By a Silver Thread

DFZ Changeling, Book 1

By: Rachel Aaron

Narrated by: Naomi Rose-Mock

Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

A new DFZ series from the author of Nice Dragons Finish Last and Minimum Wage Magic!

In the world’s most magical metropolis where spirits run noodle shops and cash-strapped dragons stage photo-ops for tourists, people still think fairies are nothing but stories, and that’s exactly how the fairies like it. It’s a lot easier to feast on humanity’s dreams when no one believes you exist. But while this arrangement works splendidly for most fair folk, Lola isn’t one of the lucky ones.

She’s a changeling, a fairy monster made just human enough to dupe unsuspecting parents while fairies steal their real child. The magic that sustains her was never meant to last past the initial theft, leaving Lola without a future. But thanks to Victor Conrath, a very powerful—and very illegal—blood mage, she was given the means to cheat death.

For a price.

Now the only changeling ever to make it to adulthood, Lola has served the blood mage faithfully, if reluctantly, for 20 years. Her unique ability to slip through wards and change her shape to look like anyone has helped make Victor a legend in the DFZ’s illegal-magic underground. It’s not a great life, but at least the work is stable, until her master vanishes without a trace.

With only a handful left of the pills that keep her human, Lola must find Victor before she turns back into the fairy monster she was always meant to be. But with a whole SWAT team of federal paladins hunting her as a blood-mage accomplice, an urban legend on a silent black motorcycle who won’t leave her alone, and a mysterious fairy king with the power to make the entire city dream, Lola’s chances of getting out of this alive are as slender as a silver thread.

©2023 Rachel Aaron (P)2023 Rachel Aaron

Great story! bad narration

I am a big fan of the heartstricker series and the DFZ series. this story has the same qualities as those, but I can not deal with this narration. there is no flow or emotion, and she stops for 3 seconds at the end of every single sentence, so there is this really weird pause, and at first, I thought there was something wrong with audible.

if I can get a physical copy of this story, I definitely will.

Pay heed your beliefs

Lola is our protagonist, but she’s a monster.
What is really real?
Bound by love through the silver thread, Lola opens my eyes to a new perspective.
I await the next book, impatiently.

Loved it!

Another thoroughly enjoyable DFZ story by Rachel. This was a book I needed right now - about self acceptance, dealing with manipulators, and finding a different way to deal with things.

The reader was good. Her voicing and pace were great. But the corrections pasted into the audio were so different, they took me out of the story.

good book

another good storyline by Rachel Aaron cannot wait for the next adventure in the DFV.

Couldn't put it down

I read this in one afternoon. I was gripped by Lola's situation by the first chapter, and I reread a few chapters, and still finished it before going to bed.

Not my cup of tea

Rachel Aaron is one of my favor authors. But the plot and characters of this particular book did not hold my interest. I feel that in comparison to the other books the characters were not well so developed, not enough for me to care and root for them.

Does the narrator have a cold?

listening left me wanting to clear my own throat and blow my nose every 5 minutes. unpleasant sensation.

Mixed feelings, overall-good

I found Rachel Aaron through her DFZ Trilogy, which I really loved. Comparatively, this book was not as good.

Part of the issue with this one is definitely the narration. The narrator was almost monotone through most of the narration and spoke a little too fast/mumbled through much of it.

The pacing of the story was a little off, too, though. I liked Lola. She was, by far, the most developed character in the book. The others were mainly props and had little development of their own, although certain characters had the potential to be more... they just weren't. Honestly, most of the characters were pale copies of characters from the dfz Trilogy. Simon=Peter, Black Rider=Nick, Victor=Gamemaster

I didn't hate it, but it fell flat. I did like the plot and storyline, but execution left a lot to be desired.

Good save the narration

As usual, I love Rachel Aaron's work. The story was interesting, the magic cool, and the characters relatable.

However, this narrator is just not working in my opinion. She has inconsistent, odd pauses and pacing in her speaking that make it hard to feel the full impact of things, and I keep hearing her taking breaths and flipping pages or moving in the background. I don't know if this is simply due to the narrator or the recording studio, but it's off-putting either way.

Unusual and interesting, glad I read it.

These stories have an underlying wisdom so important to our times.
I think the DFZ books should be modern classics. I hope there will be more.