Ballad of the Beanstalk

De: Amy McNulty

Narrado por: Kaitlin Descutner

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.

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.

The truth behind the magical singing harp

This was a whole new way to look at ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ regarding the giant’s magical singing golden harp. This was a true trip in to fantasy and the beginning to the harp (Clairon). Clarion and Elena were both friends and one boy came to town and made things more complicated. This begins the journey for Clarion up the beanstalk and the prequel to Jack and the Beanstalk.

Narrator Review of . . . BALLAD OF THE BEANSTALK . . . Kaitlin did a good job. She allowed me to become more engaged in the characters and the world around Clarion, Elena, Mack and the beanstalk and its inhabitants. The audio was smooth and hiccup free.