Narrated by Heather Wilds
Knight Avenged is the second book in the Circle of Seven series. Unfortunately, the book wasn’t able to live up to its synopsis, leaving me wishing for something better.
Cosmina is a powerful oracle. She’s been in hiding for several years, but knows she can’t live this way forever. So, she sets out for the city of White Temple, home of The Goddess of All Things. Cosmina is determined to perform an ancient and sacred rite that will restore White Temple to its former glory, pleasing the Goddess in the process. Just as she’s about to begin the ritual, the enemy invades.
Henrick isn’t sure when he’ll stop running from his past. Given to a powerful assassin as a child, Henrick is one of the deadliest men in the land. The son of a twisted high priestess, he has sworn to avoid anything having to do with the Goddess. However, the deity herself has something entirely different in mind. On the trail of a long-time enemy, Henrick finds himself on the outskirts of White Temple. There, he runs into Cosmina, and both their lives are changed forever.
This is one of those books I really wanted to like. I love fantasy, especially those having to do with religions that resemble Paganism. I found the idea of a man and woman drawn together by a Goddess very intriguing. Sadly, Ms. Callahan’s writing has a slow, plodding feel to it, making what might have been a fast-paced story seem endless. The audiobook is on the long side, at approximately fourteen and a half hours, but its length isn’t the only thing responsible for my feelings of discontent. Ms. Callahan spends an extraordinarily long time explaining the past of each and every character. While understanding a character’s motivations is often useful, this was overkill. Not only was I treated to long passages about the early lives of Henrick and Cosmina, but I also had to know the backstories of their friends and enemies. Some of this might have been better received if the story had shown it to me, rather than spelling it out in painstaking detail.
I struggled to believe in Henrick and Cosmina as a couple. Things move extremely fast in the romance department. Right after they meet, each is suddenly possessed with the knowledge of how to help and heal the other. This was somewhat understandable for Cosmina, since she’s a seer, but I was unable to fathom why Henrick felt as he did, and why he chose to act on it. I was forced to suspend disbelief quite a bit, and I found myself unable to do it. As a result, this couple wasn’t very believable to me, causing the romance to fall flat.
Narrator Heather Wilds is fast becoming one of my favorite readers of historical and fantasy fiction. Her general narrative is well-modulated. Characters are each given distinct accents, making dialogue tags unnecessary. I was a bit puzzled by Ms. Wilds’ decision to give Cosmina a French accent, but it did not detract from the overall performance.
Ms. Wilds does have a problem reading long passages. She doesn’t seem aware of the proper place to take a breath. Instead of waiting until she reaches the end of a sentence, she reads as much as she possibly can and then grabs a very audible breath. Not only is this jarring, but it is also capable of pulling the listener out of the story, and, with a book like Knight Avenged, this was especially noticeable. Maybe my lack of enjoyment made me notice it more. I can’t say for sure. What I do know is that it should have been caught in the editing process.
Despite this flaw, Ms. Wilds’ narration is largely responsible for my finishing this rather tiresome story. She breathed life into long, drawn-out scenes. There were times when I felt transported out of my living room and onto a battlefield.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Knight Avenged. Ms. Wilds is very talented though, and I definitely suggest you look up some of her other work. There are plenty of more deserving romances out there.
Shannon
Narration: B
Book Content: D
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: Fighting
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Knight Avenged was provided to AudioGals by Brilliance Audio for review.
