Booked4Life

Listen to and read this book if you’re human...

Revisado: 02-11-25

... and you will get so much heart, inspiration, and thought out of it. This is the book that is the hand you didn’t even know you needed in life. The light in the dark that makes you feel un-alone. I knew Joe Arden was talented, but shadow.self. is a whole next level of wow! Talk about strumming the heartstrings and loving the intellectual thought that went into these words.
There is a rare and true talent in being able to say so much, with such few words, that hit right on target. And it's such a wonderful treat to get to listen to Joe perform his own words with an atmospheric soundscape. I could hear the emotion in every word the way I was feeling it when I read it. There were some poems I just looped back to again and again because, though short they may be, they were SO GOOD!

I love that this book is a mix of life and a nod to classic literary characters and authors. I have enjoyed poetry before, but never at such a gut-wrenching, "Yes. THAT. Finally someone out there understands it!" type of level again and again, page after page. And speaking of pages, this is one of the most uniquely creative books I’ve ever read. I highly suggest getting the actual book to see the accompanying artwork that goes with many of the poems. The layout itself is pretty cool. I don't think I have ever read a book that has felt so visually artistically connected to the words.

If you are lonely, read/listen to this book. If you've been through, are going through, or are headed into tough times, read/listen to this book. If you want a very unique celebration of creativity and the power of words, imagination, and how, though we may all be different, we all feel so much the same, read and listen to this book! It made me think, it made me smile, and it made me cry on a deeply human level that I was not expecting. When I finished shadow.self., I simultaneously wanted to put it in a safe place to keep pristine forever but also buy a slightly bigger purse just so I could carry it around with me to have on hand at all times. I think I'm going to need to buy another copy (something I never do) so I can write in and carry one around with me since it is such a perfect size to do just that!

All in all, five-star writing, five-star narration—definitely recommend! Joe Arden is a talented wordsmith that I wish I could thank for writing such an impactful book. I hope we get to see much more from Author Joe in the future!

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Funny and suspenseful

Revisado: 01-23-25

This book was a lot of fun. I laughed out loud more than once with all these big tough guys dressing up for Halloween and having to be subjected to *gasp* the horrors of glitter face paint! The dark twist in the middle of all the fun was great and Joe Arden doing so many accents was fantastic. Definitely recommend for some short Halloween entertainment. It could even be enjoyed as a standalone without having read any of the other books in the series.

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Closure

Revisado: 01-23-25

I was sort of dreading listening to this because I knew it was going to be so sad, but I'm glad I did. Lee Daniels and Joe Arden do a great job with such a hard topic, and I'm glad after all those years the now grown-up Caroline could get her closure. Under Your Scars is such a beautifully tragic story of love, loss, and redemption. Ariel's writing really tugs at your heart. Did I cry? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes!

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Really good

Revisado: 12-03-24

I hope decades from now people listen to this and look at the year it was written. The amount of times I thought, wow, yes, THIS. The writing and performances were great. The story kept me listening, and the soundscape was fantastic. I cried at the end. As someone else said, really great allegory to the times we are living in with enough of a modern fairy tale twist to be a great listen as a standalone story on its own.

Thank you, Audible, for bringing more plays to life in audio form!!

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Loved the narration style

Revisado: 10-18-24

This book was a lot of fun! Both Penny Crane's writing and the narration style flowed so well it was hard to stop listening. I wish more single POV books did this - especially with Maxine Mitchell and Joe Arden playing all the parts!

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Wow. SO GOOD!

Revisado: 08-11-24

It took me a while after finishing this book to give it a proper review because it sat with me on a gut-punch with that ending, but the whole book was SO GOOD. I don't want to give too much away because it's definitely a story you don't want to be spoiled about, but Joe Arden and Lee Daniels deserve all the awards on this one! The broken-hearted, but still trying raw emotion they brought to life in the characters of Ariel Anderson's book will have you falling in love one minute and sobbing the next. Check those trigger warnings, because this is NOT for the faint of heart. (SPOILER ALERT) There is no happy ending for these complicated, beautifully broken people. The Silencer is a man with such a traumatic past he doesn't want to live anymore, and the love of his life loses so much trying to figure out if she can return his feelings. But even with all the pain and darkness, and living in a Gotham-like misery of a city where nothing good seems to happen much, there is still hope, and love, and somewhere in the middle of it all the magic of Christmas. Lee Daniels's little kid voice is great, and NOBODY does such real, open, and honest heart and heartbreak as the masterclass in acting brilliance that is Joe Arden. Seriously top-notch. They both deserve more stars than I can give to this performance. If you can handle the TW, it's very much worth the listen!

