Struggled to finish this book....

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Struggled to finish this book....but still liked. I thought the first book was hard to get into at first,but ended up loving it. This book started out good, but often lost interest. Overall I enjoyed, but will not be picking up the next book in the series.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Narration was fine..it was story was the issue.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO

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1 person found this helpful

quite the page turner!!

Flynn and Jubilee were awesome! Their characters were well drawn out and I felt like I got to know both of them through out the book.
They went through so much, a lot of action, a bit of a love story. So many things in this book will make you laugh at loud or cry and sniffle. I loved how we got to reconnect with the characters from the first book also. See where they are now and how they are doing. Although this is a sequel it could also be a stand alone novel. I can not wait to read the next book to see how it all comes together.
All in all a very interesting book!! loved the suspense!

I am a mother that wishes that books had a rating. so when I can I will give my opinion on what this would be rated if it were a movie. I think this book was really clean. no foul language and no intense love scene. the fighting did get a bit gory so perhaps a PG13 rating due to that. hope this is helpful.

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As Good As The First

This Shattered World, the second in the Starbound Series, is a solidly written sequel using different characters but in the same spirit as the first book. Drawing heavily upon Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (references abound, from a planet called Avon, to a nickname of Romeo, to the main character being from Verona), our star-crossed lovers are separated by ideologies rather than class.

Story: Jubilee Chase is a captain on a backwater planet, Avon, trying to keep the peace against insurgents. But there are strange going-ons, the terraforming keeps stalling, and the people are starving. When Finn Cormac walks into her bar, "Stone Face Chase" Lee is going to get more than she bargained for as she is drawn into a battle that is far greater than just rebels and military.

Those wondering about the book having different characters from the first need not fret - Lilac and Tarver do show up later, though only in a support capacity. But the anomalies encountered in the first book are expanded upon in This Shattered World as Lee and Finn discover they each have a connection to the inter-dimensional beings.

The tone and storytelling, romance and action, characters and world building remain true from the first book to the second. Lee is tough but flawed and Finn is earnest and strong. The authors cleverly work in the Romeo and Juliet signatures into a sci fi setting - so much so that only the occasional references harken back to Shakespeare.

I really appreciated the diversity in the story - from same sex relationships to a main character part Chinese and whose family want her to maintain the culture. We didn't have a bunch of straight Caucasians running around pretending no other ethnicity or orientation existed.

The only downside for me was the prototypical boring villain and a reliance on the old "Big Misunderstanding" cliche. It's yet another situation where if the characters simply talked instead of answering in riddles, they'd not have had as much difficulty progressing in their relationship or story.

I listened to the Audible version and admittedly was very disappointed by the narration. The voice actors are good but I felt that a planet full of Irish settlers who had proudly held on to their culture would have at least had either accents or more Celtic flavor in the narration. Instead, Finn just sounded like an American guy. As well, the chapter segues were done in a male voice with a bunch of whispering in the background - both were so distracting that I had a hard time concentrating on the metaphors being presented.

In all, great book but only OK narration.

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7 people found this helpful

Wasn't sure what I was getting into!

What a great book! Hats off to all involved. Loved the narrators! Can't wait til the next one comes out!

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1 person found this helpful

I liked it more than the first book

I'm always wary about cast shifts in a book series. I didn't know it until after I finished the first book, but This Shattered World features whole new main characters in a new setting, but with connections to the first book. I liked this new story, though, and this time I found myself actually caring about the characters.

The things I'd nitpick about are firstly, the romance came out of nowhere. The characters don't deny that it came from nowhere, but still, it was just there suddenly, and that felt weird. Secondly, while I loved Flynn, how he's described and what he actually was felt like two different people. When the book tells, Flynn is this leader figure who can charm anyone, with rebellion in his blood as the blurb says. But when the book shows, he was just a scared confused kid most of the time. Related to this, while I enjoyed the voice acting on its own, it didn't seem to fit Flynn, as his voice sounded utterly bored throughout the whole thing. I also couldn't get over their voice for Tarver in this book. He suddenly sounded like a chain smoker.

I do love the enemies to lovers trope, though. And I liked the unique environment of the planet. I also enjoyed the writing, and the rest of the voice acting was excellent. Four stars for my overall enjoyment.

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I Highly Recommend This Book

Much like the first book of this series, I was instantly drawn into the story. Again you are transported to a beautifully written Sci-Fi world (set in the same time as the first) with non-stop action and thrills. Although the worlds are similar, the characters, planet and story are very different. Unlike the slow burn of the first book, this one starts out with a bang and never lets up until the end. It was absolutely thrilling. Narration was great too. I can’t wait until the next book by this author.

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7 people found this helpful

Perfect!

The pacing is a little slow but the mystery underlying everything is just perfect. By the half way point I was trapped in the awesome. Love this series!

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Superb!

Original, fully realized, unique fantasy, free of dragons and wizards. Characters that jump off the page, complex and real with thrilling plots and themes from beginning to the end of this book. Loved it!

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1 person found this helpful

the voices of this audible were easy to listen to

the voices of this audible were easy to listen to. I love how this book was completely different from the first one. But then started to connect and bring back the characters from the first book.

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a very good continuation for the first book.

The story is captivating, differing from the first book enough to carry it self, but bringing the needed depth to shine light for the mystery started by the first book.

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