Win

Atlantis Grail Series, Book 3

By: Vera Nazarian

Narrated by: Sofia Willingham

Length: 37 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

Gwen Lark, nerd, geek, and awkward smart girl, is among the lucky ones. She's one of several million teenage refugees to escape the extinction-level asteroid barreling toward Earth and reach the ancient colony planet of Atlantis.

But Atlantis is a strange new world with higher gravity and a blazing white sun, where nothing is as expected. The new arrivals from Earth will now belong to the majority class of noncitizens who face a lifetime of hard work and limited rights.

To make matters worse, Gwen's rare and powerful talent, her Logos voice, is viewed as a potential weapon to be exploited by the Imperator, as well as a threat to the Kassiopei Imperial Dynasty and its uncompromising control over the people of Atlantis.

A last-minute heartbreak prior to arrival turns to joy when Gwen receives a declaration of love from an unexpected source. The wedding date is set, but before she can be joined with her true love, she is forced to compete in the brutal and deadly Games of the Atlantis Grail to save herself, her family, friends, and everything she cares about. Once again, her intelligence, quick thinking skills, resilience, and creativity are challenged to the breaking point.

©2017 Vera Nazarian (P)2020 Tantor

Not a "win", Gwen from book 1 is missing.

I slogged through the book "Compete" calling itself a sci-fi book rather then a roman and thought maybe we were passed the middle hump but that hope was shatter in the first Chapter. At the end of Compete (spoiler ahead) Gwen confronts Kas and finds out taht he doe3sn't ahve feeling for her and then all of her plans to save her family back on Earth are laid fallow, at least we'red led to believe it. She's moping around once they reach the star systems.

At the beginning of "Win" she is whisked downt to the planet, introduced to the imperial court and surprise-surprise Kas chooses her as bride in front of everybody. I could see this coming from the start of Book 2. What irritated me is that Kas kisses Gwen and she has this internal thoughts that oh what I felt for Logan wasn't anything except a mere shadow what I'm feeling now. This comes on the heels of Kas emotionally rejecting her and she sudden is head over heels for him after she kisses her roughly in front of a bunch of strangers. She wakes up in a room that she's been giving and she carries on that this is a typical day, not this staggering level luxury is anything but normal. I jumped around, hoping to find the character that Gwen was in the First book and I couldn't find her. All I did find was a love sick Teen. I'm still left feeling that this was an Author self-insert and wish-fulfillment story. Nothing has caught my attention that makes me want to keep reading the next story. I don't car what happens to Gwen because she seems destineto accomplish her goals. She might struggles but nothing will keep this Mary sue down for long.

a definite listen!

it is an awesome book!!! everything about it was great!! didn't want to stop listening!

Magical

I love this series but I have to admit, book 3 got long. I think she could’ve kept stages 1&4 detailed and shortened up stages 2&3 to shave off a good 10 hours. Maybe that’s just me!

Kinda disappointed but still enjoyed it

So book 2 set me up for disappointment for Book 3. While I enjoyed Win, the middle part (stages 1-3)) went on entirely too long for me. I almost didnt finish because I was over the multiple situations Gwen ended up in. I love good details but it dragged on & on. Glad I made it to the end though (last 10 chapters or so) because it got more interesting & tolerable. Cliffhanger wasn't as good with this one. I'm going to finish the series but only because I'm this far in. Book 2 is definitely my fave of the series. If I ever reread the series again, I'll be skipping this one.

Awesome story!

Vera Nazarian is a wonderful writer and storyteller who has created a heroine girls everywhere can admire and be inspired by. Gwen isn’t perfect ; but shows a intellect and a basic goodness that finally is recognized. I’ve read all four books and now have listened to three audible versions and am looking forward to the last book; Survive; to be finished as an audible. Also would love to see these books in film. Read them all!

Exciting third book!

Usually, by the time you get to the third book in an ongoing saga, you feel a little weary. But this book is just as engaging as the first two books. We get to see the characters of Gwen and Cass growing closer and maturing. Hard choices have to be made and we have a new addition to the story when an anonymous group begins cutting into the games broadcast with an anti-Cassiopeia message. Gwen finds people as team members and dodges death as she tries to finish the Grail competition. Her compassion shows a lot in this audiobook and makes her character richer and more complete. I won’t give away the ending, but you know the story isn’t over yet. Gwen has accidentally revealed the Imperator’s dishonor. I can hardly wait for book 4, which isn’t out on audiobook yet. Narration was perfect!

Author and Narrator

The author and narrator have combined to bring the greatness if the book to life. This not always the case, but is here. For example, the contrast of the character and personality of Arson and his father are stark and real. We adore the one and abhor the later.

Clean, Fun, Well-written

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series so far, and while I was engaged at each point, it did seem like there were several parts that went longer, with greater detail than absolutely necessary.
I appreciate that for one credit, you can get a book of such length, enough to entertain and engage more than the typical eight hour type book.

Loved it

I loved reading her books, and love hearing them come to life! Some voices are a stretch for the narrator, and Gwen sounds younger than I imagine her to be, but loved hearing it spoken out loud!

Most of this is Jr. High romance; barely YA.

I like YA books, but each book in this series gets more junior high romance than the book before it. I enjoyed book 1, although there was too much "Joanie loves Chachi" adolescent romance. Book 2 got even worse, and I made it thru about 6 hours of book 3 and gave up. In those 6 hours, the Jr. High romance was at least 5 1/2 hours out of the 6. I quit.