- Title:
- Entanglement
- Author:
- Vaughn Ashby
- Release:
- September 22, 2021
- Format:
- Audiobook
- Narrator:
- Sydney Fry
- Series:
- Aurora Wasteland Literary Universe, book 6
I’m still semi-new to this literary universe. That being said, I consider myself a new fan of it. I bring this up because I try to make my bias’ known at the start of my reviews. Yeah, I consider myself a fan of the universe but I like to think I can look past my bias and be honest in my review. Just go look at my review of The Axe.
This is one of those books that’s difficult to talk about without spoilers. First of all, some advice. Pay attention. Not only does the book involve time travel, but traveling through dimensions. So past scenes will be referenced and revisited. You’ll likely want to read (or listen) to this story a couple of times to catch things you missed. On top of the repeated aspects of the story, there are lots of easter egg references to Tethered, Brightness Falls, and The Axe. There could be others. But I haven’t experienced them yet. You don’t need to have read the other books, but it’s a nice nod to the shared universe.
This book has a few themes that I enjoy. Time travel, multiple dimensions, and bound souls that transcend space and time. I rarely care about characters because I never understood people. But this is a rare instance of me feeling invested in the protagonists. I wanted them to be together, I wanted to see how their story worked out and I’d follow them into another book if I could.
I really only have a single complaint about this book. Aside from the narrator. But you’ll get to that part later. At one point, one of the characters is hearing music in his head and the words “tape run out in his head” cums up. This is annoying as shit on multiple levels. 1: Tapes have been irrelevant for more than 2 goddamn decades. Second of all, how the fuck does a tape play in your head? Your brain doesn’t use tapes, never has, and never will. RAAA!! I really wish that antiquated, anachronistic bullshit would die in a fire already.
The narration for this audiobook is all kinds of annoying to listen to. While the narrator does a good job of reading the lines, all of her characters have the same voice. So it’s very difficult to tell who is talking without context clues. This can lead to confusion when there are scenes containing 3 – 4 characters having a conversation.
That alone is annoying enough but semi-passable. What I’ll never forgive are narrators who make up their own words or mispronounce basic words. “Acrosst” isn’t a fucking word. “Farmiliar” isn’t a word and the word Familiar cums up a LOT in this book. Gym isn’t pronounced gem and debris isn’t pronounced de-breze and Jif is a brand of peanut butter. I wonder, does the narrator give loved ones Jifts? This narration was just insufferable to listen to.
Other than the usage of the word “tape” in another one of these novels and the insufferable narrator; I loved this book. I can’t wait until I have fewer review copies to go back and pick up on all the things I missed the first time around.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.