Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: Vassily the Beautiful
SERIES: An ESTO Universe Novel
AUTHOR: Angel Martinez
NARRATOR: Greg Boudreaux
PUBLISHER: Mischief Corner Books, LLC
LENGTH: 8 hours, 1 minute
RELEASE DATE: June 6, 2017
BLURB:
Vassily Belikov, composer and pampered son of privilege, suffered neurological damage in the accident that killed his father. Resentful of being treated as an invalid, he lives as a recluse, dependent on his mother. That changes the day she brings home a new husband with two sons of his own.
When deep-space pirates capture Vassily’s mother, he’s left to the mercy of his cruel, amoral stepfather. Fighting addiction and his physical shortcomings, he’s forced to seek out the criminal mastermind Baba Yaga for a crucial piece of equipment. While she agrees to deal with him if he beats his Exoticus addiction, paranoia and mysterious intentions infuse her household. Drawn to her fierce, suspicious youngest son, certain his actions are all carefully observed, Vassily must find the courage to face both his fears and his desires if he expects to survive.
STORY REVIEW:
This story was FANTASTIC. Angel Martinez has always been one of my go to authors and this story just highlights all the reasons why.
Vassily the Beautiful was set in such a rich setting. The imagery was so that I could easily see the slums, see the homes, see the aerial entrance to Baba Yaga’s fortress. The weapons, the fighting, the flying bikes, all so real I could touch them. And to add to that, the setting only served to add to the world and character building and the overall tone of the story. Beauty hiding evil and Ugly hiding “good.” It was such a treat to read a story that forced me to really focus on everything because even little details about a building’s structure could be very important later. LOVED IT.
And the characters and their lives were great as well. Not just the main characters, but the supporting cast too all served to create this grand story full of tension and deception and truth and love. Gave me goosebumps!
But what I loved the most was that even in the midst of such a great story and setting, the author gave me two very broken characters who needed love. And MAN did I end up loving them. Vassily had my heart at the start of the story because he needed someone in his corner. But later, he found himself and my loyalty shifted to Sumerki who ended up stealing the show for me. He needed love in the worst way and I was so invested in his finding that love. God these men just broke my heart and made me want to take them home and never let anything hurt them ever again!
This was my kind of story and I highly recommend it.
NARRATION REVIEW:
5 stars all the way. The voices were unique, the tone was fluid, and the emotions were spot on. This was a performance worthy of this book and I recommend it to everyone!
RATING: 
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