Cover Image: Angelbound

Angelbound

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Member Reviews

This book was an alright fantasy. I did enjoy the narrator for the story and the way that they made it come to life.

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I had to DNF this book at 38% and it was mainly because I felt like the story was dragging. Maybe I should have stuck it out longer, but I feel like I should at least know where this book was headed by 38% in. I didn't. All I know is there are different levels to afterlife and different creatures handle each level. and Myla is a quasi-demon. She fights souls and the outcome decides if they go to Heaven or Hell. Where it was going after that, I guess I'll never know.

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I got this book as an audiobook ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
When I saw the cover and read what the book was about I was immediately interested.
The story itself is good, the world the author created is really interesting and I liked learning about it.
Now I do have to say that for me the plot twists where no surprise. I predicted all of them. Because of that I was sometimes a little bored and wished that the story was faster because I already knew what was going to happen eventually, I was just waiting until it finally happened.
Also sometimes the MC her actions or thoughts where really childish and annoying in my opinion, so maybe I am a little too old for this book? Idk.
At the end it did finally pick up when we got all the answers and I really wanted to finish it to see how it would end.
Now on the audiobook aspect, the narrator was good but I did really dislike the voice she used for the MC's best friend. But that's also just my own opinion.

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Angelbound Enhanced is a partially illustrated edition with additional chapter samples of the first book of the Angelbound Origins series by Christina Bauer. Originally released in 2013, this reformat and enhanced re-release is 388 pages and is available in paperback format. Other editions available in most formats.

This is a YA/NA fantasy romance series with lots of angst and drama. Protagonist Myla is a kickass fighter whose day job is to fight opponents who seek redemption in the arena in Purgatory. She's a human demon hybrid (and she's got a tail, which is pretty cool). She's good at her job, undefeated in fact, but that doesn't stop her from having to get through her senior year of Purgatory High School.

The world building and story set up are competent, although I struggled to really build a rapport with Myla. I freely admit that I'm several decades outside the target audience, but the first third of the book dragged for me. The pacing does get better toward the middle, so I would encourage readers to stick around past the first parts of the book.

The language is surprisingly rough for a YA book, although again, I'm certain that no high schooler would blink an eye at the f-bombs and physical descriptions.

The ebook format contains hyperlinks and searchable text (I really enjoy this feature). The audiobook format has a run time of 14 hours 48 minutes and is capably narrated by the author herself.

Three and a half stars for this entry, rounded up for the competent writing and plotting. I would imagine it will likely be higher for the target audience.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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Okay so firstly this review is purely just my opinion. But, I struggled to get through this book and that had nothing to do with the book itself. The voice, it made the whole story feel cringy and really childish. I love a good audiobook with a narrator who really gets into the book with voices and everything.
The book itself, I loved the idea, the storyline, it’s unique and it was the only thing getting me through the book. It felt like it was dragging though, I don’t know if it was the book itself that did a lot of repeating and had quite a lot of fluff. Or if it was me not vibing with the voice.
Obsessed with the quirky, sassy and totally kick-ass Myla. She was everything. She has a love for a good fight, and it’s widely known. Because it’s something that is repeated, especially at the start of the book.

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Myla is a spunky Quasi that loves a good fight and to get into trouble. When the demons start getting more aggressive than usual, Myla can sense something is wrong.

The concept for the book is great. The speech and writing would be more appealing towards a younger teenage audience. The first arena scene has potential to set a great example of fighting skills but I feel let down when the bad guy goes down in one move. The same move that takes him down seems to be Mylas only move till later in the book.

The world is another great start of an idea. A little more development is needed though Betsy is a great touch.

Overall, I would recommend this book to a younger audience that likes to have their language patterns in the book. For me, it took away from the enjoyment of the book.

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Loved it. This book was so much fun to listen to.
the narrator really brought the book to life and the characters and story were so fun!

Mila is such a crazy violent character and I just love that, add the fact that she's fighting evil and lives in a distopian version of purgatory and things get really interesting.

The world of Angelbound is very entertaining, there's no info dump, you get thrown right into it and get to progressively learn what's going on and where you are in this world of angels, demons and a variety of other creatures.

I definitely recommend it

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Unfortunately going to have to DNF this one at 50%. Despite an interesting and promising premise, I just couldn't get past the cringy, juvenile language. I definitely aged out of this book a while ago.

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This book was an adventure. I loved the play on ghouls, demons, angels, and many more humanoid creatures being in a book together. I loved the charters. The MC's love interest, The way the book was narrated was fun and engaging. I will be reading the next one asap.

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Free audiobook received in exchange for an honest review.

So when I started listening to this, I thought I would DNF... The audiobook has been narrated by the author herself and it seemed horribly overacted.

Well, surprise surprise! Somewhere along the way I got used to it and then I started loving it. What seemed annoying at first was just different and giving off such positive vibes. Let's just say that this overacted voice just fits the MC so well. She is spitfire, she is snarky, and she is generally up to no good.

The characters in this book are quite well build. Not super original but they have that certain something to them. Maybe it's the audiobook voice that really brought them to life.

I quite enjoyed the worldbuilding too. There was interesting fresh look at world of angels and demons and the half-blooded. Not an urban fantasy that is set (at least partially) in our world as usual but a new fantasy setting instead. We visit the Purgatory where the souls are being judged and our MC fights evil souls that requested judgment by combat. Yes, she also attends a school so there is that setting although the school is not your typical institution either.

There are certainly some clichés but similarly to the narration somewhere along the way I just didn't care anymore. I was hooked.

This book was just a perfect guilty pleasure read. The kind of book that might be bit silly but in such way that you are in for the ride rather than rolling your eyes. (Although as I said it might take time for it to grow on you.) It’s a great palate cleanser before you start reading something more serious. I am certainly going to continue with the series.

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While Anglebound had a juvenile tone, I was completely enraptured by the storyline and world-building. I have been reading the Percy Jackson series recently and I would say the vocabulary and reading level (outside of the swearing and sexual references in Anglebound) are about the same. I enjoyed this aspect because it made for an easy listen that kept me interested.
I fully intend on continuing this series and am anxious to see where it goes!

Thank you Net Galley, Christina Bauer, and Monster House Audio for my advanced audio copy! My opinions are my own.

Plot - 4
Writing and Editing - 3
Character Development - 3
Narration - 4
Personal Bias - 4
Final Score - 3.6

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I loved the idea behind this book. It is the story of a girl who fights souls to determine if they go to Heaven or Hell. But I really just found it slow. I didn't care for the main character. Maybe it is just because I am not the target audience. This is a YA book. I also felt like it was really long. My students might enjoy it, but it just wasn't for me.

3 stars.

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Oh my goodness
Oh my goodness
Oh my goodness!!!!!

This book, dude, gimme freakin' more!
More written by this author.
More read by her.
Both!

I love these characters and had the best time listening to this book. May have accidentally bought the rest of the series to binge. Yep. Definitely.

Highly recommend.

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