Ember Burning

Trinity Forest, Book 1

By: Jennifer Alsever

Narrated by: Moira Todd

Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

Author Jennifer Alsever delivers an addictive story ideal for fans of The Uglies, We Were Liars, and Before I Fall about a teen grieving over her parent's tragic death who becomes entangled with a mysterious forest teeming with urban legends of strange disappearances and witchcraft.

Ember Trouve used to be alive, driven to become a musician and on a path to college. That was before her parents died. One day, after venturing into the fabled Trinity Forest, she goes missing. Now, Ember must confront the truth behind her parents' death - or lose herself to the forest forever.

In this fresh and compelling novel, Jennifer Alsever creates a paranormal world of loss, mystery, love, and survival as Ember searches for escape - and a path back to herself. Ember Burning is the first installment of the three-book Trinity Forest series.

©2017 Jennifer Alsever (P)2017 Jennifer Alsever

Ember Burning

Having finished the first book of the trilogy, I'm eagerly awaiting some answers to my questions in mind. It is extremely creative and has unique characters and settings, this is will spark your imagination and keep you wondering.

A Fascinating Paranormal YA Story

If you could sum up Ember Burning in three words, what would they be?

Intriguing, Moving, Mysterious

What other book might you compare Ember Burning to and why?

Which scene was your favorite?

When she was talking about her past and we learn more of her

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Her backstory

Any additional comments?

Ember Burning is a fascinating Paranormal Young Adult book. It has a good beginning, an intriguing middle and a couldn't-stop-listening-until-I-finished-the-entire-book ending. I think that the cover is pretty and eye-catching. I listened to the audiobook format (which was my first audiobook that I've ever listened to) and I must say that it was a pleasant experience and I think that the narrator did a good job.The book starts with Ember, the main lead character that lives in Leadville, a very small and secluded town in the mountains of Colorado. She was once a very cheerful and smart girl with a synesthesia condition (it represents to her by sounds, she sees colors with the sound of music), but she starts the story with a sadness and depression because of her parents sudden death. She feels claustrophobic in a town where everybody knows her story from which she can't escape. Ember surrenders to her pain and starts consuming harmful substances as a way out to her grief. One day, she wanders off to Trinity forest where she finds a fun crowd of people around her age and discovers that her pain is gone. However, the longer she stays, the more bizarre they seem... The story plot is very engaging. Ember Burning had a series of difficult subjects such as loss, rape, guilt, drug addiction and depression, and yet, they were written in such a way that the author didn't need to be very descriptive to make impact. But be warned, if you are triggered by these themes. I love the setting of this story. It was set in a small town close to the enigmatic Trinity forest. While listening to the story, I felt goosebumps just by imagining the place along with a combination of wonderment, magic and it was delightfully eerie. Ember had a medical condition called synesthesia that I think it was a fascinating topic on its own. I have heard about it, but it is until now that I looked it up that I know more about it. Whenever she hears music, she sees a combination of colors depending on the type of music. She calls it her "color crayon brain". I think it is a very interesting topic that I rarely get to read on books and I found it quite interesting.I really liked the characters in the story. At first, I must admit that I had some trouble understanding Ember and some other characters inside the book. However, as I kept listening to the audiobook, I began to realize why they acted that way. I specially liked Ember's grandma, even though she was a difficult person to live with, I think she was going through the same harsh sentiments as Ember, but didn't know how to deal with them. She was trying her best to take care of Ember, but clueless as to how.Also, I had a small problem with Jared (I believe it is spelled like this, but I'm not sure since I listened to the book). I felt like he showed little interest to Ember's well-being and that he left her to her own devices after the loss of their parents. He had to go to college, but I still believe that he shouldn't have left Ember alone. Final Verdict:Ember Burning is a great Paranormal YA book for me. It had so many interesting elements to the story and the ending left me wishing for the next book ASAP! I'll be honest and say that paranormal is something that I don't generally read, but I certainly enjoyed this book. To all Paranormal Witchcraft YA book lovers out there, this is for you!

Ember Burning

Where does Ember Burning rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Ember Burning is a good audiobook.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tre was my favorite character. He has a great back story, and is well-written.

What does Moira Todd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She sings, which gives a depth to the main character that wouldn't be there, otherwise.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I very much enjoyed the ending; it made a lot of sense to me, considering what Ember had been through.

Love, Love, LOVE it!

So this was one of those books that I found myself thinking about during the times when I wasn’t able to listen to it. If life hadn’t gotten in the way, I would’ve easily binged this in one setting, it was that addicting.

Ember’s life hasn’t been the same since she lost her parents. Living with her grandmother, her life is lackluster, and she searches for anything that can make her feel alive again. She’s desperate for a place to belong. So when she finds a seemingly perfect group of friends in the forbidden Trinity Forest, she ignores her gut instinct to run away and follows them. As the saying goes, if something seems too good to be true, it usually is. There’s something wrong in the forest, and only too late does Ember realize it.

