I have never been more excited for an audiobook than I was when I started this!!!!
It was like listening to a D&D episode
This author has officially moved up to the Top of my Favorite Authors.
The thrill of Sera(Sarah) going through everything she goes through, her struggles, and the new 'people' she meets along the way!
There were moments where I was holding my breath as I wait for him to continue on. The noises/sound effects were amazing and so accurate! I love it!
I seriously cannot wait to listen to the next one!

The world building was phenomenal! The characters were unique and wonderful.
I'm 30 years old and I wholeheartedly enjoyed this entire story.

This was a cute, immersive story. Some of it was a little confusing, but overall I enjoyed it. Definitely more appropriate for middle grade, maybe ya. The magic system was unique and the characters diverse yet relatable. Credit to Netgalley for me being able to listen to this audiobook.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. It was well written, had exciting world building, as well as interesting characters and the illustrations were beautiful. However, this book was a tad bit too young for me. The audiobook was really well done. It had a lot of dynamic voices, the production of it was rather impressive. With that being said, I think there are a lot of young people who would really love this. On Goodreads, it is listed as a young adult, but I think it is closer to middle grade. Or at least on the younger side of ya.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this audiobook arc in exchange for my honest review.

There was a lot that happened in this book, but it was tied together very nicely so it didn’t feel rushed at all!

I love the mix of magic and science, and how it is used to control people. It works as a great metaphor for media control in todays society, while keeping it simple enough to be understood.

The horror that comes with realizations later on on the book is fantastic! I cried on the bus. And there were hints dropped though out the book, too, so if you really wanted to you could definitely figure it out before.

Really cool setting too! Would definitely re-read.

The story is about Sera Skohlidon, a young girl who's curious and wants to find out about a powerful group called the Royal Coven, their magic, and some shady deals faunkind are making. Her quest for the truth uncovers a secret in her family that gets her mixed up in the Coven's bad stuff. Along the way, she makes a shapeshifting friend and learns more about herself, gains confidence, and meets some interesting folks, including a cute classmate. What's I liked most about this book is that it's full of action and has some great characters. The world it creates is really interesting too. It's written with real teenagers in mind, so it definitely feel relatable if you're in that age group. Seeing Sera change and grow is fun, and her shapeshifting friend is a nice touch to the story. However there are a few times when things in the story are a bit confusing, though it doesn't happen too often. The romantic stuff in the story didn't quite click with me, but what you like in a book varies from person to person. In the end, I recommend this book, especially if you're a teen or if you like exciting young adult books that mix magic and sci-fi. It's a fun adventure with cool characters and a world you'll want to explore.

I received an eARC from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This audiobook was amazing! It was very well read, the voices were amazing, there were sounds and I genuinely read the book WHILE listening and read so much faster because the audiobook was THAT good!

As for the story itself, it was also amazing! I loved the characters and the world, and it was very well-paced and I adored the art all throughout the book! Each piece was absolutely gorgeous and helped me visualize the story and characters.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Charles Armstrong for allowing me to read this and review it! I ADORED IT! <3 I can’t wait to see what comes next…

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an audiobook ARC.

I went into this not sure what to expect. It was my first time listening to a dramatisation and at the start I really enjoyed it. The further I got into it, the more difficult it was to follow the story, and I think this was mostly to do with the production of the audiobook and not a true reflection of the author's work.

The change in voice actors was quite jarring at times, but they suited the characters and really helped flesh out their different personalities. As I got further into the story, however, the limited cast were voicing multiple characters, and I began to get confused as to who was speaking.

The music didn't always fit the story, and several times I noticed it was overly victorious for no apparent reason before dying down, making exciting scenes feel a little anticlimactic. It added nicely to the drama at times, but overall, I felt it didn't mesh with the narration and often distracted from the words.

As I said, I don't feel this review is a good representation of the book itself - I am merely expressing my opinion on the audiobook dramatisation. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and vivid imagery throughout the story, and the unique magic system made it feel like a nice change from a lot of typical fantasy novels. Unfortunately, it just didn't grip me enough to want to carry on with the series.

I received the audiobook version of this story via NetGalley

Honestly I don’t have too much to say about this one. The audiobook version consists of a multi-member cast, some better than others but none were bad overall.

