Fateless is a masterful blend of pulse-pounding adventure, dark intrigue, and immersive worldbuilding—and Mia Hutchinson-Shaw’s narration brings every moment vividly to life. Julie Kagawa has crafted a gripping fantasy full of cursed tombs, dangerous relics, and a heroine who’s as fierce as she is flawed, and the audiobook takes it all to the next level.

As Sparrow journeys into the deadly ruins of the Deathless Kings alongside a ragtag group of thieves—and the mysterious, brooding assassin Raithe—Shaw captures every layer of the story with nuance and energy. She gives Sparrow a voice that’s tough yet vulnerable, perfectly conveying her inner conflicts, fierce loyalty, and undeniable bravery. The emotional beats hit even harder thanks to Shaw’s subtle delivery, and the action scenes are nothing short of cinematic.

Each character feels distinct, with Shaw modulating tone and rhythm to bring out unique personalities, whether it’s the cunning members of the Thieves Guild or the terrifying forces lurking within the tombs. The pacing is tight, and the tension builds steadily as secrets unravel and fate tightens its grip.

Whether you're here for the morally gray characters, the high-stakes heist, the slow-burn tension between Sparrow and Raithe, or the rich fantasy lore, Fateless delivers it all—and the audiobook version is the perfect way to experience it. A thrilling start to a dark, magical journey that I absolutely could not stop listening to.

Fateless is the story of a young thief, with extremely good luck, that finds herself in the middle of an evil plot to destroy the world. Sparrow, an orphan, raised within the thieves guild, is tasked with stealing impossible to retrieve items, and yet she completes the tasks with strange ease. Unfortunately for Sparrow, her talents have put her in a dangerous predicament.

Sparrow is an interesting character. She is a street smart yet extremely naive thief who becomes entangled with an assassin, a warrior who rides giant insects, and a comic relief fate chaser. The characters come together to try and stop an evil plot to destroy the world, because the only one who can truly put a stop to it all is the Fateless.

Fateless is a YA fantasy, and reads appropriately for that age group. There is not a lot of world building, which was a negative for me, the scenes felt a little shallow, and the pacing was a bit too quick. All of those elements are good your a younger age group, but bad in general. The world is extremely atmospheric though. While the scene don’t provide the in-depth information, the scenes are set very well, I felt like desert sands and the heat, I just wish I felt more connection to the other elements of the story.

There is a romantic sub-plot, but sadly that also felt a bit shallow, but as this is a series, I have hope for the progression of the characters, the plot, and the world and I’m excited to continue.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It has a great plot and is beautifully atmospheric, and great for teen readers. The audiobook is also extremely well done and allowed for an immersive experience in the story.




Fateless is a YA fantasy and does not contain any spice.



I received both a physical and audiobook advanced reader copies of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to Epic Reads/ HaperCollins for my physical ARC and Netgalley/ Harlequin Audio for my audiobook ARC.

I was a big fan of Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series 10 years ago, so I jumped at the chance to read another book by her. This story was really good. Very slow in the beginning but once it picked up I enjoyed it. I loved Sparrow., but I, like many others it seems, was a little confused about the fate tapestry and how it all works. The audio was fantastic though and I'm patiently waiting book two!

A young thief who has accepted her lot in life learns that everything she knows for certain is wrong. This will lead her on a journey to not only find herself, but also save the world.

It is sooooooo gooood! Yes, it needs all of those O’s! Meet our FMC, an orphan turned thief who is the best of the best of the Thieves’ Guild. When she is asked by her mentor to steal a stone from an underground dead and cursed city, she learns that the lore surrounding the city and its rulers is not only real, but even more terrifying than the stories. During her journey throughout the book, she is befriended by a happy-go-lucky fate chaser, a broody hunky assassin, and a feisty bug rider who become essentially the family she never had. Throughout the book, the FMC is wrestling with trust given the betrayals of those she thought were there for her but used her instead. As the book unravels, hints of romance flicker as our FMC learns that you need to open your heart to receive what it needs most. Filled with suspense and shocking revelations, this one will keep you at the edge of your metaphorical seat.

