Scala

By: Christina Bauer

Narrated by: Christina Bauer

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Nineteen-year-old Myla Lewis has transformed into Great Scala, the only being with the power to move souls out of Purgatory and into Heaven or Hell. Trouble is, a magical object called Lucifer's Orb is limiting Myla's abilities. If she tries to move a soul, the Orb's forcing her to send that spirit straight to Hell.

So, what's a girl to do? Send innocents to the fiery down-under?

No way. Myla's gone on a supernatural strike. No souls go anywhere until the Orb's history. It's the right thing to do, but Purgatory's Soul Storage buildings are turning into time bombs. No spirits are moving out, while millions keep coming in. Myla's determined to find the Orb and send the innocent to Heaven, but she's running out of time. Soon, the containment fields will burst, releasing a mob of homicidal ghosts.

With Soul Storage ready to explode, Myla's got enough on her plate without her old enemy, Lady Adair, causing problems. Adair is launching an ingenious campaign to take away everything that Myla holds dear, including Myla's Angelbound love, Prince Lincoln.

Between their clever ideas and toe-curling kisses, Myla and Lincoln are fighting back. But will they beat the clock or lose everything to Adair's devious schemes?

©2014 Christina Bauer (P)2017 Christina Bauer

Fun Story

What a great and fun story. I love watching the leading characters develop. Lots of good witty banter!

amazing book

Amazing second book. I have not wanted to stop this narration due to being so intrigued. I just purchased book 3 of the series and cannot wait for it to download. Amazing job Christina!

Great Sequel to a wonderful storyline

It was interesting to see where the author took the path from the first book. I thought the idea of the Scala and the Igny was really cool. Again, leave it to Christina Bauer to give me something I've never really heard before. Another great book with an original story line.

First book good , second not so much

I found the writers voice irritating when it came to voicing other characters than the main one. Story was more intrigue than action, and annoying intrigue at that. Won’t listen to third book.

Spent a lot of time yelling at stupid heros.

Dialogue is fresh and very youthful. Intelligence level of heroes is well below the line of good taste. I found myself jeering the droolingly dumb heros halfway through the book. I wish the author luck, but characters shouldn't have to be stupid to create the scenes where the author wants to take them.

Loved it

I honestly feel like this series just keeps getting better. There are little quirks in Bauer's writing that some people might not like, but I love the snark, I love the sarcasm, and most of all, I LOVE the world that she's created.

Great Story

Great story. A little slow in the middle at times (felt like they were never going to find that stupid orb!) but overall, a great story. I will definitely keep listening to this series. I also love the idea of the scala/the role of this person. Oh, and Prince Lincoln is just amazing, enough said there. :)

good book

I enjoyed this book very much. was kinda different having the writer read it. but it was ok. loved the world she made. the different races. looking forward to the next one

Nobody puts Myla in a corner

Myla is back in book 2, picking up a few months after the end of book one. ​Myla is now the Great Scala and with those powers come some terrible responsibilities. Number one being moving souls to either Heaven or Hell, but with the hidden orb in Purgatory, the only place the souls can go is Hell. So while trying to find the orb, Myla is also trying to keep the overflowing souls contained, steal some alone time with her hunny Lincoln, and dodge Lady Adair, who has made it her goal to be the thorn in Myla's side. Just another day in Purgatory for Myla.

​I literally could not stop listening to this book, ​I was so on the edge of my seat worrying over everything Myla had to deal with. Seriously, this was stressful and real life kept getting in my way, and I loved every minute of the story. I was sucked into the plot and everything Myla went through, I went through right along with her. The book was such a good mix of non-stop action and conflict, with romantic tension and complex, continuing to evolve characters. Also, the few sweet encounters with Myla and Lincoln were heart melting and 100% confirmed that they belong together- the fact he supports her in any capacity is swoon worthy.

The author was back to narrate the second book and I could not have been happier. Keep in mind I own all the books in the series as ebooks, but I will gladly wait until the author has created audio versions for me to listen to because she brings them to life in a way I probably could not have imagined if I read them on my own. Christina gives all the characters personality and voice, creating a full picture for the reader (listener) to get wrapped up in. Myla is hands down my favorite, due in part to her personality, random ramblings and special touches Christina uses to bring her to life. I know that if Myla was a real person and not the Great Scala living in Purgatory, we would be good friends- my snark would recognize her snark.

