Tracing Shadows

Scout, Book 1

De: Alex Lidell

Narrado por: Hayden Daviau

To protect the throne, 17-year-old spy Kali must play a male guardsman trainee by day and royal lady by night.

Orphaned and trained on a spymaster’s remote estate, Kali is a scout who works alone in the shadows. But when a terror group threatens the Dansil throne, the king forces Kali to accept a mission at the palace or forfeit her sister’s life.

Suddenly thrust into the light, Kali must infiltrate high society as the royal Lady Lianna while penetrating the servant ranks as Kal, a male guardsman trainee. It doesn’t help that Trace, the harsh and enigmatic captain of the king’s guard, is soon assigned as both Lady Lianna’s palace escort and Kal’s commanding officer.

As Kali edges closer to the truth behind the violent group’s identity, she uncovers dangerous secrets that could bring her mission to a brutal end. A scout’s job is to observe and report, never to engage...but if it means saving her sister and kingdom, Kali may have no choice.

Tracing Shadows, by Amazon best-selling author Alex Lidell, is the first novel in the Scout series. Perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce, Leigh Bardugo, and Sarah J. Maas.

©2018 Alex Lidell (P)2018 Alex Lidell

Amazing listen!

I LOVED this audio! Fantastic characters and story kept me on the edge of my seat until the end. I can’t wait to listen to the next book! Great narrator too, she put so much emotion into her performance and had unique voices and accents for each character, even the many faces of Callie had their own unique voice. I received a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Magic, Fantasy and Court Intrigue!

A few months ago I read Ash and Air by Alex and absolutely fell in love with the writing, the world, the character- pretty much everything was spot on to make me seek out more of her books. When I saw that she had a brand new series coming out with a female spy, there was no question that I would read the book, more of just how could I get my hands on it.
Tracing Shadows was a fast paced story full of court intrigue, lies and deception, where you are not sure who to trust and what a person's true intentions are. Oh and don't forget the forbidden magic that runs underneath everything in this world, regardless of the fact they try and deny it. If you like your book full of twists and adventure, then I highly recommend this start to the series. In a world where magic is seen as the enemy and acts of terror take place against those that wield the power, how do you use the power to help people/things/the situation?

Kali's entire life is about lies and pretending to be someone she isn't as a Scout aka a spy, making her a hard character to pin down. Her job, or rather life goal, is to find out as much information as she can in any given situation, be it the enemies to the empire or the Crown itself- after all, loyalty can be bought. She was so fluid as to who she became, be it personality or appearance. I did find it kind of wonderful to have such a transitional character, taking on traits and quirks befitting her new identity- and yes, she could be a convincing court lady with manners and breeding (cough, cough, she technically is a high lady, just not recognized, but whatever) and she could transform into a powerful male in a blink of an eye (and a well bound chest). Her loyalty was flexible as well, except to her sister Leaf, who was her whole reason for pretty much everything. Side note, there is another voice used to narrate the story and that was Violet, a young teen in the court, who was an interesting character but more like a side note to me- there to help the story, but I was happier to get back to Cali and her disasters. (oh an ps, I love Wil!)

The narrator was able to create unique voices for all the characters, making it easy to decipher who was talking. She also gave personality and emotions to each person, really helping the audiobook come to life. I will say sometimes the sound quality of the audiobook was a little off, like with a slight echo when the narrator would speak that was slightly distracting, but it did not occur all the time so it was easy for me to overlook it.

Alex was able to create another really cool, unique world within these pages and I found myself blowing through the book because I had to get to the end and discover more information. I am really excited to see what will happen next, especially with the bombshell dropped and the potential changes coming. Alex yet again made a book that I really enjoyed and I am so glad that I was able to experience it.

What an Adventure!

Tracing Shadows is one heck of an adventure! The story is centered around Kali, a young woman who, in order to protect her sister, goes undercover in the palace as both Lady Lianna, and Kal, a trainee in the king's gaurd. The story is filled with intrigue, action, mystery, and really kind of explores the love of family and what a person might do for that love. The story is written excellently, as usual. Alex Lidell is an amazingly talented author! I have loved everything I've read of hers! The story is narrated by Hayden Daviau who does a respectable job with it. All in all this is an excellent book (I finished it in a single day!) and well worth the read! I was given a free copy of this book, and have chosen to leave this honest review.

An adventurous read!

To protect the throne, 17-year-old spy Kali must play a male guardsman trainee by day and royal lady by night...

Such an exciting, adventurous read that will leave you anxiously waiting for the next book!

