Audiobook: Glamour of Midnight by Casey L. Bond
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Glamour of Midnight
Teen & Young Adult Fairy Tales & Folklore Adaptations
CASEY L BOND
August 8, 2018
Audiobook
Listening Length: 8 hours and 32 minutes
audible.com
Nineteen-year-old Karis has been blind since birth, but for some reason, she can see through the wall of smoke that separates the human lands from those of the Faeries that rule in grand courts on the other side. Most of the time, the only thing she can see on the other side of the wall is the swipe of a tail or the trailing of a bony hand along the surface. But one day, a handsome faerie appears and sweeps her away into his world, a world that is being ravaged by an evil so dark and deadly, she fears she may never see her home again.
Loftin is a bounty hunter and he has been searching for Karis since she went missing from the Court of Ash. He needs to return her and collect the ransom. But the longer they travel together and the more he teaches her about what she is now able to see, the more difficult he finds the thought of letting her go. A fiery passion ignites between them, but with a monster tracking their every move, they must find a way to reach the Court of Ash before it kills them both.
Snow White retelling all grown up
I’ll be the first to admit I am a sucker for classic fairytale retellings, especially when they are more gritty, grown up, and with a healthy dose of dark thrown in. Glamour of Midnight delivers all this and more! Snow White has never been one of my favorite stories because I have always felt like the motivation and backstory were way too thin. Casey has created a world that absolutely fixes those issues with the original story and brings this retelling to life in rich technicolor!
The story centres on Karis, a young woman blind living in a starkly stratified society. She lives in the lowest of the low, bottom rung of society and must struggle to provide for her adoptive family and best friend. She’s viewed with suspicion by the rest of the villagers and the whispers of “changeling” haunt her. Despite the social and political issues, the village is an oasis in the world of Faerie, a world that threatens to take over the village and swallow it whole.
Loftin, a recluse of a bounty hunter, is charged with finding the heir to the Court of Ash and returning her heart to her mother. If he does this, he will be rewarded with the return of someone dear to him, or so he thinks. When Loftin and Karis stumble into each other, the last thing Loftin expects is to not only question his mission, but also start to fall for the stubborn and naive formerly blind beauty. A reluctant partnership quickly grows into something more than either of them could have expected as they uncover the true depth of the Queen of Ash’s cruelty and the role Karis must play in returning their world to peace and order once again.
I really loved this story and found myself surprised when the book was over, not ready to leave this world yet. Retellings can have a tendency to get stale, or feel contrived but Glamour of Midnight is just the perfect balance of the source material and a new world, a new drama, and new characters that remind us just enough of the ones we know while still holding their own and being something unique. The relationship between Karis and Loftin had be rooting from them from the start, and I might have workshopped a few ship names for them… Kartin? Loftis? *shrug* worth a shot.
Amanda Billings does a wonderful narration for this book and I absolutely fell for her characters. She infuses so much emotion into every piece of her narration that it will leave you on the edge of your seat and feeling the full range right along with the characters in the story. A litmus test I always run a “new to me” narrator through is how they handle voices for opposite sex characters and I really love Amanda’s male voices, she brings just enough roughness to her voice to make it believable without going over the top.
Overall, I absolutely loved this title and only have one question….
When is the next book coming out?!
Im not ready to leave these characters behind.
Singer/ Songwriter Beth Crowley wrote an amazing song for Glamour of Midnight. Click below to listen to Eyes Wide Open!
Grab your copy of Glamour of Midnight on Amazon!
