On my connection to this blog tour: I am a blog tour hostess with Audiobookworm Promotions wherein I have the opportunity to receive audiobooks for review or adoption (reviews outside of organised blog tours) and host guest features on behalf of authors and narrators alike. I have been hosting for nearly a year now and I appreciate the diversity of genre selections and styles of stories to choose from whilst I navigate the audiobook realms!
Why I wanted to listen to this story:
When I first learnt of this series, my first instincts were this could be a brilliant way of getting my feet wet back into Speculative Fiction on the Fantasy side of the ledger. However, what truly rooted me in wanting to tackle a trilogy before #WyrdAndWonder is the fact that it isn’t often I find a Fantasy series which intrigues me to read – at least not on the YA side of things. I’ve been spoilt dearly on the #LelandDragons series and thus, I thought it would be a keen idea to take a chance on a #newtomeauthor and see if this particular series could win me over as much as Jackie Gamber’s!
The Awakening (Audiobook Spotlight)
Subtitle: Book One of the Forest People
by Maggie Lynch
Source: Scribd | Audiobook Subscription
Narrator: Rachel Jacobs
A teenage shifter turned captive. A magical land in danger. Is she a monster or a savior?
Sixteen-year-old Camryn Painter struggles with more than the usual teenage identity issues. As a human chameleon, emotions trigger a transformation into the visage of whomever she sees. But when her foster parents die in a crash and she's taken captive by so-called scientists, she’s not sure if she’s human or just a freak of nature.
Desperate to control her abilities and escape, Camryn emerges from her prison and into a dangerous magical forest. Surrounded by dragons, faeries, and other extraordinary creatures hungry for her power, some in the forest claim she's their prophesied savior. Unfortunately for her, that declaration triggers a supernatural civil war.
Can Camryn unite the fractured forest people, or will her powers erase more than her own identity?
Chameleon: The Awakening is the first book in The Forest People YA Paranormal Fantasy series. If you like incredible worlds filled with unique creatures, intriguing twists and turns, and heartfelt coming-of-age stories, then you'll love Maggie Lynch's enthralling adventure.
Places to find the book:
ASIN: B0799QCZZ9
Also by this author: The Awakening, The Choosing (Audiobook Spotlight)
Also in this series: The Awakening, The Choosing (Audiobook Spotlight)
Published by Windtree Press
on 29th January, 2018
Format: Audiobook | Digital
Length: 7 hours and 54 minutes (unabridged)
Published by: Windtree Press
The Forest People series:
Formats Available: Paperback, Ebook and Audiobook
why I am choosing to spotlight this audiobook:
Normally I reserve the right to spotlight a story I am feeling isn’t my cuppa tea or simply isn’t a story I can connect inside for whichever reason – however, in this particular instance, the problem wasn’t the story per se it was the oppressively adverse month of March which forestalled my ability to listen to The Forest People.
Try as I might – despite the fact I had too much weighing on my mind to focus on any of the stories I was attempting to read and only finished a scant few of them by month’s end – I simply could not find a way to ‘attach’ inside this audiobook ahead of my first tour stop for the audiobook blog tour highlighting the trilogy of audiobooks which makes this series come alive. I was also struggling with my Scribd subscription as the term ‘unlimited’ was subjective and had a few unique twists in how that particular arrangement actually works as an audiobook listener. I joined the blog tour to listen and review the stories – however, I chose to listen to them via my Scribd membership which proved to be a bit more complicated than I first realised. I did finally sort out they had an omnibus edition of the trilogy which I believe as I move back inside the stories this April, I will be able to finish reading them one after the other without any further delays as I was experiencing in March. Especially as I’ve changed my listening habits across the board when it comes to using Scribd. I still appreciate the service but you have to learn the limits within the membership perimeters to listen without the angst of stress.
Because of these reasons, I unfortunately didn’t get to move past my initial curiosity about what The Forest People was going to reveal to me. I knew I wanted this to serve as a lead-in towards my epic joy of co-hosting the 2nd Year of #WyrdAndWonder (@WyrdAndWonder) wherein I’ll be co-leading a lovely celebration of Fantasy throughout the month of MAY. Re-aligning a foothold within Fantasy, I felt would serve a dual purpose – it would get me geared up for the stories I would be reading throughout the following month but also, it would help me re-find the authors within this side of Speculative Fiction I haven’t yet had the pleasure of discovering.