Devoured this in one day! Absolutely fantastic and enjoyable. Throughout this whole book, I was intrigued and interested. So, so good and enjoyable. What a lovely six hours - it was music to my ears.

The narrator was good. A good listen.

A entertaining story.

With a good Narrator that presented the story in a manner that was entertaining this
Audio Book is worth your time.

The plot is well constructed with interesting characters.




This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Amazing story

This was an amazing fantasy read I have to say it felt a little slow but when it it picked up it never put me back down. I have read Alex Liddell’s power of Five series and this is definitely very different but man did I love it. I can not wait to get to the next part of the story.

Another Great Adventure!

Since I've read all of Alex Lidell's other series, I knew I would enjoy this one as well. This book was full of adventure and suspense. The narration was good and kept me entertained. This author does an excellent job with the character builds and plot. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Mistress of disguise.

Mistress of disguise.
Audio version.
This took me a little time to get into, but then I couldn't stop listening. A great beginning for a series.
I can't wait for more of this, I want to say more about this story but I absolutely hate spoilers, so I won't go into details.
WARNING it is a cliffy, which I also hate.
The narrative was a bit fast, rushed as if she couldn't wait to finish reading.
Reasons I enjoyed this audio book:
Wonderful characters, Page-turner, Great world building, Unpredictable, Original, Easy-to-read/listen, Entertaining, Action-packed.
Bookshelves/tags:
adventure, cliffhanger, mystery, paranormal, series, suspense, young-adult.
This Audio book was given to me at my request from the publisher, author or narrator and I provided this unbiased voluntary review.

New exciting adventure in a new breathtaking world

The world rich, intriguing, filled with secrets, danger, lies, deceit, and malice. This world one young girl finds she has to navigate by being a dual individual. A world this young girl finds lures her in deeper and deeper. She fights for her family (sister) and her country. There was a dual POV but not the way I was expecting it to be. Kali was so much and so little all at the same time. She was Lady Lianna and Kal a male trainee. There were layers and depth in this one. There was more that could have been revealed.

Narrator Hayden Daviau opened up some doors with the diction and flow of the narration. You could almost feel like you were in Kali's shoes while this part of the adventure was taking place. The ebb and flow of the audio was clear, clean and gave you a sense of experiencing it right before your eyes.

Awesome Narrator! Couldn't Stop Listening!

Kali is a scout. When the king of Dansil has been threatened by terrorists, he assigns Kali to a dangerous mission. If she refuses, her sister will be killed. Kali is to act as his niece Lady Liana at night, and disguise herself as a male trainee during the day. As Kali searches to find out the terrorists identify, she finds herself getting into trouble with Trace, the captain of the royal guards. She learns that Trace may be hiding some important information. Soon, she realizes that Trace may be linked to the terrorists. Kali must fight to protect her sister and her kingdom against these dangerous threats.

I loved Kali! She is a very feisty character. She acts with instinct and not her brain. Therefore, she is always getting herself into trouble. I loved the fact that she can fight and is very tenacious. There were times that she could be very vulnerable. Those moments were what made her an endearing heroine. Thus, Kali was a witty and engaging heroine, and I rooted for her to vanquish her enemies.

I also loved her relationship with Trace. Trace seems cold. However, it turns out that he has a heart of gold. He has a sad background, and I can understand why he can be aloof. The romance between them is very slow, but it is built on mutual experiences. Both of them have tragic backgrounds. Eventually, he becomes Kali’s mentor and protector. I found Trace to be very mysterious, and I found unraveling Trace’s past was one of the best elements in the novel.

Even though the book was great, the audiobook really made the story come alive. The narrator really captured Kali’s gutsy personality. She also did an stupendous job in making the other characters come alive. She did an excellent job in portraying Trace’s broodiness. Thus, Ms. Daviau is one of the best narrators that I have ever listened to. It was hard to keep from listening! I would not only love to listen to this audiobook again, but I would love to listen more from this narrator!

Overall, Tracing Shadows is a novel of friendship, family, love, and duty. The novel is very fast-paced and is filled with courtly intrigue, danger, adventure, and mystery! I did wish for the supporting characters to be more developed, and I thought the world-building needed more explanation. Still, these flaws did not take away my enjoyment of the novel. When Tracing Shadows ended in a cliffhanger, I immediately downloaded the sequel and read it in one sitting! Tracing Shadows is a novel you do not want to miss if you love plucky heroines and mysterious love interests! This novel is perfect for fans of Defy, Cage of Deceit, and Flame in the Mist!
(Note: I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.)