It’s not a bad story but I just couldn’t feel a connection to it. It would probably been more enjoyable for teens and such.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of the audiobook version of Belly of the Beast in exchange for my honest review!

This story follows our FMC, Sera, as she embarks on an action packed adventure to try to discover where magic originates. Along the way, she meets a few very interesting and fantastical characters - some of whom join her in her epic quest.

I personally feel that this book is a good mash-up of fantasy and science fiction. While the book's premise and characters are more fantasy-esque, the actual storyline is heavily saturated with sci-fi elements including space, technology, and even one-wheeled motorbikes.

So... Would I recommend the audiobook? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is a bit more complicated. First of all, the audiobook has multiple narrators and is very similar to a graphic audiobook. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it is basically a full cast with background music and sound effects. Some people like this, but I generally avoid them as I find the background sounds to be a bit distracting. That said, the volume difference between the narrators and additional sounds was well balanced and did not make hearing the narrator difficult. I have seen in other reviews that the non-audio version has illustrations, which I think would enhance the reading experience, so if I were to read another book in this series, I would probably opt for the non-audio format.

Overall, though, I would say I enjoyed the book. It was a solid start to the series. It is appropriate for all ages IMO, but some of the action may be a little intense for young children. I did enjoy that I could listen to this even with my kids around as this particular book wasn't riddled with language or spicy situations. I'm sure my earbuds enjoyed the break. Lol!

Magic is just science you can’t understand, right? Sorce addresses this point of view directly, and sometimes a bit heavy handedly, but with plenty of skill to excuse the messier bits. Sera is a teen faun in an Earth where children are indoctrinated by Martians with implanted computers, OmniSync’s, in kindergarten. Her younger brother is days away from his own indoctrination when Sera learns some biting truths about the “magic” of the OmniSync. Faun’s know the woods around the town are blocked by terrifying beasts, but she knows she’ll uncover more if she leaves her home. Sorce follows Sera “as above, so below” as she journeys deep into the Earth and high off in the sky to protect her brother. She’s accompanied by her friend Enry and her shapeshifting pig-like pet Pterus.

On sharing this book with children: The author openly states on the book’s website that the more he “finds himself versed in aspects of AI, the more he’s come to accept notions of creationism”. As such, the page format is set like a Bible, immediately attention grabbing from the first page of text. The messier bits speak to this. This book is rife with Christian and occasional Greek mythos, often under-folded into the text, but maybe that’s by design? Some books like to wear their hearts on their sleeve, and as the author openly stated his lean towards textual Christian belief, maybe he outright intended this to be a primer for Christian thought. But I didn’t see that stated so blatantly anywhere until I sought that information out. This is where I find it somewhat concerning. An adult would open the book and immediately clock the Bible format, but a child likely wouldn’t. Children can be religious, of course, but they shouldn’t be forced to adhere to their parent’s beliefs. This book wraps up Christian thought in such a way one might not realize what they’re reading while they are internalizing the lessons. I.E. - the author believes in creationism and I wouldn’t be surprised if the books seek to prove that over the series. Due to the questionable background, I’m unlikely to recommend this to my friends with children, however, an adult who likes middle-grade books and enjoys religious texts would have fun with this.

The audiobook was really quite good. I enjoyed the sound effects and various voice actors and found it quite immersive and easy to finish in a day. I found the format of the physical copy to be a bit difficult to read, with it’s Bible column format, and kept opening and closing it. But once I found the audio book, I breezed through them both. As I found the audiobook so much more compelling, I've added a star in comparison to the physical copy.

Other comments: Steve Bernard’s voice wrapped me up like a warm blanket but the man has no variation and it was jarring to hear such a particular voice for so many characters. I legitimately wondered if the voice was AI as he wasn’t listed in the audio book credits. Sera’s a bit of a Mary Sue and Enry’s just kind of there mostly. Pterus seems to have been created so he could be there for the odd chance they needed a Kaiju sized beast on their side, and the plot felt encumbered by trying to explain where he was when they needed him to be small.

- book ISBN was not found on Goodreads so this will not be posted there, will check back at a later date post-publication and see if I can post then

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the audiobook ARC for this book.

