Clara’s Verdict
The second and concluding box set of Rosalind Tate’s Shorten Chronicles arrives with a sense of genuine urgency – Defiance, Hunted, and Endgame pick up the stakes established in Books 1-3 and push them further. Tate writes in the tradition of paranormal romance and supernatural mystery that Deborah Harkness and Cassandra Clare made so popular, and she does so with enough confidence in her own world-building to avoid feeling merely derivative. Sophie is a compelling central character, and this box set gives her nowhere left to hide.
At twenty-five and a half hours, this is a substantial listen – the kind of box set that rewards a committed weekend or a long commute over several weeks. The series has clearly built a loyal readership, and this concluding instalment will satisfy those who’ve been invested since the beginning.
About the Audiobook
Sophie returns to Shorten fighting to protect everything that matters to her: her family, her friends, and – the detail that sets the series’ tone nicely – her remarkable dog. Someone has put a price on her head that threatens the Manor and everyone in it. The conspiracy at the heart of this concluding arc involves a centuries-old secret, a murdered keeper of that secret, and the question of whether what he knew can still save them even now that he’s gone.
Tate handles the mechanics of series conclusion competently – the threads established across six books are resolved with satisfying clarity, and the supernatural elements of the world are given their due weight without the ending becoming purely spectacular. There is emotional resolution as well as plot resolution, which is what distinguishes genuinely satisfying series conclusions from merely technically accomplished ones. Endgame earns its title.
The Narration
Katy Sobey narrates the full box set, as she did the first collection, and her consistency across the complete series is one of its listening pleasures. She has clearly inhabited Tate’s world thoroughly – the character voices are established and secure, and the pacing through the more action-heavy sequences in Hunted and Endgame is well-managed. For listeners who’ve heard Sobey in the first box set, this second collection will feel like returning to a trusted guide for the final leg of a journey.
What Readers Say
This concluding box set is too recent to have accumulated a large body of reviews, having been released in November 2025. The series as a whole holds a 4.3 rating from eleven listeners – a respectable score for a title outside the main genre superstars. The audience for the Shorten Chronicles appears to be genuinely devoted, which is the most reliable indicator of a series worth investigating. Fans of Cassandra Clare and Stephenie Meyer in particular have been flagged as the natural audience, and the comparisons are apt rather than merely aspirational.
Who Should Listen?
This box set is specifically for listeners who have already encountered the Shorten Chronicles – jumping in at Books 4-6 without the context of the first three would be a disservice to both yourself and the story. If you’ve already invested in Sophie’s world, this conclusion is waiting for you. If you’re new to the series, start with the first box set (Books 1-3) and work your way here. For fans of paranormal romance, supernatural mystery, and the dark-academia-adjacent tone of Harkness and Clare, the full series is well worth the investment.
Listen on Audible UK: Get The Shorten Chronicles Books 4-6 on Audible UK. Also available on Kobo, Scribd, and Storytel.
