#EnterTheFantastic an Audiobook Review during #RIPXV | “The Winter of Enchantment” by Victoria Walker (Clayton), narrated by Kim Bretton

Posted Thursday, 1 October, 2020 by jorielov , , , , , 0 Comments

Audiobook Review Badge made by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Audiobook By: I started to listen to audiobooks in [2016] as a way to offset my readings of print books whilst noting there was a rumour about how audiobooks could help curb chronic migraines as you are switching up how your reading rather than allowing only one format to be your bookish choice. As I found colouring, knitting and playing solitaire agreeable companions to listening to audiobooks, I embarked on a new chapter of my reading life where I spend time outside of print editions of the stories I love reading and exchange them for audio versions.

Through hosting for Audiobookworm Promotions, I’ve expanded my knowledge of authors who are producing audio versions of their stories whilst finding podcasters who are sharing their bookish lives through pods. Meanwhile, I am also curating my own wanderings in audio via my local library who uses Overdrive for their digital audiobook catalogue wherein I can also request new digital audiobooks to become added to their OverDrive selections. Aside from OverDrive I also enjoy having Audible & Scribd memberships as my budget allows. It is a wonderful new journey and one I enjoy sharing – I have been able to expand the percentage of how many audios I listen to per year since 2018.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “A Winter of Enchantment” via Audiobookworm Promotion who is working with Kim Bretton on this blog tour in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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Why this series left me curious to listen too:

As one of the co-hosts of @WyrdAndWonder every year now for the past three years (2018-2020) I have been attempting to seek out Classics in Fantasy – especially Classical Children’s Fantasy stories as I would like to establish a better foundation for a genre I have loved since I was seventeen. I grew up loving the films within The Neverending Story series whilst I hungered after more Fantasy films ever since I first saw Pete’s Dragon (the original). There was a mysterious enchantment about those stories – about how magic was interstepping through our world and how sometimes the magical was just round the next corner in our own  individual journeys.

Knowing what I know now about my preferences for reading Fantasy, it shouldn’t have been such a keen revelation to realise I would learn to adore and become passionately enthused by reading (or listening) Urban Fantasy and/or Portal Fantasy. In this particular series, the two are interchangeable because it is partially within an Urban Fantasy framework as Sebastian must cross into the realm wherein Melissa has been living in confinement whilst Sebastian lives in our own world. Yet it is a beautiful Portal Fantasy wherein certain objects act as the transportation and teleportation channels of travelling through both worlds.

I was hoping this series might help me re-align into reading (and listening) to more Fantasy this Autumn. I’ve been attempting to get back into Fantasy since Wyrd And Wonder ended our third year in May; after a series of clustering migraines and other life adversities took me out of their stories. I fought hard during Summer to win back the joy I had in May and in some bursts of readerly blissitude, I had reattained that happiness I had felt in May but it never held. My migraines were a blustering nightmare this Summer and I am thankful as October has finally dawned I am hopeful they will start to lessen their hold on me.

I knew I would immediately connect with Ms Bretton’s voice but what surprised me so happily is how anchoured I felt inside this world of Sebastian & Melissa!! It is a world that is so engaging as you first start to read (or listen) to it – wherein you feel as if this isn’t your first foray into its world. Every turn of the story is a new chance to see something quite fantastical and there are creatures and sweet dialogue inside this story that warms your bookish heart, too! It is a charming representation of Classical Children’s Fantasy and the innocence of their journey together is what I loved most!

Thereby I was lead by earnest curiosity to listen to this series and through that curiosity I have found myself re-aligning back into a genre I love dearly! I am so thankful to be on this blog tour and to have found a new author whose artful crafting of Fantasy has become a new beloved favourite!

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#EnterTheFantastic an Audiobook Review during #RIPXV  | “The Winter of Enchantment” by Victoria Walker (Clayton), narrated by Kim BrettonThe Winter of Enchantment
by Victoria Walker (Clayton)
Source: Audiobook via Audiobookworm Promotions
Narrator: Kim Bretton

A magic mirror enables Sebastian to travel from his Victorian world of winter snow and Mrs Parkin to a magic world of Melissa, Mantari, and wicked Enchanter and many other exciting people.

