Freed (Phoebe Meadows, #2)

by Amanda Carlson

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Freed picks up about a month or so after the end of Struck. Phoebe has been training with the other Valkyrie. She is learning fast, but the other Valkyrie have been training since they were very young children. She has a lot to make up before she can compare. She has the great support of her Aunt Ingrid, her boyfriend and son of Loki, Fen, her half brother Tyr, who is also the god of war, she also has her best friend, Sam, who is a human, but has a little extra there. Some of the Valkyrie are accepting her, others are not, there are more that just down right out dispise her.

When Huggie, a raven and friend, shows up with a message for Phoebe, she learns that she can wait no longer to save her mother. She must venture into the world of the dark elves without the help of friends or the other Valkyrie. She isn’t sent alone though. She has the half-giant and half-troll, Junnal to accompany her.

It doesn’t take long for Phoebe to get into trouble in this world. Even with a cloak that is to hide her, she is discovered. It seems that Phoebe’s chances of saving her mother are slipping away. She does meet people along the way that can help her. She comes across Balder, god of light, who has been imprisoned with the dark elves by his own mother, no less (though she was trying to protect him from his fated death). There is also Callan, a white elf and mage. Who became a good friend to Phoebe. Junnal was a favorite character for me in this book. He is such a sweet guy. Wanted nothing more than to make sure that Phoebe was safe.

This story was full of action. There wasn’t a huge amount of romance in this one, as Phoebe and Fen aren’t together much in this book. The lack of romance isn’t a big deal to me, but I could see where others might be frustrated by it. I did miss time with Fen, Tyr, Ingrid and Sam. But the time with Junnal and the introduction of Baldar and Callan was great. If you’re looking for a fast-paced urban fantasy, this is a fun book. I do recommend you read book one first though.

Narration
Once again, I thought that Emma Wilder did a great job with the narration of this book. She stays with the same voices for the characters who have returned. I think she does a good job with the pacing of this action-packed story. I really want to call out her voices of the dark elves. I think the voices she picked really close to what was described in the story. They had high-pitched voices (and voices I wouldn’t want to attempt to imitate). I also liked the voice of Junnal. This is the only series that I’ve listened to by Emma Wilder, but I would definitely be on the lookout for more.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.