The Ash Moon

The Ariane Trilogy, Book 1

By: Michelle Dare

Narrated by: Chandra Skyye

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

A kept secret. A life altered. A new journey.   

Ariane lived her life one book at a time. She would never have guessed those books were about to change everything.  

They led her to Orion. Tall, dark, with eyes only for her. The rest of the world ceased to exist when Orion was around. But during a fateful ash moon, he shifted into a wolf. 

Ari thought she was dreaming, but she'd recognize those eyes anywhere.  

Fiction became reality. Fantasy was actually history. And soon, Ari would learn her role in it. A pack war was on the horizon, and she was the only one who could stop it. Nothing would ever be as it once was, because Ariane was now part of the Avynwood Pack.  

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Michelle Dare (P)2019 Tantor

Sigh...This narrator, though...

I can't decide if the story was written by a nun, or if it's the narrator's grandmotherish style of narrating, but everything feels like a 1950's housewife retelling a romance story.

I think this narrator also narrated the Vanessa Vale stories, which also turned out cheesy and eye-rolly.

I am proud to support an African-American author, but I can't with the lead female's constant self doubt and compliments -fishing. "who, me? Why, I'm just a plain girl. Nothing special..."

Ultimately, the amount of cheese layered on, the narrator's inflection, and the author's elementary style of storytelling makes the next book "no" for me.

Wow what a cliffhanger!

First of all the narrator sounds so dry. It can be distracting at times. I hated how she spoke for Orion enunciating word and consonant. He almost sounded Russian. It was weird.

I really enjoyed the book though. Although I thought for someone who was obsessed with a shifter series and the author who wrote the books, I would have thought she would have been so excited to find out it was all real and that she was now part of the story. I thought her reactions didn’t match her apparent love for her favorite series.

I like where this series is going. It moved along at a fast pace. I never felt bored, I was always ready for what was going to happen next.

Oh and why does her mom check on her so much in the middle of the night? Strange.

Narration could be better

The narrator sounded like a robot. The story was okay but as I said the narration was not very good.

Twilight anyone?

Change the names and you have Twilight almost verbatim. Werewolf vs Vampire fighting over teen girl who is a loner.

Deja vu

OMG!

So I have to be completely honest. I read the Paranormals of Avynwood before I read this trilogy. I didn't know about the trilogy to be honest. I'm kind of glad that I read the series first. Yes, it spoiled a lot of the trilogy for me. However, I love Ari so so so so much and I think if I had read this first I would have found her annoying at the beginning. Just saying. MAJOR CLIFFHANGER!!!!

It’s okay... clean, which is nice

Some might not like that this is pretty clean, but others like myself prefer that. I like the genre, but get really tired of endless teenage hormones taking over the entire story. This series, at least the first 3 books, has a decent story. The books that come after, don’t bother with, in my opinion. They’re pretty stupid and predictable, and get progressively sex oriented as the characters get more and more shallow and meaningless. This book is not bad, although there are parts that make me roll my eyes... why did she make the main character so stupid? But in general, it’s enjoyable enough. The narrator is not great. Is she a bored chain smoker? It’s just a very strange sounding voice that’s hard to get used to, but I sort of did after a while, especially after I turned up the speed. Anyway, not the best book ever, but a clean listen with a bit of plot. I’ll be getting the next ones. If I remember right, the next 2 books are better with the 3rd book ending the series fairly well.

Love it

I have really loved this audibook as I did when I read it in ebook. Love that story. Great introduction to Ariane and Rion and all the paranormal of Avynwood world by Michelle Dare.

Awesome Book and Audio!

I loved this book. It was an amazing story! I love Ari, Rion, Ford, and all of the characters. It is very easy to get attached to these characters, so much so that the ending made me cry. The Narrator was also amazing! Her character voices and tone were terrific! I can’t wait to listen to the next book!

The Avynwood Pack!!!

The Ash Moon (The Ariane Trilogy, Book 1) is a ya paranormal romance and is part of a trilogy. I absolutely loved this first audio in this trilogy. The concept is illustrious and it takes you on a unparagoned journey with humans, werewolf shifters, vampires and every lock stock and barrel in the paranormal world. I loved the characters as I found them to be complex with intriguing personalities. This is a really good start to a ya paranormal triology and I'm looking forward to listening to more books.

Chandra Skyye is a new narator as I never listened to her before and I really revel in her performance. She gave each character their own voice. Her inflection was smooth and consistent and changed with the right sentiments when needed.

Overall, a entertaining listen

It was okay.

I disliked the female lead. She reads these supernatural romance books which are truths based on the supernaturals around her yet she is naive about everything related to the supernatural world when she finds herself stuck dab in the middle of it. Her impulse choices cause people to die, then she wonders why she did such a thing and she should have spoke to those who knew MUCH more than she did. She contradicts herself. Example, she first states she doesn't want to be in the middle of this war and doesn't want all these responsibilities then right afterwards she's all like, "i always face my problems head and and never run away like a coward."(not a dialogue from the book).

I don't know if it was suppose to be narrated like that but I kept having to remind myself that "Ryan" is Orion.

I have to agree that this book really reminded me of Twilight. Bella just talks back more, makes bad choices. and is with the werewolf instead of the vampire.

won't read the next

male lead was just two dimensional and unlikeable. Other characters managed to have personality so not sure why author couldn't give him one.

Absolutely fantastic

I can’t get enough of this world! Michelle you are a genius, this concept of writing is simply amazing. Absolutely fantastic characters that I love already. Such a unique storyline. The personalities of the characters are so much fun. Truly spectacular!
Brilliant performance from Chandra