This wonderful audiobook follows in the great tradition of the E. Nesbit magic books. Since its first publication in 1969 it has proved its appeal to children of every age. Long out of print until republished by Fidra Books in the UK and Purple House Press in the USA, it received praise from respected children's authors. The sequel to this book is called The House Called Hadlows.

Genres: Children's Literature, Middle Grade, Classical Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Middle Grade Fantasy, Portal Fantasy



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B08B4645R9

Also by this author: The House Called Hadlows

Published by Victoria Clayton Limited

on 15th June, 2020

Format: Audiobook | Digital

Length: 4 hours and 13 minutes (unabridged)

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The Sebastian & Melissa series:

The Winter of Enchantment by Victoria WalkerThe House Called Hadlows by Victoria Walker

The Winter Enchantment (book one)

The House Called Hadlows (book two)

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Formats Available: Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

Converse via: #AudioReads, #Audiobook and #AudiobookwormPromotions

as well as #KidsLit, #ClassicFantasy, #MGFantasy or #MiddleGrade and #Fantasy; #PortalFantasy

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7th Annual Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards badge created by Jorie in Canva. Coffee and Tea Clip Art Set purchased on Etsy; made by rachelwhitetoo.

This story received my award for Best Middle Grade Fantasy.

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About Victoria Walker (Clayton)

Photo Credit: Kim Bretton Photo is being used with permission.

Victoria Walker was twenty-one when she wrote The Winter of Enchantment in 1968. A second story about Sebastian and Melissa, The House Called Hadlows, was published in 1972. In 1973 she went to Cambridge University to read English and married immediately after finishing her degree. Two children followed and two decades passed before she began to write under her married name of Victoria Clayton. She lives with her husband in Northamptonshire.

Photo Credit: Kim Bretton

(photo is the original illustration by the author on behalf of her series)

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a note from jorie:

I was so consumed with the joy of listening to this story, it was hard for me to sort out a way to properly introduce my thoughts to my readers because it was one of those wickedly delightful stories that simply reaches into your readerly heart and leaves you transfixed from the very first moment you start to listen to it unfold!

my review for the winter enchantment:

Sebastian in this story reminds me dearly of Bastian from The Neverending Story – as both young boys are getting curiously caught in the tides of a world a step removed from their own. He is a charming young lad – courteous and kind, curiously discontented about his current life as his father was currently enroute with a new wife and family. The interesting bit there is that Sebastian was left with the housekeeper and he had his own hours to keep to stay out of mischief. As soon as you start to walk alongside him, you see how he perceives his world and how Mrs Parker helps him stay in step with regular things like eating meals on time, etc. He was more concerned about the weather outside and what he could do with his day as soon as he was awakened moreso than the running of the household.

You start to soak into this world so immediately due to how Ms Bretton has drawn you inside it due to her expect narration skills! You can easily associate whose speaking – Sebastian or Mrs Parker, whilst at the same time, whilst you’re treated to different voices for the characters themselves, there is this curious manner of perceiving the world round them as well. Such as how a particular teapot has the first incantation and influence of notice that not everything of Sebastian’s world is as it seems. And yet, even as Sebastian examines the teapot itself – it is his own mind he thinks that needs a good rub out with a brisk walk rather than to consider the fact the truth would be that this is one cheeky teapot!

As Bretton describes the background of Sebastian’s world you can gather he’s living in a rather bustling community but it is how he absently walks through this towne and how he arrives where he is meant to be rather than where he was intending to be is what gave me the most smirks! As isn’t that just as real and humbling honest about our own lives? We sometimes make discoveries we aren’t meaning to make but still find all the same?! I love how he was walking without much direction and finding himself more in the way of others than enjoying the adventure of being outside. By the time he reaches the old furniture shop memories of visiting antiquarian book shoppes and early attic stores came back to mind! I loved those visitations in my childhood as they were great fodder for an emerging writer – as the objects and items for sale were futile ground for my imagination.

The descriptive details about Sebastian’s discovery of the mirror was pure joy! I loved how Walker leant into the scene to pull us closer to Sebastian’s widening eyes as he drew a more curious astonishment about what he was seeing – you can feel what Sebastian felt in that moment and it was awe-inspiring! Especially as the mirror itself was serving as a portal into a different world as much as Bastian’s book served him. The cat he encounters reminded me of the felicity of finding cats in places I had unexpected to find them and how their nature drew you towards them even if you had other things on your mind at the time.