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Hard to stop listening to. Really liked it!

Revisado: 08-11-24

My romantic suspense heart is happy. Maxine Mitchell and Sebastian York are perfect as Leda and Tuc with their banter, and it's great to see such strong characters be normal vulnerable human beings. They've been through very hard times and just want someone to love, yet are both still kind of scared and uncertain if they can let go enough and trust another person to let love in. She lost a limb, he lost a friend, and together they weave their way through that mental trauma in a way that reminds the reader that just because you survived a terrible ordeal, that doesn't mean the pain just goes away, mentally or physically.
The aftermath of surviving takes a lot of work. You don't see a whole lot of books reminding people that just because you were good in the military, that doesn't mean you'll be instantly great at or enjoy being an FBI Agent. I liked seeing the difference and how it might feel to have to transition from one to the other. The serial killer plot sucked me in right away, and Joe Arden was fantastically creepy as Ben. I love books where we get to see the killer's point of view throughout the investigation, and the whole thing gave me a Silence of the Lambs vibes. Definitely recommend. Can't wait for more!

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Loved it!

Revisado: 07-29-24

I usually try to space out episodes to listen to while I'm working for the week, but this was so good I finished it in two sittings. The cast is great and the immersive sound production quality was top-notch movie for your ears. I really liked the modern reinventing of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and hope the ending means we get more seasons!

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MAX AND JOEY!

Revisado: 01-13-24

This book accomplished the golden sweet spot of perfection in narrators + really great writing. The story gripped me from the start, and the spice, wow, there is a lot in this book, but it's interwoven within the plot very well. Mafia enforcer? Check. Brothers' best friend? Check. Touch her and die? Check. Baby Girl? Check!

This was my first Brooke Daniels book, but it won’t be my last! She was so good as Joey, the Mafia Princess who is sick of her brothers running her life and just wants to experience things, all the things, with the only man she really trusts to teach her. Enter Joe Arden as Maximo DiMarco. And once you Max, you won't go back.

Though he's promised to protect his best friends' sister, he doesn’t want to see her learning all these... things... with just anyone, and finally agrees to teach her. But if her brothers find out, well, that will be a pretty big problem for everyone.

Will they get caught? Who is behind the other Mafia-ish troubles plaguing everyone? What is the significance of the number six? Guess you’ll have to read to find out!

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All-Star Cast so worth the listen!

Revisado: 01-04-24

And the post-apocalypse RH keeps on post-apocalypse RHing! :)

Entangled picks right up where Ensnared left off, only with a whole lot more angst as Eden is separated from the men in her life, and everyone struggles with guilt, self-doubt, and overwhelming grief. But even when the world is ending there is still hope. Things get better, the action (in all senses of the word) picks up, and new characters are introduced. Some long-standing feelings are finally aired, and though some relationships suffer a bumpy road, and maybe even fall off the tracks completely, others are deepened and strengthened. I enjoyed the emotional turmoil along with the lighter moments of this book. I felt deeply Jayk's self-hatred and never feeling like he's ever enough, understood Dom's struggle with being a leader, liked that Jasper and Lucky FINALLY talked, and just wanted to snuggle with Beau and say thank you for that big sweet heart of his. Also, mad props to Eden for not only being able to keep up with all these men emotionally and physically, but also for keeping her glasses unbroken and on her person at all times throughout it all. Someone get me that librarian superhero neck chain, please!

If you can, listen to the audiobook for this series. It is so worth it! The all-star cast is a dream team of talent. And though there is heartbreak and drama through over 20 hours, there’s a lot of heat and laughter too. Chapter 18’s Bromantic Bubble-Bath is worth the price of admission alone. Thank you Blue Nose Audio for another amazing (and fun!) listen, and thank you Rebecca Quinn for another great Brutes of Bristlebrook story. Can't wait for the next one!

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