A Light Amongst Shadows

Dark Is the Night Series, Book 1

By: Kelley York, Rowan Altwood

Narrated by: Kale Williams

Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

James Spencer is hardly the typical troubled youth who ends up at Whisperwood School for Boys. Instead of hating the strict schedules and tight oversight by staff, James blossoms, quickly making friends, indulging in his love of writing, and contemplating the merits of sneaking love poems to the elusive and aloof William Esher.

The rumors about William's sexuality and opium reliance are prime gossip material amongst the third years . . . rumors that only further pique James' curiosity to uncover what William is really like beneath all that emotional armor. And, when the normally collected William stumbles in one night, shaken and ranting of ghosts, James is the only one who believes him.

James himself has heard the nails dragging down his bedroom door and the sobs echoing in the halls at night. He knows others have, too, even if no one will admit it. The staff refuses to entertain such ridiculous tales, and punishment awaits anyone who brings it up.

Their fervent denial and the disappearance of students only furthers James' determination to find out what secrets Whisperwood is hiding . . . especially if it prevents William and himself from becoming the next victims.

©2018 Kelley York and Rowan Altwood (P)2019 Tantor

Loved the narrator

Could listen to this narrator all day, the story was great and he really made it come to life

Surprisingly good!

Honestly, I was and am pretty desperate for new queer fiction. I didn’t expect much, I even put off listening to it for many months. But this team of authors and reader really made a young adult romance novel interesting and worth paying attention to. I wish more time had been spent on the supporting characters. But, I was pleasantly surprised to see the main plot be important while also not being entirely the driving force between the relationship between William and James developing. Speaking of those two gentlemen, they are quite charming and endearing in their own rights. Icy, but sweet William. Confident, but troubled James. I love them both quite equally which is quite rare for me in romance novels. I also really love the setting and time period.

As a whole it is both a nice romance novel and a supernatural thriller with a bit of mystery thrown in. It won’t change lives or go down in history like Annie On My Mind, but it is quite a nice read. It did not read anything at all like a slash fic like so many queer novels are now, and so for that it gets a whole hearted recommendation from me. I will be picking up the sequel.

Beautiful Story and Chatacters

It’s too short and I would like to read a sequel. Beautiful love story and well built sympathetic characters. I will look for more from these authors.

Great mystery with a sweet romance

The characters felt real and the story is well paced. You really grow to like the characters and care about them. You can really feel the frustration and resolve as the MCs and friends make their way through the plot. The narration is great and the voices are spot on. Really liked the audible. I'd recommend.

A wonderful, spooky adventure!

I absolutely LOVED this book! It had me hooked from start to finish. It's rare for me to get so invested in a book, but this one hit me in all the right spots!

Kale's performance was beautiful as always! His ghostly voices will haunt my dreams for days to come lol.

Amazing!

Excellent story. Excellent performance. It took me a while to find it bc audible's searching and categorizations both could use some work. But this is the best m/m x supernatural work I've read so far, by far.

'A Unique Mystery, Williams Does Well!

What a unique and interesting mystery. I like the way the story unfolds, with James making friends and generally getting acclimated to his new life. The shady goings on at the school start to add up and James just can't let it go.

This is a pretty dark and scary book, and the narrator, Kale Williams does a nice job with it. There are a wide variety of characters here, and I don't think I've ever heard Kale Williams do so many different British accents before.

Thrilling story, beautiful reading

One of the best YA romances I've read in awhile. A chilling story, likeable characters, and the reader is EXCELLENT. He conveys personalities and emotions with such creativity.

Wonderful

This book was everything I wanted it to be and more. It’s well written, well reasoned and full of compelling characters. The romance is beautiful, but not the primary focus of the story so much as a deep enhancement of the experience of the two main characters. I’m moving into the second book immediately and looking forward to more.

Brilliant

Wonderful story telling, excellent writing, brilliant performance. I highly recommend this book.

I’m on to the next in the series.