DRAGON SCHOOL: FIRST FLIGHT

First Flight by Sarah K.L. Wilson
Book 1 in the Dragon School series
Narrated by Jigisha Patel
Genre: dragon fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About First Flight:

Join Dragon School. Learn to Fly.

Sixteen-year-old Amel arrived at Dragon School just like everyone else — with a dream to ride dragons and join the Dominion Dragon Riders.

But Amel has a crippled leg and Dragon School training is grueling. Before she can even become an initiate, she must complete her First Flight on a dragon.

Can Amel survive First Flight and become a Dragon School initiate or will her dreams dash on the rocks below?

Source: Info in the "About First Flight" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37563611-first-flight on 28/02/2024.

Buy Link(s):

 

Re-read Review:

Short and sweet.

At a little bit under three hours, this book is a relatively quick read.

The first round of reading of this book didn't go down so well. I first read this book some years back. With the second time around, there is an audiobook version and for some reason the book was a bit more exciting this time.

However, what really brought the rating of this book down (other than it's plotlessness) was the cliffhanger ending. This is just a part of the first chapter of a bigger book. And because this is just a little chunk of a bigger book, all we have is an introduction to the world of the Dragon School with not much of a plot at all. Amel goes to school, and that's it!

My suggestion is to get the boxset so that you can read the next book as soon as you hit the cliffhanger. Might be cheaper too, than buying the little books (136 pages long) individually.

This is my first Jigisha Patel audiobook and I would isten to her again.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 1.5
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 1
World building = 3.5
Cover art = 3
Pace = (2 hrs and 43 mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Dragon School Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Sarah K.L. Wilson:

USA Today bestselling author, Sarah K. L. Wilson loves spinning a yarn and if it paints a magical new world, twists something old into something reborn, or makes your heart pound with excitement ... all the better! Sarah hails from the rocky Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario — learning patience and tenacity from the long months of icy cold — where she lives with her husband and two small boys. You might find her building fires in her woodstove and wishing she had a dragon handy to light them for her.

www.sarahklwilson.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Jigisha Patel:

Audiobook narrator / voice-over artist

goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

FRONT PAGE FATALITY

Front Page Fatality by LynDee Walker
Book 1 in the Nichelle Clarke Crime Thriller series
Narrated by Therese Plummer
Genre: investigative journalist crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Front Page Fatality:

When two rookie cops are killed in a fiery crash near Richmond, Virginia, crime reporter Nichelle Clarke is sent in to investigate.

But as Nichelle digs deeper into the case, she discovers this was no ordinary accident.

People and evidence soon begin to disappear. Someone is one step ahead of her. A master criminal with a deadly secret, covering their tracks with ruthless efficiency.

The killer will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden. But as she draws closer to unraveling the mystery of two dead cops, Nichelle realizes that she's become the next target.

Source: Info in the "About Front Page Fatality" was taken from amazon on 11/09/2024.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

This is my first LynDee Walker read. I like her author's voice. I like the theme and the story. However, I did not like the "stupid". She wished for camera while teetering on a dumpster spying over a window. But she has her phone with camera in it? She did eventually used it, but... why didn't she just used the camera in her phone to begin with instead of wishing for one? A camera which I presume is like any other phone now-a-days that is capable of taking still pictures and videos. Hopefully there would be no more stupids in subsequent books because I am really liking this series!

To me, Therese Plummer would always be Aurora Teagarden to my ears after years of listening and re-listening to the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries by Charlaine Harris. It took a little bit of an adjustment to hear her as Nichelle.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = (6 hrs and 51 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Nichelle Clarke Crime Thriller Series:

 

Meet The Author

About LynDee Walker:

LynDee Walker is the national bestselling author of two crime fiction series featuring strong heroines and “twisty, absorbing" mysteries. Her first Nichelle Clarke crime thriller, FRONT PAGE FATALITY, was nominated for the Agatha Award for best first novel and is an Amazon Charts Bestseller. In 2018 she introduced readers to Texas Ranger Faith McClellan in FEAR NO TRUTH. Reviews have praised her work as "well-crafted, compelling, and fast-paced," and "an edge-of-your-seat ride" with "a spider web of twists and turns that will keep you reading until the end."

Before she started writing fiction, LynDee was an award-winning journalist who covered everything from ribbon cuttings to high level police corruption, and worked closely with the various law enforcement agencies that she reported on. Her work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the U.S.

Aside from books, LynDee loves her family, her readers, travel, and coffee. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is working on her next novel when she's not juggling laundry and children's sports schedules.

www.lyndeewalker.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Therese Plummer:

Therese Plummer is an actor and voice over artist living and working in New York City. Favorite roles to date include TV: Rose Nerrick, The Good Wife, Andy in Law and Order SVU. Stage: Celebrity Row; New York Theatre Workshop, Under Tillage, The Irish Repertory Theatre. Off-off Broadway credits include The Vagina Monologues, Suzanne in Twilight of the Gold’s and Madeline in the Award Winning Samuel French Short play The Sweet Room. Comedy Credits include Improv at Upright Citizens Brigade and Stand-up at Caroline’s Comedy Club. Therese also performed her one woman show, Ribbons Undone, at the Here Arts Center. Therese records audio books for Audible.com, Recorded Books and Talking Books, Inc. As an adolescent counselor, Therese spent five years utilizing Drama therapy techniques in individual and group settings before moving to New York. She shares a passion of creating, helping and entertaining and feels incredibly lucky to do all three.

www.thereseplummer.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | goodreads | audible

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.