Declarations of a Fangirl: Audiobook Review: Tracing Shadows by Alex Lidell

Author: Alex Lidell
Narrator: Hayden Daviau
Length: 6 hours and 21 minutes
Series: Scout Series, Book 1
Publisher: Danger Bearing Press
Released: May 21, 2018
Genre: YA Fantasy

To protect the throne, 17-year-old spy Kali must play a male guardsman trainee by day and royal lady by night. Orphaned and trained on a spymaster’s remote estate, Kali is a scout who works alone in the shadows. But when a terror group threatens the Dansil throne, the king forces Kali to accept a mission at the palace or forfeit her sister’s life. Suddenly thrust into the light, Kali must infiltrate high society as the royal Lady Lianna while penetrating the servant ranks as Kal, a male guardsman trainee. It doesn’t help that Trace, the harsh and enigmatic captain of the king’s guard, is soon assigned as both Lady Lianna’s palace escort and Kal’s commanding officer. As Kali edges closer to the truth behind the violent group’s identity, she uncovers dangerous secrets that could bring her mission to a brutal end. A scout’s job is to observe and report, never to engage...but if it means saving her sister and kingdom, Kali may have no choice. Tracing Shadows, by Amazon best-selling author Alex Lidell, is the first novel in the Scout series. Perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce, Leigh Bardugo, and Sarah J. Maas.

Alex Lidell is the author of Amazon best sellers AIR AND ASH and WAR AND WIND (Danger Bearing Press, 2017) and an Amazon Breakout Novel Awards finalist author of THE CADET OF TILDOR (Penguin, 2013). She is an avid horseback rider, a (bad) hockey player, and an ice-cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, ALANNA started Alex’s life long love for YA fantasy books.

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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 Alex Lidell. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

4.5 STARS

I absolutely LOVED The Power of Five by Alex Lidell, so when I saw the opportunity to review another book by her, I jumped at the chance. I'm so glad I did. Alex Lidell has been firmly placed on my "Must Read Everything Written by This Author" list. I had moderately high expectations for this book and it did not disappoint.

Kali was amazing. That girl can keep her stuff together like nobody's business. I expected her to get confused and accidentally show up to her Kal training sessions dressed like Lady Lianna like Robin Williams did in Mrs. Doubtfire, but nope. Never happens. Sorry for the mild spoiler.

I did have a little bit of trouble in the beginning keeping track of the religious fanatics vs. the "good guys" but once I just let go & listened to the story, it all made sense. The religious fanatics were alarming and I found myself rolling my eyes many times while listening to their parts. Maybe it's because I've been marathoning crime/cult shows on A&E this summer, but I saw through their insane ramblings from the beginning.

The action was awesome and plentiful. I enjoyed the secondary characters, Luca and Leif. Trace definitely had my attention anytime he was mentioned. I knew there was a back story to his character but when it finally came to light, I was mildly surprised but had started to suspect it went down that road.

The narrator was really good too. She enunciated very well and did a great job of creating different voices for the characters. When I first started listening to audiobooks, I didn't realize just how important the narrator was, but I do now. I've started to keep a list of narrators that I like, and Hayden Daviau is definitely being added to the list.

In short, Tracing Shadows was amazing, I need book 2, like, yesterday, Trace is on my radar like whoa, and I'm off to read everything Alex Lidell has ever published. But for real, I need book 2. I need it. I need it! I NEED IT!