Audiobook Review: Rebellion by Raena Rood
Rebellion
Series: The Reverence Trilogy, Book Two
Author: Raena Rood
Narrator: Brittany Goodwin
Audio Published: December 10, 2025
Audiobook: 8 hours 51 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: December 17-22, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Kira always knew that her future in Vita Nova was a mandatory death at age sixty, just like every other citizen. But when she falls in love with Will Foster, one of the city’s revered Volunteers, and risks everything to escape the city’s iron grip, she begins to believe that a different life might be within reach.
With Will and young Teddy by her side, Kira ventures into the Unregulated Zone, desperate to find other survivors and a place free from Vita Nova’s oppressive rule—a place where freedom still exists.
Their journey brings them to Haven, a secluded community hidden deep in the Pennsylvania woods, led by the enigmatic Ghost. But Haven holds many secrets—secrets that could shatter Kira’s fragile hopes for the future and threaten the tenuous bond she’s forged with Will.
When a brutal attack shatters the fragile peace she’s found, Kira is forced into a deadly confrontation. Torn between protecting the people she loves and securing her own future, Kira must confront the true meaning of sacrifice—or risk becoming another victim of Vita Nova’s cruel justice.
Jessica’s Review:
Rebellion picks up immediately after Reverence ends. The reader along with Kira experiences more of the world outside of Vita Nova and meets new characters. This is a story about different types of love, actual family and people who become family, friendship and security. But most of all, FAITH. Rood gets her message across without being ‘overly preachy.’ Sometimes a book with Christian themes can turn readers away, especially if it is ‘overly preachy.’ This is a clean novel that would be appropriate for younger teens. Yes, characters we have become attached to over the course of these two novels die, but it is a dystopian world! The romance between Kira and Will is sweet and innocent, but does move very quickly. (Again, this is a dystopian world!). Some character deaths are more poignant than others.
We have a new character named Ghost, who is an enigma all on his own, and I liked him! I want to know more about him. The way these character’s lives are connected intertwines in just the right way. We are left with another cliffhanger at the end and I find myself wanting to find out how this story ends, which it will with Ransom as it is the final book in the trilogy.
We have a new narrator with Rebellion: Brittany Goodwin. She has a different take on Kira than the previous narrator whom I enjoyed. I had to get used to Goodwin’s narration as I had just recently finished Reverence. I ended up enjoying Goodwin’s narration. She has a good take on Kira and I could hear her growth over the course of the novel. From being naïve and a ‘sheltered city girl’ to becoming the woman she will ultimately become.
I received an Audible code from the author and enjoyed listening to Rebellion. Rood also just updated the covers, which focuses more on Kira and Will. I liked the older cover for Reverence as once I finished it, the images on the cover had more meaning for me.
I look forward to listening or reading Ransom. I want to know how this story ends. If the audiobook doesn’t come out soon, I might just have to read this one on my kindle!
Audiobook Review: Reverence by Raena Rood
Reverence
Series: Reverence #1
Author: Raena Rood
Narrator: Missy Brooks
Audio Published: April 4, 2023
Audiobook: 8 hours 52 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: September 26-28, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
REVERE THE VOLUNTEER
Inside the walls of Vita Nova, safety comes at a terrible price.
The elderly and chronically ill face mandatory euthanasia, while the “Volunteer Program” offers citizens a week of luxury and adoration—before their execution.
Kira Liebert works with the Volunteers, granting their every wish. Despite losing her sick mother to the Compulsory Program, she believes in the system that keeps their overcrowded city alive.
Until Will Foster walks into her office.
Young, handsome, and volunteering to die for the good of the city, Will has just one request for his Final Week: He wants to spend it with Kira.
Unable to refuse a Volunteer’s last wish, she’s swept into an unexpected journey that takes her beyond the barricade—into the dangerous Unregulated Zone where lawless marauders roam among crumbling buildings and overgrown highways.
What Kira discovers will shatter everything she believes about Vita Nova, forcing her to confront the darkness within the system she once trusted.
Jessica’s Review:
Revere the Volunteer
I can’t recall how I came across Raena Rood’s Reverence series, but the book description gave me similarities of Matched by Allie Condie and other YA Dystopian novels from the 2010s. I enjoyed those books then, so I listened to Reverence and enjoyed it! Reverence is the first in a trilogy and I plan on reading them all! Or in my case listen to them once they are available.
