“Hey, it’s not a competition, but I’m winning.” - Christina Bauer, Angelbound

⭐️⭐️⭐️

A purgatory filled with ghouls, quasi demons, angels, and lots of secrets. This story has an interesting and original setting. I believe it had great potential however, the language and writing is simplistic. As I said the world is very interesting and the mystery behind the main characters origins is very intriguing.

The audiobook narration is not to my taste. In my opinion the audio lacks voice variation and takes away from the story. However, if you enjoy YA fantasy with angels, demons, secrets, and some romance you should give it a whirl it may be perfect for you!

Absolutely loved this book. Stunning. I loved the author. I loved the story. I loved the narrator. Obsessed with the book. I want to sink into this world and read all of them. Incredible!

What's better than the first book in a Christtina Bauer book? An audio book version read by Ms Bauer herself. No matter how many of her books I have read, I still find her stories new and interesting, the characters are so real.....even for angels and demons. Their stories unfold with purpose and always leaving me looking forward to the next one.

And the audiobook? Absolutely fantastic!

Thank you to NetGalley for this audio ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I enjoyed listening to this book, I liked the concept for the Angels and Demons, the MC was a kickass , quirky heroine and the romance was believable but felt a bit rushed. The pacing was far too slow for me and the book longer than it needed to be. I enjoyed the setting of this book but it was very complex and I did get a confused a few times. The characters were done really well, I just think they were too many of them to keep track of.

Overall really entertaining but just a tad too long.

Sooooo good!! I love audiobooks where the narrator makes the book even better and this was a good one.

Thank you Monster House Audio and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

Was this the best book that I have ever read, no. Was it the worst? Again, no. Will I continue with the series? Absolutely! I found this book to be quite entertaining. I thought that the plot was very fast paced and easy to follow. The characters were fun and showed growth as the story went along, which I appreciated. The only thing that I didn't care for was some of the writing and dialog read more juvenile, and less young adult. Not at all how I expected such an incredible female protagonist to talk.

The narration was great. It is always great to hear an author bring their own characters to life. The tone and pace wasn't monotonous, but lively, which kept me engaged. I did find the "Valley Girl" voice of Sissy rather annoying, but I appreciate that it was the way the author envisioned the character. All in all, I enjoyed the book, and I look forward to finding out what happens in the next book.

3⭐️

Angelbound is the first book in 10 book series: Angelbound Origins, with the 11th book expected to be released in May 2023. It follows 18 year old Myla Lewis, a quasi-demon (part-demon, part-human) with her deadly sin being Wrath. Myla fights in Purgatory’s arena, fighting souls for their right to enter either Heaven or Hell. However, when the Demons and Armageddon (King of the Demons) start to act weird, Myla must dig into her past to find out what happened years ago that turned all quasi-demons into slaves. But Myla meets and falls for a demon hunter, Lincoln and her life completely changes.

I wanted to read this book because the premise sounded so interesting! We get a fantasy book with romance and a teenager kicking Demons ass. The actual plot was very interesting but it could have used with some editing and maybe some changes in the dialogue and inner dialogue. I would be loving a scene and then Myla would end off a sentence with “sweet!” or “awesome!” and just the addition of that really aged down the characters for me. I had to keep reminding myself that the characters are 18 years old, not preteens. Plus the best friend, Cissy, acted more like a mother figure than the bff, especially when she constantly called Myla “sweetie”. OMG if someone my own age called me “sweetie” I would start to get so annoyed, it almost feels like she condescending her and making her seem like a child. This dialogue was also confusing when we got to the more spicy scenes of the book. We have Myla acting and talking about a child but then she’s vividly imagining Lincoln and her doing the nasty. Is this YA or NA?

Myla is a bad-ass. She is a great heroine and her story and romance are really well done. I would have loved to see more scenes with Myla in the arena or training but we get distracted during the beginning of the book of the Zeke/Cissy/Myla drama. When we get to about 70% of the book, we finally get some action, and I mean ACTION. It was intense and hard to put down the book at this point. Myla also doesn’t seem vulnerable in this book until the end where she finally realizes that she can’t escape her powers and new role. I think the way this book ended will lead us towards a great character arc for Myla, with her needing to learn, gain support, and then fully come into her powers. She was almost a little to perfect in the beginning of the book, she has never lost an arena fight, she can do no wrong, no worries. GIVE ME SOME RANGE! thank you.

The world-building is well done. Its confusing at times to keep all of the different types of characters, there’s quasi-demons, demons, angels, thrax, ghouls, queen of heaven, king of hell, overlords, princes, and all the hierarchies that go along with them. I honestly haven’t read a book set in Purgatory before, it’s always heaven or hell, so it was interesting to be immersed in this new world.

