My original Defects audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

In the quiet area of Austin Valley a high class society called the Dream Travelers lives comfortably. They are gifted with various special abilities, being dream traveling the basic and common one. Only when reaching puberty new abilities show up in each person, except for a group of subjects called defects, who feel left behind by the gods of the Reverians and suffer every day painful injections to help them developing their gifts.

Em, one of the daughters of an important man inside the community, is one of these defects, and the main character in this story. She will soon discover part of the truth behind the injections she daily receives, and what defects really are; and she and her friends will try to find out the rest of the truth, even if they make the accommodated society of Austin Valley tumble and their lives put in danger.

This story felt original and fresh from the beginning, and it is nice to see fantasy books different from the typical scenarios. It is very easy to get caught in the story from the start thanks to the well depicted characters and the beautiful descriptions. A writer could be telling the most wonderful stores but if the characters are not alive, they will fail. This does not happen to Sarah Noffke. One could almost feel being a part of that little group of friends, suffered whenever they did and rejoiced when thing went as expected. The book is narrated in first person, and we discover new aspects of the truth along with Em. The author, Sarah Noffke, does an excellent job in keeping us hooked to the story, and revealing things slowly to keep us interested until the very end.

This is just the first book of a series, and we reach the end wanting more, wanting to know what is going to happen to the characters and how their lives will evolve after the happenings in Defects.

The narration was done beautifully. I tend to prefer male narrators, but Elizabeth Klett’s voice and tone were perfect for the story. She changed her tone to perform male voices without sounding annoying like some female narrators. The sound edition was correct, and I did not notice any changes or breaks like it sometimes happens with some audiobooks.

I would definitely recommend this book to any person who likes fantasy and enjoys a well written book.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author. ( )