Reverence has an interesting premise that can also be controversial: There was a worldwide plague and what was formerly known as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is now known a Vita Nova. Vita Nova closed itself off to the outside world. Now, at age 60 everyone is ‘sacrificed’ ‘For the Good of All’. Those who are sick become ‘Compulsories’ and will be euthanized ‘for the good of all’. “For the Good of All” is due to the diminished resources and fear of the Lawless (IE Outsiders). I personally have issues with this idea of forced euthanasia on the older and sickly. There is also a “Volunteer Program”: Any resident of Vita Nova can volunteer to be euthanized in exchange for one last week of luxury and whatever they want. And the ‘any resident’ part is shown in this novel, which I was not expecting at all!
Now meet Kira, our FMC, who the novel follows. Two years after losing her mother to city policies, Kira now works with Volunteers to help them with their last week and help get them what they desire. Subsequently she beings to work with one Volunteer: Will. And his only wish is to spend his last week with Kira. But nothing naughty: Remember we have Christian themes throughout this novel!
Being this is a Dystopian novel, of course things are not as they seem. There are discoveries and realizations Kira makes and there is so much more that is to come in the next two novels of the series.
Though Reverence is YA, it is more ‘grown up’ than Matched dealing with adult themes (death, euthanasia, grief, manipulation of society and more), but it also stays clean. I don’t recall any foul language, ‘extreme’ violent content, or sexual content. The Christian themes that come to play in the novel are not ‘in your face’. I am speculating that the Christian themes will come more to the forefront as the series progresses. I don’t have a problem with this at all.
The narrator for Reverence is Missy Brooks and I enjoyed her narration. She really portrayed Kira well!
I look forward to the next in the series, Rebellion. The series has been completely released and is available in e-book and in physical form. I asked the author about the audiobooks since the first is available and she is optimistic for a late November/early December release.
Until I can continue the series, will you choose to ‘Revere the Volunteer’?
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audiobook Review: When Your World Ends by Dawn Mann Sanders
When Your World Ends: God’s Creative Process for Rebuilding a Life
Author: Dawn Mann Sanders
Narrator: Dawn Mann Sanders
AUDIO To Be Published: September 16, 2025
Audiobook: 6 hours
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: July 21-26, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
How do you rebuild your life after it falls apart?
Catastrophic events often feel like the end of the world. When we feel like we have nothing left, we sometimes wish for our own end too. Yet God keeps waking us up every morning—a sign that God wants us to keep living when our world ends. We must find our way to the new life that awaits us on the other side of loss. But how?
Dawn Sanders has traveled this path before and lived to tell the tale—not once but twice. After a divorce and then the sudden death of her second husband, Dawn discovered a buried treasure in Genesis 1: God’s process for creating new life out of chaos. In When Your World Ends, Dawn digs deep into the creation story and unearths a seven-step process by which God brings us out of the void and into new beginnings. With her unique perspective, authenticity, and courage, Dawn meets those who are starting over and guides us into renewed hope.
Jessica’s Review:
Dawn Mann Sanders has experienced a great loss twice in her life, so she writes based of those experiences and of course, the Bible. This book is not for a quick fix, but for a spiritual journey. With a vulnerability and wisdom from a two-time experience of loss, Sanders shares her personal journey through her loss and how she found purpose, peace, and healing on the other side. When we are experiencing our particular loss, we cannot see ourself coming out on the other side for the better. And we also need God to help us come through.
Throughout the book, Sanders gives the Bible verses she uses. This book can be used for many types of loss, though Sanders’ focus is on the unexpected death of her second husband Reggie. For myself, being just over a year post divorce I felt would have benefitted more from Sanders talking more of her first loss, the loss of her first husband due to divorce. Though not a death, divorce is like a death, but the person is still alive.
I did benefit from this audiobook, but as I am visual, I feel I would have benefitted much more with a physical copy of this book. I found myself wanting to go back and listen to parts of the book again, but with an audiobook, this is much harder to do that just going back x number of pages to re-read. Whatever loss you might experience is, you feel like you won’t make it through, but you will and end up on the other side, and better off as well. It’s all a part of the journey that God has planned for us. And we may not see what that purpose is while going through the experience, after time we can look back and see that God does in fact know what He is doing.
Sanders also narrates the book, which added a personal touch. Many thanks to the publisher for granting me an advanced copy to listen to and review.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK