Ballad of the Beanstalk

By: Amy McNulty

Narrated by: Kaitlin Descutner

Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

As her fingers move across the strings of her family's heirloom harp, 16-year-old Clarion can forget. She doesn't dwell on the recent passing of her beloved father or the fact that her mother has just sold everything they owned, including that very same instrument that gives Clarion life. She doesn't think about how her friends treat her like a feeble, brittle thing to be protected. She doesn't worry about how to tell the elegant Elena, her best friend and first love, that she doesn't want to be her sweetheart anymore. She becomes the melody and loses herself in the song.

When Mack, a lord's dashing young son, rides into town so his father and Elena's can arrange a marriage between the two youth, Clarion finds herself falling in love with a boy for the first time. Drawn to Clarion's music, Mack puts Clarion and Elena's relationship to the test, but he soon vanishes by climbing up a giant beanstalk that only Clarion has seen. When even the town witch won't help, Clarion is determined to rescue Mack herself and prove once and for all that she doesn't need protecting. But while she fancied herself a savior, she couldn't have imagined the enormous world of danger that awaits her in the kingdom of the clouds.

A prequel to the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk that reveals the true story behind the magical singing harp.

©2017 Amy McNulty (P)2017 Amy McNulty

interesting

the speed seem fast at first but got used to it.
good version of the fairy tale

Not just Jack's Beanstalk!

Wow. This book took a classic story and twisted it upside down the back again. I really enjoyed how different the two lands were, yet tied strongly together.

Clarion is one determined girl, who is not afraid to get what she wants. She may not know who she wants to be with more, but she certainly will stop at nothing to make sure she has that choice.

Kaitlyn Descutner is brilliant. She is easy to listen to and reads at a great pace to follow. It was easy to tell the characters apart and really enjoy listening.

Choices

Amy McNulty has written an interesting and creative story centered around a sixteen year old girl named Clarion. Clarion's first love is her girlfriend Elena, but as that love wanes, Clarion's heart is moved at the sight of the young man who is promised to be Elena's future husband by their parents. Clarion is also dealing with the loss of her father and the changes that her mother is making in their lives because of her father's death. I found this story to be inventive and original and I recommend it to other readers. Kaitlin Descutner's narration is good and her voice is expressive. I was given a free copy of the audiobook and I have voluntarily left this review.

A fun LBGTQ friendly fracture fairytale

Clarion is our quiet, determined hero of this story. She’s on the cusp of adulthood and this adventure will catapult her into life with several decisive actions. I really liked her character. She’s had a pretty stable if downward spiraling life up until recently. She and her mom are facing poverty. With her dad deceased, it’s up to her and her mom to make ends meet. I was right beside Clarion in her grief over her mom’s decision to sell the last of the pigs. However I do wonder why Clarion thought Royce and Raymond would keep their little pig farm going. I’m pretty sure Clarion understood that it takes male and female pigs to get a new generation of piglets… but her inner monologue on these two boy pigs says she doesn’t. That was the first little thing that didn’t make sense with this tale.

Note: I have since learned that it’s Royse (as in Medieval version of Rose). The author shared that little tidbit with me which is great since I didn’t pick up on the spelling with this audioversion.

Over all, I enjoyed this story. With that said, there are several small points (like the pig issue mentioned above) that show this tale could have used a little polishing. Clarion’s mom comes off as a bit of a harpy at first but then her character becomes softer, more approachable. But then we quickly move on with the rest of the story, so I can’t say which version of Clarion’s mom was the more realistic. These are just two examples of small points that sometimes contradicted each other.

Anyhoo, Clarion has a social gathering to get ready for and that involves first cleaning the Mayor’s house and then borrowing someone’s dress. Her beloved harp (a big awkward thing) may not be her’s for much longer. Both Clarion and I were sad about this. But we are given little time to cry over that because there’s a big beanstalk!

From this point forward, things get a bit predictable. The story still has a charm to it but I was not surprised by anything. Up in the clouds, there’s a domineering bully of a giant along with other giants. The characters travel up and down the various beanstalks while they attempt to resolve all the conflicts. The witch Jacosa plays a key role in these beanstalks and in shrinking and enlarging various characters; her herbs and magical beans provide the backbone for this tale.

Now I really did like that Clarion is having to muddle through her romantic feelings in the midst of all this. She and Elena have been friends for years and perhaps a little more. However, in the recent months, Clarion isn’t sure she feels that way about Elena any longer. Then a new young man comes to town, Mack, and Clarion feels her first little crush on a boy. I loved that her blossoming feelings for a potential heterosexual relationship doesn’t diminish her past homosexual feelings for Elena. Two thumb ups for this aspect of the story despite some ridiculous insta-love later on in the tale.

Now the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger so I hope there will be a sequel, otherwise Clarion will be stuck in an uncomfortable disposition forever. All told, it was Clarion that carried me through the story. I was attached to her even with the tale being a bit predictable.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Amy McNulty. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Narration: Kaitlin Descutner did a very good job with this story. She had the perfect young lady voice for Clarion. There was singing! Yes, indeed! Descutner pulled this off really well. Not all narrators can easily work in a bit of singing and Descutner did not disappoint. Her male voices were believable and all her characters were distinct. There were no technical issues with the recording.

Unique tale

What made the experience of listening to Ballad of the Beanstalk the most enjoyable?

The narrator was great and I enjoyed the uniqueness of the story.

What about Kaitlin Descutner’s performance did you like?

She was able to convey a wide range of emotions and gave each character a unique voice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! I really wanted to know what happened next and how it would end.

Any additional comments?

I received a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Great Prologue to Jack and the Beanstalk

The narrator chosen for this audiobook was amazing great voice for the singing parts. Awesome story about the Harp and how she became the harp. Very good book.

excellent

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

Original fairytale retelling

Ballad of the Beanstalk
by Amy McNult, narrated by Kaitlin Descutner

I received a complimentary copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Sweet Clarion is sixteen and lives an arduous life with her mother, struggling to make ends meet after her father's death. Her mother sells whatever they have for a little coin, even the last of their pigs, but when Clarion learns that her mother sold her precious silver harp, she feels her world is slipping away.

Clarion turns to her friends for comfort, especially her first love, Elena, but her emotions for Elena wane when she meets Mack, the son of a Lord who accepts Clarion for the individual she is. When Mack disappears, Clarion is the last to see him alive. Everyone blames her as her only excuse is that he climbed a beanstalk and never returned.
Can Clarion convince the townspeople that the beanstalk really existed? Can she successfully find Mack alive and well?

Ballad of the Beanstalk is an original prequel to the well-loved tale of Jack and the Beanstalk and brings the harp to the forefront. I listened to the audio version and Kaitlin Descutner’s tone fits the story perfectly. I had a little difficulty getting into it at first, but it quickly dropped into place and the story flowed at a smooth pace.

Amy McNult’s characters are well-described; I especially had an aversion to Clarion’s mother, whom I felt had little sentimental time for her daughter. I sympathized with Clarion, who missed her father terribly.
This story is appropriate for readers or listeners who enjoy fairytales with a twist. It is a little unconventional, bringing raw emotions and revealing the harsh realities of life.

I also recommend it to people who don’t always need a HEA

Mack & Clarion Ascended the Beanstalk First

Any additional comments?

I'm always on the hunt for intelligent, adult driven, psychological, and/or deeper (or darker) fairy tale or nursery rhymes retellings. This one gets two thumbs up. Rather, two hands and two legs to climb up.

The first thirty minutes or so (I wasn't watching the time) could be overwhelming with the introduction of many of the Land characters. The 'giants' seemed to be more slowly coaxed onto the pages. The relationships among the characters were a mixture of loss, sickness, happiness, new and lost loves, strict parents, diplomacy, and other dynamics. A book of this length usually doesn't cover a wide spectrum but Ms McNulty wove it well and seamlessly. If it was a quilt, it'd win the highest bid.

It quenched the curiosities of this forbidden and feared land we read from Jack's adventures when he traded his goat for the beans.

Clarion was a young a complex teenager, but this book was written for readers of that age group and older.

The romance was slightly touched with the innocence of young lovers. More in depth than puppy love; but no jumping in bed, love/hate innuendos. Complex feelings of bisexuality versus homosexuality were spoken between the characters. Love, arguments, and understanding twinkled in the developments of relationships.

Many surprises and breath taking moments - good and bad. But it made for a very solid, well-rooted fairy tale. One that isn't quite a happily ever after.

Ms Descutner's voice flowed with the characters' emotions, intensity of the movement of time, and personal confusions and explanations. Each character had a distinct tone. I'm extremely satisfied with her narration of this audiobook.

I haven't listened nor read any of this author's other works but would be happy to, should she explore other 'prequels' or retellings!

4.75 stars for story simply because an extended fifteen minutes (or so) to pace the numerous villagers would have been ideal.

Ballad of the Beanstalk

This tale is an interesting retelling of the original and well known fairytale called “Jack and the Beanstalk”. If you saw a giant plant sprout from the earth and travel all the way into the clouds, how would you react? McNulty does a really great job with explaining the confusion, suspicion, and curiosity that passes among her characters after a giant beanstalk takes up precedence in a magical garden which coincidentally belongs to the town’s witch. This adventure has tons of creativity, originality, and entertainment, while still encompassing some of the consistency of the original fairytale. McNulty lures her readers in with her enticing, yet mysterious characters and an adventure waiting to unfold up the beanstalk.

Clarion kind of feels like an outsider. The women and men that she calls friends, view her as highly emotional and uncomfortable to be around after the passing of her papa. Alana has been her dearest friend, and quite frankly, perhaps something more. Clarion’s views about her lifestyle change after her papa’s passing though and she can no longer continue a relationship with Alana. After meeting the mysterious Mack, a lord’s son, who is supposed to marry her best friend, she can’t get over him. She begins falling in love with him after talking to him over her much loved harp that she was tasked with playing at the mayor’s mansion. Then an earthquake erupts and Clarion and Mack are the other two who see a giant beanstalk out of a window as it fills their view. With curiosity and awe, both go together to investigate, but fail to tell anyone of their whereabouts until after Mack vanishes by climbing up in the fog and the clouds. Now, Clarion has to convince the skeptical village and not even the town’s witch, the one who cut down the beanstalk, will help her convince anyone of her story.

McNulty has an interesting and terrific retelling with “Ballad of the Beanstalk”. The book has fantastic character development, interesting characters, and a creative well, put-together story-line. Throughout the entirety of this audiobook, the narrator spoke in an inconsistent pattern though. It very well could have been common for women in this era to speak very fast to reflect intelligence, knowledge, and power, but it does tend to be really difficult to understand in an audiobook. Descutner’s representation of other characters were fun and inviting, especially for a king. This review is complimenting the audiobook. If you are a reader of fairytales and young adult fantasy, you may want to pick this one up.

A copy of this audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions, but this in no way affects our honest opinion of the book or the review that has been written. We provide a four-star rating for Ballad of the Beanstalk by Amy McNulty, narrated by Kaitlin Descutner.