CITY OF THE LOST by Kelley Armstrong & narrated by Thérèse Plummer

I really enjoy Kelley Armstrong's YA books, but I also enjoy her thrillers. This was such an intense read from start to finish and Thérèse Plummer was amazing as a narrated. 

Casey Duncan went against her family of doctors to become a detective, and she has plenty of secrets and people to hide away from. But she agrees to leave the life she knows behind solely to get her best friend, Diana, away from her abusive and controlling ex. After a series of interviews and cash payments, the two of them head to Rockton, a town up in the Yukon that is not discoverable except by those who run it. Casey arrives after Diana and is immediately thrown into a murder case. The only problem is, most of the people in the town are up there under false names, hiding from what they've done, or from those who want to hurt them, making the town full of victims and criminals. Casey must work with Eric Dalton, the town sheriff, as well as Will, the deputy, to solve the case as well as the new ones that keep happening. She also must confront her own secrets, her toxic friendship, and her growing feelings for the uncultured sheriff. As her investigation unravels, she finds her own life at risk while so many twists and turns keep happening.  This was one of my favourite reads this year, and I can't wait to listen to the next in the series!

AETHERBOUND by E. K. Johnston

Pendt Harland grows up on her family's ship, getting only the minimum amount of food needed to keep her alive. She doesn't have the abilities her family desires, so they have her work in the kitchens until she is old enough to be sold off to another ship or a space station. A week before her 18th birthday, she escapes from the Harland onto Brannick Station. There she meets the young heirs of the station who show her that her undesirable mutation is something much more powerful and useful.

This story is charming and sweet with a satisfying ending that left me curious about the next book.

A DARKNESS ABSOLUTE by Kelley Armstrong & narrated by Thérèse Plummer

A Darkness Absolute is another thrilling story by Kelley Armstrong that is set in the city of Rockton. This time, Casey and Will come across a woman trapped in a hole when they are forced to take shelter in a cave during a snowstorm. The woman has been missing for over a year, and her discovery leads to the discovery of the remains of other missing women. Finding out who took them becomes difficult when Casey and Eric must consider suspects from Rockton, nearby settlements, and even hostiles. It takes a lot of digging, but eventually they find the abductor/killer. Or think they do...

I really do love this series by Kelley Armstrong and I think Thérèse Plummer is an amazing narrator. But, as a Canadian, I was thrown off by the pronunciation of toque. It should have the "ew" sound after the t, and not be pronounced as toke. That is something quite different in Canada.

A SPOONFUL OF 'TISM by Theresa Scovil 

     This book is year two of the Autie-Biographical comic collection. It was another fun, relatable, and educational set of comics. I really enjoyed it as I hadn’t seen them all on social media, so it was good to catch the ones I'd previously missed. I already have the year three collection and have year four on my to-buy list.

LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME (audiobook) by Mike Chen and Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

     This is the first audiobook I have listened to in years, and at first I wasn't sure if I could get back into listening to them, but this story kept me engaged between the storyline by Mike Chen and the narration by Emily Woo Zeller. Light Years from Home is a story about a family who is dealing with the aftermath of one of their members having been abducted by aliens, and how life moves on regardless of what happened. One sibling is missing. One sibling believes her twin brother just took off and is backpacking somewhere while she is trying to take care of their mother with dementia. One sibling believes her brother was abducted by aliens and she is trying to continue the research her father started before he drowned in a lake. There is a lot of animosity between the siblings even though it seems they were much closer at one time. Light Years from Home brings them back together to work out their issues and find out what really happened to Jacob 15 years ago. 
     I really enjoyed this story and give praise to the author for showing growth in all the characters while keeping their distinct personalities. My only issue with the story was Jacob's knowledge of our current technology and social media when he had been missing for 15 years. Sure, he'd been on Earth at various times over that period, but only for a day at most. That just pulled me out of the story a bit, but otherwise, it's a fabulous read/listen!
     I also want to mention since I'm reading books for Pride this month, that one of the characters is hinted at not being straight throughout the story and especially at the end, but the focus of the book is never on that. She is too focused on her brother and what happened to him for most of the book until she is able to move on at the end and think about other things in her life.

THE STARS TOO FONDLY by Emily Hamilton 

   This is an original sci-fi/space opera with a cast of characters that remind me of my oldest child and their group of friends. It starts with a group of four young adults breaking into the headquarters and ship of a failed space mission that was supposed to take the 200+ crew to a planet in another galaxy. Everyone knew about the failed mission and the disappearance of the crew, but no one knows what happened to them. Cleo and her friends are about to find out as the ship suddenly powers up on its own and rockets them into space for an unknown mission. There is a dark matter entity, multiple dimensions, hologram love, an evil scientist who transcended his own world, and friends and family that help each other survive it all.

TO THE MOON by Edie Monte

When Edie first posted about this book, I was immediately intrigued. I enjoy sci-fi, shifters, and mpreg, but rarely see it all together. And Edie did it well! It may require some suspension of disbelief  when it comes to science and space, but the storyline made up for it. I really enjoyed the world building, especially the history of shifters and omegas. I'm not sure if Edie plans to write more in this world, but I would love to read more about the cougar shifters.