As Sebastian starts to speak with Melissa, she helps him understand how her world and his can merge together – with one keen exception, she cannot cross into his world! When it came time for Sebastian to enter Melissa’s world I was so caught up in the moment with Sebastian, I, too, had forgotten to notice there had been a shifting of worlds – of where his and hers suddenly had merged together and he had taken such a keen step forward into the unknown! The cat (of course) plays a strong role in how he can make this transition as much as the magical object he hadn’t realised he was in possession over – yet, when it came time to visualise this transitional scene, Walker illuminated it with the childhood curiosity and wonderment you could sense and taste as an adult reader who still has the innocence of youth.

When Melissa explains to Sebastian how she ordered their food for tea, it was hard not to laugh into a smirk because of how seemingly normal it felt that this was the course to take to have your food! All of it sounded so divinely delish it was a bit distracting for a bit! And yet, the story takes an emotional turning as Melissa related to Sebastian how she was being ‘kept’ in her world – a step removed from her own which was coincidentally his thought with a time shift into the past – as a curse of sorts is described by Melissa where she has been condemned to live ‘outside of time’ and has been caught in this void of where time cannot touch life. It was such an intriguing story to hear for the first time – about how a trick was played on her guardian and how her guardian had lost her in the end. It was a sombering story from that perspective because of how her life had already taken such a keenly sharp turn after her parents death – to come full circle and now be speaking with Sebastian felt like a bit of good luck had finally graced her door.

Melissa presents Sebastian with a bit of a scavenger hunt for the objects which when collected together the freedom Melissa has sought for over 100 years might soon be possible to acquire – it is in this humble Quest you gained insight into both of their personalities and how each of them were interpreting what was happening round them. Sebastian wasn’t sure what his role could be in this quest but he was the kind of boy who wanted to at least attempt to do something rather than to admit defeat without attempting to try to effect change first. The different stages of their quest felt quite impossible and yet, there was a kernel of hope in the pursuit of them.

It was the kind of Quest Sebastian had to undertake himself separate from Melissa – as he took up the challenges of seeking out the missing objects they needed to break the curse holding Melissa in that peculiar house where time could not touch – we find that Sebastian is meant to experience things other young boys could only hope to imagine possible! I loved how each time he sought out the magical it was magic itself which touched him first – guiding him forward and giving him a bit of an advantage towards finding what he was seeking. Such as the whispering wind and the curious method of travel the wind provided him – whilst at the same time, there were gateways he had to walk through – where he had to do certain tasks in order to seek further into the realms of where objects can be hidden from sight.

Here we find the murmuring of a world within a world is such wondrously conceived by Walker – as she gave us this tipping point of where the fantastical intermixes with the normalcy of boyhood. Sebastian makes such a winning character to take this journey with because of how he is as curious about each of the magical bits of his journey as he is about the gravity of Melissa’s plight. For Melissa’s part, I liked how she told Sebastian about her extreme boredom countered with the challenges of living in a magical house which has a mind of its own!

When Sebastian met the people who embodied the seasons in the cave – such as Autumnus and Winter – the story took such a marvelous turning for creatively expressing how Fantasy can embody so much of ourselves in the framework of its world-building. Autumnus had such an approachable personality whereas Winter had a very foreboding voice and thought musefully about Sebastian’s quest to where you had a feeling he had knowledge he didn’t share flippantly. I love how the four Seasons are conscripted by their own duties and their restrictions which were set by the powers within their world. Evenso, they found a few loopholes of how Sebastian can use their gifts towards his own gain and as they imparted a few cautionary guiding insights about the forest he needed to know about how to complete this stage of his Quest. Each of them were etched out so well to visualise and to hear it felt like we had tapped into a hidden part of a veiled world which is just outside of our own reaches.

