Avalon Tower

I’ll admit, I rolled my eyes at the premise initially—*another* human stumbling into a magical war? But *Avalon Tower* won me over by refusing to romanticize its heroine’s plight. Our protagonist isn’t special; she’s *lucky* (and occasionally reckless), which makes her scrappy victories feel earned. The first act’s pacing is relentless, dropping you into a labyrinth of fae courts and human safehouses with minimal hand-holding. Crawford trusts readers to keep up, and the payoff is a plot that twists like a spy thriller, where alliances shift with every chapter. The romance subplot, thankfully, doesn’t overshadow the intrigue—it’s more a slow-burn partnership of convenience, with chemistry that simmers in stolen glances and barbed dialogue. Cobb’s performance elevates the material, especially in the banter-heavy scenes. Her delivery of the protagonist’s internal monologues—equal parts exasperated and darkly amused—had me laughing out loud during my commute. That said, the fae characters’ voices occasionally veer into *too* ethereal, making some dialogue harder to parse in noisy environments. And while the mid-book reveal is clever, the fallout feels rushed; a few more scenes to let the emotional beats land would’ve helped. Still, the audiobook’s strength lies in its tone: a mix of *Leverage*-style cons and *The Cruel Prince*’s political bite, all wrapped in a narrator who sells every sarcastic quip and desperate gamble. If you love morally gray alliances and heroines who weaponize their ordinariness, this is your next listen—just don’t start it on a layover, or you’ll miss your flight.