Mia Hutchinson-Shaw as a narrator is always a treat. She has so much depth and range. I have listened to some of her RomCom books, and it was nice to see her in a fantasy setting.

In Fateless, Sparrow lives in a world of sand and dust, where the two suns in the sky will fry anyone that is unable to protect themselves from their glare. This is all what’s left of the world after the deathless kings destroyed it in their quest for greed. But Sparrow makes the most of it with her fellow member’s of the thieve’s guild. However, Sparrow finds herself girlbossing too close to the sun when The Circle, the guild masters bosses, gives her a mission to steal an artifact from the deathless king’s ancient city, which slumbers beneath her feet.

I think I’m not enjoying YA books as much as I used too. While I enjoyed this book overall, I had to push myself through to finish it. The book started out really slow, but then the plot picks up really quickly at about 25% in. I wish we got to experience more of the FMC’s life as a thief before she gets swept away on an adventure. I also didn’t feel a connection between the FMC and MMC. I feel like this is because we truly don’t know much about the MMC in this first book, but I’m guessing the rest of the series will reveal more about him. What I did LOVE was the found family that was created throughout the book. Even though the 4 main characters are all vastly different, I loved the little family that they made with each other.

You will enjoy Fateless if you like:
💕Found families
✨Magical creatures
🔪Mysterious assassins

3.25 Stars ⭐️

This was the first book in a new series that I pretty much went into blind. We are introduced to 17 year old FMC Sparrow. She is a thief in the Thieves Guild who is given an assignment to steal something that is basically considered unstealable. Once she succeeds in her assignment, she finds herself in the middle of a dangerous adventure without knowing whom to trust.

There are a lot of pieces in this storyline that require an amount of world building that to me, just didn't quite live up to expectations. There is a whole entire underworld - or maybe....under-city...that was just confusing to me. Then we have the secondary characters, that fall into the age-gap trope. I mean, the love interest is hundreds of years old and our FMC is 17? To me, that is not a trope I'm really fond of.

Then, there is the whole fate issue. Sparrow is able to cut the threads of the fate tapestry, but why was she the one who was sent to do this? The whole fateless issue was just really confusing to me. Then the antagonist character was so far off base that he came across almost as a caricature. He started off as a father like figure and during the course of the book becomes like an evil villain with the "bwaa haa haa" vibes and everything.

This book is narrated by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw and she did a fine job with the narration.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this ARC. This book will be out for publication on July 15, 2025.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the wonderful team at NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for providing an ARC audio and EARC copy of this book. I found that it took me some time to become fully engaged with the story. Sparrow and Wraith are great characters, and the book is well written overall. I enjoyed reading it. This is primarily a low-to-no spice book, making it a nice, clean read

I’d first like to thank the amazing folks at NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for a ARC Audio and EAR copy of this book. I am forever thankful to be able to listen to this story narrated by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw.
What would you do if your whole life you thought yourself just a very super talented thief but have your whole world threw into a blender when you discover everything is a lie and you have the power to not only save the world but the power to absolutely destroy it?
We meet 17 year old Sparrow when she joined the Thieves Guild she made a vow of binding loyalty to their cause.
So when she is sent on a mission for The Circle, a group of mysterious, dangerous beings who control the Guild from the shadows, Sparrow is determined to cement her place within their ranks.
What she could never have knew is that not only would she be betrayed by the ones she once consider family but also be put in the center of a struggle between to opposing forces that have the would pit her against a ancient evil that has the power to change her world forever.
I absolutely devoured this book. Having the dual experience of listening and also reading this book, it just was a very fulfilling and satisfying experience. Julie Kagawa storytelling and Mia’s narration worked in tandem to craft and engaging story that I can’t wait to order a physical copy of this book and recommend it to anyone looking for an engaging and nail-biting experience.
An absolute iconic experience that I would totally give a 5 star review to for being: unique, adrenaline pumping, and fantastic start to a series that you don’t wanna miss

So I know Julie Kagawa is a well known name, but I’ve yet to read her!! As my first impression, this was such an amazing read- So much adventure & peril, I was here for it. It def gave Celaena X Arobynn if they were thieves instead of assassins lowkey, just subtract the trauma. I loved the comparison to The Mummy though ‘cause yessss. The world building isn’t too in depth (mostly sand lol), but the plot & characters definitely carried.

