Chrysalis

Formicary, Book 1

By: S.E. Harmon

Narrated by: Kai Rubio

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Waking up in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head is bad. Finding out I have amnesia is far worse. My memory is practically wiped. I don't know why someone wants me dead. Hell, I don't even know my name. They say my name is Christian Cross. Too bad that name means nothing to me.

I haven't forgotten everything, though. Grayson Laurie has always been my kryptonite, and it would take more than a bullet to the brain to forget him. He assures me that I'm imagining the distance between us, but I know better. I just don't know how to fix it. I console myself that at least I've reached rock bottom and things can't get worse...until they do.

My life is a tangled mess of lies and deceit. The more I learn about myself, the less I want to know. I want nothing more than an honest future with Gray, but the past isn't about to let me go without a fight.

Fortunately, I'm starting to realize that fighting is my specialty.

©2021 S. E. Harmon (P)2022 Tantor

Excellent!

Though I hadn't forgotten how good the story was, listening to (new to me), Kai Rubio brought it all back and then some. Loved the narration (did take a little getting used to, because I had an idea of how the characters would sound). Highly recommend.
Looking forward to listening to the sequel!

Great book

Second time I read book and listened to the Audible as well. Its very syfy, tech . It is read perfectly by Kai Rubio , will definitely look for more of his narrations.
I always preface that I am a Yaoi afficiando. this only enhances the depth of the story . I read/listen to many books of all types , but I became really tired of anime type drooling females ( simple?) or kick males in face type.
this is why I continue enjoying the m/m books mostly .
I recommend this book . its action, emotional at intervals and nearly tearful in parts .

enjoyed it

Story comment: Good pace, likeable characters, interesting plot
I went into this one knowing nothing more than the brief Publishers Summary which in the grand scheme of the story gives away very little! I found the story a little slow to start, but once Chris's secrets started spilling out I got sucked right in.

This book isn't a straight "guy wakes up with amnesia" story, there are sci-fi elements wrapped up in Chris's character's past.
Chrysalis was not at all what I expected, and is very different to what I thought it would be given the opening chapters. Once it got going the pace was good, the interaction between the characters was engaging (I really enjoy Christian's snarky personality) and the underlying story is intriguing as Christian tries to put the pieces of his old life together.
It is part of a series so does end on a sort of a cliff-hanger.

Narrator comment: Kai Rubio is a new narrator for me and I enjoyed his performance.
He suited the characters, has good cadence, inflections and intonations and it was easy to tell the characters apart. I did nudged the speed up to 1.1x just to ramp up the atmosphere slightly, the native 1.0x speed just felt a smidge passive and that slight speed increase just helped add a little more tension which I felt better suited the pace of the story.
In the beginning I was a little lost and had to go back and listen to the first two chapters again, it took me a while to figure out where I was losing myself were the lines of inner monologue, I would have found it easier if there was a stronger "tonal change" to make the inner monologue clearer, there was a slight change, but until I got used to it, I didn't really notice it (this is where italicised text in a book makes things easier!).

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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 7
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough [3⭐] • 5 enjoyed it [4⭐] • 6 will listen again if i'm in the mood for the narrator [4⭐] • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list [4⭐] • 8 kept me up past bed-time [4.5⭐] • 9 recommended to family/friends [4.75⭐] • 10 own it in all formats [5⭐] • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]

Good Story

The story was good, It had me entranced from word one wondering what was going on. However, the narration did not cause the level of excitement in me that the story called for. In my opinion the performance was sort of lack luster.

Interesting!

This was one of my first books with this vibe of a secret agent like deal. At the end of this book I was not sure how to feel about it definitely has a good cliffhanger so worth the read. The narrator did the the character good Justice.

Good story. Good narration.

This book is a little hard to review without giving away a few good surprises.

I liked the fact that the romance was part of the plot, but not all of it. Christian is trying to figure out what happened before he was shot, and the truth is a bit of a surprise. Solving the puzzle leads to some serious action, and I like how SE Harmon writes the action scenes.

The narration was performed well, and I would listen to more books narrated by Kai Rubio. This was an entertaining read/listen if you are looking for a romance with a bit of a Sci Fi element and some serious action.

Good story

I like the story. There are strong characters and I hope we get to follow up with some of them. The narration is really good. I enjoyed his performance.

Sooo good!!!

Excellent!!! All the way around!!! The mystery is so well paced, the romance is swoony, the characters are fascinating!!! But there is a cliff hanger so be prepared to listen to the second one.

The worst narrator I have ever listened to

Let me start by saying I am usually a huge fan of SE Harmon’s books. The writing has sass and sarcasm and makes me laugh even during tense moments. But this narrator was so dull and un-energetic that every line just laid there … the monotone delivery was annoying and the other characters were similar in voices. What a huge disappointment. I will read the next book on kindle instead of listening to it, but SE please don’t use this narrator again.

Don’t waste your money or credits on this book.

No the S.E. Harmon I know and love

What a HOKEY story. What an uninspired narration. This was an incredibly disappointing audio book.