Chardelia Foss and the River of Fear

By: Dominic Jericho

Narrated by: Alicia Rose

Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

"My fate may be a pool or a puddle, a sea or a soup, a rain-cloud or a river, a lake or a long bath. I am water. If you let me, I will carry you everywhere."

When Danny Canterbury begins his fourth year at St. Oliver Plunket’s all he wants is for fellow student Janna Chisely to notice him. But when sinister episodes shake the school, Danny finds himself at the center of a destructive plot. Can the enigmatic Chardelia Foss help him rescue the truth before it becomes too late?

Chardelia Foss and the River of Fear is a startling debut that marks the pain of first love within the often dark skies of school.

©2017 Dominic Jericho (P)2018 Dominic Jericho

Book 1

It took me sometime to follow the story but eventually I did and enjoyed listening up till the end of the story. Looking forward to listening the rest of the series

Chardelia Foss and the River of Fear

While the characters and plot of this story was interesting, I feel that the book had way too many details and information. The actual action did not start until the last chapters of the book. The major chunk of this book is describing what each student and teacher look like as well as how they act, and every minute of the school day is told in minute detail. When we finally learn that something is going on the book is already about two thirds done. I do enjoy getting to know characters, but this began to drag on for me. At points we are even going through the class and work with the teens. When the action does start it is dealt with the same way every detail and description is told which pulled me out of the story. This book seems to be geared towards young adults as it reads as a coming of age story. If you like YA books you probably will enjoy this one. Narrator Alicia Rose does a good job of keeping the narration flowing but the sound quality was not good. It sounds very tinny as if it was done in an empty metal box where you almost expect to hear an echo.

A bit confusing

The narration ruins this book for me. It sounds "boxy" and the voice doesn't work for me either. Everything seems whiny. I do think the male main character could have benefited from being read by a male voice, perhaps? I did not fully understand the universe the story was set in. I'm not sure if it is intended as fantasy or just a very unrealistic "real life". It is generally entertaining and is written in a very descriptive language. I do fear my dislike of the narration ruined the story a bit for me, perhaps I will try it in its written form later. I was given a copy of the audiobook by the narrator for an honest review (and I do feel a little bad for not adding more stars, but 3 stars = "pretty good" which is my opinion).

not for me but good

I really didn't like the narrator's voice for some reason it was irritating, however the story was pretty good just not for me however I will continue the series and see.

A Different take on a Coming of Age Story

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review*

This book was a little slow to start. I found the teenagers to be pretty juvenile. I have one myself, so I can compare! :-) But once the mystery was starting to be revealed, it picked up the pace.

I believe this may be the authors first book, and I foresee great potential. I am looking forward to seeing how much the author grew between this book and the next.

As far as the narrator goes, I would not say she is a bad narrator. She just didn't work for this story in my opinion. The main character was a young male, and she portrayed him as whiny, which I do not believe was what the author was trying to get across.

Chardelia Foss

This book is a little different from what I typically read. It was enjoyable but they writing style was not my favorite. I think there was a lot of set up in the first half of the book and it took a while to get to the main storyline of trying to figure out who really was behind all the murders and strange happenings at the school . I did enjoy the last 1/3 or so. I really ended up liking Chardelia’s character and wish we could have gotten more of her but I guess she was partially meant to be mysterious.
The narration was very good.

Entertaining listen.

This is a great start to this series. The story had me on the edge of my seat. Dominic Jericho has made a great murder/mystery story that had twist and turns that I didn't see coming. I think the narrator did a good job with this one.

enjoyed it

Did the story keep me engaged: yes
Was there anything I found annoying: not in the story itself - at times during the narration there was a slight reverb in the background that was annoying.
Would I listen to it again: there are others I would listen to before it, but I wouldn't not listen to it again.

Overall comment: For me, the early part of the book contained a lot of information that felt excessive, so the book started a little slow, but once i got into it, it had good pace and a nice flow. Alicia Rose did a reasonable job on the narration,
Overall the story is well written and entertaining.

Loved the accent

This was a great book. I like that it was set in a private school setting, something I've never experienced so it was all new to me. The story itself was long so it was a lot to follow and a lot of information to pick up on. However, I rather enjoyed it all and the quirkiness of the students and teachers alike. Definitely one to be patient with.

The narrator did a good job on depicting each character as well as emotions. I even became emotional during certain parts. I really enjoyed her accent throughout the book.

Chardelia Foss and the River of Fear

This read is very intriguing. It pulls you in and had me on the edge of my seat. Its a well written very creative story that takes you into a very fasinating and intriquing read. There are twists and turns that I didnt see coming. The Narrator has done a great job as well. I love the creativity the world building. And how well the characters are brought out. And the storyline is fantastic as well. I definitely recommend this read.
Shauna Joesten

An interesting book

I quite enjoyed this book, set around teenagers being detectives solving the clues complete twist at the end

as good as the ebook

The story is always 4 or 5 stars, because if I wouldn't like the story as ebook, I wouldn't listen to the audiobook.

