. I’ve been a fan ever since.
Jessica’s Challenge returns back to the format that I was accustomed to in the first three books. The book length was back to a three hour listen, which is great for someone like me who loves a nice amuse-bouche just as much as feast. Dawn does really well with short bursts. That isn’t to imply that she can’t write a great full length book. Just look at book four, Akilla’s Reign. She nailed it, but she has a real skill in packing a lot of material into three hour bites. For me, this means that there is never a lull or a break in her book that a longer version might have. She gets to jam it full of action, emotion, and adventure. And man, does she manage to do that here, along with Jess Mountifield’s help. I’ll be honest, I always get a little leery of collaborations. Sometimes voices don’t mix very well, but that isn’t the case for Jessica’s Challenge. Nope, their voices meld together wonderfully, and the story flows smoothly. Alright, at this point, you are probably asking what the book is about. It is about three sisters accidentally enter Puatera for real, and struggle to find one another as well as a way home. When I say struggle, I mean they struggle. The story is just as I said earlier. It is emotional. It is adventurous, and it is undoubtedly dangerous. All I could think of was this will teach them to stay out of their mum’s lab. They go through a lot, which amazes me for the timespan that we have to work with. While the book flew by pleasantly, it really felt like there was waaaay more to it. This was a tightly written piece that really impressed me. I love the Putera series, and cannot wait for the next book.
As for the narration, Suzanne Barbetta is a new narrator to me, and I appreciate that Dawn continues to introduce me to all of these wonderful new readers of words. I would have never heard of Anneliese Rennie if she hadn’t shifted the tone of her books with new narrators. All I can say is that when Maddie returns we better have Andrea Parsneau back for that, though, otherwise it just won’t be Maddie. Anyway, I digress, Barbetta does a fine job, and is really pleasant to listen to. Like my pop used to say, she is sweet on the ears. She has distinctive voices, and readily distinguishes who is speaking with the tone of her voice. I enjoyed hearing her for the first time and welcome her to the Litrpg community. I thnk she’ll fit right in.
As always, the writing is smooth and fun, the characters, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE NOT MADDIE, are interesting and you connect with them right away. This was a fun book, and it only adds to the Putera World. All I can say it that I hope Dawn can keep up this amazing series, because Putera is a fun place to visit every now and again.
As for my rating, man I really hate ratings, I can never really convey how much I love of hate a book with a number. I think you know that just by how I act when I do the review, but if I have to then I will say that this is probably the best book in the series so far, just in terms of concept and how things played out so I am going to give this 5 stars. If you haven’t read the series, this could be a stand alone book, and so is a perfect place for someone to jump in. Don’t miss out, go back and start with the early books. You won’t be sorry.
Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. Getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.
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