This passage in Sebastian’s Quest is very inspiring for younger readers – as it shows how you can move through periods of adverse challenges and come through the other end. Sebastian had such a surge of courage – I am not even sure if he realised how courageous he was until he moved through these challenges – wherein I was most surprised how the most dangerous creatures in this forest were painted differently in this story than in others. I won’t spoilt it but it was curious to find them in this ray of light when in other stories they are the kind guardians and voices of encouragement but in this particular forest, things are just not as they are elsewhere. And perhaps that is a kind lesson in of its own – especially for younger readers who are just making their way in the world. About to think twice about certain moments and to whom you can place your trust – better understanding the light and darkness in the world and to be more cautious about whom you place your trust in times of need or adversity. As sometimes you can come across those who are not as sincere as others in their motivations. In that, I felt it was a wonderful group of chapters as it roots you both in Sebastian’s journey and counters it with real world life lessons.

There are darker places within this world – even Melissa was not immune to finding this out for herself as she met one of the worst villains a character could encounter – called Nightmare and yes, this character lived up to its name! Melissa was tested in that moment unlike she had previously and found herself able to handle this situation in ways she never felt possible. What was interesting is how transformative this scene became and how it re-spun the metaphors and symbolism’s attached to what we perceive as a nightmare and how sometimes a nightmare can be a mask for something else and if we find our bravery we find freedom in the courage to face our fears head-on.

When you start to listen to this story for yourself – the passages I’m referencing are within the chapter entitled “Through the Mirror” as I found it to be such an incredible scope of how far you can take Fantasy and how Fantasy can change your perspectives – not just about the world you’ve been reading (or listening too) but how it can redirect your thoughts about your own world as well. So much our lives are are composited into stories and thereby as we read we can see new inspirational influences about the lives we lead and the experiences we’ve had. In essence reading endeavours us to live better and to expand our horizons further as much as we encourage our imagination to take us everywhere a writer writes us to be led.

When the teapot took on a more sentient role in Sebastian’s life I had a proper giggle! He was such a cheekily voiced object and its voice matched well with Bretton who breathed such a brilliant anchor into the teapot’s personality with Sebastian’s shocked expressions! I loved listening to her in this sequence because of how you simply could not take your ears off the scene! From there, the pacing picked up quite a bit because it was time for Sebastian and Melissa to travel together – to become a partnership in this Quest as you felt they should have been all along if things had been equal. They each found each other when friendship was something which could offer a restorative blessing in their lives and as you watched them take-on this adventure together, you saw how much their friendship had changed them.

The trials and anguish Sebastian and Melissa experienced in the Maze reminded me of why I have always felt a bit cautious about entering them. In this world of course there is magic afoot and so even the most benign looking maze can have an otherworldly enchantment upon it which casts the walkers of the maze into further jeopardy as it has done for Melissa and Sebastian! I was struggling to hold myself still listening to the harrowing plight Melissa was facing without Sebastian and how much he must’ve felt anguished for the sudden loss of her presence as once they entered this maze nothing felt right – not from the paths in which they took inside it nor the ways in which they felt they were slowly becoming entrapped therein.

I was not quite prepared for how this story ended as I had a feeling there was going to be a surprise ending and I was happily entertained by the conclusionary chapters! However, in reflection of the ending – both in the final showdown with the Enchanter (whom I felt might have been slighted a bit as Sebastian and Melissa stole the scenes!) and the after effects of the resolution when Sebastian re-entered his life and world – were brilliantly etched out of a journey I am so thankful to have taken! Your heart is hugged so closely to the ending moments of the story though! I could barely breathe – urging Bretton to reveal more of the plot and the curious tangents of intrigue at the end as I wasn’t sure if I could wait any longer to find the revelations! It was with such bated breath I waited for the ending and then, upon realising what had happened or was happening rather – I was could do nothing but smile.

Walker wrote not just a satisfying adventurous Portal Fantasy but she endeavoured to give us a lovely bout of Suspense with her fantastical journey, too! I shall not soon forget Mantari, Sebastian or Melissa! This is a Fantasy all readers of the genre need to experience for themselves as it beautifully encaptures everything which Fantasy has even given to me as a reader, as an experiencer of fantastical worlds and as a deep appreciator of the genre itself. It will enrapture your imagination with so much stimulus and wonderment, I daresay you will be equally a loss for words at its conclusion as I am myself!

on the fantastical styling of victoria walker (clayton):

Walker plunges you into this world of mystery and magic with such an ease of alignment, you wonder why you’ve not yet traversed through her lens of enchantment sooner! From the nuanced details about the ways in which she built Sebastian’s world – to the foods his cook prepared for him to the more curious details how his life and world was now co-merging into another world’s dilemma. You found connection through the details but she also encouraged you to think further outside the box of what is unthinkable and plausible to imagine. She acts as the guide to give your imagination good folly to exercise its limits and I love her for it!

