Bloody Spade

The Cardplay Duology, Book 1

De: Brittany M. Willows

Narrado por: Hunter McCoy

Set in a world where magic has come roaring back from myth to reality, Bloody Spade is the first installment in an urban fantasy duology that follows a cat-eared thief touched by darkness and a spirited girl with the power to cleanse it. Together, they must navigate his wild magic, her hotheaded brother, a sinister plot, and the feelings they're developing for each other.

©2019 Brittany Margaret Willows (P)2023 Brittany Margaret Willows

The emotional description of the characters. on point and as dramatic as needed.

This was a review copy sent to me.
Let me start the review with the commentary that this is not something I'd normally read, so my review may be biased.
This is a very interesting book about you g adults with magical powers, something akin to Final Fantasy VIII, with its own story, of course. The story may be a little easy to guess, but the real strenght of the story is in the feelings and conflicts of the characters that are part of the story. There are even point that grt intense and I really got to feel the struggles. The hero characters were very interesting, although the really evil ones were a bit flat (maybe we get to know them more in the second book).
The narrator was excellent and he really put feeling in his reading. Even in the funny moments he put in the levity and in the really serious one there was the necessary gravitas to make one's heart almost break.
A side note that does not affect the score at all was the lengthy disclaimer at the beginning of the book, but I may have disliked it because I am too used to stronger material and it was not really intended for me.
All in all, it is a great exploration of conflict and feeling set in a world with magic in it that has even some anime vibes. If that is your jam, go for it, you will not regret it!

An enthralling tale of power and acceptance

It is remarkably rare that an author writes a fantasy tale that contains both magic and technology that parallels our world. Most authors opt for one or the other, almost in fear that one will nullify the use of the other. However, Brittany Willows cleverly articulates a story in which both can coexist, opting to create a society where magic is relatively taboo, and the users must stifle their abilities in order to be accepted by the greater populace. Within this frame, agonists are quickly cast as good or bad based on their adherence to this ideal, and Willows writes a tale that constantly tests this premise, while innocuously describing a world that could quite be our own.
As for the narration, Hunter McCoy not only utilizes natural and distinct voices for the characters, but also paints the landscape through deliberate and flowing cadence. My experience with audiobooks has been limited to mostly non-fiction, where diction is the only integral portion, since details are quickly glossed over when listening to. However, McCoy uses a tempo that vividly paints the landscape for both the ethereal and tangible settings. While the nature of the magical skirmishes are erratic, great care is taken to ensure the clarity of action and the gravity of each situation.
Overall, I would recommend the novel to young adults looking for world-building stories of acceptance as a central theme. As the audiobook is easy enough to listen to, I would recommend it be listened to just about everywhere. A strong all-around novel and performance. I am eagerly awaiting future works from the both of them.

Great story great narrating

Engaging storyline and the talented narrator made it even more engaging. The pace of the book draws you in. Experiencing it as an audiobook made me want to make time to listen to it every chance I got. I just really enjoyed it all and I'm looking forward to the next book!

Great Magical Story -Would Recommend

This story was a lot better than I was expecting. It's about a modern world that was had a disaster event that caused magic to be introduced into the world. The main characters both have magic and are part of the cities magical protection force.

I think the characters are very personable and act very realistically. Mental health is a factor in a few of the characters progression in the story although mental health isn't the direct factor. I think this makes character development easier to accept.

The Magic system is more of a soft magic system, but it isn't overpowered. Many novels with magic have the magic users be, essentially, gods. This story is much more down to earth where if a person is harmed by fire, they will be in the hospital recovering for a few weeks. I also enjoy that guns are represented in the sense that magic isn't overpowered. Normal threats are still threats to magical people.

I really enjoyed the story. For the first 3/4 of the book, I thought it was more character driven instead of plot driven. The last 1/4 of the book is where the character development moves the plot along and I thought the narrative was well written on how it was completed.

The narrator does a good job with dialogue, and he does an excellent job with accents. I think he can still improve when performing narrative (non-dialogue) sections of the book as I thought it was a little too much acting when it came to descriptions. Overall, I still give the narrator an A performance.

The audio production is the weakest part of the audiobook although I wouldn't tell someone to not get this audiobook based on it. There were 5-10 times through the book (maybe 5-15 words total for the entirety of the book) where it seems like the audio production team increased the volume of certain words. There is also a noticeable error (Chapter 3, 27 mins,5 secs in case author reads this) where there is an editing cut, and it was very poorly done. The audio is cut out mid-sentence, pauses for about 5 seconds, then goes back about 1 sentence in the story.

I wasn't expecting much of this title when I began the story, but it turned out to be a very fun listen and am excited for book 2. If you think this may interest you, I recommend listening to it.

Persona-like

First off, hats off to the narrator. He was extraordinary. Secondly I thought the story was really well written. I'm not much for reviewing books, so bear with me. This like most every other book/audiobook took me a chapter or two to get into and really feel the story. I ended up really liking this story tho, to the point I messaged the author asking when the second book is coming to audible. There wasn't a time frame yet but it was coming. This book in my opinion had a resemblance to the Persona games I play. I love those games therefore loved this book. I don't want to get into details. All I want to say is give this book a listen to. I think you'll enjoy it especially if you're into this genre.

Enthralling and Emotional Anime-esque Adventure

I greatly enjoyed listening to Bloody Spade. The characters and writing have a lot of depth in them and not are not just a collection of tropes. The characters have their own flaws and struggles and much of the book is about trying to get through them, much like real humans would. There were also plenty of moments where I felt the emotional tension in the plot and narration.

The narration was fantastic with the narrator giving diverse voices for each of the characters and at appropriate times, had immense emotional depth to their lines.

While the following is impartial to my review, the book is definitely accepting of the LGBT+ community through its diverse cast of characters, if that is something you are looking for,

The world was also pretty interesting and unique, while giving off an anime-esque flair, but not in the sense of predictable tropes and clichés.

In any case, I loved it and I will definitely pick-up the next book in the duology if/when it comes to audible.

DISCLAIMER: I was sent a free copy of the book from the author, but that in no way reflects in how I review the book.