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Heir of Charms

Arda Academy, Book 1

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Heir of Charms

By: Molly Lavenza
Narrated by: Carolyn Kashner
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About this listen

Destruction.

In a family of healers who save, all I do is destroy. My enforced solitude is for my own safety as well as that of the world, or so my mother tells me.

When the boy next door beckons, I can't help but sneak out to forge a friendship with him. Loneliness leads me to defy my family, but desperation prevails when I discover that the grounds of his private academy hold a secret that could help me learn why my ability is so disastrous...or push me to create a catastrophe that will bring about my family's deaths.

Merith Leigh has decided to give herself the best 16th birthday present ever: Freedom. She's spent the last two years in silent communication with Taran, the boy next door, and his encouragement to meet him beyond their bedroom window views has tempted her to finally break free of her family's bonds. With a leap of faith, she trusts Taran with her dark secret, and he takes her to meet his friends at his private academy, where a secret society that studies magic lurks with secrets of their own. Can Taran and his classmates help her discover why she carries the gift of destruction rather than her family's skill at healing, or will their association prove deadly?

©2020 Molly Lavenza (P)2020 Molly Lavenza Fantasy Health, Lifestyle & Relationships Science Fiction & Fantasy Young Adult Fiction

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I liked the story and the pace and the build of the characters but I do think this was made for a younger crowd. So id recommend it for high schoolers or young college kids. Good read though.

Good read

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So good! I wasn't expecting so much mystery. I cannot wait for the next book!

I need more!

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What an incredible surprise this book was, my first time with Both Molly Lavenza (Author) and Caolyn Kashner (Narrator). In an era of so many 'clone' books that try to copy the successful approach of another author's series this book was such a lovely fresh breath of fresh air. Not a hint of staleness or predictability and the twist toward the end was unexpected and fun - and I am rarely stupefied by a twist. So my advice: Don't read ahead and be careful of spoiler reviews.

Now this is a light hearted book designed to be suitable for the young as well as the old so don't expect too much depth and angst or explicit romantic scenes. But these will not be needed to keep you captivated from Page 1.

In addition there is a somewhat slow pace to the book that allowed a lot of time to introduce us to characters that may become important in subsequent books in the series. I did not find this at all to be negative. In addition, this story is told exclusively from Merith's Leigh's perspective and for this book, I found this apt and appropriate.

Another strong positive is the absence of cliffhangers. Although the storyline leaves the reader feeling the adventure and mysteries are just beginning, there is a very appropriate epilogue and some of the central mysteries of Book 1 are resolved. I am however excited that the audiobook for Books 2 and 3 are already released. This suits an impatient series follower wanting to explore some other outstanding mysteries.

A short comment on the narration: I did find it a little different from what I was used to and maybe a touch stilted but the narration style suited the main characters and there were excellent distinctions between which character was being quoted. In addition, the pace flowed very well and my interest was focused throughout. Only a skilled narrator can achieve this.

Oh my 'Charms' this is a good yarn

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I was given a free copy of this book and I'm leaving an honest and voluntary review.

This book is pretty good, definitely suited to a younger audience. saying that I enjoyed it. the story itself was very well written, nicely paced and its got everything you'd want in a young adult magical fantasy. Great characters with good progression, detailing and depth making it more enjoyable.
the narration is on point, bringing the story to life, capturing the full essence of the fantasy tale.

A charming tale

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Merith has been trapped in her home by her mother, aunts and grandmother for years. She comes from a long line of healing witches but Merith's powers are a bit volatile. She's made friends with guy next door but they've never spoken to him. But all that's about to change Merith wants to get away from her controlling family. They act like they hate her anyway. Her neighbour Taran wants to help her escape. This book was a little slow to start but I could understand as it was more about setting the scene and character building and I just felt it lacked something with the narration. It didn't sound expressive enough. The story got really good at the end so made up for the slow start and it left a few questions at the end setting it up for a second book. I received a free audio copy of this book from the author but the opinions expressed are my own.

A good start to the series.

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Listener received this title free

This book definitely reads as very age appropriate, aimed at the younger end of the YA genre, it's a nice introduction to the world of magic schools and charms without being too heavy handed about which side is right and what is wrong.

Admittedly because of this some of the sentences construction did feel a bit clunky, reinstating the same thing just with different words within the same line.

The overall construction and idea of the book is good tho and that's why I gave it 5 stars as I think younger listeners/newer readers will get a lot out of this series.

I also think the narrator did a great job.

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

magic school fun

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Listener received this title free

This academy book starts really YA then turns PNR! I loved the mix of it!!it is a huge mystery til the end when you get a dash of some answers but are still left with so many more! I am putting book 2 on my TBR list!

Mysteries

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I received a free audio copy of this book directly from the author for an honest review.

I really loved the beginning of the book and the relationship between Merith and Taran and I did enjoy the other nicely developed characters throughout the book. Although some things were a little predictable it worked well in the story had it been paced a bit differently. Maybe that’s more a personal preference though. I wanted to like this story more but in the whole story it actually only went forward mere days which I found quite frustrating and sometimes actually dragged a little bit instead of moving foreword.

Nicely developed characters

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