Although I do regularly read YA Fantasy, it isn’t often I can find a YA Paranormal series I can sink my teeth into and find a wicked good undertone of fantastical elements! When I first spied The Forest People series going into an audiobook blog tour – there was something about it which felt like this might be a good series for me to find traction within. It is my hope by my second tour stop on the 13th of April – I’ll be showcasing not just my review of The Choosing but I will be discussing how I felt about The Awakening.
Transitioning out of March and into April was both a blessing and a hard shift of space and time – I spent the past week offline just to recover from everything that had happened as Spring started to sprout its wings and take us out of Winter. Let me share a bit more about this series and why I am truly thrilled to be listening to it this month!
In this first novel of the series, what I was truly excited over is that the lead character is a ‘shifter’ – if you have been following my readerly adventures into the fantastical realms, you might have spied out the fact I have a particularly keen interest in shapeshifter narratives, even if I happen to be a bit particular about which kinds of shifters I enjoy reading! Laughs. Including how I was truly smitten and attached to Bannon from Jackie Gamber’s #LelandDragons series.
I also like seeking out stories which talk about either foster care and/or adoption – I know there is a trend within YA to use these more as plot devices or a shifting of parental involvement and/or of a way to have teens on their own in the world – however, the stories which anchour between the realties of those situations and the newer dimensions of the character’s journey are the ones that tend to align best for me rather than seeing these strictly used as plot devices or a moment of shifting a character out of one family unit into being a forced to either a) live on their own or b) find a group of people they can call family on their own terms. If those are meant to be organically woven into their life’s story, that’s acceptable to me but I meant, I don’t like it if its merely the route to lead into that situation as if that is the only way something like that could evolve in a person’s life. I look forward to seeing how The Awakening handles this segue and what the fuller back-story is about Camryn.
I happen to have a soft spot for stories of the fey and other fantastical creatures – I like the setting being in a forest as I feel that is simply one of the more natural environs you can find these otherworldly beings to be living. One of my dearest curiosities about this series is the overall effect of the world-building and how this world will illuminate itself as we shift further into the series from book to book. This is something I am looking forward to seeing evolve but also, to root out the layers of the world itself. Seeing how the different species stand on their own but also how they interact between each other as well. I find these kinds of complex societies truly fascinating and it will be lovely to see how Lynch built her world.
You might have remembered how much I loved dissolving inside Jennifer Silverwood’s Silver Hollow earlier this year? Her world-building is brilliantly epic and had just the right kind of balance between the fantastical and the realties within an Urban Fantasy environment.
Overall, this sounds like a wicked good listen to me – where a girl comes of age in a time and place which would test the strongest of minds and hearts. I look forward to seeing how Camryn handles the changes in her life – both paranormally inclined and otherwise, whilst seeing whom she finds are her true mates to trust and lean on for support whilst keeping my eyes pinned to the ways in which this exciting new world is to going to ‘introduce’ itself to me! I can’t wait honestly – as now that I am coming out of the throes of a very personally stressful month, I can once again settle into an audiobook where the fantastical can bloom in front of me whilst I am colouring!
If your on the blog tour, what have you’ve enjoyed thus far? And, if your taking part in #WyrdAndWonder – is this the kind of Young Adult Fantasy which draws your eye towards exploring it further?
This blog tour is courtesy of Audiobookworm Promotions:
Whilst participating on:
{SOURCES: Cover art of “The Awakening”, “The Choosing” and “The Summoning”, book synopsis, author & narrator biographies, photographs of Maggie Lynch and Rachcel Jacobs as well as the Audiobookworm Promotions badge and the audiobook tour badge were all provided by Audiobookworm Promotions and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Wyrd and Wonder banner created by Imyril and used with permission. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Book Spotlight Banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2019.
This sounds really interesting!
Thank you Jorie for spotlighting my book. It sounds like you definitely had a rough April so far. I look forward to you getting into it later and the rest of the series. I’d love to know more about Wyrd and Wonder and if there might be a way for me to participate. If it is only for readers, I completely understand.
Again thanks for taking the time to listen to my trilogy. I’m glad you found the audiobook boxset on ScribD. That is certainly an easier way to consume it. Enjoy!