Rain of Ash: A Zyne Witch Urban Fantasy

Skydancer, Book 1

By: Gwen Mitchell

Narrated by: Daniela Acitelli

Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

An inherited secret.

An ancient rival.

A magical legacy.

Briana turned her back on her Zyne witch heritage to chase her dream career abroad. But when a tragic accident calls her back to her small town island roots, a spell cast in her grandmother's dying moments opens her to Oracle powers she's spent her whole life avoiding. Now, an enemy of old has surfaced, hungry for vengeance...and Bri's soul. Unprepared and untrained, she must harness the magic buried deep within her to defeat the demon of her past and save the man she loves.

©2015 T. M. Miller (P)2018 T. M. Miller

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.

Murder Mystery Urban Fantasy

This is a new author for me and I’m very selective of the murder mysteries I choose. Most have some magic and a paranormal element to them. This title caught my attention and I’m glad I decided to give this new series a try.

The story is interesting and flowed at a good pace. It has some dark elements, some twists and turns, mystery, magic, some romance and betrayal. The romance was quite complicated to say the least! The main character has some really thought choices to make!

The narrator was ok. Her voice was a bit too soft and slow. I would suggest speeding up the narration a bit. Her pronunciation and the character distinction is good.

This book is written in multiple points of view. You really get to understand where several characters are coming from and what is going on inside their heads.

The conclusion was surprising with some twists and turns I did not see coming. There is a lot more I want to know and understand. I’m looking forward to the next book.

“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review”

So so good!

I loved this! The struggle she's faced her whole life, and it ended up being where she belonged. And the surprise ending! I never would've suspected. That ending though. I have to read the next book and find out what happens! The story was great and I loved all the characters. My attention was captured from the beginning!

An Exciting and Magical World!

I was attracted to this book by the cover and the synopsis and couldn’t wait to listen. After 11 hours of being immersed in the Zyne world I now feel like I’ve lost my best friends. Kean, Astrid and Briana. The narrator managed to pull me into story so much I now feel bereft.
The author has created a unique and interesting world that I hope to revisit when book two comes out. A magical world with so many layers. The world building conjures a rich world and I was there with them.
Briana is forced back to a life she escaped many years before when her Grandmother and sister are killed in a car crash. When she arrives in Evergreen Cove she discovers their deaths were no accident. Before long the only way to protect her love ones is to embrace her power and heritage. Meeting her best friends Kean and Astrid make her realise this is where she meant be. It has been a pleasure to listen to a narrator, that made me forget there was one as I was so immersed in the story.

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.

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.

Exciting and complicated new Urban Fantasy story

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.

Rain of Ash was such an exciting and complicated urban fantasy. Just how I like them! This book does not hold back - there is pain, and sacrifice, and so much bloodshed. This book has demons, and powerful witches, immortals, reincarnation, and soul mates.

Rain of Ash starts with our protagonist fighting her visions and thinking she is broken and cursed, to taking on all the power and responsibilities she was born with to defeat a demon chasing her through the centuries.

I did find it interesting that she had not one, not two, but three love interests. Busy girl! I'll give her that one she didn't even know about, but nonetheless their connection played a big role in the final showdown. The embodiment of the villain was a bit of a surprise. I actually thought it was possessing someone else, but now can see the hints that should have led me to see who it really was.

I appreciated that this book had a satisfying ending, after all the pain and loss. There ware some curious happenings that will continue in the future book, but there was no cliffy and that makes this a winner for me. I also really liked the writing style and the elegant descriptions.

Finally, the audiobook narration was wonderful. Each character's voice had feelings and emotions and really carried through and conveyed their role. Great listen, enjoyable voice and cadence, pacing, etc. I would definitely listen to this narrator again. Hopefully with the next book!

Excellent Book!

I received a copy of this book in hopes of a honest review.

That’s said, I LOVED this book! I cannot wait to listen to the next book in the series! Great author and narrator! Definitely recommend!

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.

Fun urban fantasy

This was a great urban fantasy. The story has a lot of great attributes, including family relationships, interesting magic, and really cool abilities. I loved the world that Mitchell created, and the detail given to each scene. The narration was also well done. I enjoyed the tale, and was given it to listen to for free, but I chose to leave this review.