This was my first time listening to an audiobook without simultaneously reading it and the narration of the book was really amazing. I loved the different voices and the sound effects that really helped to get a better visual and feel of the story; they just made the experience feel more alive. Some of the monsters were hard to understand, but I guess that comes with the territory of voicing a monster.

The book is about a faun called Sera and her journey to combat the corrupt magical system that they were given by alien invaders for their own selfish reasons. Her pet is a shapeshifting pig. He is adorable, and we must protect him at all costs.
Sera's journey was beautifully written, and I loved how we see her character grow throughout the book. I loved every second of it and I think that this book would also be interesting to adults who love unique magical systems and adventures, even though it's written for a younger audience.

I honestly didn’t love this audiobook.
The narration almost felt childish, and it annoyed me, and the fact that there were lots of background noise that was purposefully there made it quite hard to listen to it, and at the same time focus on the story.

I’m disappointed since the story itself is great, with interesting characters, great world building and an overall thrilling adventure.

I’d love to read the physical copy since I’ve heard it’s amazing, with beautiful art, and after reading reviews on the physical book I believe that’s the greatest way to digest this YA fantasy.

A special thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

audio - Well narrated with background music, sound effects and multiple narrators. Really brought the story to life!

ebook - has beautiful illustrations that are well integrated. This was a cute read perfect for middle grade/younger YA audience. Great worldbuilding that was clearly done. A mix of fantasy with sci-fi elements. A bit of disjointedness within the plot, but it didn't bother me too much. I really enjoyed the characters especially Sera and Enry with their little creatures coming along.

I made it thru several chapters before I tapped out. I couldn't follow it, found the narration too juvenile and honestly had no clue what was happening. Just not for me.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this audiobook arc in exchange for my honest review.

Great ideas, lacking execution is what comes to mind when I finished this story. And on top of that, choosing the author as a narrator wasn’t the best choice either. A monotonous audiobook that was only bearable because there were a few other voices (and sounds) involved that were much nicer to listen to. Especially Sera’s voice. And after about 30%, the story became one big action packed adventure so I was able to plow through till the end.

I do have to applaud the author for immediately making it clear, before it was even mentioned, that we were dropped straight into a controlled religious environment. I just felt that almost claustrophobic choice deprived environment immediately, where you just follow rules you don’t even fully understand. Rules, traditions, secrets.. Everyone controlled by fear without even realizing it (don’t follow the rules and you won’t live forever). All of that doesn’t bother you. Why? Because you are a child and you want to listen to your parents, be a good boy/girl and everyone around you doesn’t question or stopped questioning so why should you? But Sera didn’t! Especially after finding out that she used to have a brother Theo, who disappeared during a ritual, same as many other children over the years. It’s supposed to be an honor, a child ascending to their god, the grand sorcerer, in the clouds. But you can clearly see how hard it is on her parents anyway.

Sera undertakes a journey to get answers, a huge dangerous adventure where she encounters many enemies but is also helped by unexpected allies and the boy she has feelings for and her demon pet, who accompany her. She also picks up new magical skills along the way.

All of this sounds amazing, I know! And there’s also some cool technology involved. But as I said, the execution was lacking. This story had no depth and I would have loved to actually get to know any of the characters, get any details about both planets or just anything or anyone. And I honestly even forgot the demon pet was even there or Sera having any feelings for Enry, most of the time. I just didn’t feel much while reading this but I am glad I did finish it because the ending was nice and creative. And even though a lot wasn’t explained and was just because of magic, the reason why the others did what they did, was made very clear and easy to understand and something I wasn’t expecting!

Like many, if not all of the new(er) fake religions, they just started it out of personal gain. This book definitely comes close to reality at some points.

Overall cute story, a little confusing but the ending was strong. The audiobook production felt overwhelming with the music in the background and all of the switching voices, even if it gave it more of a real feel for each character.

Audiobook:
Not easy to follow, information is unclear. In my opinion too much background noise and so (sound effects ext).
Could not get farther on it than chapter 1
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I may try and read the written copy at some point, but at this stage it is a pass for me
Plot seems interesting but as I stated before, hard to follow