The Wilted Flower District

By: Martin Niewood

Narrated by: Rebekah Nemethy

Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

At 16, Violet Noone is thrown into a world of deception and betrayal when her sister, Ophelia, missing and presumed dead for the last four years, suddenly reenters her life.

Violet and her brother, Weylin, venture into a desolate district of Fairhaven to meet Ophelia, but instead of finding her, they discover the brutally murdered body of a young man, Claude Cole. Fleeing the scene, they become suspects, relentlessly pursued by Penny, the officer in charge of the investigation. They soon learn that this murder is no isolated incident as they unravel its mysterious connection to the forbidden fruit, Elsyn.

Things in the Domain are different than they were on Earth. For one thing, death there holds no promise of rebirth into another realm.

Fairhaven is an energized and diverse city with many neighborhoods, including the Wilted Flower District, where Violet lives with her adoptive family. Having lost her parents many years ago, Violet relies on her brother, Weylin, and her best friend, Deena, for support while concealing the truth from her adoptive mom, Ivy, whose help she needs the most.

Determined to solve the mystery and reunite her family, Violet confronts her own beliefs, the political order, and the physical world. The question is, how far is she willing to go?

©2018 Martin Niewood (P)2018 Martin Niewood

Interesting Concept Narrated Beautifully

Review of The Wilted Flower District
By Martin Niewood, Narrated by Rebekah Nemethy

This review for “The Wilted Flower District” is for the Audibook version narrated by Rebekah Nemethy.

This is one of those novels where you sit back and think about how close it came be to becoming something truly great. The story begins by introducing us to Violet Noone. Violet discusses the fact that the place we are learning of (The Domain) is not actually earth. For once you die on earth, you can be reborn into another realm, but if you die in the other realm, death holds no promises.

Violet is also a Preter, someone who has special talents, which is increased by eating “Elsyn”, an illegal fruit.

The overall arch of the story deals with the mystery, intrigue, and confrontations of right and wrong. While it did many things right, the novel did not quite reach its full potential. There are many questions left over after consuming the story, most of which could have been easily answered by just making the book a touch longer! This would have made the world that much more understandable and interesting.

As far as the narration is concerned, Rebekah Nemethy does a stellar job with this title. Her delivery is such that it heightens the story to a whole new level. What I might have considered as a possible 3 star review, Rebakah’s performance makes it impossible to rate that low. She has such a great cadence to her speaking and wonderful character development.

Overall, I give this a 4 star rating!