I’ve just finished listening to The Branded by Jo Ciccioni, it’s the first book in The Branded Season duology and I can honestly say that with the help of the M4 Road closure extending my evening commute from 1 to nearly 4 hours, I flew through it…TBH, I would have anyway but, it definitely lessened the pain of that horrible journey!

Ciccioni creates a world divided, following a virus people are divided between the Branded and the Pure - Purity brings privilege, and power, whilst for the branded there is poverty, service and vulnerability to disease. Yet, with definite Handmaid’s Tale vibes, the Pure females are seen as central to breeding and procreating, and the Pure culture appears to revolve around this with a very distinct hierarchy.

Amidst this closed culture are Nara and Osha, orphaned twins who as Pure have been brought into the fold of the Citadel, until one day events conspire to separate them and they are forced to turn to an outsider Branded, the Wrangler to help them escape together. From here onwards Nara and Osha are faced with challenges as they journey to unknown lands.

Told from Nara’s perspective, we are thrown into a fast paced, actioned packed, speculative, dystopian fantasy that from page one doesn’t let down the pace. I was totally immersed in the world building, the different races and cultures, and of course Nara’s feelings and emotions, and the slow burn romance that threaded its way throughout the story. There is no question that Nara is headstrong, stubborn, human, she makes mistakes and the narrator of the audio book expressed all of this wonderfully.

I must commend Leah Filley for her narration, I often find female narrators jarring, my preference is for a lower pitched voice. She not only brought life to the voices but, it was also easy to distinguish between characters and she is definitely the queen of the drunken ramble!

I really enjoyed this book and have already done a bit of a search for The Rising, the next book in the duology, that cliffhanger definitely left me wanting more! If you’re looking for a contender with a seriously great pace and plot that ticks you’re dystopian, adventure fantasy boxes, you definitely won’t go wrong with The Branded!

The Branded written by Jo Riccioni and narrated by Leah Filley is a completely different type of fantasy. You will find all of your favourite tropes, absolutely, but the writing style is invigorating, conversational, so immersive and absolutely entertaining. The beauty is that it is a crossover with speculative or dystopic fiction and this new style had me hooked and I really want to read more!

YA is not usually my jam, but I would say this is Ya into Adult in the writing style, so again, it straddles genres imho.

Leah Filley did a wonderful job as narrator and kept my interest throughout. There was an exceptional amount of worldbuilding and character development to lay a strong foundation for this series. Certainly one to watch out for

Thank you to Netgalley, Bolinda Audio, the fantastic author Jo Riccioni and the narrator Leah Filley for this awesome ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

I love a fantasy book with a lot of buildup and world building, and this book was just what I needed! This is one of those books that you would want to reread for easter eggs and further understanding the backstories, because of the many plot twists and truths that are revealed. If you know me, I don’t care for the spicy romantasy, and this book had enough to keep me intrigued.
I listen to this book as an audiobook, and the narrator did a great job! It was such a delight listening to this fantasy book!

The narrator was great, she nas such a lovely voice! I really enoyed this fantasy full of action, mystery, adventures and romance! It was a little bit of a slow burn story but the interesting characters and world building had me interested from the start! I loved the romance and chemistry between Nara and the Wrangler. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

I really enjoyed this first book in a new and interesting fantasy series! It was a slow burn story, but the interesting characters and qworld building kept my attention! I really enjoyed the romance and chemistry between Nara and the wrangler! I can't wait to read the next book and see what happens! The narrator was great, I have listened to several books narrated by her and love her voice in every one!

I’m ADHD so I finish audiobooks very quickly. In the beginning this book was hard for me to get into because I feel like I was thrown into it without knowing what was going on or context. I almost DNF’d but I was so glad I stuck it out. I thoroughly
enjoyed this novel and the narration was top notch! I adore that this book brought in real world issues into the mix which is something I find so refreshing in novels, especially fiction. Thank you NetGalley and Riccioni’s team for allowing me this ARC! It was truly delightful.

I combi read The Branded with the ebook and audiobook. Initially when I heard the narrator I thought Stacey McEwan author of the Ledge was reading 😂
Leah Filley was really easy to listen to even when sped up and did a great job of making distinguishing voices between characters.

The Branded by Jo Riccioni is a fast-paced adventure of survival, freedom, the dark truth and a little bit of romance. Twins Nara and Osha live in a World where people are born branded or pure. The pure live in a settlement and the women are coveted for pairing with suitable pure males to continue creating more pure. When one of the twins is sent away from the settlement and there is an attack, chaos ensues.

