Wraith

This book has been a delight to listen to, the story has many twists and turn. With many great characters the two main ones corry the book well. Can't wait for the next one.

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Brilliant

Well worth a listen too.
Crossed and ticked all boxes when it comes to a good story with fantasy and action.
I was very surprised with the fast paced story line that had a romance edge. Loved it.

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.

loved the characters and story line , would have loved to see more power from the magic side of the characters

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Great female lead character

This story starts out with so much potential and I love the main female character saiya. She’s smart, sassy and independent. Unfortunately I found the ending disappointing and forced. Some of the minor characters were flat and unbelievable. And as for the male lead, I’d have pushed him off the top of Stirling Castle. He was a self righteous arrogant git from start to finish. I honestly don’t know why Saiya didn’t slap him. I wanted to slap him at the end when he magnanimously forgave Saiya for lying to him to protect herself when he should have been on his knees begging her forgiveness for the way he treated her! Saiya you can do so much better then that one!

The reader was good and overall it was an exciting and imaginative story.

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Good listen

Took me a couple of chapters to get into this story, but it grew on me steadily and I enjoyed the story and the character development. There is a review out there that rubbishes the story and the narration - very unfair in my opinion. Wish I had the talent and imagination of Helen Harper or the reading skills of Ruth Urquhart.

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enjoyable story

I thoroughly enjoyed this, I wish it was part of a series. I enjoyed the world it was set in and the characters were well defined.

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Wow, This book was terrible.

I have read a lot of books centred around Elves, Fae, Goblins and the like so I kinda feel I have a broad variety of some of the best to the worst and I have to admit this comes close to some of the worst. Personally it was incredibly boring. Vert predictable, cliche, the characters lacked any personality and the narration was incredibly dull.
If you are looking for a read to just pass time with a pretty storyline and happy ending then this is for you. If you like a bit more magic and mystery you will probably not enjoy this book.

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1 person found this helpful

Cracking adventure with lots of twists and humour

I’ve come to trust and thoroughly enjoy Helen Harper’s output. The advantage with indie authors is that they tend to be more productive than their traditional counterparts – and with the best of them, that doesn’t mean at the expense of quality. And the first observation is that this audiobook is brilliantly narrated by Ruth Urquhart, whose Scottish accent is perfect and also brings the necessary liveliness and bounce needed when narrating one of Harper’s books.

In many ways, Wraith is a perfect introduction to Harper’s writing if you want to get a sense of what she’s about, without getting caught up in a book series. Though I would say that this one leans a little more into the romance thread than, for instance, her Firebrand series, which features Emily Bellamy of the Supernatural Squad – a paranormal branch of the London MET police force. But that is a book series that has allowed the romantic thread to slowly grow. What Harper doesn’t do in any of her books is have the action and adventure swamped by the romance.

Saiya is a lovely protagonist. Being a wraith means she isn’t all that fond of any physical contact with another human and spends her time seeking out secrets to ensure her survival in the besieged city of Stirling. As the story progresses, we learn a bit more about the things that matter to her – she certainly doesn’t wear her heart on her sleeve. The goblins are nicely nasty, although I also liked that they have degrees of nastiness and that is also something I’ve grown to appreciate in Harper’s writing. There is often a pleasing amount of nuance in her characterisation – so while her protagonists are always likeable, they are never perfect. I liked that this story revolves around the Stone of Scone, which is an actual artefact but is surrounded by legends and has been moved and hidden before in its long history.

Saiya is disillusioned at the way Stirling’s plight has been ignored by the political powers governing Scotland. So she often resorts to humour to express her feelings and more than once I laughed aloud at her sharp observations. Harper does have her characters swear – although not all that often, so I didn’t have to turn off the book when one of teenagers wandered into the room. As they aren’t allowed to use certain words within the family home, it seems discourteous to then have my audiobook f-ing and blinding all over the place. I wasn’t so keen on the love interest, Gabriel de Florinville, who is a dark elf. Initially, he came across as arrogant and worryingly domineering. But I was pleased to see that he’s capable of reconsidering his decisions and opinions and changing them in the light of new information. There is the inevitable misunderstanding between them, but this time around it didn’t feel as manufactured as many I’ve read. There were solid reasons why they hadn’t had a frank, honest chat to clear the air – and by the end, I was genuinely pleased at the final outcome.

I’d become very fond of Saiya during this adventure, so was sorry when I checked to discover that this is a standalone story. But I’m comforted to discover that a new book in the Firebrand series is due out near the end of June – yippee! And I would recommend giving this book a go if you enjoy urban fantasy adventures in a Scottish setting with a delightfully feisty heroine.
9/10

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