Amazing narration ❤️

Retellings of three classic fairy tales Verania-style with Gary in a hysterical 'Rapunzel' retelling, Sam in a sweet 'Jack and the Beanstalk' reimagining, and Todd as a Cinderfella (with Gary playing the evil stepmother a little too well, and Justin and Tina being just awful...) getting his kinky happily ever after, then finishing with an original fairy tale that gives us the history of David and his dragon. Pack a Kleenex for David's story. ❤️

"It’s said, even now, that if you look upon the stars on a clear night, you will see David and Lockes, wings spread across the heavens. A boy and his dragon, together for eternity."

Michael Lesley is once again brilliant in his narration with fantastic voices, effects, pacing, timing...An absolute pleasure to listen to.

4 people found this helpful

Laughed and Cried

Wow, TJ does it again. We start off with 3 hilarious stories created by the characters from the series. You can absolutely see their hand in these goofy stories. You crack up laughing at familiar voices and names in ridiculous situations and settings.

Then.... Then you get to David's dragon. TJ can hit me like a ton of bricks with his writing, and Micheal's heartfelt voices bring them alive. Davids Dragon will make your heart utterly break, and shows how the constellation came to be, along with the city of Lockes. It's beautiful and sadly shows the amazing beauty of human nature and the absolute worst of it. You learn a little about what Ryan and Sam are up to, and a little more about Sam's history with the dragon and about GW. GW irritated me in the books by being so judgy, but here, we get to see a different side of him, a kinder side along with his history a bit, and what he really is. It isn't all rumors like I assumed.

David's dragon, who was a bit snippy in the books, you learn so so much about him and David and their absolute love and friendship of the ages. It is left of a bit of a mystery about the town David grows up in, and it totally bugs me that I don't have a definite answer, but I assume it has to do with GW.

All I can say, is it's great. LSH is my second favorite book series by TJ, Wolfsong is my favorite. And while my soul lives in Green Creek, my soul lives in Verania.


And if we don't get some Justin Romance up in here imma cut a B, as Gary would say. It will be Gore City up in here.

Micheal is truly talented, his ridiculous amount of voices and his addition of sound effects is stunning. If you listen till the very end, even his CREDITS are hilarious. Add in TJ and you have an amazing team.

Thank you to both of them for sharing their amazing talent.

3 people found this helpful

Heartbreaking

The 3 fairy tales were cute and fun. Beware of David's Dragon. That story will break your heart and have you bawling.

3 people found this helpful

Michael Lesley makes any story worth listening to

5 Stars for the Narrator. Michael Lesley is just one of the best narrator's out there. He does a fantastic job once again. All the stars always for him. 💜

Story Review:

This is a collection of stories. It is the retelling of fairy tales which of course has TJ's twist using the characters we know and love.

The Unicorn in the Tower

2 Stars

This was just pure silliness. It is TJ's version of the story of Rapunzel with Gary as the main character. There is a whole lot of sexual innuendos and more of Gary and Kevin than I ever wanted to hear lol

Sam & the Beanstalk

3 Stars

Instead of Jack and the Beanstalk it is Sam. Sam gets the beans and in his Beanstalk is a castle where a giant lives with his friends he has collected over the years. Initially Sam was looking to find treasure to help his family instead he found himself friends for a life time.

The Good Boy

3 Stars

TJ's version of Cinderella. In this one Todd, with the best ears, is the main character. Gary is the evil step mother and Justin and Tina the step sisters. It is all casts really perfectly especially when Mama is the Fairy Drag Mother. The one thing I didn't like was how evil Gary was. Gary can be a b**ch but usually it is for reasons and also it is usually directed at people who deserve it. His treatment of sweet, sweet Todd was not deserved. It was one of the first times I did not like Gary. Yikes! However, there was a kinkly ever after and I appreciated it.

David's Dragon

3 stars

When David was born he always had this voice in the back of his mind connected to him. As he grew older the voice became louder until one day he met the creature behind the voice (a dragon). The two become friends and grow to love one another. This is all in secret. David lives his regular life in the city where his mom is mayor, his dad by her side and his best friend/ husband Levi.

David keeps his secret for many years afraid if anyone knew they would try to hurt his friend. Turns out David was right. David suffers a great loss. He goes on a journey to find the oldest dragon in existence when he meets him he is set on a task. If David completes this task he will then be reunited with his dragon. David is determined to have that happen so, he does as he was told.

This is the story of how the city of Locke's became to be. It was sad and heartbreaking but IMO a bit boring. I wanted more. I needed the drama of what happened to the town's people after to play out lol

Overall it was an entertaining listen because Michael Lesley is top notch!

1 person found this helpful

Not tj’s best work.

Not tj’s best work. Or Michael lesley’s. Story’s felt forced. And Michael forgot what the characters sound like.

1 person found this helpful

at this point you know you're gonna buy it

idk why you're here looking at my comment we both know you're gonna buy it, but sigh yes Todd's story had me love hating Gary and David's dragon broke my heart, it will do what every other book in this series does, leave you desperate for more

1 person found this helpful

Wonderful as always

I am a big TJ Kline fan, and this book didn’t disappoint. The first 3 stories made me smile, and David’s Dragon was deep and moving. Highly recommend.

1 person found this helpful

Utterly Brilliant!

Without having read the rest of the Verania books this would be a ridiculously funny collection of stories. Having read them all this is more than icing on the cake. This was a silly love note to the series and the fans. So ridiculous and pushed the envelope JUST enough. TJ is a master at making you feel feelings through the tears. Laughter & otherwise. This was nothing short of perfection.

1 person found this helpful

Fantastic

This is a wonderful collection of stories. I loved the TJ twist on the three fairytales but David’s Dragon is the shining star. That little story wrenched so much emotion from me. Beautiful story or love and sacrifice and loss.
Michael Lesley outdid himself with this one. I love what he brings to these books with the sound effects. They really added to my enjoyment of this audiobook

1 person found this helpful

First Time I haven't LOVED a TJ Klune book.

This was not what I was expecting. The Tales from Verania series is so captivating, engrossing, and funny, but this book did not have any of that charm and interest. The retelling of fairy tales by the Verania characters, although a genius idea, did not hit the mark. Maybe this would have been better with a younger crowd (say 6 and under), but for any semblance of an adult reader (say 7 and older), it just doesn't hold the interest. It pains me to write such a negative review as I am a huge TJ Klune fan, but for me it was a waste of time.