White Raven

A Young Adult Paranormal

By: J.L. Weil

Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

It only took one heartbeat to change my life - one chilling phone call in the middle of the night.

And then, as if my life didn't already suck, my dad sends my brother and me to some idyllic island for the summer to live with a grandma we never met. WTH. Naturally, I rebel. In the end, I find myself shipped off to Raven Hallow... and bored to tears.

Until I get an eyeful of the mind-bendingly gorgeous Zane Hunter. The dark-haired cutie makes my pulse go bonkers, and I think, maybe this might not be so bad after all. Six feet of swoon-inducing looks, with a hint of Celtic charm in his voice, he was the type of guy that left a string of broken hearts in his wake. And I had all the heartbreak I could handle.

Yet, there is something uncanny, almost supernatural about Zane, and it's not just his devastating smirk. No matter how much distance I put between us, Raven Hallow isn't big enough, and the sparking tension between is undeniable. Of course, the one person I want to avoid becomes my salvation.

My past comes back to terrorize me. Someone wants me dead, and the closer I get to the truth, the more I realize my whole life is a lie. I am no longer sure what is more frightening - the attempts on my life or the guy whose heart and soul are synchronized with mine.

©2015 J.L. Weil (P)2015 Caitlin Kelly

A good paranormal read!

When Piper and her brother get the call to say that their mother was murdered, they are all absolutely devastated. Piper's dad decides to send them to their Grandmother, who they don't know, in Ravens Hollow. This is the Grandmother they've never meet, the one who their own mother left so she could be with their father, the one who's rich! From the minute they arrive on the island, Piper and her brothers life changes totally! Can Piper find out the secrets of her mothers life? Why does she keep seeing the same tattoo on peoples hands? Just what is going on in this small community and why does she feel drawn to the standoffish Zane?

This took me a little while to get totally into but once I did, I really enjoyed it. It started like so many other young adult books and I was initially rolling my eyes a lot and thinking, here we go again! But then it gets interesting, and I found myself eagerly reading the next page. It's not perfect, but still worth the read.

I liked all the characters, mostly, and by mostly I mean Piper annoyed me at times. I can't pinpoint why exactly but I think it was because she was so whiny at the start. I think if a character doesn't grab you from the beginning, then it's hard to totally like them the whole way through.

The romance was.... hmmm, not sure what to call it really other than similar to thousands of other books! Girl sees hot boy, hot boy is standoffish and doesn't want anything to do with her, yet is somehow drawn to her, girl keeps thinking of him and both end up together, yawn!! I wanted something more from it but sadly, it was just OK.

The plot was what saved the book for me. I loved the history and mythology behind the book. I loved finding out about the White Ravens and can't wait to find out about the Reaper war. It was fast paced enough and mostly held my attention throughout. I will definitely read the next one to see what happens, though I do hope a lot of the cliche is gone!!!

Caitlin Kelly was really good. It's my first book narrated by her and I enjoyed it. She had the right tones for the right times and gave each character their own. I will have to see if there is anything else by her that I'd like to listen to!

*I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.*

Great plot, mediocre characters

I loved the plot and storyline of the book, it has so much potential. The downfall is the main character. The author completely botched her. She is a whiny, bratty, immature girl who is supposedly the 'heroine' of the story. Her attitude doesn't grow or develop over the story, it never gets better. But I love the romance between piper and Zane and that's the main reason I listened to the whole thing

Amazing & well written

I enjoyed this book. At first, I was unsure about this book because I've never read or listened to anything the author has written. I decided to give it a chance based off of other reviews and because of the narrator - Caitlin Kelly who is an excellent narrator and brings stories to life.

Best narrator ever!

This book was enjoyable to an extent, but the main character was a little annoying at times. The bickering back-and-forth got a little too much and I didn’t really care for her constant sarcasm. I really did like Zane and his whole family. I’m curious what’s going to happen in book two.

I think what made this more enjoyable was the narrator. Caitlyn did such a great job that she has become one of my favorites. I actually look for books that she’s narrating because she makes the characters come alive. Sometimes when I would close my eyes I could actually picture what’s happening in the book as if I’m watching it on TV. That’s how good she was at reading this book.

I loved it!

This was an amazing story, nothing like most books I’ve read so far! I loved how the story line unfolded it kept me hooked! One TINY thing I didn’t like so much was the narrator. I kept getting confused at times because I couldn’t tell characters apart. Besides that SMALL downside, it was an amazing listen, and I can’t wait to get on with the next book in the series!

Sarcasm over the top

I really wanted to like this book. The story could be great, but I found myself irritated by the sarcastic and totally unnecessary dialog between the heroin and other characters. It’s just bad and I’ll timed.

Annoying

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This book is very, very YA for my opionion. I like listen YA sometimes, is something amazing, but this book isn't attractive.

What was most disappointing about J.L. Weil’s story?

The story seems to turn around the girl and the bad boy (that's not so bad boy), then suddenly the focus shifts to the family secret and everything starts to turn around the famiyl obligations.

Could you see White Raven being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I don't know, because I dislike ths book.

Good narrator, so-so character

I really like the narrator. She sounds young like the character and portrays the anguish of her character.

I had some difficulty finishing the story. I didn't care much about Piper. She was pretty whiney, and there was a fair bit of bad language which wasn't necessary at all. The dialog could use some work. Ignoring her, the story was ok.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.

Great YA Listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, especially if they have a teen. Good book, language is a little harsh.

What did you like best about this story?

The ambivelent feelings Zane and Piper have together.

Which character – as performed by Caitlin Kelly – was your favorite?

His discriptions of the area around seemed to be right on. He achieve this by telling thru the charachter what is happening around them.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Nothing was wrong with the narrator's performance it seemed right on.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.
Except for the language this was a good book for someone who liked reading Divergent or those type of books.

Just as great as an audiobook

I had read this book a while back and enjoyed it so much. Now that I have it on audio, I love it even more! Theres just something about putting all the different voices to the characters to help bring the story alive even more. I love it! You cannot go wrong with this book