I received an audiobook version on this book from NetGalley. This book was narrated by the author, Christina Bauer. The narration was good, however, I did notice inconsistent accents for some of the characters, especially Cissy, Myla’s best friend. At times she sounded like the doting mother, other times she sounded like a valley girl, you know the stereotypical accent. I do like that the book was narrated by the author because we get the correct inflections that the author wanted to portray. But I think the narration would have benefited from a little bit of practice or voice training.

I loved reading about Myla’s journey with the best sidekick, her tail! I can’t wait to see how her story will unfold over the next 9 books! I also can’t wait to read more about these crazy creatures from hell!

Thank you NetGalley and Monster House Audio for an advanced audio copy for an honest review.

At first I was a little unsure if I would be into the book, but I found myself really getting pulled into the story. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to the audio book version. I liked the fact that the author did the reading for the audio book. I definitely want to follow up with the rest of the series to see what happens next.

I had a feeling that Myla may be the Scala, and really liked seeing her turn into even more of a badass. I enjoyed her and Lincoln’s relationship and how it grew. I loved the fact that her dad was brought back too! I am one for mostly happy endings and even though the book series is far from done, the ending of this book left me feeling pretty good.

I've read the book about a million times. I just love it. It's one of my all-time favourites. I love the worlds of angels and demons, thraxse, quasies and ghouls. Myla is a fantastic character, she has a great tail and can kick serious ass. The story is fast pace and equally intense and funny. :)

When I saw that there was a new audiobook out, I was so excited, but after a few chapters of listening, I was very disappointed.

It was ... not so good, to put it nicely. The voices of different characters are not consistent and mostly cringy. Especially Zeke, Cissy and Lincoln. I had a hard time focusing on the story.

This audiobook was given to me by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
It's a fascinating world-building, it takes place between different realms with demons, angels, ghouls, and quasi-demons, Trax hunters formed by royal families.

Myla Lewis is a strong young character (quasi demon), a protagonist who rather go fight in purgatory’s arena, where souls receive a trial by combat for their right to go either to heaven or hell than go to high school. Between her mom never speaking about the past and always being overprotecting towards Myla, a lot in her past it's a mystery who is her father. One thing she knows is her best friend keeps her sane in school and she does not have an interest in buys, ever ... until she finds an urge between kissing and killing a stranger...

The writing is good, the descriptive elements help us a lot to engage in Myla's world and perspective. The fighting scenes are well done and the plot is very interesting. but overall I found it very slow too much happening and a bit repetitive. Overall this is a good book full of action.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this free audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I've always loved a female main character that can kick some serious butt. Myla is that and so much more. She is an arena fighting quasi-demon. What's not to love? Her tail having a mind of its own is one of my favorite minor details about her character. The plot was slow to start but we really got to know the characters and the politics of the world quickly. And how amazing is it that the author also narrated the audiobook? It gave the characters and story a completely new depth I'm not used to. It just amazed me to hear an author really bring their characters to life. I'd love to continue reading this series and more by Christina Bauer.

This story has interesting worldbuilding and good plot. And the love story part of it was good, even cute at times. But it just missed the mark for me. Overall an okay read.

The main character is supposed to be immature, but she just comes off as cringey. Like much of the dialog.

I think this needed another pass from an editor to tighten up the writing and add more subtext, rather than just having the MC blurt out and explain everything. Some of the worldbuilding is a bit heavy handed too.

Welcome to Purgatory.
Myla, our protagonist, is daring, resourceful, and has a whole lot of self-confidence. The only thing that felt a bit irritating at times was Myla's belief that she knows everything (well, except the identity of her father). But hey, what eighteen-year-old doesn't think she knows everything?
Despite the plot sometimes being predictable, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. That said, the story’s pacing was a bit odd, at times I had the feeling it was going in circles, while other parts just flew by.

The audiobook, performed by the author, was thoroughly entertaining, even though Christina Bauer is not a professional narrator, I was still captivated by it and her acknowledgements at the end made me laugh out loud!

TDLR: If you're looking for a fantasy book with a sassy heroine who kicks demon butt, you should give Angelbound a try! Cause I will be picking up the next book in the series.

I had this as a physical copy and never got around to it so I was sorry excited to listen to this. It was a quick listen and definitely enjoyed it enough to keep the physical copy.

I needed a little time to get into the 2013 slang being as I didn't understand it then and still barely do but once I was through that i really enjoyed this book!

While I didn't like all "voices" the author used for reading, I did love how sassy she made Mila!

The world building was so interesting! I have never before read an afterworld system like this and I love how it works! I cannot wait to read more of this series!!

I was excited to listen to Angelbound because I knew the author narrated it. Who knows better than the author how to portray the characters?