This was a lot of addictive fun! It was easy reading, enemies to lovers, strong FMC with great banter and discovering magic. It is slow burn but doesn’t only focus on the romance.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up. The cover feels fantasy but it’s definitely more post-virus/kind of sci-fi. This book throws you right into the story without a ton of context which got confusing at times, but it was never slow and I was really into the story. Definitely want to read book two

Very rarely do I finish a NetGalley audiobook and jump straight on to audible for the next in the series! Not since way back when Stephanie Meyer did a number on us all with those vampire books 😉 Anyway, my tale of woe is that it’s not there, neither of them are, which leads me to believe that as I suspected they’re perhaps due to be released in June in audio version, though not yet ready to pre order. if anyone can tell me otherwise or point me in the right direction I’d appreciate it.

Anyway, the review:
Fantasy is not generally my go to genre, but every now and then you want something different, hence I requested The Branded. I’m so glad I did, it is obviously fantasy but it was so believably real to me.
I don’t want to liken it to The Handmaids Tale, it doesn’t do it justice in my opinion, but I can’t think of anything else that is quite like it, it does have a similar dystopian vibe, but it is own unique world and story. I’m finding it tricky to review without spoiling the story, but it’s so good.

The writing style was fantastic, I really enjoyed the narration and I was lost in their little world of healers seers blood witches and the watcher. I didn’t really want to come back to reality.

Loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

Where to begin? Like any good fantasy book The Branded is a little slow to start. But as a fantasy reader I know too well that this is the time it takes to introduce the reader into a new world, and it’s Lore.

After the first chapter or two, I had a feeling I was going to DNF the whole thing and move on. HOWEVER! I am SO GLAD I did not!

Firstly - Why did I think of DNFing the story? We it was giving me Handmaiden Tales vibes. The dystopia of this world hit home too close to everything happening to women in the American society right now. Added to it a world suffering from a virus too. I thought I wasn’t in a place to live this in my world of fantasy.

However, as I said. I didn’t give up and I am so glad!!! This story turned into one I couldn’t put down. For me it’s when I felt the main character stepped up to turn a bad situation into something else.

The story should come with some triggers warning from the outset. If I knew what I was in for, I would not have had a hard time with the first few chapters.

But Now. I can’t WAIT to read Book Two!

This book is written from Nara's point of view. It follows Nara and her twin sister Osha and their privileged life of being unbranded and pure. Until one day everything changes and turns their world upside down.
I absolutely loved Nara. She is witty, sassy and strong. The banter between her and the Wrangler was brilliant and had me laughing. The world building and descriptions were perfect and easy to imagine. The whole story was beautifully written and I can't wait for the next installment.
I switched between reading both the book and audio. The audio is perfectly narrated and portrayed Nara as I thought she would sound. The narrator got Nara's wit and sarcasm spot on.
I would highly recommend to anyone who loves fantasy, or if you are wanting to dip your toes into the genre. Not there's not too much in the way of details or characters to make you feel lost as is the case in high end fantasy, and is very easy to follow.

Thank you to Netgalley, Angry Robot, Bolinda Audio and Jo Riccioni for this ARC and Audio in exchange for an honest review

The Branded is book one of The Branded Season duology. In the divided world of Isfalk, where the Branded and the Pure are separated by privilege and vulnerability to disease, orphaned twins Nara and Osha find themselves confined within the citadel as prized breeding stock due to their unbranded skin. When circumstances force Nara to flee, she needs the help of a mysterious southern Brand called the Wrangler to escape with her sister. While trying to keep herself and Osha alive, Nara unlocks latent abilities and delves into their forgotten past.

I binged the audiobook of The Branded today, and when I got to the end, I wished so badly that I could binge the sequel today too! I loved the audiobook format for this book - the narrator managed to really ramp up the tension and more than kept up with the fast paced nature of this book. She portrayed the main character Nara so well and I definitely felt the chemistry between Nara and the Wrangler, even when she didn't trust him. She just really committed to all of the voices, situations and emotions such as stuttering from nervousness, anger, and drunken rambling (that one was my favourite!). It was never boring, and I enjoyed every minute of the audiobook.

There were a lot of twists in this book, and I was completely invested in the characters. With every betrayal, plot twist and revealed character flaw, it just got better and better, and I loved where the story went. The Branded ended on a strong note, with a bit of a cliffhanger, particularly between characters so I am definitely looking forward to The Rising! I think the new location, the mystery to be solved and the situations that some of the characters are currently in are going to have some big payoffs in the finale!

This is a really strong fantasy duology with a high-tension romance and banter, and great twists and I would definitely recommend the audiobook version.

Disclaimer: I received an ALC from NetGalley but this is my voluntary and honest review.