Shadows of Lela

By: Tessonja Odette

Narrated by: Emma Faye

Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

A forgotten princess. A deadly quest. A threat that hides in shadow....

Sixteen-year-old Cora is a princess with a dark past. Exile has kept her safe. But when she rescues a dying unicorn from a mysterious band of hunters, her identity - and her life - are in danger.

Prince Teryn has the perfect plan - win the quest, marry his betrothed, and become king. But his mission goes awry when he faces a feisty young woman in the woods. Although they meet as foes, she shares a secret that bonds them.

Teryn and Cora’s fates are entwined in a plot far deadlier than they ever imagined. Can they face the threat together? Or will a terrifying enemy destroy the land they love?

Shadows of Lela is book one in the Lela Trilogy. If you like swoon-worthy romance, adventurous quests, breathtaking magic, and surprising twists, then you’ll love Tessonja Odette’s epic fantasy tale.

©2018 Tessonja Odette (P)2019 Tessonja Odette

A Reimagining of the Old Battle of Good vs Evil

•A memorable story!
•Tales of unicorns will always have a home in my heart!
•Coming into Odette's work, she suggested that fans of The Last Unicorn would enjoy this series. With that in mind, I geared up for a story with a unicorn hero/heroine that I could follow and gallop through adventures with. Although this story contains unicorns, they are an accent to the story, rather than the subject. While this disappointed me at first, I buckled up and geared myself for the rest of the ride. What I got was a sort of coming-of-age story about a banished princess who has to figure out what her life's purpose must be after enduring a tragic and traumatic banishment from the kingdom she once called home. What intrigued me the most is that she was not the sole focus of the story. I was able to see the land through Prince Teryn, Prince Larilys, and even Princess Mareleau. And while I would have LIKED to see and hear more from our unicorn companions, these main four are dynamic people and stirred up my emotions more than I think they should've. The only truly disappointing detail would have to belong to the ending Odette decided to go with. I was looking forward to, and wishing for a more dramatic and heartbreaking close to transition into a drama-filled sequel. After all, this is a slow-burn romance, right? Now I'm wondering how the sequel can even compare. What will be the conflict? Is anything going to happen to our heroes that will force them into action? Or will the focus be on a new cast altogether? Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this read (er, listen?) and will continue to keep Odette and her works in my reading list!
P.S. I want more Valor pls
•Once I got used to the narrator, her expression of different characters through different voices really blew me away. I especially loved her slight Gaelic accent of the Forest People. Although sometimes her voice for a male character would suddenly change and become exactly like that of another male character, so that was the only thing that would through me off in the later chapters.

Fairytale

Part Disney, part Grimm makes for a dark fairytale. Throw in Unicorns, true love and an evil wizard.
This narrator who has just started her career, has a great range of voices. Her voice was perfect for this audio. At first I wanted to say 'take a deep breathe dear' but she soon relaxed into the telling of the story.
This audio was given to me free and I voluntarily gave this review.

Morkai aka Jafar

Morkai voice was annoying but performance was otherwise enjoyable. Morkai as a villain felt one dimensional and almost like Jafar in terms of wanting to marry a child princess. Pedophile anyone? I enjoyed Cora as a strong heroine and I hope Teryn grows to become her match.

I was entertained while listening to this story

Shadows of Lela is a multiple POV story. And granted, while this gives added depth to the story, it can make it a little harder to get familiar with the story in the beginning (first few chapters). However, even though this is a challenge on its own for the narrator, Ms. Faye did a wonderful work in this one, giving each of the characters its own voice, and helping the reader engage more easily with the story.

Personally, I loved getting to know more about Cora and Prince Teryn. Both their backgrounds and growing throughout the book are great. I also enjoyed the fact that there was a quest; I just can't remember when was the last time I read Fantasy like this, but I was certainly entertained while listening to this story.

Content: there's some violence (both to animals and humans: something's happening to the unicorns, and someone is murdered in cold-blood. Also, fights/battles, by I guess those were expected with the genre). Concerning language, if I remember correctly, there's one use of b***h and a couple of d**n. As for sex, it's implied or talked about in a conversation... And I'm not even sure if it actually happens between two characters in this book: if it does, then it's completely left to the imagination (one kiss and then the door closes), and if it doesn't, then this book never goes beyond kissing.

Clean, funny and very entertaining!

I definitely enjoyed this book! I love fantasy, unicorns and magic! I was so absorbed in the book from start to finish. The Narrator was good with so many different characters to play! Im looking forward to the next book! I recommend this book to all ages!

Great Story!!

I really enjoyed this book!!

Anything with Unicorns is a plus in my opinion.

Loved the characters, and how they grow throughout the story!!

Cant wait for book 2!!

Excellent Narration

Book 1 of this trilogy did not disappoint! Easy to get in to, the story effortlessly draws you in to the rich characters and exciting story arch. Of note was the brilliant narration that seemed to capture the richness of each character, whose stories I am so happy are not yet finished! I can't wait for book 2! I love that this book ended beautifully while still leaving me anticipating (and excited for) more. Highly recommend!

Interesting, clean fantasy

I enjoyed this story. It is part of a series, but I felt that this part of the story reached a satisfying conclusion.
The story caught my attention, and had minimal language (I don’t remember anything) and no sex scenes. There was a small amount of innuendo. If this was a movie, I would except it to be rated PG13 for the violence of the battle scenes, which were not gratuitous.
The female narrator was a bit awkward with the male voices, but I got used to it as the story continued. I don’t think I will listen to anything else by this narrator, although I will probably read the sequel to this book.

Unicorns

I enjoyed the Magic and of course the Unicorn. Cora is a head strong Princess with a troubling past. She crosses paths with Teryn. This book is told for several POV which gave it an interesting aspect. I enjoyed the adventure in this book. I'm not sure where the story is headed.

strong heroine for young girls to look up to

Cora, the main character, is a friend I’d like to have. She’s a heroine who’s strong, determined and ends up being very accomplished. I liked that she was anything but helpless and was able to make decisions, despite her secret past. I love Cora and Teryn’s dynamic! It’s so fun to read about. All together I would definitely recommend this one! I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed this story!

This was a fantastic story about a girl overcoming all the odds to save herself and her brother. Add in a slow burn romance and some unicorns and *bam* you’ve got a great story! Really though, I wasn’t sure if I would like the unicorns - I thought it would be cheesy. I was wrong and I’m naming my next horse Valour (since my chances of finding a unicorn are slim).
For the narration- I go back and forth. The narrator as Cora - the MC - was fantastic! However, a couple of the voices she did were pretty annoying. I love how she changed the pacing of different characters voices and gave them all different personalities, but some of the pacing and personalities were a bit grating. The main characters were well done, though, and overall I enjoyed the narrating - it was way better than some of the popular robot sounding voice actors.