As I was listening to the story – I saw moments of familiarity within the story – of how it was being told and some of the entanglements of the magical bits of the world. I felt it had a brilliant cross matching of themes and events which could be pulled straight out of The Neverending Story and Jumanji and yet, I wasn’t sure if those stories were writ first or second to this one. Whichever way round, the beauty of course is recognising certain themes and story threads whilst finding a wonderful new world to entreat inside which plays by its own rules.

I liked how the story was ahead of its time showcasing the differences in boys and girls – and how girls should be seen on equal grounds with each other. Whilst at the same time, I liked how cheeky the fourth wall was broken in some places like when there is a point in the story where the focus is off of Sebastian and Melissa and the reader is acknowledged. I love how subtle this was done and how well those moments fit within the context of the story itself.

One of the best blessings though is her command of language and phrases – she has such a firm presence of wordsmithing this series into a wonderful display of descriptive narrative and sharp bursts of dialogue – the whole story simply feels alive on its own accord. You can almost feel the leaves which are part of Autumnus and you definitely feel like giving a big hug to each of the Seasonal Guardians Sebastian had met on his journey.

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This was truly an unexpectedly delightful #unputdownable read for me this year! I have been hankering a properly fantastical story to settle my mind and heart inside ever since I finished reading Elizabeth Foster’s “Esme’s Wish” and the other stories which curated such a wonderful adventure for me during Wyrd and Wonder (May, 2020).

This particular story gave me back my bliss of reading and listening to Fantasy and for that I shall be especially grateful! Plus, how has this not become developed into a motion picture!? It has all the layers & heart of a story which would be wondrously adapted in that medium? I am so thankful Ms Bretton was behind the production of the audiobook – because in lieu of a film, this was the best presentation of the story as you can undertake the journey alongside Sebastian & Melissa as she gave them the light of joy for us to discover for ourselves.

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Elements of the Fantastical:

→ A curiously magical mirror

→ An enchanted table

→ Extraordinary guides and guardians of different species

→ Magical transportation and teleportation

Why I earmarked this as both a delishly delightful Portal Fantasy and part of my #RIPXV readings this October:

There is a keenly ominous suspenseful undertone to this story – you cannot quite put your finger upon what is so dearly fuelling the suspense but it is there – lurking in the shadows and waiting to be called out. It is hauntingly frightful in some places but with the delicate hand of a master storyteller at the helm wherein the darkness is never fully extinguished from the Light. A blessing I am thankful to find as this could have become a far darker Dark Fantasy if Walker hadn’t had the vision she had for it. I think anyone who is seeking out atmospheric stories this October to become part of their selections for #RIPXV would find this a delightful addition!

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In regards to the audiobook, directly:

About Kim Bretton

Kim Bretton

An accomplished and award winning actress with West End and Broadway theatre credits Kim has been doing voice over work for 15 years. She has voiced cartoon characters for the BBC and been a regular vocal impersonator on a popular London radio show.

Kim has narrated and produced 15 audiobooks since she joined ACX this year! Her voice over clients include Carnival Cruises, Gucci, Sennheiser, American Express, HRH UK Prisons systems, Doubletree Hotels, Victorian Trading Company and so many more. Quick, reliable and always professional.Kim has a reassuring, kind and expressive style.

I am appreciative of Ms Jess providing a cursory outline of how best to articulate my listening hours on behalf of this audiobook and the others I shall be blogging about or reviewing in future. I’ve modified the suggestions to what I felt were pertinent to respond too on my own behalf as well as keeping to the questions I felt were relevant to share.

Number of Times I’ve heard the Narrator(s):

Kim Bretton has become one of my top favourite narrators in the four years since I first started listening to audiobooks (which I am in full gratitude to the Audiobookworm who has turnt me onto them with such fierce passion and encouraged my journey into the world of ‘audioreads’) from the years 2016-2020. It is a pleasure of joy whenever I get to listen to one of her audiobooks on a blog tour and she remains on my short-list of narrators I will personally continue to seek out even if I am not hosting a tour which features her audiobooks. In short, she’s a wicked brilliant narrator and one my favourite characters she portrays is Elf! (via the Wonky Inn series!)

