Audio Review: The Scars That Bind Us The Magi Accounts, Book 1 By: Michele Notaro Narrated by: CJ Storm

Our reviewer, Alyssagp, listened to The Scars That Bind Us after reading the book and gives us both reviews. 

From the blurb:

Sometimes the worst scars are the ones you can’t see.

World War III broke out 130 years ago when humans found out that magi and shifters were real.

 

Humans have been imprisoning and enslaving the two species since. But now humans need their help protecting the world from the strange monsters they let cross the veil between realms. 

All three species have been at odds for more than a century, but can Madeo—a mage—and Cosmo—a lion shifter—put aside their differences to work together, and maybe even find comfort in each other’s arms?

Alyssagp's Book Review:

What a fantastic book! For the first time in a long time, I found a book that made me feel for the characters. While I read this book, I felt utterly invested in the characters' storylines, and I didn't want to stop reading. 

Cosmo and Madeo are the two main characters in this story. Cosmo is a lion shifter, and Madeo is a mage, more commonly known as a Magi. 

Madeo tells this story from his perspective, and I'm glad he does. Madeo is such a broken character, but he is also robust since he's endured and lost much in his life. Reading about him connecting with Cosmo is magical.

Madeo is distrustful, and it's beautiful seeing his barriers come down and seeing his connection grow with Cosmo. Madeo and Cosmo showing each other their vulnerabilities and eventual trust is inspiring. 

The world the author created was also pretty fascinating. This world, the author created, has mages, shifters, humans, and witches. In this world, humans are dominant beings over the supernatural community; it's rather sad because, in this world, mages are at the bottom of the social strata while humans and shifters are on top. So reading about Madeo's bad experiences with humans and shifters understandably makes him wary and distrustful. 

This book had a big plot which I won't spoil, but it revolves around a case with missing shifters. The title of this book is fitting, The Scars that Bind Us; scars, in particular, have significance in this book. 

This book is one of the best books I've read in a long time; I felt emotional for Madeo and Cosmo on their journey, but I fell in love with them. I can't wait for book two. Michele Notaro is a new author to me; I'm glad I decided to give her book a chance. I stepped into this world she's created, and now I don't want to leave it.

Rating: 5 Stars

Audio Review:

This was fun! I read this novel as an ebook before listening to the audio book. The audio is good, but I liked it more when I read it myself. The narrator does a good job, but I didn’t entirely like his voice if that makes sense. I believe I would’ve like it more if Iggy Toma narrated it. 

Rating: 4 Stars

The Scars That Bind Us is currently available as an audiobook, e-book and paperback and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription

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