3⭐
•This author‘s books are either a hit for me or a near miss…this one falls into the latter. Despite wanting to, I never connected with the characters or the story. I‘m willing to admit it might be a me thing.
•Christine Lakin‘s narration was decent.

3.75⭐
•While the writing fell a bit flat for me at times, I‘m still rather impressed with this. A formidably scary premise, and I can‘t help but feel that it would be totally plausible in the very near future. This and more—yikes!
•I love separate narrators, but a greater contrast between voices would‘ve hit more effectively, otherwise, all three were quite good.

5⭐
•A clever story that holds you in suspense and will keep you on your toes because you‘ll be wondering where it's going. Things start in the past and feel quite contemporary, which some might say is slow burn, but I thought it worked out really well. Then it moves to the present and begins to slowly change into something far more ominous, which I was definitely here for.
•January LaVoy is a queen!

4.25⭐
•What a gruesome little dragon tale. One that involves dragons suddenly appearing in real life and doesn‘t shy away from death and dismemberment, not even with animals (I could‘ve done without that kind of imagery). This story could definitely be elaborated on or continued. Also, it would make an excellent movie as long as it‘s not done in the interview style of this book.
•The narration was fantastic as long as you like full dramatization.

2.75⭐
•I tried this while knowing it probably wouldn‘t work for me, despite really liking Kill For Me, Kill For You. Inevitably, it was a combination of the narration and the storyline that didn‘t work for me. It wasn‘t my style of book, I believe. When it comes to thrillers, I‘m more new-school than old-school, and this felt old-school to me, which more than likely translates to it being liked by many others.

3.25⭐
•Kysten Ritter‘s narration was fantastic, at least I believe it was, but something about this left my mind wandering. Maybe it was the glibness of the characters that pulled me out of the story. I wanted to like this more than I actually did, but that‘s not to say that it won‘t work for others.

1.5⭐

• horror • cursed film • mixed media • past & present timelines • multiple POVs •

•This is one of those books that either works for you or doesn‘t. It‘s obvious where I fall on this spectrum. I was completely adrift; for me, the writing was too disjointed, the narration too oddly done, and overall, it felt like there wasn‘t really a story here. Was it scary? I have no f-ing clue.

3.5⭐Light Pick
•An engagingly diabolical story where you‘re left trying to figure out who was the unreliable one. Unfortunately, I did have a few issues. 1. I‘m pretty sure the covid stuff was a turn-off for me. I lived through it, don‘t want to read about it. 2. The MC's meddling ways were overly annoying, & 3, I saw the end coming, although I didn't see that extreme, because wow, it was unhinged.
•Maggi Meg-Reed brought her A-game with this one.

3.75⭐
• This is an interesting look at an impossible situation: where you bury your significant other and win the lottery on the same day. While it was a tad slow at times, I still found myself intrigued by where the hell this was going, and it managed to go in a direction I didn't see coming.
• Gary Bennett‘s narration was fantastic.

3.75⭐
•While she did get on her soapbox again, and I‘m seriously not a fan of that sort of thing, I still mostly enjoyed this second edition of this duo. It has the same fast-paced craziness that the first book brought, and continues Ness‘s journey of self-discovery in a world that seems hell-bent on bringing her down.
•Saskia Maarleveld‘s voice isn‘t a favorite, but she is always consistent.

3.5⭐Light Pick
•Overall, this was a moderately engaging story with an interesting family dynamic and some tense, eerie moments culminating in a somewhat lackluster ending.
•But hey, I found another accented narrator with whom I can stay in the story with.

My third completed letter in my #atozultimatechallenge is X!

X~ Title = Baby X
X~ Author = Cindy R.X, He for Perfect Little Monsters
X~ Character = Xaden (Riorson) from Onyx Storm
X~ Item = Lights Out
X~XEROX Book where the Plot, Title, or Cover is the same as a book you've previously read = The New Neighbor (in this case, I've read another book with this title)

3.25⭐I think this one tries to throw you off with the synopsis, which can be good or bad. Despite having similar cover art, having a pregnant MC, & coming out simultaneously, I can say that it‘s quite different from “The Crash” by FM.
I had no idea what direction it was going in, & I was completely taken by surprise with where it went, so much so that I was left scrambling to figure out what was going on. By the time I figured it out, it was over.

5⭐
•Now this is the character backstory I wanted, not Coriolanus Snow. This was so freaking good, even knowing, for the most part, how it ends. The journey it took to get there, the characters from past Hunger Games books, and the easter eggs of info, all made this a standout prequel.
•Jefferson White (Jimmy from Yellowstone) was super fantastic.

My second completed letter in my #atozultimatechallenge is F!

