Declarations of a Fangirl: Audiobook Review Tour: Girl Vs. by X. Culletto

Author: Xela Culletto
Narrator: Tonia Blake
Length: 7 hours 2 minutes
Publisher: Xela Culletto
Released: May 21, 2018
Genre: Science Fiction; Young Adult

Before the Vela invasion, Rhyan's biggest concern was getting through a day of school. But when she is thrust into the madness of a kill-or-be-killed world, her true strength emerges and a deadly warrior is unleashed. Stumbling through the new morals of a post-apocalyptic world, she learns to depend only on herself. As she gets closer to discovering what the aliens actually want, her lethality becomes unmatched, and she soon learns the extent she'll go to in order to survive.

Xela is a working mother of three, living in the Utah. Currently in her ninth year of teaching secondary education, she decided that after talking to students about achieving their dreams, she would take her own advice and complete a lifelong goal of writing a novel. When not playing Legos with her sons, or sorting through the endless laundry, you’ll find her watching The Walking Dead, horseback riding, or working on her next book.

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Growing up, Tonia told stories at sleepovers and sang in competitive chorale groups. Storytelling and songs eventually gave way to the competing interests of science and veterinary medicine, but she continued to indulge a reading addiction so fierce it led to a recurrent and rather jaunty facial tic under one eye. Audiobooks to the rescue! Her stethoscope now lives in her sock drawer, and she’s delighted to be telling stories once again, this time narrating audiobooks from her at-home studio in mid-coast Maine. When she’s not in her vocal booth, she enjoys spending time with her family, fur-babies, and on her yoga mat.

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I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Xela Culletto. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

4 STARS

Three cheers for another strong female main character! I will be adding this book to the my list of books to have my daughter read. Rhyan's world was completely turned upside down and instead of curling up in a ball, she rises up and survives by any means necessary. She's powerful. She's strong. She's capable. She's lethal.

My heart really went out to her though. All she wants to do is slay aliens but of course there are casualties. The guilt of not being able to save everyone weighs on her heavily. It also doesn't help that one of the girls who was in her original "survivors group" blames her fore everything and won't let her forget it. Rhyan carries the weight of the remaining world on her shoulders and I just wanted to give her a hug.

One of my favorite parts of the whole story was the fight scenes. They were well written and easy to imagine in my mind. Plus, Rhyan is just so fierce. I was rooting for her every time she fought.

The narrator was very good. Her enunciation was amazing and performed different voices for each of the characters so it was easy to keep track of who was who. She did a fantastic job of expressing each of the different emotions Rhyan was feeling. I would definitely search out more books read by her. I will also be keeping an eye out for book 2 in this series. I need to know what happens next!