jesstheaudiobookworm
This installment is more like a novella in the sense that its events are not essential to the understanding of the Witching Savannah series (Mercy's story; installments 1-3), but it still provides a whole lot of beneficial "filler" information regarding Jilo's upbringing and young adulthood, as well as extremely interesting first and secondhand information about her ancestors. I believe I can now definitively say that the Wills are far more interesting to me than the Taylors. I am so glad that this deserving character and her captivating family finally got the attention they deserve. If Horn would like to continue doing singular installments like this and devoting entire books to telling the background stories of each of his characters, I am completely here for that. He creates such dynamic characters and fleshes them out so well that a strong plot is hardly even necessary. It's hard for me to say in absolution, but I think that one could possibly read this installment before beginning The Line. In fact, I kind of wish I had. I like reading things in a chronologically linear fashion (because I'm a square like that). I'm no re-reader, but this book makes me want to go back and read the first three installments all over again.
Narration review: Overall, Mia Ellis did a fine job of narrating this story. There were some stumbles and awkward pauses throughout, but the thing that most significantly stands out to me about her narration was her talent in voicing the characters. I was nearly floored every time a new character was introduced with his or her own distinct voice. At one point I wondered "How many voices can she do?!". Ellis' talent seemed boundless. The timbre of her voice was very pleasant and I thoroughly enjoyed her performance. ♣︎