For the most part, she did a fantastic job. My only objection is Myla's mother. I understand the author tries to give each character a unique voice, but she tries too hard. I cringed every time I heard Myla's mother speak. The author was not trying to mock the mother, but it came across that way and was a bit irksome.

Myla is a half-demon, half-human hybrid. Wrath is her deadly sin, making her an excellent fighter. Myla is a resident of Purgatory. Despite being a demon, her mother is terrified of her own shadow and acts more like a skittish kid. She attends school and battles in the Arena. She damns souls to hell (while her mother cowers flinchingly with her hands clasped to her ears).

Quasi-demons have traits inspired by biblical sins. Myla’s is Wrath (with a secret side of Lust), and her best friend Cissy is Envy, for example (and that shows throughout the novel).

Purgatory High's classes are fascinating (and hilarious) and focused on best serving their ghoul masters, and I had a lot of fun reading about their curriculum.

Most of them are well-rounded and thoughtfully crafted. Myla is a tough kickass character, but she’s a little too perfect. I love her strong, but I wanted her to be vulnerable too. As perfect and as unbreakable as she is, it’s hard to relate to her.
The love story was an enemies-to-lovers one, which is one of my favorites. Since everyone hates demons, the relationship between Myla and Lincoln, the self-righteous Thrax prince, is scandalous at best. So it was fun to watch it happen, even though they went from hate to love pretty fast.

The Creatures and world building were my favorite parts of the story. Christina Bauer has developed a realistic universe with clear rules and well-thought, original mythology (forget what you know about angels, demons, or Purgatory). We encounter many creatures (ghouls, demons, angels, thrax, quasis) plus variations resulting from mixed breeding. The author has a vivid imagination, and that translates into an atmospheric read. There’s a lot of world-building and information to keep up with.

Although I loved the overall story, I think it was overwritten and the book felt unnecessarily long. The writing is fluid, but we get too much information that doesn’t move the story forward. It’s more like a day in the life of a quasi-demon. Usually, when that happens, I skim over entire pages until the action picks up again, but since this was an audiobook, I had to listen to all of it.
This is not necessarily a problem for many readers (only impatient ones like me). So don’t let my observation dissuade you from reading this book if it piques your interest. Different strokes for different folks!
I give this book 3.5 ⭐

Angelbound is one of those audiobooks that pulls you in, wraps you up in a cocoon of snarkiness and zingy one-liners, and keeps you there until the very end.

With Angels, Ghouls, Demons, Quasi-Demons, and more Angelbound gives us a look at multiple characters with different histories, customs, and plans, both good and bad.

Myla is a quasi-demon that has been fighting for most of her life, both in the arena of purgatory and in her own home trying to find out more about her mother's past and more importantly who her father is.

What she doesn't know could fill a book, multiple books, a library even but she's learning, the more she learns, the more of her history she fills in, the more dangerous it becomes for her and everyone around her.

With her friends, family, and Lincoln by her side and that crazy new fighting suit, there's not much she can't concur and she's going to need every bit of skill, cunning, and luck she possesses to fight for her future, the future of purgatory and well the world.

This is a solid 4.5-star book for me, I can't wait to read Scala and find out where everyone ends up. who is with who and if there are any other fluffy vegetable resembling gowns in Myla's future?

I received a copy of the Audiobook of Angelbound from NetGalley and Monster House Audio, I have voluntarily listened to it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a very fast paced and action filled young adult fantasy book. I really liked it. The plot is very quick but easy to follow. It’s full of angels, demons and other supernatural beings.
I loved the characters and the relationships between them.
I really loved the ending even though there is a bit of a cliffhanger and I now must go read the second book.

The narrator was good. I liked the different voices they gave to the different characters. I imagined some of the voices differently but still the narrator brings the story to live.

Low-key LOVED this book. Really loved how bad ass Myla was. I found out there is a whole series so I will be continuing on with it. I would recommend this book to a particular friend, not all friends. If you like fantasy and action this is a read for you.

AngelBound by Christina Bauer is a Chosen One Y/A novel/Audiobook with a Sassy, Charismatic, Quasi Demon who doesn't understand romance and is just sick of school and her Best friends obsession with her 'one true love.'

I highly recommend to teens who are sick of the girl in novels who won't take charge of her situation, and for those interested in a hilarious narrative voice, but still enjoy abit of high-stake romance.

I will say that the book can be rather juvenile and cliche especially in scenes with large portions of dialogue, however for the audience I don't think this will be too overbearing.
I personally enjoyed the way that the narrator explores the past in order to solve the future conflict but towards the end of the novel there were lots of things happening, it was rather dense and became very complicated to keep rolling with.

If you give this a go I'd love to hear what you have to say and I'd like to thank Netgalley for providing my audiobook.