*I was given this free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Jeffrey is one awesome narrator. He doesn’t give anything of future events away in his voice. He feels to absorb Salem, Grimm, Vali, and more, voicing them with true feeling of who the characters are. In some audio books I add a small amount of speed to the audio to move a little faster, I could not do that here. Jeffrey keeps a wonderful pace for the storytelling that it moves along quickly, and their are details that I want to pick up as Gibson wastes no time on unneeded words.
The story is fast moving and full of fun references as Salem has lived a long life already. When you live as long as Salem has, you start to distance yourself from people and the lose that is to come. Salem starts to see he can have connections. There is more to the people that surround him and who he meets, so maybe he can have friendships again, and family.
I had to work my brain to remember where we left off with Salem and Grim and all others. It all came back to me as I listened to this one. I remember wondering what was going to happen next and needing this book. I have it and was excited to get into it.
In the beginning we are divided between Grimm, Salem, and Vali as they have separate paths to follow. Salem has been the main character in the previous books, but Grimm was growing to be a favorite along with Vali and his brother, Vidar, growing into great leaders of their own right. Grimm has his own…sticky situation to get through with someone from his past and the fey he’s had run-ins with. Vali is having a hard time with the children being taken. Vali becomes determined, more than ever, to protect his people in Longutangar.
People are changed with tragedy and harsh events in their lives. Characters in a book are no different. When characters live through terrible moments, it affects them and it’s then believable to the readers. Salem, Grimm, Vali, and TJ (yep a new character) live through such events here and come out at the other end changed. Maybe even influenced in perspective. Salem sees a family he’s formed along with facing some feelings for his parents. To live through what these characters do gives them views and thoughts they wouldn’t have had before.
I’ve come to enjoy the secondary characters in this series. Sometimes secondary characters aren’t given the credit they need. Well, these characters have really stepped up and stepped into the light. There are things we learn with those we didn’t realize were more. Oh yea. Keep an eye on ALL the characters here!
Oh Mr. Rictus, or Ricky. He’s a bad person. He has a bigger plan for everyone, that something big is coming and our characters are being primed to be as they need to be when that thing happens. We get hints as to what he’s up to, how he goes about it is the question.
I’ve come across a few new characters that have caught my attention. Riggs and TJ. There is more in the future with them, there has to be…
Oh snap! Things just got serious. There is sooooo much more in the works that we didn’t know about. The “battles” being fought have taken a huge turn here. Revelations are made and they make for a deeper plot than we expected. Niiiiiice!