YA Fantasy Audiobook Review
I had the opportunity to listen to these YA fantasy audiobooks from author Casey L. Bond in the past two weeks and am excited to share them with you. I love audiobooks for car trips and my runs and have now fully become an Audible credit addict. And since ya fantasy is a favorite genre, I jumped the chance to listen to advance copies of the House of Eclipses Duology from Casey L. Bond. First I’ll give you all the deets to introduce these books and you can find my thoughts at the end of this post
The House of Eclipses Duology is a two-book series that includes House of Eclipses and House of Wolves. Eerily I finished the second book, House of Wolves, on Sunday, May 15, also the day of the lunar eclipse and the author, Casey L. Bond’s birthday. Coincidence? I think not. But I tend to believe in mystical, supernatural, power of the universe fates like that. Read more about these books with copy from the back cover.
Title: House of Eclipses Duology
Author: Casey L. Bond
Genre: YA Epic Fantasy
Narrators: Amanda Billings & Tia Johnson
Editor: Stacy Sanford/ The Girl with the Red Pen
Cover Designer: Melissa Stevens/ The Illustrated Author Design Services
Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR
House of Eclipses YA Fantasy
Blurb:
Capture his heart.
Steal his crown.
Noor is the unwanted, unloved third born of the Aten, chosen vessel of the sun goddess, Sol. While she has no chance at inheriting her father’s title, what she truly longs for is peace from his unrelenting hatred. Hope builds that she may finally be able to claim that reprieve when a missive arrives from the House of the Moon.
The new Lumin, chosen of the moon god, Lumos, seeks to broker peace with the Kingdom of Helios for the first time in ages. He envisions open trade routes and an end to archaic rivalries. His dedication to this cause extends to visions of a union between the two families by marrying one of Aten’s daughters, if one of the matches is a fit.
Driven by his own twisted agenda, Noor’s father is willing to sacrifice his daughters as pawns to steal the crown for him to further his despotic reign, pitting sister against sister in a brutal battle for power. But Noor must come out the victor, either by capturing the Lumin’s heart or stealing his crown. For whomever wears the crown of moonlight, holds the power of the moon itself. With such strength at her command, she could finally defeat her tyrannical father.
Yet this endeavor cannot be accomplished without great sacrifice. As Noor learns more about Lumin Caelum, guilt over her betrayal consumes her, burning hot as the sun itself. If only he wasn’t kind, and selfless, and exactly what she wanted. If only she had greater dominion over her heart…
Can Noor carry out her plan and end her father’s vile reign? Or will unlikely alliances allow a new day to dawn?
House of Wolves YA Fantasy
Blurb:
Hunt the shadow. Guard the flame.
Noor is the new Aten of Helios, having wrenched the kingdom of the sun from her treacherous father’s hands. Citali stood with her sister against him, and rejoiced when he died at Noor’s hand… But he did not go quietly.
He poisoned the thoughts of their older sister, Zarina, who believes that Noor is not who she claims and was never supposed to be Aten. As Zarina flees the temple to determine her next step, she encounters, then attacks, Citali.
Beaten and left for dead, Citali’s cries are heard by the Wolven of Lumina. In a flurry of fur and fang, Beron rushes to her aid yet fears he arrived too late. With what would have been her dying breath, Citali whispers a secret that changes everything.
Pleading to Lumos – the god of the moon – for a way to save her, Beron is provided an answer that comes at a steep price. Citali will become Wolven. The two bonded together for a lifetime. Despite their tumultuous past, Beron helps hone her new strength and senses, a primal passion now surging through her veins. But can the two stop fighting one another and work together to hunt and destroy the darkness spreading over the sands like a plague of locusts? Or will the sands of time run out for them both?
House of Wolves is book two of the House of Eclipses Duology. House of Wolves is perfect for anyone who loves enemies to lovers, young adult fantasy romance books like We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal and morally gray characters as in A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas.
Book Links:
House of Eclipses: https://amzn.to/3Mycr23
House of Wolves: https://amzn.to/3yPazhC
About YA Fantasy Author Casey L. Bond
Author Bio:
Casey Bond lives on a rural farm in West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. She writes phoenixes – gloriously flawed and morally gray characters that fiercely rise from the ashes of their circumstances. World building is one of her favorite hobbies, along with stamping metal jewelry, swimming, and enjoying the beauty of nature. She thinks thunderstorms are better than coffee and that watching a meteor shower is the closest thing to magic you might ever see. She’s a firm believer that every amazing book needs a world you want to wrap yourself in, a character you want to win, and a love you would fight for.
Casey is the award-winning author of When Wishes Bleed, Gravebriar, and House of Eclipses.
Author Links:
Website: www.authorcaseybond.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorcaseybond
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorcaseybond
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212486.Casey_L_Bond
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/caseyb007
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1PmE0pg
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/casey-l-bond
Bond-Tourage: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1032678336804562/
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gcAu9v
Instagram: www.instagram.com/authorcaseybond
YABC: https://www.yabookscentral.com/search/tag/authorname/casey-l-bond/?criteria=6
My thoughts on these YA fantasy audiobooks
First, as I said above, young adult fantasy is one of my favorite genres to read, probably my top fav. That said, I have very low tolerance for immature, whiny characters or characters that stay that way for too long. The characters in these books, are definitely not that, quite the opposite. Noor is the main protagonist in House of Eclipses. She is an almost seventeen year old atena (au-ten-uh), or daughter of the aten, for all intensive purposes, the king. She is third daughter to this aten who has killed all of his wives and is cruel to Noor particularly. Noor only hopes to survive long enough to get away from him. And she, or one of her two sisters, will become aten when Noor comes of age, the date eminent. But Noor’s father hatches a plan to have his daughters steal power from the enemy kingdom’s king by marrying one of the off to him and forcing them to take his power. But when Noor meets the other king, Lumos, she’s not sure she can carry out the deed. I don’t want to give too much away so I won’t say more.
I loved listening to this audiobook. I thought the voice for Noor, her sisters, Lumos, and other characters fit them perfectly. The voices are well done and dialogue and story easy to follow at my 1.4x speed I listen at. The world building is great and House of Eclipses plot action-packed and well-built. I liked that the second book, House of Wolves, told the story of Noor’s older sister, Citali. If you like new fictional worlds, character to root for, and suspenseful stories, you’ll love House of Eclipses.
Happy listening! Tricia
Tricia believes in finding magic. She thinks magic infuses every aspect of our lives, whether it is the magic of falling in love, discovering a new passion, a beautiful sunset, or a book that transports us to another world. An avid runner and Georgia native, Tricia now lives with her family and four-legged friends in Colorado. Find all her titles, including many in audiobook format, from contemporary romance and fantasy, to dystopian fiction at www.triciacopeland.com.