SOA Listening Challenge 2012

Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changeling #1) by Nalini Singh

4/5 stars  Grade A-

SOA Listening Challenge 2012- Spread Your Listening: Paranormal 2/4

Slave to Sensation is one of the few books I've read recently that I knew nothing about other than the author and category. I hadn't read a summary of the plot or read any reviews so I had no preconceived ideas about the characters or story. I should do that more often, because I found the story felt fresh.


The world-building was interesting and well done for the most part. After finishing the book I do have some questions about the psy-net, but overall the descriptions and explanations for the world were excellent. Lucas and Sascha were likeable, well-drawn characters who grew and developed as the story moves forward.

I had a few, albeit minor, problems with the story and the writing. For one, the author tends to be repetitive. The reader endures Sascha thinking about her brokenness and the possibilities of death or rehabilitation a couple of dozen times, for example. Of more import was the conclusion of the suspense plot toward the end. Without giving spoilers, I can only say it was less than satisfying for the majority of the action to take place "off camera." The summary of events felt like an afterthought. I'm assuming the fall-out from that event will be part of the successive stories of this series.

The narrator, Angela Dawe, has a curious lack of tonal inflection in her delivery (she rarely drops her voice at the end of sentences) which took some getting used to. However, her character voices are excellent and I never thought "Oh, that's a woman reading a man's part." Overall 4 star narration.