1816 Candles

A Time After Time Novella

By: Amanda Brice

Narrated by: Becca Ballenger

Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

A young adult time travel novella

A chance encounter during a costume ball at a historic tavern sends high school senior Lauren Harper back in time to early Virginia. Now she's experiencing the actual events of the "Legend of the Female Stranger" ghost story she's attempted to avoid growing up in Old Town Alexandria.

Can she solve the mystery of this ghost, find her way back home, and deal with her own emotions when she falls in love with a guy who lived 200 years before her?

©2013 Amanda Brice (P)2014 Amanda Brice

YA Time Travel + Ghost Story

I have been listening to a few audiobooks lately that are YA time travel, and when I got an opportunity to listen and review this one, I took it. The name was charming, so it intrigued me from the get-go.

Here’s what you get:

*Time travel, of course! One of the things I liked about the use of time travel here is how the heroine reacts to it. Because she lives in a place with lots of history, she frequently time travels. It’s not something she can control, and she’d rather not do it. All the same, it’s just something that happens to her, almost a mundane inconvenience. It seems different than many of the other time travel stories I’ve read.

*A fast story with almost insta-love. Considering this is a novella, and a short one even among already short things, that’s somewhat understandable, though it still took me by surprise.

*Tie-in with a well-known ghost story from Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. I confess that I didn’t know of the story before the novella, but it presents itself quite nicely.

*A teenager who acts like a teenager. She has trouble in some classes in school, goes to parties and does things she maybe shouldn’t, has a clique of friends including some she likes more than others, and she is a cheerleader with an athlete boyfriend. In some ways, she’s very typical except for the time travel.

Though a short novella, you get as full of a character as you can expect, she does go through a journey of transformation, and there is a happy ending. If any of that interests you, you will probably enjoy this.

NARRATION
Because I got a copy of this story from the narrator, I have to mention her performance. The story is told from First Person POV, and the narrator has a voice that totally works for the 17 year old lead character. She is believable as both Lauren and as John, the love interest. She sounds good doing all of it, and I would be happy to listen to her other performances on YA material.

PRODUCTION
There are two prominent spots in the audio where there are repeats of text and dead silence as it is rerecorded. The sound of it reminds me of the clicking sound that would happen when recording things onto cassettes. I realize both the ebook and the audiobook were indie productions, but I am truly surprised those made it into the final product. Even if money is tight, there are free, open source editing tools that can take care of these issues.

Disclaimer: I received a free download of this audiobook from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.