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
Book Review: You Are Essential by Thomas Nelson Gift Books
You Are Essential: 100 Inspirational Reminders of How Much You Matter
Author: Thomas Nelson Gift Books
Published: April 20, 2021
176 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: June 5-7, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
With 100 uplifting quotes and stories along with vibrant artwork, You Are Essential is for the essential people in your life–including you!–who need a reminder that what they do matters.
We all have essential people in our lives, whether they are friends, family, or someone we are meeting for the first time at the doctor’s office or grocery pick-up line. Designed to be given as an encouragement or thank-you to others or as a self-purchase to remind yourself how much the world needs you, You Are Essential includes:
- Inspirational quotes
- Encouraging stories
- Colorful artwork
This timely and timeless book is ideal for:
- Classroom and online teachers
- Nurses, medical assistants, EMTs, pharmacists, and doctors
- First responders and their families
- Parents juggling both childcare and a career
- Grandparents stepping in to help during turbulent times
- Pastors, youth leaders, and Sunday school teachers
- Grocery store delivery shoppers and postal service employees
- Homeschooling parents and co-op leaders
- Factory workers, car mechanics, restaurant personnel
- And more!
The perfect way to let someone know you see all that they are doing and that you’re grateful, You Are Essential is a beautiful celebration of the human spirit and a reminder that no matter what, we will always need each other.
Jessica’s Review:
You Are Essential is a book for everyone as we are ALL essential! When COVID hit last year many different types of occupations came to the forefront, and some that are usually not considered important/ essential suddenly became VERY important to all of us. I am in one of those professions (I work in a local government office) that is essential but not very appreciated by the public, still even now. It’s rare to get a thank you and more common to get yelled at. I had a rough day at work when I had ordered You Are Essential, so it came at a good time for me.
You Are Essential is uplifting and gives encouraging quotes, stories and scriptures. It shows how everyone is important with what they do: Sometimes we just need reminding!
The book itself it pocket sized and is colorful and even has its own personal ribbon bookmark attached to the book. It would make the perfect gift for those who need these reminders and a great little coffee table book.
I plan to hold on to this one and read it as I need it.
I received a copy from the publisher via Amazon Prime.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK