Audiobook review: Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors by Annette Marie & Rob Jacobsen
Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors is the second book in Marie’s Guild Codex Universe while also being the first book in a spinoff series. For the read-along, we are following the author’s recommended reading order, found HERE.
The story features Kit Morris, a former intern at Kirk, Conner & Qasid Guild (KCQ), the evil corporation that was featured in the previous book. After KCQ was demolished, Kit tried to escape the country only to be apprehended by Agent Lienna Shen and brought to the MPD unit in Vancouver. When his former best friend escapes, Kit offers to help Lienna recapture Quinton as a ruse so Kit can also find a way to escape.
Since readers should be somewhat familiar with the magic of the Guild Codex world, the book doesn’t spend a lot of time world building. However, Kit grew up in the human world and only recently discovered the world of mythics. Unfortunately, he was introduced to magic by the shady KCQ, which used his powers to swindle humans. This allows the authors to provide additional information about the world as Kit learns more.
When it comes down to it, Kit is a good person. His need to escape is driven by a fear of imminent death at his sentencing. Also, he grew up in foster care and only experienced care and affection from one person his whole life. And really, the MPD is not the most just law enforcement agency, so his fears are not exaggerated. I enjoyed getting inside the MPD and discovered that I don’t really like them.
Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors not only introduces new characters but also new abilities. Kit has the ability to create hallucinations for specific targets, known as warping. The book also allows readers to see inside the MPD after living inside a guild in book one. There are mentions of the Crow and Hammer Guild, but there isn’t really any overlap between the two books.
Overall the story is interesting; however, I found I didn’t like Kit as much as I enjoyed Tori as the main character. Despite being a good person down deep, he is shady and squirmy, falling in the gray regions of the law. That doesn’t make him bad, but I felt like he has the “car salesman” slick to him at times, not letting readers or Lienna see who he is down deep.
Narration: The story is shared via the first person POV of Kit. Toma nails the snarky, carefree attitude that Kit emanates and adds emotion into the performance when called for. Toma adjusts his voice for dialogue based on gender, pitching female voices higher and/or softer; however the female voices are not very feminine and some are even irritating. Toma also adjusts his voice based on the characters’ personalities, allowing me to create a visual picture based on the audio input.
In the end, I enjoyed the story and look forward to seeing how the Warped world fits into Tori’s Spellbound world.
My Ratings
Story: B/B-
Narration: B-
Jen
About the Book:
My name is Kit Morris, and welcome to my warped life.
Picture the Me, an average guy with psychic powers — not that my abilities are in any way average — just trying to scrape by in a harsh world. So maybe I’ve conned a few people, but did I really deserve to be thrown in MPD jail alongside magic-wielding serial killers?
According to Agent Lienna Shen, one-hundred-percent yes.
But her hardass attitude and “Arcana prodigy” status aren’t enough to bring down my former best friend, who slipped through the MPD’s fingers and is days away from unleashing untold horrors upon the city. Or he’s going to steal something. I don’t really know.
Whatever he’s up to, that’s why I’m sitting in an interrogation room with Lienna. And that’s why I just offered myself as her temporary new partner for the purposes of thwarting my ex-accomplice.
And that’s how I’m going to escape. I might even help with the case before I cut and run.
Authors: Annette Marie, Rob Jacobsen
Narrator: Iggy Toma
Series: The Guild Codex: Warped #1; Guild Codex Universe #2
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Audiobook Release Date: August 25, 2020
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
Source: Library
Audio Speed: 1.25x