The Never Mind

The Never Mind Trilogy, Book 1

De: Cat Meyers

Narrado por: Shelley Reece

Two sisters. One destined for the crown, one doomed to silence. Princess Astrid and Princess Vega are identical in every way - except one was born near perfect, the other “deficient”. Born mute. By age six, their fates are sealed. Vega will be the next queen. Astrid, the silent princess, will spend the rest of her days rotting away in a facility. It is a time when the planet has been ravaged by global warming. Famine and disease demand drastic measures to preserve resources that are already stretched paper thin. The only thing standing between Astrid and the facility, a mother’s love.

©2020 Catresa Meyers (P)2021 Catresa Meyers

Clean Fantasy Romance Revolves around Disabilities

This was a fun slightly futuristic fantasy dystopian story that involves disabled children that this society labels "deficient" and hides/throws them into institutions/prisons. The queen has twin daughters and they quickly learn one daughter is mute, when she approaches the age of 6 when all deficient children are taken away the Queen arranges an escape for her and her daughters... it doesn't go smoothly and only Astrid (the mute daughter) is able to get away. This is definitely geared to middle grade readers but those who enjoy fantasy, romance and dystopian reads will really like this series. Really makes me think a bit of the Unwanteds mixed with X-Men. I'm really looking forward to the next book as it does leave off in a pretty crummy place.

Parents: This is a fairly clean read PG-PG13. There really isn't any language that I remember, and the violence is normal to fantasy/dystopian genres. The romance is NOT on level with the bodice rippers, it's teen romance, instant attraction/love and lots of kissing and make outs but no grabbing or clothing coming off.

The Narrator did a great job, she really fit the main character. She was also able to have good differentiations between the other voices.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

"Kiss me, kiss me."

A tale of two sisters, twins, physically identical in all but one way: one of them was mute. In a future world ravaged by global warming, to preserve resources for the fit and healthy, deficiency laws required all children with disabilities to be sent, aged six, to special facilities to live out the remainder of their short lived with insufficient, inferior food, health care or education. Refusing to let this happen to one of her daughters, their mother, the queen, plans an escape but dies in the attempt, betrayed by one of the children. Astrid, however, is successfully removed and, after a brief hitch, spends the rest of the book growing into her teens in Never Mind.

A strange book, with lots of dialogue, simply written between conversation, a near future fantasy with plenty of low grade action. It is obviously aimed at younger readers, children and young teenagers, presumably, as it is full of character insecuities, instant juvenile crushes, emotional angst, jealousy, tears and wet, sloppy kisses especially as the book progresses beyond Astrid as a young child. There is also an element of super hero, special abilities imbued in both Astrid and her companions, though this is kept mostly in the background and earlier in the story was, for this reader, reminiscent of Raoul Dahl stories like Mathilda.

Narration, by Shelley Reece, was clear and well articulated, her voicings differentiated and her rather girlie timbre well suited for a children's book. Not initially pleasing to this readers ear, her performing voice soon became more acceptable and was, overall, good.

My thanks to the rights holder and Audio books Unleased who, at my request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy. Did I enjoy it? Personally, no, not really although some elements were intriguing. I am far too old to be anywhere near the target age group and for me it was too childishly written to transcend the age gap. Indeed, I fear that many young adults would find it unacceptably imature. But it could well be exciting ( and containing that 'yuk' factor ) for children under mid teen. With a little adjustment, it could make an interesting film, too. For this reason, rather than my own preferences, I'm awarding it a star rating of 4 .

A Coming-Of-Age Fantasy

Cat Meyers has written a creative and entertaining coming-of-age fantasy set in a dystopic world. There were times when I just had to listen to the next chapter as I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. This book does end on a cliffhanger and I am looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. Shelley Reece's narration is great, adding to the enjoyment of the tale. I requested this audiobook from Audiobooks Unleashed and have voluntarily left this review.

Absolutely loved

I loved this story and I am already on to book two . I hope to see more.

A YA fantasy about hardship and found family

*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.*

3.5

Astrid and Vega are twin princesses, but Astrid is not considered such because she's mute, so their mother makes a plan when the girls are five, to get her out of the castle and into a special treatment centre before she's sacrificed, but when they're just about to complete the plan, they realise they've been betrayed, so their mother dies. With her memories gone, Astrid gets taken to her destination, where there are magical waters that transform her disability into a superpower. She grows up in the place where she'll met her destiny one day.

I found myself constantly invested in the story and the characters. Even though they're common extreme tropes, I cannot wait to find out what happens on the next book because this ends on a huge cliffhanger!

The writing style is heavily based on dialogue and the thoughts of specific characters, which made it easy to go through. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did such a great job I didn't have to make an effort to know who was talking when.

I would have loved to understand and know more about some side characters and their background and would have loved a deeper world-building, though.