Heir of Charms

Arda Academy, Book 1

By: Molly Lavenza

Narrated by: Carolyn Kashner

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Destruction.

In a family of healers who save, all I do is destroy. My enforced solitude is for my own safety as well as that of the world, or so my mother tells me.

When the boy next door beckons, I can't help but sneak out to forge a friendship with him. Loneliness leads me to defy my family, but desperation prevails when I discover that the grounds of his private academy hold a secret that could help me learn why my ability is so disastrous...or push me to create a catastrophe that will bring about my family's deaths.

Merith Leigh has decided to give herself the best 16th birthday present ever: Freedom. She's spent the last two years in silent communication with Taran, the boy next door, and his encouragement to meet him beyond their bedroom window views has tempted her to finally break free of her family's bonds. With a leap of faith, she trusts Taran with her dark secret, and he takes her to meet his friends at his private academy, where a secret society that studies magic lurks with secrets of their own. Can Taran and his classmates help her discover why she carries the gift of destruction rather than her family's skill at healing, or will their association prove deadly?

©2020 Molly Lavenza (P)2020 Molly Lavenza

Teenage Drama filled Book

The end story of this book was pretty good, however, I felt this book was meant for a more juvenile audience. If you feel like going back to high school and reliving the drama than this book is for you.

Oh my charms this is a good yarn

What an incredible surprise this book was, my first time with Both Molly Lavenza (Author) and Carolyn Kashner (Narrator). In an era of so many 'clone' books that try to copy the successful approach of another author's series this book was such a lovely fresh breath of fresh air. Not a hint of staleness or predictability and the twist toward the end was unexpected and fun - and I am rarely stupefied by a twist. So my advice: Don't read ahead and be careful of spoiler reviews.

Now this is a light hearted book designed to be suitable for the young as well as the old so don't expect too much depth and angst or explicit romantic scenes. But these will not be needed to keep you captivated from Page 1.

In addition there is a somewhat slow pace to the book that allowed a lot of time to introduce us to characters that may become important in subsequent books in the series. I did not find this at all to be negative. In addition, this story is told exclusively from Merith's Leigh's perspective and for this book, I found this apt and appropriate.

Another strong positive is the absence of cliffhangers. Although the story-line leaves the reader feeling the adventure and mysteries are just beginning, there is a very appropriate epilogue and some of the central mysteries of Book 1 are resolved. I am however excited that the audiobook for Books 2 and 3 are already released. This suits an impatient series follower wanting to explore some other outstanding mysteries.

A short comment on the narration: I did find it a little different from what I was used to and maybe a touch stilted but the narration style suited the main characters and there were excellent distinctions between which character was being quoted. In addition, the pace flowed very well and my interest was focused throughout. Only a skilled narrator can achieve this.
Unique and fresh with flawless narration.

Great read

This book is a slow read and I’m not sure how the ending went and I’m assuming that there’s more? All in all I enjoyed reading it. Carolyn Kashner did an amazing job at narrating

amazing

I love how Heir of Charms has such an amazing twist to the story. the character are so well put together in the story and love where it takes place the narrator did such a great job bringing the book to life

very enjoyable

I found this to be engaging and I kept wanting to listen even when I didn't have time! I do hope there is more character development of the schoolmates in the next book.

Excellent Teen/YA Drama & Mystery!

This book is captivating and grabbed my attention right away. I just couldn’t believe how badly Merith’s family treated her! It was truly shocking to hear what they said about her. I was so excited when she decide to leave her home and take a chance with her only “friend”.

Narration was excellent and brought the story to life.

This book has lots of mystery, suspense, drama, danger, a touch of romance, magic, witches, and unexpected twists & turns. I love reading Academy Series and this one does not disappoint. I’m young at heart and love this genre.

The story progresses at a good pace and it was hard to put down. The characters are likable and interesting. I was glad to see no cliffhangers, but there is a lot of mystery and unanswered questions that hopefully will be addressed before this series concludes.

Arda Academy is an interesting place and I can hardly wait to see what will happen next!

Full of delightful surprises!

First, I’d like to say that I liked how this story had a complete arc, despite the fact that it is definitely a series that hooks you in for more. I liked that feeling of completeness as well as anticipation. Merith has a gift, but it doesn’t work correctly. Taron is such a great balance for her. I enjoyed the surprises throughout this story and I can’t wait to continue this series.
Kashner did a terrific job with this narrative!
I received a review copy of this audiobook and I am leaving a voluntary review.

Good story!

I actually enjoyed the book! It was interesting and kept my interest. I will say that the narrator was a little annoying and ruined the audiobook for me. It had so much potential but the voice kind of ruined it for me. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

clean coming of age story

I thought the narrator did a wonder job. The story was different and not what I expected. It was an interesting magical story, one thing that bugged me was I thought it resolved rather abruptly, but over all and a fun read.

Great Story!

I love the twists and turns that this story takes! It held my interest the entire time and is intriguing. I can't wait to listen to what happens next!!