F~ Title = Finding Tessa
F~ Author = Layne Fargo for The Favorites
F~ Character = (Eddie) Flynn from The Defense
F~ Item = Fence on the cover of Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave
F=FEATHERS Has a Bird on the Cover = Bluebird

Light Pick
3.5⭐
•Wow, such a strange experience, and I‘m unsure how I feel about it. It was ambitious with everything packed into it, and I was mostly there for it, even though I was sometimes confused. I‘m just not sure about that last little twist at the end, I think it was too much and maybe unnecessary.
•The narration performed by Emily Lawrence & Ashley Klanac was sufficient.

4.5⭐
•This has a couple of hard twists that I didn‘t see coming, and they made for a thrilling story that had me hooked, which is a rarity these days. The ending was a somewhat difficult pill to swallow, but it was fun in a completely unhinged way.
•Andrew Eiden, Devon Sorvari, and Emily Tremaine gave great performances, and I thought the way this was narrated was pure genius.

2.75⭐
•This book started interestingly enough, but then it became monotonous and only seemed to grab my attention here and there, and not enough to leave me satisfied with it overall.
•It might‘ve worked better for me if it had a full cast of narrators.

3.25⭐
•While this is a decent enough story, much of the conflict could‘ve been avoided if they had just told the daughter more about what was happening. It relied too heavily on something that could‘ve been an easy fix.
•James Anderson Foster gave a decent performance.

5⭐
•I have learned what makes me really love a thriller—it‘s caring about the characters and being completely surprised by how everything plays out in the end. This did both flawlessly and while many others only liked this, I thought it was so freaking good. I will be adding more of his books to my TBR, posthaste.
•Jennifer Jill Araya did a splendid job of narration but I would‘ve really loved to have a male narrator to go along with her.

2⭐

•𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦•𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒•𝑝𝑠𝑦𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟-𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡•𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 & 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛•𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑂𝑉•

•This felt awkward, clumsy even, an there wasn‘t much to inspire me, here. Nothing about is memorable except how it left me feeling, which is basically—meh.

3.25⭐
•What an unbelievable premise this has, the lie they told the MC to get her to go along with their plan was so implausible that I almost DNF‘d this early on. While I‘m glad I stuck with it, I still believe it was plagued with issues. Although I did learn that gecko smuggling is, in fact, a thing.
•Siho Ellsmore‘s narration was quite good with only a light accent, which was easy for me to decipher.

APRIL #bookspinbingo board is all set.

I'm already listening to Retreat (#doublespin) and The Defense (#bookspin) next up from the library. So I'll get those books out of the way quite quickly😊

@TheAromaofBooks

4.25⭐
•This may have hit differently if I hadn‘t seen that first twist coming from a mile away. Despite that, I enjoyed the ride, especially the ending.
•Andrew Eiden and Kasha Kensington were on fire.

Final March #bookspinbingo board.
Almost a full blackout, minus 3 squares.
2 of these were DNF's (I had 2 other DNFs not shown on here)

#bookspin =✔️ (Where Are You, Echo Blue?)
#doublespin = ✔️ (Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave)

@TheAromaofBooks

I loved Sunrise on the Reaping!!!

Light Pick
3.5⭐
•The title suggests that this is a romance, but it‘s not a traditional type of romance, not by any means. This won‘t be for everyone, and it‘s short, so you won‘t waste much time trying it. Overall, it is uniquely weird, slightly gross, and the MC is rather unlikable. However, she does manage some personal growth by the end.
•Eunice Wong does depression/dry wit well; despite that or because of that, I like her as a narrator.

Here's my April #bookspinbingo list.

@TheAromaofBooks

4.25⭐
•On the one hand, I really loved this edition—Mrs. Haggerty stole the show with her hijinks—but on the other hand, I‘m wondering why Finlay & Co. can‘t catch a flipping breath already. We‘ve segued from one crime to another with no let-down. Is it her fate to always be fighting crime and injustice?
•Angela Dawe has become the voice of Finlay Donovan, which can be both a good and a not-so-good thing.

4⭐This was seriously compelling but oh so very dark and demented. Like f*ck-with-your-head demented. I‘m not sure I was always so willing to be inside this unhinged woman's head. And that ending, yikes.
I love multiple narrators but they should sound different. All three of them sounded the same and at first, I thought it only had one narrator who changed up her voice a slight bit for each POV. Turns out, they're were 5 narrators, oof.

4⭐
While this has more of a focus on the murder mystery and a missing girl than the solar storm that‘s taking out the grid, I do believe the further installments will focus more on the world-ending survival aspect. Being from MI, I love that the story takes place in my home state. The cities and surrounding areas feel very familiar, and I‘m here for that.
•I wish she would‘ve switched it up to a different narrator, Stacey Glemboski performs well.

I created an #atozultimatechallenge that includes everything you could want in an A-Z challenge. I also created graphics in Canva.

My first finished letter is Letter C!
C~ Title = The Crash
C~ Author = Suzanne Collins for Sunrise on the Reaping
C~ Character = Calvin from The Last Trip
C~ Item = Cruthes On Scythe & Sparrow
C=COLOR BOOK TITLE WITH A COLOR WORD IN IT = Pink from Pink Glass Houses

Links in comments.

