Lost in Averell: an audio book review

I listened to quite a few audiobooks in 2020… well, compared to none, anyway. Seven audiobooks is definitely a lot more than zero. nods

So when I subscribed to Tara Grayce’s newsletter (which I recommend, by the by, her newsletter is fabulous) and saw that she’d recently released a new audiobook (and after loving her Elven Alliance series so much) I jumped at the chance to nab one of her promo codes.

Average high school student by day, princess by night.
Amy lives both in our world and in the fantasy world of Averell, struggling to balance homework and her duties as a fairytale princess negotiating the intricacies of unicorn-dragon politics.
When her high school crush stumbles through the portal to Averell in her family’s basement, she sets out with her shape-shifting unicorn best friend to find him before he dies or sparks a war.

This was a fun story. Not my favorite by this author, but still a fun romp. I enjoyed exploring the fantasy world, the portal-nature of the story, and the uniqueness of a protagonist who has to keep a foot in two worlds (and has a vastly different role/life in each of those worlds). The juxtaposition of life in Averell as a princess with life in small-town Michigan as an ordinary teenager was clever. Who wouldn't love a secret portal in their basement to another world?

I really liked the main character, who was a fairly responsible teenager who was doing the best she could, even though she was in over her head. For a female YA protagonist, she was refreshingly not whiny, self-absorbed, or convinced that she's awful. I appreciated the lack of a love triangle, or really any romance at all other than a small crush the MC has that we never get hints as to whether or not is returned... the characters are much too focused on not dying to be too terribly interested in kissing each other, which I appreciated as being a more realistic approach to the relationships in the story.

I could have used a bit more backstory and information to help me understand the villain and her motivations. There was also a highly repetitive nature to the story. I did not need to be reminded every few paragraphs that Brett was in dire straits or that the main character had to juggle two lives.

I also think I would have enjoyed this book more if I'd read it myself versus listening to the audio book. The narrator did a good job, but she didn't have a wide range when it came to voices, and the difficulty of the narrator's voice (in 1st person) being the same as the protagonist's voice when she was talking to someone often made it difficult to know whether the MC was talking out loud or just thinking to herself. I'm picky about narrators, and I know how big of a job this can be, but I personally prefer a narrator who can differentiate between the voices, especially when the writing style of the book doesn't always give you a good cue as to which character is speaking.

I give it a solidly likable 3 dragon eggs.