Lydia

A Realm of Elestra Novel, Book 2

By: Rebekah Dodson

Narrated by: Andrew McDermott

Ripped away from Whipplehouse and the only family she had ever known, Lydia ekes out a living in the barren wasteland of Oregon as a prisoner of a family who never loved her. When Parker finds her at the county fair, Lydia can hardly believe her luck as she agrees to travel through time with the boy she once loved. They finally settle in the mysterious land of Elestra, a world like their own with magical powers, steam-powered devices, and even dragons.

Abruptly left to her own devices on the shores of Sea City, Lydia embarks on a dangerous adventure with fast cars, accompanied by the infamous and quite exiled pirate-turned-mechanic Matthias Cross. When the tables turn and she begins to see Parker for who he really is, how can she escape the darkness buried in his heart? What will become of Lydia now that she knows there are more worlds than these?

©2019 Rebekah Dodson (P)2019 Rebekah Dodson

What a surprise

This story surprised me. where it ended up was a shocker. I loved the characters & the plot was great! Poor Lydia got a severe shock! Loved Eshey. Can't wait for book 3.

Steam Punk Drama Adventure

A great follow up to the first book. It's a really cool concept, it is well written, and a really quick read that you don't want to put down. The narrators accent is amazing! That being said it was a little funny to have such a thick Scottish accent for something taking place in Missouri, not that I honestly minded personally. At just and Two hours an thirty minutes this was a really fast listen. I don't always like the steam punk style of writing but this one I really enjoyed. It was an interesting mix of drama, adventure, thriller, steam punk, and time/dimension travel. My only warning is that there is some graphic violence and is probably a PG13 level read so middle school and up should be fine, it isn't as graphic or as often as the first book but still present. Otherwise it is a clean read free of bad language and overly intimate scenes.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

story is ok

this story follows timekeeper story and ok
full of drama and humor with a lost lover hiding a murderous intent.
narrators ok and easy to follow

Lydia’s Side of the Story!

Lydia and Parker find each other again but it is not a fairytale romance. Parker turns out to be a very different person maybe his powers or maybe his time travel adventures have warped his personality or maybe they brought out his true nature. The first book “The Timekeeper” was predominantly about Parker and his power over time, but this book is Lydia’s story. When the couple are reunited again Parker shows Lydia his time travel machine and introduces her to an alternate reality called Elestra. Everything seems great and wonderful at first but soon Lydia begins to suspect Parker may not be the man she remembers. I do not want to get any deeper into the storyline except to say the ending left me a bit confused and maybe even disappointed. As with “The Timekeeper” I really enjoyed Andrew McDermott’s narration and his Irish brogue.

I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Another piece of the puzzle.

Lydia is an odd little prequel novella. it comes before a book titled Clock city, but after another novella titled Timekeeper.

Do read Timekeeper first. This novella explains the bizzare epilogue of Timekeeper, basically the timeline is not linear and it's all messed up with time travel and nothing takes place when you thought it did.

Lydia is an orphan sent out west on the orphan train. Her new family treats her like a slave, so when her childhood friend shows up to whisk her away she jumps at the chance.

what follows is a montage of literary references that will make book nerds smile.

As a story this book is very disconnected, the character of Lydia is a scared girl who keeps getting shuttled from one scary situation and abusive relationship to another. As a result I feel like she never really gets a chance to grow up.

As a prequel this book certainly made me eager to read Clock City. I am curious about how this all ties together.

Once again Andrew McDermott narrates with his soothing irish accent. he dies a fair job of distinguishing one character from another, and he does a great job of reading description, making it engaging and active.

Lydia

I really liked this story.I am looking to more from this author. Andrew McDermott was a fine narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Gilded cage

Well that story did not go at all where I was expecting! Time travel, inter-dimensional travel, love, lust, politics, fast cars and a dream come true that might not be all it was cracked up to be. The tendrils of horror peeking out at the edged of the previous prequel come out in full strength in this book. Really, yeah, it is a lot in a short rather tragic book that builds a fascinating world rich in complexity.

McDermott is a joy to listen too. He has a strong Irish brogue and reads rather quickly but once you get used to it he has such a smooth calming voice it makes me wish the book was longer.

This is an honest and voluntary review of an ARC

Great except for the ending

I was a bit tepid after the first installment of this series, but this second installment was quick to grab me with its dive into a toxic, controlling love affair.

Unfortunately, while the previous book was a slow-burn with an intriguing if perhaps a tad rushed ending... this installment has the opposite problem. It's quite good for the most part - an opening that sets the stage and is relatively quick to dive into the meat of the story, fantastical worlds, an intriguing if awful romance... however, the ending loses me for a couple of reasons. One, a character is clearly killed off only for the author to pull an "Oh no, they survived what I portrayed as certain death," in the epilogue. And to drive that home and make it all the more pointless, the author kills this character again off-screen. Secondly, Lydia's actions in the epilogue concerning her family make her very unsympathetic, IMO. I'm quickly being left without anyone I actually want to root for in this series.

The events and ending of this book also doesn't 100 percent mesh with the ending depicted in the last book, and I'm left confused as to when they first reunited. Last book's ending seemed to hint they each had a different "first" reunion, because time travel is whack like that. This book just muddies those waters.

Narrator was mostly okay, but there were times there seemed to be a mechanical filter over his voice. Perhaps a fault of his microphone?

I received this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review. Sorry to say that despite this series' good moments, I have no plans to continue it.

A well-written story from a good author

Lydia (Realm of Elestra Prequels Book 2), my second read from author Rebekah Dodson. Well written & enjoyable. Narrator Andrew McDermott’s accent is perfect for this book and added greatly to the listening enjoyment. I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reviewing it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

Great listen

This is great. I'm not much for time travel novels but this isn't like any I've read/listened to. To me this is a great series and a must listen