3.5⭐
•While this had an interesting premise, the execution sometimes left a bad taste in my mouth. There were parts I liked and disliked, but I wouldn‘t say that it‘s not worth trying it out.
•Michael Crouch and Amanda Stribling‘s narration was decent.

4⭐
•Given its length, I shouldn‘t have liked this, but I did. Sure, it had its issues, but I was entertained and intrigued, and the 20-hour audiobook flew by.
•Stella Bloom and Anthony Palmini gave great duet performances where Stella performed all the female voices and Anthony did the male ones and it was freaking fantastic.

Light Pick!
3.5⭐
•Overall, it was entertaining but it doesn‘t necessarily hold up well under scrutiny.
•The narration performed by Melissa Redmond was decent.

3.75⭐
•Guess what, still a sucker for some duet narration. There was nothing earth-shattering here but still an entertaining listen. Although I wasn‘t sold on the heroine as a serial killer, she botches things up so much that I‘m not sure how she isn‘t in jail or worse.

4.25⭐
•I loved the fast pace, the craziness, the Gotham-like city setting. It started with a bang and kept on going. I could‘ve done without the rant about romanticizing abuse or whatever she went on about, to be honest, I tuned it out.
•Saskia Maarleveld…lately, I‘ve not been vibing with her husky voice, but I can admit that she is good at narrating.

3⭐
•You could say that this has a standout concept with all it brings to the table, and yet...its predictability and lack of dread-building failed to hook me in. Ultimately, I found it uninspiring.
•The narration performed by Brittany Pressley and Xe Sands was perfection and kept me listening despite my waning interest in the book.

4.25⭐
•I loved the found-family vibes this had going on, Gabe and his family were amazing. Despite not always understanding Anna‘s motivations, I still found myself rooting for her and Gabe.
•Kate Handford‘s narration was decent.

4⭐
•Her narration was top-notch which I expected…and while she revealed nothing earth-shattering, I still found myself fully engaged.

Light Pick
3.5⭐
•I‘m not sure what it was but this didn‘t grab me like the first book did. Who knows maybe my energy was just wrong for this in the moment. I can say that it really didn‘t need a sequel, and perhaps I was disappointed in the direction it took with it.
•The author decided to narrate this second book and I would‘ve preferred that she kept the same narrator as the first book but she really wasn‘t bad at all.

4.75⭐
•I love JLBs‘ Naturals series and I‘ve always wanted to find something like it but for adults and this hit closer than anything I‘ve read before to that series. It has the misfit team of FBI players trying to use their skills to find serial killers and I was here for it. The only thing that would‘ve put this over the top for me was multiple POVs from different characters because sometimes it got tedious being in Gardner Camden‘s head.

3.25⭐
You could call this a slow burn and you could also call it boring. That‘s not to say that it didn‘t have its good points; it has a very intricate plot and a fairly satisfying end. But overall, I just wasn‘t that invested in the meanderings of Ben Packard and to be truthful my interest has been waning since book #2. Although, most will find this one to be a pick.

I still haven't had a book that I've rated a full 5 stars yet, but these two have come super close.

FEBRUARY #bookspinbingo board. I filled all but two squares. I've been pretty good at sticking to my plans, lately. I think my A-Z ultimate book challenge has had something to do with that.

#bookspin •HEAD CASES BY JOHN McMAHON• completed.
#doublespin •FIRST LIGHT BY LIZ KERIN• completed.

@TheAromaofBooks

My March #bookspinbingo board. I'm really looking forward to Sunrise on the Reaping.

@TheAromaofBooks

2.5⭐While her books are bingeable, I‘m unsure whether they‘re bingeable enough to make up for all the cringeable…also the unbelievable. I‘ve liked a couple by her & hated one other…looking at you, locked door. Although, I don‘t think I‘ve yet read enough of her books to form a satisfying opinion.
I‘m not a fan of LeslieHoward‘s narration. She might‘ve been okay if she had only been Polly‘s narrator and had other narrators for the different POVs.⬇️

3⭐
•This leaned more towards romance than thriller and while I usually like this author's style of romantic suspense, this one felt very mid to me. Although the ending had me more engaged even if it was a difficult pill to swallow.
•Ellie Gossage and Jay Myers were fairly decent narrators and they were both new to me.

4.25⭐
•Kate Alice Marshall has become an auto-read author for me because she never disappoints. This one wasn‘t without its issues but overall I was still engaged. Bonus factor: she always has Karissa Vacker narrate her books and she is one of my favorites.

4⭐
•Police procedurals that follow a particular detective usually put the focus on them…but this series focuses on all the characters involved and the detective happens to be one of those characters. It feels more personal and allows you to care about the characters involved. However, I didn‘t connect with the characters in this edition quite as much as the previous books and the ending was slightly OTT, I still highly recommend this series.