Audiobook Review: Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh

Author: Nalini Singh

Narrator: Angela Dawe

Title: Shards of Hope

Series: Psy-Changeling #14

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, UF, SciFi

Format: Audiobook 

Published: June 2, 2015

Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

Awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked, Aden and Zaira know they must escape. But when the lethal soldiers break free from their mysterious prison, they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn’t welcome outsiders.

And they must survive. A shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad, an enemy that cannot be permitted to succeed in its deadly campaign. Aden will cross any line to keep his people safe for this new future, where even an assassin might have hope of a life beyond blood and death and pain. Zaira has no such hope. She knows she’s too damaged to return from the abyss. Her driving goal is to protect Aden, protect the only person who has ever come back for her no matter what.

This time, even Aden’s passionate determination may not be enough—because the emotionless chill of Silence existed for a reason. For the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken . . . like Zaira.

Review:

Still slowly making my way through this series. I really should pick up the pace and read more, but I like going slow with these. 

Here we follow Aden and Zaira. They wake up battered and bruised...and their psychic abilities are blocked. They have to escape at any cost. Zaira, being as lethal as they come, and Aiden, being as smart and tough as a leader should be, manage to break free. Their only hope for survival will be in the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that isn't welcoming to strangers and outsiders. The two may finally find the freedom to be together, but Zaira has a lot of demons that Silence had kept at bay...but with the fall of Silence...who knows. 

I'm not crazy about two Psys falling in love. There is just so much coldness there. Aiden, luckily, has adapted well to not being in Silence, but Zaira has a LOT of walls. So many that it just seemed so impossible. Thank goodness for the Changlings. I think their spending time with a warm pack helped thaw her out a bit. 

I didn't really feel the love between the two, but I still enjoyed the journey. A lot happened in this book. Lots of events were set off after the baddies made a terrible mistake of kidnapping these two. What WERE they thinking? Idiot baddies. 

It was nice diving back into the audio version. I've done a few ebooks, but I loved coming back to the audio version. It was like coming back home! The narrator is just so good. She does a great job changing her voices and doing accents. Love her. 

All-in-all, I enjoyed this. I didn't fully buy the romance until near the end, but I enjoyed the story a lot. Lots of stuff is happening, and the world is still shifting. There was one scene with an old character that made me tear up. AWWWWW. 

4 stars. 

Reading Challenges

- Audiobook #36

- Library Love #21