Rain of Ash: A Zyne Witch Urban Fantasy

An enthralling adventure

As a huge fan of the magical fantasy genre I had high hopes when I began listening to this story and if I am honest for about the first 5 or 10 minutes my hopes dimmed, it was a slow start but then Briana decides to go home and the book takes off and Gwen Mitchell provides us with a journey that has adventure after adventure.

Briana is trying desperately to solve the mysterious vision that her deceased grandmother has been communicating to her. Briana decides to stay and face the threat that is felling the people around her and threatens her very existence.

I won’t veer further, spoiler territory but this book had me on tenterhooks and that is a great positive.

Rain of Ash provides excitement, romance, passion, sadness and tension, which is a great testament to Gwen Mitchell’s outstanding imagination and the voice acting of narrator Daniela Acitelli who manages to build emotions, tension and excitement. The character voices are distinct and identifiable and suit the characters.



I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Gwen Mitchell. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

new historical urban romantic fantasy

fair disclosure, I was given this audiobook in exchange for a fair review

I found this to be an interesting new take on the urban fantasy genre. I've read all of Dresden, Mercy, and the Hollows, among others. This might be a more solid intro than Butcher's Fool Moon.

Introducing a whole new cast of characters, a whole new magic order, and telling an interesting story all at once is a tall order. This novel delivers. There's plenty to still discover, but the world-building was particularly notable in its light-handedness, yet still quite effective.

The narrator enunciated well and is capable of expression of deep emotion. Sometimes the emotion seems too deep for the moment, or a little out of place, even considering that the heroine is an emotional wreck.

Trigger warnings for mental illness, apparent suicide, and questionable consent in some of the sexual situations.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Twisty Murder mystery with witches and magic

When Bri is awakened in the middle of the night with anxiety as well as a death vision, she knows what the ringing phone will be about. Bri thought she gave up her life of magic when at 17 she chose to have her powers bound and left her home to start over somewhere fresh. Now, she is forced to go back home since her grandmother and younger sister are dead. But somebody doesn't want Bri to go back, and despite Bri's powers being bound, she is having prophetic visions of what's to come. Bri is going to finally have to make a stand, one she may not have much choice in. ​

​This story took so many surprising twists that were so unexpected​ and kept me on my toes. Seriously, I went into this story with a certain expectation that I conjured up from the synopsis with the book and I had to quickly throw my preconceived notions out the window. This story was completely different than what I was anticipating, but I like that about it. There was mystery, romance, history, magic, danger, death, destruction (yep, I need my 3 Ds), heartbreak, hope, surprises, and betrayal all thrown into a convenient audiobook package.

​The story was narrated from many points of view, such as Bri, Kean, Astrid, Lucas as well as the villain/killer.​ I love multi-narration stories, really they are my favorite, because I as the reader get to know everything going on and I hate being left out. We get to know everyone and understand motivations and inner turmoil, but Bri was the main narrator- and boy was her life not what she expected or any kind of easy.
​
Ah, yes, to say that the romance aspect of the book is complicated is a very mild understatement! The story starts as a couple, quickly morphs into a love triangle that becomes a love square. Yep, so Bri has some hard choices to make and it kinda made me want to give the girl a hug- seriously, I was so torn for her (only by 2 choices, one is not a real choice and that situation resolved...sorta...). How can you pick between your heart, the person you have loved since you were young and treats you so well- and the person who was your soulmate in a past life that you have always had memories of and would do anything to protect you? This girl has some really hard choices in front of her and usually I know who I vote for, but this time I am just as torn- One I absolutely love and the other I am intrigued by.

​The narrator was a little slow for my taste as well as having a slightly dreamy over the top quality to her tone that got on my nerves when I first started the story. Once I decided to listen to the book at 1.5x speed, her narration was spot on and I found myself enjoying the story way more. ​I would listen to more books narrated by her in the future due to her enunciation and characters distinctions now that I know she needs to be sped up (as per my personal preferences).

​The ending took some terrible (aka freaking heartbreaking!) and surprising twists (I had my suspicious and wanted to cheer when I was correct, which was almost instantly replaced by fear and sorrow for what came next!) which makes me desperate to get my hands on the next book in the series. There are so many things I want to know more about or know how a situation will resolve that I keep making up my own theories- so please, give me another book before I create a crazy new plot in my head for how everything will turn. ​This is my first read by Gwen and I can't wait to get my grabby hands on more.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great start to a new series.

