Found in Embers

Astrid Stone, Book 1

By: AJ Blanch

Narrated by: Samantha Norbury

Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

How far would you go to save your only sister? Astrid has been trying to keep her adopted sister Lyric hidden—their mother’s dying wish—but it proves difficult when Lyric attracts unwanted attention from another realm.

After Lyric gets kidnapped by members of the Jalak Brotherhood, Astrid vows to do whatever it takes to bring her home. Stealing a motorcycle and boarding a strange ship, Astrid travels far from Kansas City, to a realm where magic is real. Low on options, she contracts the help of a dangerously attractive dragonborn assassin. Can Astrid navigate uncertainty and betrayal to save her sister? Or will she break when forced to face her biggest fear?

©2022 AJ Blanch (P)2024 AJ Blanch

Recommend!

Great book! It's very intriguing and fun! The narration was done well and easy to listen to! I can't wait for more by this author!

SUCH a fun book! Highly recommend!

This is a fast paced and exciting story! I’m excited to get the next book as soon as it’s out. Highly recommend! 🙌

Love this book!

So I’m not really an audio book listener.. but I enjoyed listening to this book. I typically prefer to imagine my own voices instead of somebody reading for me. The reader had pretty good voices and emotion for each character. I still prefer to read my own book, but I could listen to this one again. :)

Great TikTok Find!

Great story. Plot never stops and the characters are so endearing. Can’t wait for book 2

A phenomenal read! I couldn't put it down!

AJ Blanch creates this world where you just want more and more. I loved the characters, the magic, the romance and the adventure! I laughed out loud, I cried. This book is why I read. I can't wait to read book 2 and 3.

Good Read,

Interesting characters and plot developments.
The only character that annoyed me was Tyler. I liked his roll in the story, but didn’t care for his comical nature. Perhaps if he was a bit more mature with just a hint of dry humor.
I look forward to reading the second book and what twists and turns await.

Loved this book!

Loved this book! AJ Blanch is a new author and this is her debut book. The character development was so fun. The story was fresh and interesting. I’m looking forward to book 2 in the series. The narration was excellent, too. Highly recommend to anyone looking for their next read!

good

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

Fascinating and Entertaining Story!!

This was an interesting story! It's an urban fantasy with higher fantasy vibes, since the story starts in KCMO and with an unexpected boat ride leads to another dimension and a bunch of different creatures and magic! It did start off a little slow for me, but once it started to pick up, it just kept going!
Astrid was an interesting character who took a little time to grow on me and there were a few moments where I wanted to lecture her about her decisions. Though, she did turn it around and grow as a person throughout the story and I liked her character growth because it showed the natural progression of growth rather than stubborn one moment, patient and thoughtful the next. Her loyalty to her sister is commendable, I don't think I'd dimension travel to save one of my siblings, but I also don't have cool kickbutt powers to help save my life, so good for her.
I really liked the world(s) the author created. It almost felt like I was there, since she gave great detail to them. Astrid is an artist and her character was able to describe the locations with incredible detail. There are different creatures, powers, shifters, and magical rules. Plus, a dictator of a ruler! There's a slight hint of romance in the story, but this story is definitely more for the plot than romance.
The secondary characters played their parts well, Lyric was a typical teenager, but had a big heart. Tyler meant well, but there were times where his jokes interrupted the flow of the story. And Kai...the mysterious Kai who has a tragic backstory and attitude that I would love to see more of in future stories!
I hope that more books come out in this series! The characters were wonderful and interesting and I hope to meet them again!

I liked the narrator, I thought she did a fine job. I listened at 1.2x speed, since I found that speed more to my liking. Her differentiating between inner thoughts/monologues was different than what I've experienced in prior listens. She made her voice softer and really helped the inner thoughts stand out against the speaking voice or the general narration. I liked the differentiation, though sometimes it was a little softer than the listening level I had my earphones at, so that would be my only dislike for that. Otherwise, I'd listen to another book narrated by her because she did a good job!

The Edge of my Seat

I loved this book! I spent every spare minute listening to it. Rich characters with amazing narration by Samantha Norbury (one to watch) surprising twists that hook you! I’ll be watching for this author/narrator combo!