Branded by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki

BrandedNarrated by Jorjeana Marie

Most of the dystopian novels out there are geared toward a Young Adult audience. I’ve loved quite a few of them, but I’ve been looking for something a little more adult-oriented. When I stumbled upon the synopsis of Branded, Book 1 in the Sinners series, I knew it was exactly what I had been searching for. A mix of dystopian fiction and romance, Branded managed to bring me to tears and make me believe in the enduring power of love.

Fifty years ago, the commander came to power. He dismantled the American justice system, and created the hole in its place. The hole is a brutal place where people are sent for committing any one of the seven deadly sins. Each sinner is branded a certain color, depending on the sin they committed.

Lexi Hamilton has been sent to the hole after being accused of having premarital sex. Given the blue brand associated with lust, she is kept under guard and forced to work in the hole’s very shabby hospital. Lexi hates everything about this new life, except the enigmatic man who has been tasked with keeping her alive.

Cole doesn’t understand why Lexi is different from other citizens of the hole. Usually, they run wild, subject to the whims of the guards who are in charge of them. To his knowledge, no one has ever been assigned a personal guard. So, why Lexi, and why him? He doesn’t want to like her, let alone fall in love with her. Both citizen and guard would be killed if they were discovered. However, as tension mounts to a fever pitch within the confines of the hole, Cole discovers that it simply isn’t possible to deny his feelings.

Lexi isn’t sure she should trust him. Everyone she loves ends up leaving or betraying her. What would make Cole any different? Plus, she’s determined to stay alive, and falling for her guard would be like signing her own death warrant. Despite her best intentions, Lexi’s feelings for Cole grow ever stronger until she’s willing to sacrifice almost anything to be with him.

Narrator Jorjeana Marie is quite talented. However, her light, perpetually happy-sounding voice is not well-suited to a book as dark as Branded turned out to be. I can hear her narrating something much lighter, perhaps a Robyn Carr or Sherryl Woods title.

It seemed that Ms. Marie had a hard time getting inside Lexi’s head. As the story is told exclusively from Lexi’s point of view, this puts the listener at a disadvantage. Lexi is a young woman full of rage and conflicting loyalties. All vestiges of happiness fled her life years ago. Ms. Marie tried to portray her emotions accurately, but I was hoping for something a little broodier, just a tinge darker.

I was pleased with Ms. Marie’s differentiation of the book’s female characters. No two sound alike. Dialogue tags were completely unnecessary in scenes with more than one woman present.

Surprisingly, Ms. Marie did a fabulous job depicting the male characters in the story. I thought masculinity might be a problem for her, given her vocal register, but I needn’t have worried. With a slight lowering of pitch, and some added brusqueness and other verbal characteristics, Ms. Marie was able to make each man unique. I was especially pleased with her depiction of the whiny but imperious head guard.

Although she spoke with what sounded like a perpetual smile on her face, Ms. Marie did not appear bothered by the very violent scenes the authors created. She took them in stride, never hesitating, no matter how gruesome the scene. And believe me when I say some of them were gut-wrenchingly gross.

Because of the heavy violence and slow-building romance, Branded won’t be for everyone. However, if you’re a fan of dystopian fiction, and you don’t mind waiting for the hero and heroine to reach their HEA, I highly recommend this book. Hopefully, the sequel Hunted will be available in audio format soon. My hope is for a narrator who is better able to express the dark themes presented in the work of Ketner and Kalicicki.

Shannon


Narration:  B-

Book Content:  A

Steam Factor:  You can play it out loud

Violence:  Domestic, graphic

Genre:  General Fiction, Dystopian

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

 

Branded was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for review.