Spindles and Spells

Grimm Academy, Book 1

By: Laura Greenwood

Narrated by: Maryanne M. Wells

Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

Briar doesn't believe in once upon a time.... 

Her whole life, Briar has been told about her fate, but she doesn't believe a word. Now she's forced to go to Grimm Academy along with all the other fairy tale characters trying to avoid their tales. 

When she finds a spindle in one of the tallest towers, she begins to believe, but is it already too late? 

Welcome to Grimm Academy, where fairy tale characters go to escape their foretold fate.

Spindles and Spells is the first book of the Grimm Academy series and is based on the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. This includes an m/f (non-RH, non-bully) romance.

©2020 Laura Greenwood (P)2020 Laura Greenwood

amazing!!

this is well written and I love it got both ebook and audio! I enjoyed the world and characters and the narator is amazing!

Sleeping Beauty has nothing on Briar.

Briar Rose doesn't believe in the prophesies. Especially hers. Her parents aren't taking any chances. If she can make it through Grimm Academy her father, the King, will consider allowing her to rule the kingdom. Rupunzel is her first friend and a boy named Walter is who she would like to be her boyfriend. She is so sweet and a bit too trusting. However, her prophecy begins and she can't deny it anymore. It will take all of them to prevent her safe. Grimm Academy is a diverse, private and exclusive academy for paranormals and there is never a dull moment there!

Great story from a good series.

Great story from a good series.

First lets get the narration out of the way. She has a beautiful voice and does each character clearly separate to the others and easily recognizable but the narration is stilted and gappy and almost unlistenable. I put the speed up to 1.1 and my ears breathed a sigh of relief, much better but there certainly is room for improvement in her future endeavors. I almost didn't review but the story by Laura Greenwood is so good I had too. This book is the start of a fun series and I just love the characters, I have the e-book of this and more in the series so I can recommend them. It would have been 5 stars if the narration was spot on.

unlistenable

I tried different speeds but the pacing and emphasis points make it unlistenable to anyone used to decent recordings. The story description sounded interesting but ends up disappointing within the first couple of chapters. I wanted to like it and tried to force myself through it before giving up.

Great retelling

This author does such a great job with fairy tale retellings and lets just say there is a great spin to this one. In this one we watch as Briar tries to beat the prophecy that has been said about her and trying to make her father make her Crown Princess so she can forge her own path. The narrator does a great job

Good retelling

Good story that asks what happens if the main character from one of the classic fairytales doesn't want to just accept her fate and fights against it.

Excellent story but annoying narrator

This is an excellent adaptation of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale, but the narrator, Maryanne M. Wells, has the most annoying voice that it’s very off putting. I’d say persist and you soon learn to live with the voice and enjoy the story!

A wonderful take on a classic tale

Before listening to this book i had the privilege of reading the book and was so excited to hear how Briar turned out. Unfortunately, I didn't like the narration, my personal opinion is that she sounded like the female version of an overexaggerated William Shatner. There were moments when she wasn't putting on an RP voice for Briar that were lovely but I was disappointed with the overall impression of Briar thay came across. The story is wonderful, the depiction of the dark fairy is spot on and the length is just right. If you love fairy-tales then give this story ago.