Sarah Noffke

My original Ren: The Monster's Adventure audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

This utterly awesome novella should ideally be listened to after "The Monster Inside the Monster", book 3 of the Ren series. It was the ideal story to start off some festive holiday

This was the ideal story to start off some festive holiday listening this year, as Sarah Noffke provides an extremely hilarious but also very heartwarming Ren-version of 'A Christmas Carol'. Ren's show more girlfriend, Dahlia, forces him to endure a family vacation accompanied by his daughter, Adelaide, and grandson, Lucien. It turns into the most memorable road trip for Ren as he meets three wise women, a lot of goats, a laid back gas station attendant, and a cool surfer dude. In the process, he learns a lot about himself and comes to terms with aspects of his past and makes further progress as far as his personal development and his relationships with the people close to him are concerned. Ms. Noffke also drops quite a bombshell into the storyline, which made me rather desperate to get the next Ren book because surely after that announcement there has to be another one?! I have previously admitted to being head-over-heels in love with Ren, and while I'd rather not analyse what that must surely say about me, some of his observations about life and humankind are simply wonderful. Yes, Ren is still extremely rude and snarky, but there were scenes during Ren's vacation here where I found myself wholeheartedly agreeing with his opinions. I now love him even more after all that he has gone through on his first ever vacation. There were so many moments where I was laughing out loud throughout this.

Tim Campbell once again narrated this epic adventure in a perfect manner. I don't know what else I could possibly say that I haven't said before, but with his British accent, the timely pacing and the faultless delivery of the sarcasm and disdain he just embodies Ren perfectly. There were no problems with the quality of the production.

Definitely a must-listen for all Ren fans!

Audiobook was provided for review by the author. show less

Roya Stark thought her problems were over after she and her team defeated Zhuang. Now she can finally relax, leave the horrible Institute, and get back to a relatively normal life—right?

Maybe not. Having been persuaded to stay and help work on her brother's secret project, Roya's not a happy camper. But that's the least of her worries when a head official is captured by a secret society of Dream Travelers. Added to that, her brother's getting sick. Roya witnesses him waste away while he show more won't even admit it.

The students must embark on yet another rescue mission—even while their team seems to be falling apart. And the life of one of their own is at stake...

My review: While I really enjoyed the first enstallment of this series, I was bit more conflicted on how to rate Stunned.

The premise is great and I was immediately intrigued, especially having read the previous book. I delved right into the second. And as it is with most books, parts of it amazed me and parts of it fell flat.

First of all, I'm afraid I'll have to take back what I said in my other review about love triangles. They crush your soul. Why, why, why must the girl always choose the guy who's SO wrong for her? No, I'm not being dramatic. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed in MANY books. Anyway...

Unfortunately, there was one thing that I loved in Awoken that I did not see at all in Stunned. This time around, the mission took a backseat to Roya's love life. Her insanely frustrating roller coaster ride of a love life. I would have liked to have seen less of Roya being torn between two guys, and more action and focus on the mission at hand.

We did get some action, and it was well done and exciting. However, it came too late in the book and when it ended the story still dragged on for awhile and then ended abruptly. I won't complain too much though, because there was another subplot I was curious about which was addressed after the main conflict subsided.

All in all, I did like this book. And one thing I absolutely loved is the voice. Roya's voice really draws you into her story, and I can't compliment the author enough on that. She also makes you really care about her characters. When they hurt—I hurt!

Stunned is by no means a masterpiece, but I believe that the author has a special talent, and if she keeps writing(and I really hope she does), will be able to create some really wonderful works that I'd be first in line to read.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Content: Some innuendo and mild intimacy; quite a bit more language than previous book.

The Scribbling Sprite show less

My original Ren: God's Little Monster audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Ren is back! I was introduced to this sarcastic, narcissistic but utterly adorable man last year when I listened to Ren: The Man Behind The Monster. This picks up where the first book left off. Set in the world of Dream Travelers, who have special powers such as mind control, Ren is now living with the love of his life, Dahlia, and working as an agent for the Lucidites preventing mostly show more Middlings aka regular humans from destroying themselves or others. Life seems pretty settled although Ren being Ren he is naturally grumpy. In particular, with the fact that Trey is only giving him easy cases due to some health issues that have shown up. If that wasn't bad enough, his world is turned completely upside down when somebody new appears in his life. (Trying really hard to avoid spoilers here.) Anyway, the interactions between Ren and this new person in his life, who is equally petulant, are totally hilarious. But there's plenty of suspense as well as a new villain, Vivian, is introduced and it appears Ren may not be as powerful as he has always thought.

I gave the first book in the series five stars. This was even better! The storyline was completely intriguing and the character development great as Ren struggles to adapt to the new developments in his life. It was laugh-out-loud funny, it was really moving in parts and thoroughly gripping and entertaining throughout. And then Sarah Noffke ends it with an almighty cliffhanger. Immediately upon finishing the audio, I had to look up when the next one - and by the looks of it, final one - will be available.

Tim Campbell returns as narrator and as in the previous book, his performance was flawless. He really gets into the character of Ren, bringing him to life perfectly and capturing Ren's arrogance as well as his vulnerable side. Brilliant job with the British accents. The production quality was also excellent.

If you haven't met Ren yet and like abrasive yet lovable characters, I highly recommend starting with Ren: The Man behind The Monster. Once you made his acquaintance, it's difficult to not become addicted to his story and this fantastic series.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author. show less

Too much head-hopping and too many secrets kept from even the reader weighed down what otherwise could have been a very good YA fantasy.