I like where the author is going with this story. She definitely laid the groundwork for future books. Book 1 was fast paced and kept my interest. The MC, Bri, cannot catch a break. Heartbreak and death seem to follow her. As the reader you cannot help but connect to her and feel her pain.

I enjoyed the story being brought to life by narrator, Daniela Acitelli, but she made Bri come off as weak and whiny. I didn't take from the story that the MC was weak and whiny but the narrator made her sound that way. Aside from that issue I thought the narrator did a good job with the other characters.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Dark Urban Fantasy

This was my first Gwen Mitchell's book. This is the first book in the Skydance Series, and this is a great start to the Series. This Dark Urban Fantasy has demons, witches, immortals, reincarnation, and soulmates. The storyline is filled with twists and turns, mystery, death, and danger. The world building is complex and captivating. Briana is a great character, and the secondary characters are also interesting. This was an incredible journey to be continued, and I recommend it for fans of dark urban fantasy. Unfortunately, be aware that the second book in the Series isn't available in audiobook yet. Daniela Acitelli has done a wonderful job tihe the narration, and all the characters. She has a great voice, clear, and easy to understand. I received this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Dark Power Against a Witch Coming Into Her Own

I was perusing my shelves for a good witchy read for the Spooky Readathon I'm participating in and spotted this one languishing in my Audible library. This was one I won during the #JIAM event and I remembered being rather excited to try a new to me author, narrator, and urban fantasy world. Perfect!

Rain of Ash is the first in the Skydancer series that is a swirl of fun, but also dark urban fantasy elements surrounding an ageless battle for possession of an artifact and an Oracle.

The story opens with Bri, a famous concert pianist going through a horrendous vision, a panic attack, and the knowledge that her brittle world is crumbling around her. She was trying to escape who she really was even though her escape was a dream of hers, too. All that ends when her grandmother's death brings her back to face facts. She has a magical heritage and her family has a tragic magical history. Bri's magic has been bound, but is breaking through, she's woefully ignorant while her enemy is leaps ahead of her, and she can only count on her two friends both of whom she deserted suddenly and never came back. Bri has to come into her own to fight a demon and the cost is deep as lives are changed and lost in the process.

I thought the author did a great job introducing a vulnerable heroine and a new urban fantasy world in a way that kept the action flowing. Bri was in denial for a bit, but then got with the program when facing her problems was thrust upon her. The camaraderie with Astrid and Dean as a team was great. The demon was a vile villain and there are others characters who are intriguing players in all this including a past life lover. Yes, there is a reincarnation aspect to this one.

That leads me to Bri and her men. She's got at least three at this point who were into her. Normally this is not my brand of drama, but when it ended, I wasn't exactly shaking my fist over nefarious love triangles (quadrangles?). What I mean is her personal interest seemed to be only toward one guy and she wasn't exactly toying with the others which is what I hate.

The ending was action-packed and exciting as I like and left things in a good place before the next book.

Daniela Acitelli was a new to me narrator and I am happy to report that she did a fabulous job with all those voices and situations. Bri in all her emotions and thoughts was fabulously voiced, but the others even male voices were great. She grasps the tone of the story and the pacing so that nothing interfered with the storytelling.

So, all in all, this was a good first outing with a new series, author, and narrator. I got my fill of witches and dark deeds and I was left interested in seeing where all this goes. I can definitely recommend this one to other urban fantasy fans.

Rain Of Ash is Great

I was given this book for free to give an honest and unbiased review.

Rain of Ash is a great book to listen to. It's about a musician named Bree who left her coven and her magick years ago to escape the responsibilities, and possible madness, of her gift of sight. Plagued by nightmares of a past life, she flees her heritage, leaving everything behind. Tragedy strikes leaving her the last person alive in her family. On a trip back to her hometown to tie up loose ends, she instead walks straight into her destiny, complete with a powerful demon who wants her Legacy. This tale is full of magick, murder and mystery.

The overall performance of this book is Very Good. The story is great and you can see the evolution of the character. My ONLY problem is parts of the narration, the narrator gets this whinny drawl that really irked me. The voice and cadence used for Gawain was not the best, but this is MY opinion. OVERALL, she had a clear voice, the sound quality was great and she had a good cadence. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it! I can't wait to listen to the second in the series.

An exciting, magical read

I loved the story and the setting! I am looking forward to the next book!

interesting

This book was a good story but it lacked something that draws me into a story. I really enjoyed the narrators performance. she was the reason I continued listening. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my voluntary review.

Interesting paranormal.

I enjoyed the story but I found the main character too unbelievable and too self absorbed.

The narrator was OK and I could listen to her.

This is my honest review for trying this book.