Blade of Secrets

By: Tricia Levenseller

Narrated by: Emily Ellet

Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

"Emily Ellet offers an unflinching and elegant performance of this audiobook...Ellet's vocal versatility and steady pace capture several characters seamlessly while guiding listeners through budding romance, anxiety attacks, and the steadfast strength of a character who proves herself even at her worst." (AudioFile Magazine)

In Blade of Secrets, the first audiobook in Tricia Levenseller's exciting new YA fantasy duology, a teenage blacksmith with social anxiety is forced to go on the run to protect the world from the most powerful magical sword she's ever made.

Eighteen-year-old Ziva prefers metal to people. She spends her days tucked away in her forge, safe from society and the anxiety it causes her, using her magical gift to craft unique weapons imbued with power.

Then Ziva receives a commission from a powerful warlord, and the result is a sword capable of stealing its victims secrets. A sword that can cut far deeper than the length of its blade. A sword with the strength to topple kingdoms. When Ziva learns of the warlord’s intentions to use the weapon to enslave all the world under her rule, she takes her sister and flees.

Joined by a distractingly handsome mercenary and a young scholar with extensive knowledge of the world’s known magics, Ziva and her sister set out on a quest to keep the sword safe until they can find a worthy wielder or a way to destroy it entirely.

A Macmillan Audio production from Feiwel & Friends

©2021 Tricia Levenseller (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Great Storytelling

A wonderful book with an excellent narrator! The ending will make you beg for more and the next book!

wonderful

This was more of a 4.5 star read for me. The narrator was excellent. And you can't go wrong with a Tricia Levenseller story.

This is a fun, action filled adventure with characters to love and a world that pulls you right in.

still liked it

the heroine after a time , instead of getting stronger( some ways she did get stronger) , continued to be so whiney it made me want to shake her

Amazing

The book was absolutely wonderful. I actually read(listened) to it twice. A second time so I can be prepared for the sequel. The reader did an excellent job, I like audio books but I am very picky with my readers. There’s been many books I’ve refused to listen to no matter how good the book because the reader was not up to par. As far as the book, I finished it within a week the first time and 3 days the second time. It’s the perfect book to get lost into. T. Levenseller is my favorite author by far and the only one that I will buy the book on preorder and know exactly when it comes out. Read it! You won’t regret it.

Cant wait for 2nd book

Loved the chemistry between all the characters! Levenseller’s descriptions of anxiety were very well written. I have already pre-ordered the next book to the series. The cliff hanger at the end was a perfect way to end the book in my opinion. Leaves me wanting more without it feeling awkward at the end. I cant wait to read more about their journey.

Amazing.

Amazing Novel. Beautiful and very entertaining from page 1 till the end. Emily Ellet (the narrator) did an outstanding job in narrating the entire book. She kept us engaged from the start till the end.

Can't wait for book 2.

Another great book by Tricia Levenseller

Tricia Levenseller has never done me wrong with any of her books - each is as fun and enjoyable and as much of a reality break as the last and oh, she did such a great job writing these characters! 5/5 stars, can’t wait for her next book.

MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER

The anxiety rep, sisterhood, found family, and witty banter all make this such a worthwhile read for me! And the narrator does an amazing job with distinguishing each character and infusing heart and humor. I will be rereading this forever 🙌🏼

After awhile…

I appreciate the representation in this book and this author is a fantastic storyteller, but the mc started becoming unlikeable because of constant whining and no real growth. She ends up my least favorite.

Shallow Characters & Predictable Story

This book has earned a place on my shelf of the worst books I've ever read (and it only joins one other). Because my overall review is about the garbage, I'll start with the "good" components of this book:
- it has the potential to be really good, interesting premise and ideas (but that are NOT examined in any meaningful way)
- it's nice to have a MC that struggles with mental challenges (social anxiety), but I feel as though the author could have portrayed this in a more meaningful way and just better than it is now
- the narrator has a good performance (limited by the writing style though)
- quick easy read of a book (kind of like fast food compared to a chef's master meal, this book is the fast food)

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Opinions are opinions, not facts. These are my express impressions and opinions of the book. I tried to focus on components of literary quality and good storytelling, rather than the many MANY gripes and annoyances I had with this book. You may find the book wonderful and that you love it, I'm happy for you!
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Issues with This Book (without spoilers, except last bullet):
- Poor pacing of events and relationships between characters, throughout. For example, one chapter could equal one day and another could equal weeks with events in these chapters progressing ridiculously fast or boringly slow.
- The plot of this book is so predictable it was killing me slowly... Not that plots need to be unpredictable to be good but without a reflection of the spontaneity of life, you would need to focus on the interesting components of your story and expand on those instead (i.e. character internal conflicts that are realistic or how their society shapes their accomplishments/capabilities). Honestly, it feels like I read a detailed outline for what this book could have been but it got published before any meaningful content was actually included.
- Characters are defined poorly with very few dimensions so they are difficult to connect/sympathize with or even care about. Hated all of them, unrelatable and did not act like real people.
- Similarly, the world building and context of this story/characters is also poorly defined or considered within the whole book (meaning things like this world's religion, society, or locations are mentioned mostly by name and used as plot/event points without really including what these things mean for main characters or how they influence other characters and events).
- Contradictions for Everyone!! There are hairbrained contradictions throughout this whole book. Characters think one thing in an absolute and then a chapter later, completely reverse themselves (but not in a believable way). The dumbest? The MC seriously thinks making magical weapons makes the world a safer place (but also expects her crafted weapons to be used and for no other purposes). Frustrating that the character barely considers how her craft actually impacts the world.
- There are also flavors of current sociopolitical trends throughout the book (i.e. gender differences but M vs F only, sexuality) but only in a way to satisfy "having them in there" without actually addressing or meaningfully including them. (>mild SPOILER but an important example: you can't have the acceptance of a gay couple but then have ALL the heterosexuality someone could ever read about and insults about robes as dresses on a man, come on).

Once again>> Opinions are opinions, not facts. These are my express impressions and opinions of the book. I tried to focus on components of literary quality and good storytelling, rather than the many MANY gripes and annoyances I had with this book. You may find it wonderful and that you love it, I'm happy for you!