The Jester by Brielle D. Porter is a magical tale set in Las Vegas. It follows Lisette, the daughter of the “king killer” who is trying to win a stage performer competition to become the Queen’s Jester. Lisette wants more than anything to become Jester and make a name for herself other than the stain that has followed her family after her father’s actions. Lisette is in for a wild ride and she meets and develops connections with others, which causes her to question everything she thought she knew.

This was a fun story! The characters were interesting! The slow-burn romance (clean) was nice. There were some twists and turns as the plot progressed and I found myself wondering how the story would resolve.

Overall the quality of the audiobook was good. The narrator was able to voice multiple characters using different voices, which kept me interested as I listened.

Thank you to NetGalley (@netgalley), the publishers, and author for granting me an ARC. This audiobook is expected to come out in August 2023 (the physical book was published in August 2022).

I was given an advanced reader copy of this audiobook book via Netgalley in return for a review.

I love the narrator and narration. The reader gives each character their own voice. I love that as you instantly know who is speaking.

The cover art puts one in mind of Alice's adventures in Wonderland. The beautiful girl seems to be falling surrounded by playing cards and falling towards a crown. Its enchanting .

Then there is world the author has created. It is reminiscent of Carvel and The Night circus set against a background of a sin city esque place the known only as Oasis. It drew me in from the very first scentence. Its truely amazing.

Against this glittering , glamorous city we have a beautiful story of political intrigue and the main characters need to prove herself against all odds.

For a stand alone novel its amazing and I had to know what would happen next. Beautiful, haunting , truely magical.

I was utterly entranced in this story of magic and jesters. Laying down and listening to this audiobook with my eyes close was a great time. I enjoyed this book, it was really good. A well written story that had been narrated wonderfully. I loved the characters, especially Lisette and her quest to become the queens jester.

I loved this book. I would recommend. It was just a little too short and tidy. I wished there was more description and we got to see more of the relationship build with the main characters. I did like the world built here, kind of like if Las Vegas entertainment was the only way to survive. I am a fan of the enemies to lovers trope, this relationship was reminiscent of the Cruel Prince by Holly Black, especially competitive nature of the female main character and how she is trying to prove herself despite not having magic.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was such a great book! a bit romancey for me but i still really liked it! would buy!

Select the audio version then - ‘Come along YA and all’, take your seat (or in this case put your headphones in) and be thrilled by the magicians and sometimes real magic in their performances. Don’t be worried, you maybe in danger of death but that doesn’t matter because you will certainly be having fun. The narrative drips you information (and more than a little blood between friends and enemies) as the narrator provides you with the present and past. Who will end up as the Jester and who will end up just being the fool? Thank you to CamCat Publishers and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Think the night circus and the Prestige for YA! Dueling jesters/magicians competing to be in the royal court. It unfortunately ended up not being a book for me because there's some supernatural elements that I prefer to stay away from. Some magic bothers me and some don't, it just kinda depends. I really liked the characters, and the writing was very intriguing and kept me interested through out! The narrator was also fantastic! I would love to read more from this author. I also love the cover art except for the Title/Font Looks weird to me for some reason.

Wonderfully written and narrated! Without going into unnecessary detail, the author built a world full of rivalry, secrets, and magic. Throughout the story, you learn more about Lisette’s past in short bits that make you wonder how things will connect and come to light but don’t distract from the present drama unfolding. The characters were surprisingly lovable for people with questionable morals and motivations. Would recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy/magic.