Year One by Nora Roberts #NoraRoberts @justjuliawhelan #AudiobookReview @audibleuk #BrilliancePublishing #Dystopian #Fantasy #Magic #aktbmbookblog

4 Dystopian Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I do love myself a Dystopian story, most of mine that I have read have been Young Adult, and I haven’t really thought about reading any others.

Nora Roberts isn’t really an author that I have picked up, which is strange because her one other book that I have read, ‘The Witness’ is one of my favourite books (Which i still need to review)

It also isn’t a secret that Nora’s pseudonym is J.D. Robb, and her hugely successful ‘In Death’ series is something that keeps getting recommended to me time and time again, but quite frankly the size intimidates me (insert joke here)

Anyhoo, Audible UK had a Boxing Day sale, and I may (or may not) have seen all of the books for £2.99 and went a bit crazy…12 books crazy! This was one of my bargain buys, so I thought let’s try it.

The Blurb

It began on New Year’s Eve.

The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed–and more than half of the world’s population was decimated.

Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magic rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practising in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river–or in the ones you know and love the most.

As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travellers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive.

In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a saviour, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.

The end has come. The beginning comes next.

My Thoughts

4 Dystopian Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Looking at the cover picture, I honestly thought that this was going to be a fantasy book…and it is, but it also isn’t, clear as mud right?

I was crossing my fingers that this wasn’t going to be a High Fantasy book, I’ve tried so many times to read them, and each time I’ve failed…HUZZAH…It isn’t!

The story starts on New Years Eve, and here begins the end!

After the Doom Virus is contracted, it soon starts to spread like a plague, first through the hospital, then to the streets, then to the rest of the world, wiping out EVERYONE!

Well, almost everyone, you see some people seem to be immune to the virus, a good thing right? But some of these people also seem to have developed a side effect of the virus, giving different magical powers to those left alive that varies from person to person.

Some have developed wings (Fairies) some have ‘The Sight’ some can also Shape-Shift, these people are now known as Uncannies, and are very unwelcome.

We watch three separate groups, coming to realise that they are probably the only people left, we watch them try to survive in a place that is now full of people that wish to do more harm than good, how would a pregnant woman cope?

We see how people help each other out, and how power hungry others can get when faced with certain decisions.

🎧🎧 – Narrated by Julia Whelan

You won’t be surprised to hear that Julia Whelan is one of my favourite narrators, in fact, if I hadn’t seen that she was narrating this book, then I probably wouldn’t have picked it up, because as I mentioned earlier, I thought this was going to be a High Fantasy book.

As usual, Julia gives a fantastic performance, her narration always makes me feel comfortable, and wraps me up in her gorgeous warm blanket voice.

If you are thinking about trying a new genre and are a little worried about it, then give this one a shot, I’m so glad I did, and will be adding book 2 to my Audible Wishlist

Try it, You might like it!

Vicci

Grab your copy here:

Audible UK – https://amzn.to/2St9ns0

Audible U.S – https://amzn.to/2SqGOeO