I totally saw the 🚩 w/ what’s their name… Like I just knewww, but yeah 🌚 It did get kinda questionable w/ the different MMCs though like, I didn’t know where the connections were going until (if you read the synopsis) comes along lol. The different races (I believe they called it) were interesting as well, I wish we got more in depth w/ that too, but since this is book 1 I don’t expect so much lore drops.

Overall, I was here for it & I can’t wait for the sequel. Discovering what “Fateless” is/means did get kinda repetitive, but I’m glad we’re past that though. Mia Hutchinson-Shaw did an amazing job, I do wish it were a duet though!!

I generally had a good time reading this. The narrator was easy to listen to and emotive, the main character was likable. I really liked the sand world, with the super hot noon double suns and the giant beetles. The pacing is good, with only a few parts dragging due to repetitive internal monologue.

I will say, I don't think the concept of fate is super fleshed out in a way that made sense. There is a set tapestry of fate that not every character or even society believes in, but it is also highly rigid with a single person who is outside of fate because (????) and that means she can stop the end of the world (because that is fated to happen??? that part was unclear). I don't really understand why an assassin can "snip" bad threads out of the tapestry unless this determinative fate tapestry also fated that they die, in which case, why does the assassin need to be involved? How can an assassin fail their mission if their mission is fated? Just a lot of questions that aren't really discussed. The concept of fate chasers was a little underdeveloped, and I don't love that the love interest is several hundred years old and this teenager, who he knows very little about except that she's recently learned empathy, is his true love. There are a lot of trope-driven type plot lines and side characters, with the main bad guys being essentially just caricatures.

Still, even a very trope-y YA fantasy can be fun, and I definitely had fun with this. I may read the next book to see what happens with our found-family crew.

Sparrow knows her fate. She is a thief and was chosen by fate to be a thief. Everyone is immutably woven into the tapestry of fate. When her mission for the thieves' guild is successful in a way that alters the course of Sparrow's city endangering her life and killing thousands, she embarks on a mission to learn more about how to fight the risen evil. Along the way she learns that she is not, in fact, woven into fate as a thief, but has no fate woven into the tapestry; she is Fateless. The pacing for this book is perfect. The worldbuilding is good, but, as it's the first in the series, there were definitely things that I would like to see delved a bit deeper in future books. Sparrow is well developed, but many of the side characters leaned heavily on tropes rather than being their own person. These were well done, but I do hope to see more of the side characters in future books. The balance between pacing, worldbuilding, and character development was well balanced. Overall, I was very engaged throughout this entire read and I can't wait for the next in the series.

The Mummy meets the Witcher in a new trilogy sure to take the YA fantasy world by storm.

This book starts with a bang and doesn’t slow down until the very last page. This was one of those books that I just couldn’t put down and I found myself looking for chores to do so I could keep listening to the audiobook (which was excellent by the way).

Sparrow, the main character, is a 17 year old thief living in a desert world. When the mysterious leader of the Thieve’s Guild send her on a dangerous and secretive mission to retrieve an ancient artifact, she has no choice but to obey. What ensues is the awakening of an ancient curse and a brutal assassin sent to keep her from awakening it.

The world of this book felt like something out of Dune (without the sci-fi) with characters and monsters that felt similar to The Witcher. This book is perfect for fans of-


🦂Enemies to lovers
🦂Deadly assassins
🦂Found family
🦂Epic quests
🦂Undead armies
🦂Characters from The Witcher
🦂The curse from The Mummy


Thanks you to the publisher for sending me a free audiobook❤️