Rain of Ash: A Zyne Witch Urban Fantasy

Skydancer, Book 1

By: Gwen Mitchell

Narrated by: Daniela Acitelli

Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

An inherited secret.

An ancient rival.

A magical legacy.

Briana turned her back on her Zyne witch heritage to chase her dream career abroad. But when a tragic accident calls her back to her small town island roots, a spell cast in her grandmother's dying moments opens her to Oracle powers she's spent her whole life avoiding. Now, an enemy of old has surfaced, hungry for vengeance...and Bri's soul. Unprepared and untrained, she must harness the magic buried deep within her to defeat the demon of her past and save the man she loves.

©2015 T. M. Miller (P)2018 T. M. Miller

An enthralling adventure

As a huge fan of the magical fantasy genre I had high hopes when I began listening to this story and if I am honest for about the first 5 or 10 minutes my hopes dimmed, it was a slow start but then Briana decides to go home and the book takes off and Gwen Mitchell provides us with a journey that has adventure after adventure.

Briana is trying desperately to solve the mysterious vision that her deceased grandmother has been communicating to her. Briana decides to stay and face the threat that is felling the people around her and threatens her very existence.

I won’t veer further, spoiler territory but this book had me on tenterhooks and that is a great positive.

Rain of Ash provides excitement, romance, passion, sadness and tension, which is a great testament to Gwen Mitchell’s outstanding imagination and the voice acting of narrator Daniela Acitelli who manages to build emotions, tension and excitement. The character voices are distinct and identifiable and suit the characters.



I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Gwen Mitchell. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

new historical urban romantic fantasy

fair disclosure, I was given this audiobook in exchange for a fair review

I found this to be an interesting new take on the urban fantasy genre. I've read all of Dresden, Mercy, and the Hollows, among others. This might be a more solid intro than Butcher's Fool Moon.

Introducing a whole new cast of characters, a whole new magic order, and telling an interesting story all at once is a tall order. This novel delivers. There's plenty to still discover, but the world-building was particularly notable in its light-handedness, yet still quite effective.

The narrator enunciated well and is capable of expression of deep emotion. Sometimes the emotion seems too deep for the moment, or a little out of place, even considering that the heroine is an emotional wreck.

Trigger warnings for mental illness, apparent suicide, and questionable consent in some of the sexual situations.

Twisty Murder mystery with witches and magic

When Bri is awakened in the middle of the night with anxiety as well as a death vision, she knows what the ringing phone will be about. Bri thought she gave up her life of magic when at 17 she chose to have her powers bound and left her home to start over somewhere fresh. Now, she is forced to go back home since her grandmother and younger sister are dead. But somebody doesn't want Bri to go back, and despite Bri's powers being bound, she is having prophetic visions of what's to come. Bri is going to finally have to make a stand, one she may not have much choice in. ​

​This story took so many surprising twists that were so unexpected​ and kept me on my toes. Seriously, I went into this story with a certain expectation that I conjured up from the synopsis with the book and I had to quickly throw my preconceived notions out the window. This story was completely different than what I was anticipating, but I like that about it. There was mystery, romance, history, magic, danger, death, destruction (yep, I need my 3 Ds), heartbreak, hope, surprises, and betrayal all thrown into a convenient audiobook package.

​The story was narrated from many points of view, such as Bri, Kean, Astrid, Lucas as well as the villain/killer.​ I love multi-narration stories, really they are my favorite, because I as the reader get to know everything going on and I hate being left out. We get to know everyone and understand motivations and inner turmoil, but Bri was the main narrator- and boy was her life not what she expected or any kind of easy.
​
Ah, yes, to say that the romance aspect of the book is complicated is a very mild understatement! The story starts as a couple, quickly morphs into a love triangle that becomes a love square. Yep, so Bri has some hard choices to make and it kinda made me want to give the girl a hug- seriously, I was so torn for her (only by 2 choices, one is not a real choice and that situation resolved...sorta...). How can you pick between your heart, the person you have loved since you were young and treats you so well- and the person who was your soulmate in a past life that you have always had memories of and would do anything to protect you? This girl has some really hard choices in front of her and usually I know who I vote for, but this time I am just as torn- One I absolutely love and the other I am intrigued by.

