Review – The Journals of Octavia Hollows by Stacey Rourke

The Journals of Octavia Hollows: Books 1-6 by Stacey Rourke
Narrated by Brenda Scott Wlazlo

With a touch of her hand, Octavia Hollows can restore life. Yet, she couldn’t save the man she loved from the horrific accident that stole him from her. Octavia thought she could outrun the pain, but ghosts from the past refuse to be silenced. Out of options, she chooses to retrace her wayward journey across the country in search of answers. Surrounded by baffling mysteries of the undead, what she learns about herself along the way might become her greatest weapon.

This six-novella series chronicles Octavia’s adventures in:
Wake the Dead
Dead Man’s Hand
Caught Dead
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Dead Ringer
Dead as a Doornail

“This is Rourke at her finest: sassy and completely unapologetic. Proving again why she’s a powerhouse in this industry.” (USA Today best-selling author Rue Volley)

“This book has it all: a kickass heroine, loads of action…and a pig named Bacon.” (New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Karen Lynch)

Amazon | Audible

I liked this one!  I am always on the lookout for new Urban Fantasy series to try and I just couldn’t resist a story about a necromancer with a resurrected pet pig named Bacon!  This book is a collection of 6 different novella-length stories that all tie into a larger story.  I did like some of the stories much more than others but I had a good time with the collection overall.

I loved Octavia!  She had a lot of spunk and was just a lot of fun.  Every time she put her pet pig, Bacon in a baby carrier under her shirt and pretended to be pregnant, I couldn’t help the smile that would work its way onto my face.  She was tough and rather resourceful.  I liked seeing her handle herself in such a wide variety of settings.

In this collection, we see Octavia encounter a lot of different challenges.  Each story was different but sometimes things from a previous story would carry over.  I liked some of the stories a lot more than others which is normal for a collection of shorter pieces.  I liked the stories at the beginning and the end of the collection the best and found that the middle stories dragged a bit.  This audiobook did keep the beginning and ending credits for each of the six shorter works which I found somewhat unexpected.

This was the first time that I have listened to Brenda Scott Wlazlo narrate a book.  I thought that she did a marvelous job with this one.  I probably enjoyed this book a bit more because of her narration.  She made the story come alive and everything flowed beautifully.  I loved that when Octavia sang, we got to hear it.  I hope to listen to more of her narration work.

I would recommend this book to others.  I thought that this was a very well done collection of stories with great characters and just the right amount of humor.  I would love to see what comes next for Octavia, Bacon, and friends!

I received a review copy of this audiobook from the author via Caffeinated Services.

About the Author

Stacey Rourke is the writer of works that span genres but possess the same flare for action and snarky humor. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. She is the author of the Gryphon series, The Legends Saga, and the Unfortunate Soul Chronicles. She lives in Orlando, Florida

Author Links: Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

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