Ember was so real, I felt as if the author had merely written down her observations of someone. From the slow withdrawal of the world around her to her desperate need to find a place where she belonged, Ember was probably one of the most vividly created characters I’ve ever seen in a piece of fiction. From the very beginning of the story I found myself connecting to her and rooting for her. She’s not the only well-fleshed out character. Every person in the story has a unique personality.

The worldbuilding and plot were the icing on the already phenomenal cake. There was a lot of supernatural elements in the story, and at first, I was a little confused because there was a lot to it. At the end though, things got much clearer, and I loved the fresh angle the author took on the occult.

Narration was refreshing and beautifully done, giving the perfect amount of drama to the story. Words were easy to understand, and the cadence was smooth.

I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Loved the Narration and the Cliffhanger Killed Me!

So I saw the chance to review this audiobook thanks to Jess at Audiobookworm Promotions, and something about it sounded so interesting. I just had to jump at the opportunity, and I’m glad I did! I’m surprised – well not really surprised – that I never heard of it before, but I’m glad that I got to find a new book and a new author to read.

Also there is a section in the themes that I’m talking about regarding rape/sexual assault. If you will be triggered by this discussion, please feel free to skip that part. All themes that I talk about are placed in headers so they should be bigger and easier to find, but here is a heads up just in case.


I love the pun of the title, but I’m sooooo curious to know what is going to make Ember “burn” in this novel
Trinity Forest… it sounds appealing honestly
What would I do in Ember’s situation?
I’ve never seen a book character with synesthesia before, and it sounds so interesting

Dealing with grief and pain by running away
One of the reasons why I felt like Trinity Forest was so appealing for Ember and probably the other people that ended up going missing in the forest is because they don’t want to deal with whatever life is throwing at them at the moment. I know I would have felt the same way, and if there was an opportunity for me to just… disappear from the life I’m living right now without any sort of confrontation to my problems, I would take it. Doesn’t it sound appealing, especially when you feel like things could literally not go any worse than it feels at that very moment?

Ember was acting out of grief. Her parents died and she gave up on everything that she was passionate about because why would she want to keep on living when her parents weren’t able to? Well not “acting out”, but this was the reaction to the grief that she had been feeling ever since that day. The only thing that she really kept up after her parents’ death was keeping track of missing people that were last seen heading to Trinity Forest, or even others that disappeared in other parts of the world. The one I remember was someone disappearing in Hawaii, although I didn’t recognize the place that was mentioned. It was probably on the Big Island or maybe another island that I just haven’t been able to explore yet.

Sexual abuse and shame
Two girls in this novel experience sexual assault in this novel – while both were off screen, both were discussed throughout the book. One of the girls was raped by someone that took advantage of her when she was under the influence, and the other was over a longer period of time. Both girls ended up feeling ashamed of what happened even though THEY were the ones that got abused! That just made me so angry but I get it because that’s what society has taught us. The girls feel like it was their fault that these boys could take advantage of them sexually, because if they didn’t end up doing whatever it was they did – which was freaking nothing – they wouldn’t have been raped.

Depression =/= Crazy
I think one of the things that really irritated me with Ember was that her mom had a really bad depressive episode before she ended up dying, and Ember was so cruel to her and called her crazy. She would even call this notebook that her mother kept her “Crazy Lady Notebook” and like… this just pissed me off so much. This is the whole stigma around having any mental health issues and how people would automatically think that means someone is crazy. Which of course isn’t true at all but it just felt like she didn’t want to understand her mom at some times. Then of course when her mom ended up dying, she felt guilty about it, but not enough to stop referring to her mom or other characters that she encountered “crazy.” Maybe it’s just colloquial terminology that is still used in towns like Leadville, CO or anywhere honestly, but it bothers me when it’s used like this. I mean something that you can’t believe can be “crazy” but not someone because of their mental health.


This book ended in such a HUGE cliffhanger! But I also feel like this made it hard for me to fully see any major character development, but then again this is just the first book in a series so I know that there’s going to be some in the future. I think that maybe Ember showed some development… very little in my opinion. There were times where I thought she grew up a bit and then she would go and call her mom crazy. So yeah, I didn’t really count those at all.

Then, yeah I didn’t really see any other development from the other characters as much. So yeah.


Hmmm, well I was kind of sad for Ember’s parents and how they ended up dying. Other than that, I didn’t really feel much. I mean that’s not always a bad thing but I didn’t feel anything truly worth mentioning I guess.


The plot was one of my favorite parts honestly. I also liked how well Alsever was able to make Ember’s world so visual and describe what she was seeing with her synesthesia. It was almost like I could see it as well and I was in her shoes. I also really liked the appeal of Trinity Forest honestly. The prose worked out in my favor and so did the pacing. Nothing really in this section was an issue with me, and didn’t end up taking a way from my enjoyment.


