AUDIOBOOK RECOMMENDATIONS (Yes, audiobooks ARE real books)

I’m an on – off audiobook reader, where sometimes I’ll consume 4-5 books on Audible a month, whilst I can also go months on end without listening to anything.

I usually tend to listen to cuter, contemporary books but I’ve been known to devour the occasional fantasy with my ears.

I’ve selected some of my favourite audiobooks from my past reads, and I wanted to talk about them today!

For ease, I’ve separated them by genre – so if you’d prefer to scroll and find a genre that suits your fancy, then that’s perfectly fine and hopefully easy for you to do!

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CONTEMPORARY FICTION:

Aristotle & Dante Discover The Secrets of the Universe = An all around, completely adorable book. It explores two guys from seemingly separate worlds who can’t help but fall for each other.

History Is All You Left Me = If you want a heartbreaker, this is the one for you. I’ve still not recovered since listening to it roughly a year ago, and I’m still left unable to pick up Adam Silvera’s other books purely because my heart hurts. This follows the ex of someone who commits suicide, and how he manages to piece himself back together.

Highly Illogical Behaviour = This one is a perfect mental health read, and follows a male character who is terrified of the outside world. He becomes the focus of a psychological experiment from someone who went to school with him – when he actually went to school, and through this he is introduced to some of the less scary parts of the world. Including his future love.

Perfect 10 = There a 10 things that would make a boyfriend perfect, according to this adorable gay novel. And looking for all 10 things in one guy isn’t easy. Unless, it actually is…

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DYSTOPIAN FICTION:

Scythe = The book community is obsessed with this one, and I’m happy to put myself on the hype train too. Scythe follows a futuristic world where natural death has been eliminated. However, that doesn’t make for a sustainable population so the government have created Scythes, who are responsible for bringing death wherever they go. Until one Scythe apprentice refuses to kill.

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FANTASY FICTION:

Hunted = Meagan Spooner is a big name in Australian fiction, having co-written with the lovely Amie Kaufman. She splits off from her usual in Hunted, and this book is truly from the heart. This gorgeous Beauty and the Beast retelling had me hooked from page 1 (or minute one, seeing as I was listening to the audiobook).

Royal Bastards = I’m not sure what I was expecting when going into this one, but whatever it was, it wasn’t what I got out of it. What I got was perfection bundled up in hilarious wrapping paper and characters that I will never forget. Betrayal, angst and deception is given a pretty face in this one.

The Traitor’s Game = This was the first fantasy audiobook I ever listened to, and it completely took my breath away. The sequel has JUST RELEASED and I need to go and do a re-listen to this one ASAP. I can’t give too much away without spoilers but there’s enough in the title for you to gather the plot. There’s a traitor. There’s a game. It’s amazing, I promise.

The Queen’s Rising = I never expected to read a book about a band of sisters who would give anything for each other. But it was what I wanted, all the same. But where does the true loyalties lie?

Touch of Gold = First of all, Annie Sullivan is a sweetheart who I would give my life for. It makes it even better that she is a master of craft and this King Midas retelling was refreshing and really set my expectations high for all the other books I had to read afterwards. Thank you Annie!

Bring Me Their Hearts = I picked this one up knowing nothing more than the title and how gorgeous the cover was. I totally do not regret it in any way shape or form. As the title suggests, we have an epic magical assassin who’s task is to bring the hearts of people she kills to her witch master. But what if a heart is given to her willingly? Is she still able to take it then?

Strange The Dreamer = I haven’t even finished this audiobook because it’s longer than my available free time, but the narrator has such a soothing voice that really compliments Laini’s lyrical writing. I imagine myself right there with the characters, I feel for them – I hurt for them. I can’t describe how much I’ve fallen in love with this book before I’ve even finished.

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MYSTERY/THRILLER FICTION:

People Like Us = This book is a genre that I would never even consider touching with a ten foot pole. As part of a challenge last year, I had to choose something that wasn’t my usual read and so it happened: I discovered one of my favourite books. People Like Us is the Gossip Girl of boarding school. When you throw a murder in there, it’s a group of terrifying clever players in a game nobody wants to lose.

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All in all, these have been my favourite listens of the last couple of years! Have you listened to any of the above? What were your thoughts? Are you going to pick any up because of me?

I’d also like to say a huge thank you to Jennie Ly at http://www.jenniely.com for being such an audiobook champion! She get’s so much hate for promoting the fact that audiobooks count as reading and I know she deserves all the love for it instead.