Introductions

The Academy: The Ghost Bird, Book 1

By: C. L. Stone

Narrated by: Natalie Eaton

Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

From USA Today best-selling author CL Stone, listen to Introductions, the first book in The Academy Ghost Bird Series.

With an agoraphobic mother and a barely-there father, Sang abhors the isolation keeping her in the shadows. The only thing Sang craves is a fresh start and to be accepted as ordinary by her peers, because for her being different meant being cast out alone. When her family moves to a new school district, Sang infiltrates a group of boys nearly perfect in every way. Grateful for an influence outside of her parents' negativity, she quickly bonds with the boys, hoping to blend in and learn from them what it means to have a natural relationship with friends. Only the boys have secrets of their own and they'll do anything to keep her safe from the knowledge of the mysterious Academy that they've sworn allegiance to. Bit by bit, Sang discovers that her friends are far from the normalcy she expected. Will her loyalty change when she's forced to remain in the dark, or will she accept that she's traded one house of secrets for another? Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke, and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships, and heart-throbbing intimacy. The Academy, ever vigilant.

©2012 C. L. Stone (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Great story, great listen

What did you love best about Introductions?

I like the meeting of all the charecters.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sang and Kota. Kota in this book because he is a standout but I like all the boys.

Have you listened to any of Natalie Eaton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes,in the other books I\in the series and yes I enjoy it.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not sure

Any additional comments?

This is a reverse harem novel, but a very slow burn.

Not my favorite

I didn't see much purpose in the story until close to the end. the first several chapters flounder as a young girl named Sang escapes her abusive home and hangs out for the day with a group of teenaged boys. They do teenage things, not very exciting and the writing is a bit dry.

Eventually its revealed that the boys are special in some way but not hint as to how or what. If you enjoy slow paced then this is it.

Totally LOVE this series!!

I was introduced to this series through this book being offered free on kindle and I LOVED it!!! Read all 12 books in one shot and patiently waiting for more! So this year, I wanted to revisit this series on audiobook and I fell in love all over again! I loved the narrator's voice for Sang and how she changed her voice to give each guy a unique voice. I can't wait for more of these books to come out for kindle and audible!

Introductions

This is just the beginning of this story. Nice guys meet abused teen. This book seems promising but it should have been a longer start to the story.

A new favorite series.

a great listen.
The narrator does an excellent job making each character feel like an individual. the pacing is good and had me picking the book up every chance I could. I look forward to listening to the next installment.

A great RH series find.

I devoured the first 6-7 books in a matter of days (while I was supposed to be on vacation). I put off starting this series for a little while, as I am a big fan of more fantasy/supernatural books than I am alive of life(?)/real life/drama books, but I am so glad I finally got around to starting the series. All of the characters have individual personalities, and feel well rounded, and of course become even more fleshed out throughout the books. Can’t recommend this series enough.

10 guys like me...

Hmmm? So a shut in girl meets her neighbors. I just saved you 9 hours. That's honestly all that happened. The actual writing skill is good. It's detailed and descriptive.... but 10 guys like her and she likes all 10... and they all met... I don't care at all. Nothing important happened and it didn't feel like it's own story. I certainly won't be picking up the next one.

Not my usual

This isn't a sit down at once and know the whole story. It's not really a story even. It's like the author is stretching to prepare for a marathon. I don't know yet if I love the series but I'm interested enough to read/listen to the next installment. (assuming the next book isn't a complete story)

no substance, no story line, and a waste of time

this is the one book I can most vehemently WOULD NOT recommend unless you would like to hear a lot about how to abused a child or if you would like in the small areas where a story is tried to be told the want to be story will put you to sleep so either you will get a good lesson on how to abuse a child or you will get a good nap I would never recommend this book to be bought by anyone stay away you will not like it! This is not a book it is not a story it is not anything it is just a bunch of dribble, The only redeeming quality this attempt at a book has is the narrator this person does an excellent job with what she had to work with it's just to bad that she didn't have something to narrate with a descent story line and something that isn't dribble and cut and pasted together to try and make something out of nothing my recommendation DO NOT GET THIS SO CALLED BOOK IT IS TRASH!!!

Not friendly to women

The writing is fine and it's unusual to find a reverse-harem type book. However, I would not recommend it. The story appears to be marketed to girls, but is clearly from a point of view that hates girls. There's bashing of female characters for wearing make-up or not dressing modestly, the pov is "not like other girls", and the assortment of love interest boys are continuously shocked that a girl could do something like listen to classical music or *gasp* enjoy being outdoors.

A good version of Ghost Bird 1

I had previously listened to the two-narrator version of Introductions, the first book in the Ghost Bird series and enjoyed that but I've also enjoyed this version and the narrator was very good at presenting the characters' emotions and differentiating between them so you can tell who's speaking at any given moment. I am pleased that all of the books in the series (currently released) will be put into audio & I'm looking forward to getting the full set! Sang Sorenson has had a bad start in life but with the arrival of the Academy boys it's going to get a lot more interesting and dangerous. Book 1 sets up the first meetings between key characters and introduces them to the school where some of the action / conflict takes place. It ends on an intriguing note - not a cliffhanger - and the reader is set up nicely for book 2.
I will re-listen to this.