Yeah I totally skipped a section but oh well. I thought that this was such an interesting first novel, and I’m kind of bummed at how it ended! Like… it really did just end so abruptly that I was thinking that some of the book was missing. But nope, it ended the way that it was supposed to, and I was like “wait where is the rest of the story?!” I just can’t help it! But I did end up liking it, and I was impressed with the narrator. I liked how she made Ember sound, and I felt like she totally made me feel like I was listening to a real life teenager dealing with grief. I also think she did a great job with the other characters as well. The production of the audiobook was just really well done, and self-published audiobook production should not be underestimated. Well done.

Excellent Paranormal YA Contemporary Series

This is a mysterious and dark YA paranormal series. The story is very unique and pulls you in and keeps you engaged trying to figure out what happens next. I don’t think I have ever read anything quite like it before.

Narration was excellent and brought the story to life.

The characters are well developed and quite complex. The main character is broken from recent tragedy and just trying to mute the pain in her heart.

You need to be patient while reading this book because things are not quite what they seem. The story develops slow at first but if you stick with it, it is all worthwhile.

The book wrapped up with a major cliffhanger and although some answers were addressed, there is still a lot to come together and to be understood on the next book.

Overall an outstanding book and a great start to a YA paranormal series with tragedy, addiction, mystery, legends, disappearances, mistakes, witchcraft, and a touch of romance.

I can hardly wait to read book 2!

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

A haunting read!

Ember must confront the truth behind her parents' death - or lose herself to the forest forever...

A marvelous, marvelous read that was well executed and written beautifully.

So real. So emotional. So intriguing and mysterious.

Lovely read.

The narration was good. Great listen.

Enchanted and Haunted by Ember Burning!

I received this audiobook free at my request and am leaving this review voluntarily.

I’m not sure what else to say except that I was completely drawn in and blown away by this story. Truly one of the most original and well written novels that I’ve come across in quite some time, I have been recommending it to others before I even finished it.

Jennifer Alsever has given us a great cast of very real, very complex characters that will be sure to have you confronting a wide range of feelings and emotions the deeper you get into the story. I truly cannot recommend this enough. You will be truly missing out if you pass this one up!

Hauntingly Beautiful

This was an amazing and dark start to a new series! I found it intense, mysterious, raw, and intriguing and I had trouble putting it down. Ember used to be a cheerful teenager, but ever since her parents death she’s been extremely depressed and just going through the motions. When she finally can’t take anymore, she goes to Trinity Forrest and looses herself. When she’s told that she can never leave, she has to decide if she can stay completely numb to the pain or fight for her life. This book deals with many real life issues such as depression, rape, drug addiction and abuse, peer pressure, and guilt. The world building of Trinity Forrest was done so well that I felt transported to the hauntingly mysterious place. Every character was so realistic and it was refreshing to see characters who go through serious everyday issues that a lot of YA books don’t touch the surface of.
Moira did a pretty good job with this narration. Overall it sounded more like a reading than a performance, but I liked that she gave each character their own distinct voice and how much emotion she used for each one, especially Ember. I loved that she sang throughout the story which was lyrical and beautifully haunting that hooked you from the start.
*I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Enchanting paranormal tale

I received these audiobooks as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jennifer Alsever. The gifting of these audiobooks did not affect my opinion of them.

What an enchanting book that drew me in and kept me curious.

The story begins with a melancholy teenager, who we learn is depressed because she just lost both her parents in a car accident. Throughout the book, she blames herself for their death, but we still don't really know the exact circumstances. She just wants the pain to end and wants to disappear, and that we understand.

So she starts falling into dangerous behavior - drugs, hanging out with the bad boys, and continues to spiral into her depression. Until the one day, she decides to go camping in this forbidden forest. Where suddenly, the pain inside her goes away, and she finally feels light again.

Only to realize the forest is a vortex where some unknown sorcery keeps them there, suspended in time, while the world goes on spinning around them. Try to leave? Bad things happen to your family. Finally give in? Well, then you'll be reborn. But what does that even mean?

I loved the narration. Moira Todd has a lovely speaking and singing voice too, and I enjoyed that there were actual songs included in the audio. I thoroughly enjoyed her audio interpretation of this story and will be looking for other books she narrates.

The storytelling is lyrical and lovely and the effect this witchcraft has on our character is so well-described. I am enjoying Jennifer Alsever's writing and story weaving.

The story ends in a slightly open did it or did it not happen, which knowing the title of the second book gives us our answer. I can't wait to dive into it.

good.

I couldn't figure out where it was going. it took a very strange turn. but I loved it. the writing was good. the narration was great. I would recommend it.