The performance from the narrator is also very important for me. I can't listen to a lot, because my English as a non-native-speaker isn't so perfect to follow a whole story over hours, when the narrator speaks too fast or too sloppy. Normally I have to SEE the person, who is talking to me in English. It took me a little bit, to come into the narrator, but at the end, it worked. I only have to take a few breaks between. I'm just not yet finish with the book, but I listen enough to give a review.

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:

5* - very very good
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often re-listening
it's like an A

3* - it's more then a one-time-listening.
it's like a B

Enjoyable Coming of Age Story

This is my first book by this author but I was offered the chance to listen and review so I started listening with an open mind not knowing what to expect. I thought the story was slow at first as the author set the scene and introduced us to the cast of characters made up of students and teachers at St. Oliver Plunkett’s School where Danny Canterbury and his friends are fourth-year students.

The first part of the book was, I thought, a coming of age drama but midway through it changed to a thriller with an intriguing storyline and some surprising plot twists and turns l didn't see coming. This book is only the first in a series and I thought it was a little overlong and would maybe have benefitted from another round of edits. That said overall it was an enjoyable story and I will go on and listen to more of this intriguing series.

The narration by Alicia Rose is well done and added to my enjoyment of the story, although I did read in some reviews that her narration wasn't good, making me wonder if they were listening to the same book as me?

I was given this audiobook as a gift and am voluntarily writing my review.

Very good

These books are so very good.
Listening or reading them we get to be with the teens as they grow up.
This one had funny, sad, fraught, moments.
I thoroughly enjoyed it but felt for the characters more than once.
This would be good for young adults to listen to or read as well as adults.
Yes it’s about teens but it’s got something going for it with adventures and fun & drama.

a great story

I really liked this story. The characters are very interesting. the only part I had any issues with was the parts when the author delved into Chardelia Foss's mind. It was unclear who's thoughts they were and who they were about until the end. All in all though, definitely worth the read!

Enjoyable listen

The book held my attention all the way through, entertaining for adults as well as younger people. The narrator wasn't the best but I managed to stop noticing her.

Coming-Of-Age Series

Chardelia Foss and the River of Fear by Dominic Jericho is a coming-of-age series that I listened to on audio narrated by Alicia Rose.

This is the first book of Dominic’s that I have read and it definitely won’t be my last. He does an amazing job on his describing events to make you feel like you are actually there.

Alicia did a great job on the narration. I felt like her voice really fit the characters and made the story come to life.

I would recommend this book if you like Young Adult coming-of age series.

Good story didnt like Narration

I would say that I am veracious reader and listener and get through a few books/ Audio books a week. I have eclectic tastes which range from Jeffrey Archer to Stephen King, my main genres are Fantasy and Sci-fi.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

At the moment I am listening to more sci fi and fantasy with only a spattering of thrillers so please bear that in mind with this review.

Narration/performance – This has to be one of the most frustrating books I have listened to. The Narrators voice is fine however there is a constant humming noise at first I thought that this was my phone so also tried it on my laptop and my wife’s phone but with no joy. It meant listening to this for me annoying and I found it distracting.

So anyway onto the story. I started off by feeling that this was more a coming of age story than a thriller and I couldn’t decide if it was an adult book or if it was targeted towards mid – late teens. The vocabulary used is advanced and not an easy read. There are a lot of characters added quickly in this book and I found my self on a few occasions skipping back for clarification on certain elements. This book ends well and I felt contented there were several threads/ sub plots left unresolved but this is a series so I am sure that they will be developed in later books.

For me this would have been a 4 if it wasn’t for the narration It may not bother other people but for me it is a large part of the experience.

Detention Gaunt.

I'd no fault whatsoever with the narrator except for the mispronunciation of "enveloped". The story is well told and delivers well, but there are a couple of glaring errors. I felt Chardelia should have appeared earlier in the book considering she was mentioned in the title. The reader/listener keeps asking themselves throughout about a third of the book who is this Danny character. The book also feels on the lengthy side and could be edited to a tighter degree.
When I was growing up, we had school stories like Jennings, William, and Billy Bunter but YA stories have come a long way since. Since those years we've also had the Harry Potter books, of course. The characterizations within the novel are excellent and there is an underlying tension within the story that works extremely effectively. The plot of the story seems a little unwieldy at times but overall things move along nicely. There are elements to the storyline I didn't particularly like, but equally there are things that make this Audio book an enthralling listen. The writer offered me a free code in exchange for an unbiased review and I hope I've given justice to his work which remains an outstanding piece and one I'm confident to recommend.

Great storyline

A bit slow in the beginning but has a great storyline will be waiting for book 2