I can't wait to continue the series, but I will patiently (ok not so patiently, but I have no other option) wait for the rest of the series to become audiobooks. I have forced book 1, Angelbound on so many people (who eventually gave into my demands, mwhahaha) and they loved it as much as I did. This series is so much fun, with great characters and world building unlike I have ever seen before, that I would easily recommend it to anyone looking for a supernatural read with a great female main character. In case from my ramblings it was not apparent, I love this book and can't wait to read (aka listen to Christina read) more.

It is what I expected it to be

It was difficult to take the story to a place that challenged the main character after she became so completely overpowered in the first book.
What needed to happen happened in a very unconvincing way.
The main character is supposed to be a badass fighter, but in this book she seemed to forget about that.

Highly entertaining!

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the author and YA Bound Book Tours for this opportunity. I will also briefly state that this review may contain MINOR spoilers, as I was unable to formulate my review any other way. These spoilers should not spoil your enjoyment of the book in any way.

As this is an audiobook review (which is new to me), this will critique the quality of the Audible narration as well as the actual content of the story. Some of the voices put on by the narrator/author were quite annoying, in particular for her mum in the beginning and for Sissy. Her mum’s voice is forgivable as the book is told from Myla’s perspective and she finds her mum very annoying and aggravating in the beginning, but I think we are supposed to like Sissy most of the time, so it was a little off-putting, but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story very much. The mum’s character also annoyed me at the beginning, but I enjoyed her character much more towards the end of the story and understood why she was the way she was.

Myla is the main character and I will admit that at the beginning she annoyed me and her relationship with her mother aggravated me. However, both of these elements grew on me throughout the novel and I have a feeling that in the next two books Myla will grow so much and become an absolutely fabulous main character.

Lincoln on the other hand, apart from thinking he was close-minded and ignorant to begin with, I absolutely loved. He is very good for Myla and such an amazing character in his own right. I really hope we get to see much more of him in the next books. Walker is a babe and I love his platonic relationship with Myla (like, cousins or siblings) and his genuine goodness. Xavier annoys me to begin with me, but grows on me as well. Zeke grows on me by the end and Sissy, although her voice annoys me and she does some pretty bad-friend things, is also a good person, but they aren’t particularly exciting or interesting characters, so I hope there is a bit more development in the next book. I actually thought that the relationship between Zeke and Sissy went a bit fast. One of the other relationships 😉 moved quite fast as well, but it felt more natural so it didn’t bother me as much, perhaps because we actually got to see what the characters in the relationship were thinking and discussing, rather than seeing it through an outsider’s perspective.

Veris is such a manipulative sneak, but I kind of like her anyway. I hope we get to see more of her plans come to fruition in the next book. Queen Octavia of the Thrax was such an incredible character for the brief moments in which we saw her and I really, really, really hope she plays a bigger role in the next book. Armageddon is, obviously, horrible but that kind of goes without saying from about the second chapter. I hate Tim and the Oligarchy are just cowardly. (Also, please excuse if any of these names are spelt wrong: the one downside of the listening to an audiobook is that although I know how you pronounce all these names, I have absolutely no idea how the author spells them.)
In short, I really liked most of the characters (or hated the characters I was supposed to hate) and some of them I down right loved. Characters really, really break or make a story for me, so this is definitely a positive thing!

On to the world-building: I found the world that we did explore interesting, but I really hope we get to see a bit more in the next books. The different types of demons are all really interesting and nuanced and I really hope that we get to see that more in the next books as well.

Myla’s voice is a bit immature (by voice I mean the words which she uses), especially at the beginning of the novel, which makes the whole book feel more immature because it is told through her perspective, but I feel that it becomes less immature as the book progresses which makes it less annoying.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book and think there is room for much development in the sequels. As a general rule, most of the problems I had with this book got better as the book went on. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy kick-ass main characters with a taste for trouble, wonderful love interests who are characters in their own right, interesting worlds and a unique plot.