Most of the five reviews sitting on this City of Smoke and Brimstone listing are dated months before the book itself came out, all landing in July 2025 against a December 2025 release date, which means most of what a shopper reads on this listing describes an earlier edition, not the audio production actually being sold today. The story itself is the fourth entry in Kayla Edwards' House of Devils series, following Loren Calla through a war between worlds, a falling magical barrier called the Veil, and swarms of creatures invading a place named Yveswich. Only one review, dated February 2026, actually arrives after the audiobook itself existed to be reviewed.
The Verdict, Briefly
Loren Calla's single objective for six months has been staying alive, and Edwards keeps that stakes-first framing through the whole synopsis: a Darkslayer's love, a father who forbids his son from loving "a beautiful thief," and a fourth-book body count the description promises will not spare anyone. Three separate threads get named directly: Loren's survival story, Darien Cassel's underground ordeal as his Sight fails him, and Roman Devlin's forbidden romance with Shayla Cousens. Reviewer Natasha Striegel calls the multi-POV structure the book's real strength: "So many books get it wrong, but Kayla Edwards does not." A reviewer writing in from Brazil, Cliente Kindle, keeps it shorter and blunter, calling the whole experience "a cinematic experience" and adding: "Haven't read a book like this in ages."
Twenty-seven points is what the six ratings on this listing must add up to, since 4.5 stars across six votes only resolves to a whole number this way. The five visible reviews (5, 4, 5, 5, 5) already account for 24 of those points, leaving exactly 3 for the sixth, silent voter; the harshest opinion on this page belongs to someone who left no words at all. One of the five visible reviews opens not with the reviewer's own words but with a line pulled straight from the book itself: "It's a reminder. To choose love, kindness. To never lose sight of the things that matter. And that love is a powerful force that always triumphs, no matter how dark the road." That passage even arrives wrapped in stray bold-text formatting left over from how the review was scraped, a small reminder that this review column comes straight off a live retail page rather than a curated one.
What Makes City of Smoke and Brimstone Worth Hearing
Wen Ross is the only name credited as narrator, which sits oddly against the synopsis's own closing line: "Narrated in duet style." A duet narration typically means two performers alternating between male and female first-person chapters, exactly the structure this book's three-thread, multi-POV synopsis would seem to call for. Either a second narrator is missing from this listing's data, or Ross is credited alone for handling every one of Loren's, Darien's, and Roman's first-person sections solo; nothing in the file resolves which, and a shopper relying on the credit line alone should know that ambiguity exists before buying.
Kristy Jones' review breaks the book down almost like a product label: a star rating, a spice rating via pepper emoji, and a plot summary before the actual review begins, a format that doubles as a fairly direct signal about content and heat level for anyone scanning quickly. Between that, Natasha Striegel's spoiler-tagged enthusiasm, and Satisfied buyer's more measured four-star take, the five reviews together sketch a series that rewards patience with its slower early chapters in exchange for a high-stakes, multi-couple payoff by the end. Reviewers keep returning to the ensemble as the draw, Loren and Darien first, Roman and Shayla close behind, rather than any single lead carrying the book alone.
Points to Consider
Landing on book four of House of Devils without the first three is not a realistic starting point, and the synopsis does not pretend otherwise, referencing "the Veil rapidly falling" and named characters like Malakai and the hobs with zero introduction for anyone arriving fresh. Natasha Striegel's review even cuts off mid-complaint about a character named Donovan, "While I HATE that Donovan is still," the sentence trails off right there in the source itself, which is its own small warning about how deep this series' ongoing grudges run by book four. Reviewer Satisfied buyer adds a pacing note worth carrying in too: "the first half kinda dragged" before the stakes catch up with the rest of the cast. The tags on this listing, Fantasy and Paranormal, undersell how much of the plot is closer to a siege story than a courtship, especially once the Veil starts failing in earnest.
Almost thirty hours makes City of Smoke and Brimstone one of the longest audiobooks under discussion here, and that runtime carries three couples' worth of romantic tension alongside a war-between-worlds plot in this fourth series entry. Anyone budgeting listening time should plan for something closer to several ordinary-length audiobooks stacked together rather than a single weekend's listen, especially with a release date this recent leaving little time for word of mouth to build around the audio edition specifically. Podium Audio's decision to keep the whole cast in one continuous recording, rather than splitting a book this long into parts, is itself worth knowing going in, since the file itself builds in no natural intermission the way a print reader gets one by simply closing the book.
The Right Listener for City of Smoke and Brimstone
Devotees already three books into House of Devils, invested in Loren, Darien, and the widening cast around them, are the obvious audience, and the near-uniform enthusiasm across the readable reviews, four full five-star ratings against one four-star dissent, suggests the payoff matches the wait. Anyone who wants a multi-couple dark romantasy with a heavy body count and a genuinely grim tone, not a light-hearted read, will find both delivered here, spice content included given how directly Kristy Jones' review flags it.
Listeners who want to sample the series should start with House of Devils book one instead of here; jumping to book four means meeting a dozen named characters, from Malakai to the hobs, already mid-arc. That leaves a long, dark, high-stakes fourth installment for readers who have already worked through the first three, one the visible reviews treat as a worthy continuation, silent sixth voter notwithstanding.
In Brief
- Narration: Wen Ross is the only credited narrator, despite the synopsis's own line promising a duet-style performance across three converging storylines.
- Themes: reverse dark-fantasy war stakes, forbidden multi-couple romance, a dying magical barrier
- Mood: High-stakes, dark, and unapologetically spicy
- Verdict: Worth the long, dark runtime for readers already invested in House of Devils; not a place for anyone new to start the series.
Good to Know
Why does the City of Smoke and Brimstone audiobook credit only one narrator if the synopsis says duet style?
The synopsis's closing line reads "Narrated in duet style," which usually means two performers alternating first-person chapters, yet the listing credits only Wen Ross. Nothing in the available data explains the gap, so listeners should not assume a second narrator is actually part of this specific audiobook edition.
Does the City of Smoke and Brimstone audiobook rating account for all six reviewers?
Only five of the six voters left written reviews, and those five scores (5, 4, 5, 5, 5) total 24 of the 27 points the 4.5-star average across six votes requires. That leaves exactly 3 points for the silent sixth vote, whose critical opinion was never actually explained.
Why do so many City of Smoke and Brimstone audiobook reviews predate its release date?
Four of the five reviews sitting on this page are dated July 2025, roughly five months before the audiobook's own December 2025 release, which suggests they describe an earlier digital or advance edition instead of the finished audio release. Only one review postdates the audiobook itself.
