Let me first off say that I love this series and am reading book 3 that just released and am going to be so sad once its over!! I fell in love with Bryony and her Chosen and the storyline for this series is incredible. A quick summary of the story (longer review on Amazon), Book 1 really provides us the background that explains the Hunger, the Queen’s Line, and how different Bryony is. She doesn’t experience the Hunger in the same way and when she finally does indulge in it (and with her Chosen), its a marvelous yet scary new facet of her being/life. I won’t give away how it comes to be and the difficulties she goes through, but its amazing how every blossoms and grows. I wouldn’t say this is a slow-burn, since the Hunger won’t really allow it haha, but the adding of her Chosen throughout the book (and future books) in that aspect is a slower burn. I absolutely loved this fantasy RH book and new world Kathryn Moon has given us. I think in book 1 my favorites were Wendell and Owen. Oh and did I mention there is some yummy M/M in this series?? Hahaha soooo good! Ok, you should really listen/read this series, you will love it and fall for these characters like I have.
For the narration, I think Isabella Clarke deserves 5 stars but Piers Ryman is more of a 3.5-4 stars for me. Isabella did a great job creating Bryony and getting her inflections and emotions right. I definitely will be checking out more of her narrations. I think his rendition of Thao was INCREDIBLE and sounded exactly how he sounded in my mind as I read the book. I think some of the guy voices were not how I imagined them and kinda took me out of the story sometimes (sometimes the accents were tough to understand every word). I think his rendition of Owen and Cress were my least favorite (and they are some of my favorites in the series), but his other ones were good.
I can’t wait for the next book on audio, but I am gonna go back to reading book 3 and crying when its over haha. This series is incredible, the audiobook really helps being this fantasy world and this intimate and complicated plot to life. 1000% recommend ❤️❤️❤️