A Life of Shadows

Redemption Saga Series, Book 1

By: Kristen Banet

Narrated by: Lucy Rivers

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Sawyer Matthews knows how to put one foot in front of the other, to keep moving while the nightmares haunt her and her own failures taunt her. She's become a master at doing awful things with good intentions, terrible things for the sake of those who need her. She's long given up on being the hero, trying to find peace in no longer being the villain.

When her past comes back and she finds herself caught by the International Magi Police Organization, she'll have to revisit her own personal hells and finally confront the very monster that made her what she is. The very monster that has already killed her once before.

Will the "dead" Magi assassin Shadow finally come out of the dark to begin a fight for a redemption she doesn't believe she deserves? Or will her nightmares drag her back into the shadows that have defined her life?

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Kristen Banet (P)2018 Tantor

Amazing first book in this Paranormal UF series!!

This was my first book I had ever read/listened to by Kristen Banet and I am super happy I added this to my TBR/TBL! I think Sawyer is now one of my favorite MCs and some of the guys are now on my book boyfriend list. I had been listening to some shorter audiobooks lately so it was nice to listen to a long/full length one. Already downloaded Book 2 and 3 on audiobook because this one was really good.

In this story, we get to know our MC, Sawyer, who had a horrible past that she has tried to distance herself from, but her past comes back to haunt her anyway. Sawyer has been dealt a horrible hand in life and did what she needed to survive and unfortunately it put her on the wrong side of the law. She makes amends by helping kids who were put in bad situations like she was, protecting them and teaching them how to protect themselves and their family members from abuse. She is forced to work with the group that is kinda like our FBI/CIA but for paranormals. She is reunited with her childhood friends and gets to meet their teammates. This team is fantastic and sorta disfunctional at times, but that makes me love them even more. I love how not all of them like her instantly but they slowly get to know who she really is and realize she isn’t the criminal they perceived her to be (I mean they are shocked when they find out who she was in her past life but hopefully in Book 2 they will get over it haha).

Speaking to the audio part briefly, this was my first audiobook narrated by Lucy Rivers and she did a good job. I think she did a good job with the different voices for the guys except Elijah. I know she needed to do a country twang but it was pretty bad for me. That is the only reason I downgraded the performance and overall ratings to a 4. I think she did a good job with Quinn, Vincent, Axel, etc. I thought she did Sawyer perfectly. She had me almost in tears when she was telling the guys about her past. I was hit right in the gut and it was because of Kristen’s amazing storytelling and Lucy’s great delivery. I would definitely listen to other books she has narrated.

I would highly recommend this series, especially the audiobooks! I am listening to the first 3 books to help me get ready for Book 5’s release this month. I dont want to go too quickly but I want to be ready when the fifth and final book in this series releases on the 15th I believe. Amazing job Kristen and Lucy, gonna go start book 2 now ❤️

Maybe the best 1st paranormal novel I've heard.

I am a devoted fan of the works of Nalini Singh, Faith Hunter and Ilona Andrews. Yet, as a first novel that has to create a world and interest in a new character and new story line,, this may be the best I've encountered.

Looking forward to the next book ...

Such a Phenomenal Story!

I read this whole series a couple years ago and absolutely loved it. So when it came to audiobook format, I wanted to experience it that way as well. We get an FMC that is completely badass, but helps kids nonstop. Plenty of laughs, some tears, and cool magic, provide structural integrity to a legitimately great book.

And while Lucy Rivers may not have been my first choice for narrator, she still did a good job.

Dark, awesome new series

3.5 Stars

Overall Rating ★★★★
Plot ★★★★
Humor ★★★
Characters & Character Development ★★★
Narration ★★★★

Story: I really enjoyed the writing style with the conversations between the characters. It was more mature than some of the other Reverse Harem series that I’ve listened to and read. Throughout the book I was frustrated because her Magic was being locked away when she may need it at any moment. I was also angry that they gave her money away. I don't care what she did. Especially because of the fact that two of the people are supposedly her friends. Everything she did was in order to protect other people from harm.

The book was good but there wasn't a lot going on throughout a good portion of the middle of the book. I understand that this is the first book so there's some world building going on. I definitely would like to see some more action in the next book.

The end was a bit frustrating because of the whole magic thing. I knew that something like that was going to happen. In the end she’s kidnapped due to a bomb, and she can't even defend herself because of the wrist locking her magic. In the last fight Vincent says “You’re just a thief with a good right hook.” That was just the stupidest thing I ever heard given what they’d seen her do. Obviously she’s much more than that. So that whole dialogue wasn’t believable to me.

I’ve read plots like this time and time again when the main character doesn’t have information and/or can’t fight because of what people in the book who care about her have done. If they hadn’t locked up her power she could have defended herself more. I would like to know what she has to say after she finds out a about her money. After everything she'd been through, I hated that for her. I hope the people her money was given to will keep it safe for her.

Narration: Lucy Rivers - She's not my favorite narrator but she's alright. I felt like one of the accents was a bit much but the rest of the guys were okay.

#tagsgiving #sweepstakes #Dark #Magical

Performance

While the story was good the narrator was difficult to listen to. Usually, when I don’t like the narration, I will not continue with the book but I enjoyed the story enough that I finished listening. If following books have the same narrator, I’ll just read the book and forgo the audio

Finish the series?

Any chance the rest of the series will be available via audiobook anytime soon? I would really like the option to listen to the rest of Sawyer's story.

Just Wow!

If that isn't one of the best darn books I've ever read in my life! Just wow! Dark, thrilling, and insanely addictive...I found everything I could possibly need in a book, and I'm just floored. I'm just thrilled it's not over yet!

Worth a Listen.

Fantastic Narrorators, Intriguing tale full of feels and hot guys. I am definitly listining to the next one. 🥰

great story, narration could use work

I loved the concept in this story and the overarching storyline presented. The female MC is strong and flawed, humanizing her. The men are given the start of their own complex backgrounds which sets up the series nicely for development.

The narration done for the female MC was great! The narration done for the males fell flat. At the first introduction to the main male characters there wasn't enough distinction in each voice making it difficult to follow but as the story continued the narration seemed to improve a little bit on separating each male character. The main issue is the narrator very clearly struggles to do male narration and it took away from the story. If the male narration was done by a male narrator or the whole book done by a different narrator who could successfully create multiple distinct male voices then this would be a 5 star review straight through.


In summary, 5 stars for the story, 3 stars on narration, and overall 4 stars. However I DO recommend this book. If you're not too picky about narration and can easily adjust once you get going, its not terrible to the point of having to stop listening. If you're picky about narration, maybe go with the book version instead of audiobook unless they update narration.

The essence of perfection

This is one of my all time favorite series. Sawyer Matthews is one of the best characters I have ever enjoyed reading about and Kristen Banet is a writing Goddess among all the normal run of the meal. Sawyer is a complex, some what broken MC that truly is the heart and drive of the entire series. A Life of Shadows is the first book in the Redemption Saga that gradually lets you get to know Sawyer and the rest of the team of supporting characters. While listening to the audiobook and the comforting voice of the narrator, the world in this saga is built starting you on an adventure of a life time. If you like your MC's tough with a heart of gold then this series is for you. I truly hope you love it as much as I do.