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Moira Quirk

Narrator

moiraquirk.com

3.24.2025

What A Ride!

Chapters 9 thru 27

I got 3 hours of sleep last night. 3. I was absolutely so invested in this story that I couldn’t turn it off. Believe me I tried! I tried so many times. I said to myself … nope, nope we need to get some sleep, let’s just switch to some Jack Logan book or something … and I KEPT GOING BACK AND TURNING IT ON AGAIN. 😊 I feel barely capable of getting through the day but for me, being kept awake by something so wonderful – the writing and the performance – is entirely worth suffering. The wonderfulness of the story will be with me all day.

It is hard to find the words to describe this book without giving anything away. I like to make sure my reactions are spoiler free and honestly there isn’t much I can say about this story as it goes along that doesn’t give anything away.

The Last Hour Between Worlds cover has a clock on it and Time is an important component to how the story unfolds.

This book is a locked room mystery + groundhog day + political intrigue + sapphic epicness + magic + swords + perfection and I can’t really say more than that. If any of those words intrigue you, then immediately go out and get this book. You won’t regret it. It’s positively ingenious and thrilling and wonderful and scary and skin crawling and beautiful and funny and all of the things that make a great story. Kem and Rika are my new favorite couple. 💞

I just don’t want this to end. If I could give this book a million stars I would.

Story this session: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Narration: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

3.21.2025

New Book!

Chapters 1 thru 8

I was interested in this book because it is read by Moira Quirk and she is someone I am very familiar with work wise. She does animation, she does games, she does audiobooks. She is an incredible talent and listening to her move through each character in this book without cutting, with barely a breath or a beat between them is absolutely incredible and more than worth your time. I would listen to nearly any audiobook she was narrating.

This author, Melissa Caruso, is new for me. but I see that she has a few books on Audible and even some read by another narrator I adore, Saskia Maarleveld. I will have to bookmark the Swords and Fire series for listening to later on.

With my aphantasia reading and listening to books can be a challenge, the later being a more easier way for me to enjoy a performance even if I cannot necessarily conjure the imagery required for visualizing the story. As I have mentioned before, worldbuilding makes a huge difference and I find that with fantasy genre books, which I tend to stay away from, it really helps when the world is just a few steps from the reality I live in and just has an overlay of fantasy elements or concepts.

Last Hour is like this.

The world has things in it my mind already is familiar with, they are just different in the world that Melissa has created. It’s more like an alternate reality where there are reality jumpers and duelists and practitioners of unique magic but it’s not some completely different from anything I already know.

Caruso is an amazing creative force and I am LOVING the world with the guilds and the skills and the unique system of magic and social politics she has crafted.

I also like the unique names, and sometimes I don’t in fantasy (I have no business talking because the characters in my own novel have nearly pronounceable names in a language I created). The main character is Kembral Thorne and her nemesis/rival/friend/love interest is Rika Nonesuch. I love the names or maybe I just like the way Moira Quirk says them.

The first 8 chapters had me laughing one moment and then on the edge of my seat … or bed … in the next. I am thoroughly intrigued and I can’t wait to dive back in tonight!

Story this session: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Narration: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0