​The narrator was a little slow for my taste as well as having a slightly dreamy over the top quality to her tone that got on my nerves when I first started the story. Once I decided to listen to the book at 1.5x speed, her narration was spot on and I found myself enjoying the story way more. ​I would listen to more books narrated by her in the future due to her enunciation and characters distinctions now that I know she needs to be sped up (as per my personal preferences).

​The ending took some terrible (aka freaking heartbreaking!) and surprising twists (I had my suspicious and wanted to cheer when I was correct, which was almost instantly replaced by fear and sorrow for what came next!) which makes me desperate to get my hands on the next book in the series. There are so many things I want to know more about or know how a situation will resolve that I keep making up my own theories- so please, give me another book before I create a crazy new plot in my head for how everything will turn. ​This is my first read by Gwen and I can't wait to get my grabby hands on more.

Great start to a new series.

I like where the author is going with this story. She definitely laid the groundwork for future books. Book 1 was fast paced and kept my interest. The MC, Bri, cannot catch a break. Heartbreak and death seem to follow her. As the reader you cannot help but connect to her and feel her pain.

I enjoyed the story being brought to life by narrator, Daniela Acitelli, but she made Bri come off as weak and whiny. I didn't take from the story that the MC was weak and whiny but the narrator made her sound that way. Aside from that issue I thought the narrator did a good job with the other characters.

book one

Enjoyable read, Briana is forced to come home and joint what her family has done for centuries, tuff choices she has to make and love one's that are at in danger. This book kept me guessing.

Great Mystery

This audiobook was like an urban fantasy murder mystery. There was a mixture of romance, betrayal, mystery and history. A little bit of everything for everyone.
Narration was good, but a little slow for me. That, however, can be adjusted for personal taste.

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

Murder Mystery Urban Fantasy

This is a new author for me and I’m very selective of the murder mysteries I choose. Most have some magic and a paranormal element to them. This title caught my attention and I’m glad I decided to give this new series a try.

The story is interesting and flowed at a good pace. It has some dark elements, some twists and turns, mystery, magic, some romance and betrayal. The romance was quite complicated to say the least! The main character has some really thought choices to make!

The narrator was ok. Her voice was a bit too soft and slow. I would suggest speeding up the narration a bit. Her pronunciation and the character distinction is good.

This book is written in multiple points of view. You really get to understand where several characters are coming from and what is going on inside their heads.

The conclusion was surprising with some twists and turns I did not see coming. There is a lot more I want to know and understand. I’m looking forward to the next book.

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

Great start to a fantasy series

I very much enjoyed Rain of Ash: A Zyne Witch Urban Fantasy. The characters were complex and intriguing and the world building was complete and truly magical. There are so many layers to the novel that it was easy to be pulled into the story and become immersed in Briana's story. I am very much looking forward to book 2.

I received an audiobook copy in exchange for my honest review.

So so good!

I loved this! The struggle she's faced her whole life, and it ended up being where she belonged. And the surprise ending! I never would've suspected. That ending though. I have to read the next book and find out what happens! The story was great and I loved all the characters. My attention was captured from the beginning!

Fun urban fantasy

This was a great urban fantasy. The story has a lot of great attributes, including family relationships, interesting magic, and really cool abilities. I loved the world that Mitchell created, and the detail given to each scene. The narration was also well done. I enjoyed the tale, and was given it to listen to for free, but I chose to leave this review.

Looking forward to the next instalment

After her grandmother dies, Brianna has to return home to sort through her house. Once she is home, she has to embrace her witch heritage and continue to protect her family’s legacy, facing a dangerous and unknown adversary.

I really enjoyed this book and was hooked from the beginning. The plot kept me guessing until the end and I can’t wait to start the next instalment of Bri’s story.

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

An Exciting and Magical World!

I was attracted to this book by the cover and the synopsis and couldn’t wait to listen. After 11 hours of being immersed in the Zyne world I know feel like I’ve lost my best friends. Kean, Astrid and Briana. The narrator managed to pull me into story so much I now feel bereft.
The author has created a unique and interesting world that I hope to revisit when book two comes out. A magical world with so many layers. The world building conjures a rich world and I was there with them.
Briana is forced back to a life she escaped many years before when her Grandmother and sister are killed in a car crash. When she arrives in Evergreen Cove she discovers their deaths were no accident. Before long the only way to protect her love ones is to embrace her power and heritage. Meeting her best friends Kean and Astrid make her realise this is where she meant be. It has been a pleasure to listen to a narrator, that made me forget there was one as I was so immersed in the story.