Regards to Articulation & Performance of the story:

As soon as the story begins to unfold through the narration of Ms Bretton, you are wondrously captivated by this lovely world – about to embark through the portal Ms Walker Clayton has left behind for us to find and in that moment, the veil between Sebastian’s world and ours forms a bit of a bridge courtesy of Ms Bretton’s intoxicating method of delivering the story in such an enchanting candor of its own that you cannot forsake hearing the story through her presentation! Her voice pulls you into this world – beautifully constructed and built by Ms Walker Clayton and expertly performed by Ms Bretton.

Honestly, you drink in the charm of this world so immediately it is quite hard to put words to ink to describe the admiration you have for listening to it – it is a wondrous world illuminated through descriptive narrative and the curiosity of a young boy whose starting to notice rather mysteriously magical objects and moments in the middle of his ordinary life!

Performance of individual characters:

Sebastian: He has such a gentle voice and he is quite courteous around his elders. He has an earnest way about him – where he doesn’t mind putting himself outside his comfort zones and he tackles any challenge presented to him. He doesn’t oft think of his own peril either and tries to do what is right rather than focus on what could place his own life at risk. He has such a championing spirit about him and I loved how he did everything he could to help Melissa without wanting anything in return. He’s quite the extraordinary hero but I am not sure if he would view himself this way as he is quite a humbled young boy.

Melissa: She has such a sweet voice and despite her appearance of being quite young (as I believe she is twelve in the beginning of the novel) she has lived nearly a full century locked away by someone who wishes to collect treasures and she unfortunately became part of his collection. I’ve seen these stories before (including on Hart to Hart) and they oft-times have a sinister undertone and threading to them – of what motivates the collector and how the collected can become free after being taken out of their life. Melissa endears you to her straightaway because of how innocent she still is despite her circumstances and how much her loneliness has only been diluted a bit by her friendship with Mantari (the cat) who is one of the most delightful non-human characters in the story!

The Enchanter: I’m not one who likes to put empathsis on the villains in stories, but in this particular case I wanted to mention that Bretton gave such a sharp performance in the scenes he was inside that you didn’t need too much dialogue to be exchanged whenever he was in-scene because his intentions were transparent enough to understand his nature rather quickly. He definitely takes a backseat in the story and for a long while I was surprised he was not as attuned into what was happening with Sebastian and Melissa – though then I wondered, perhaps his overreach is limited in that regard?

Secondary Characters

Mrs Parker: She sounds just like the kind of housekeeping cook you’d expect to find on an estate where a father has left his son to his own whims and only needs a light keeping after to ensure his safety. Her voice lends such a strong presence in her scenes as you can tell she has full confidence in both her duties and in her station. Yet what made me smile the most was how passionate she was about cooking and how much she loved to cook!

Background characters: I loved how all the characters peppering through the storyline in the background each had their own quirky personality and how compelling they were to be found by Sebastian! They were each personable and engaging to him as he moved through his quest and it was how they were able to help him on his path which was most intriguing as he didn’t find them by ordinary means. Each of them felt as if they were they’re own individual character as Bretton brought them bursting to life. I loved how she rounded out the narration with such a fullness and depth of their characters as if to magically give us the presentation of a full cast and a cuppa joy in order to see this story alight through our mind’s eye as if we were watching a wondrously fantastical play!

Notes on the Quality of Sound & if this is spoken narrative or theatrical performance in narration:

When it comes to describing how this audiobook sounds as it is heard I am delighted to say, Ms Bretton has a singular style in which she can articulate a spoken narrative performance with a twist of the theatrical thrown in for good measure! Meaning, as she’s speaking the narrative itself almost as if the story has an intuitive storyteller and omnipresent voice within the background of the story as it shifts forward – she also has the instincts to perform the other bits wherein other narrators might not have performed as accurately as she has herself. I love how she gives all of herself to her characters (main or supporting cast) whilst tucking you into the corners of a story – not letting you miss any of those lushly descriptive details and alighting you so wholly refreshed for having visited this world of Sebastian’s it is a trick of your mind to think you’ve gone yourself because this experience becomes one of your own.

In essence, Bretton is an artist with a narrator’s heart and an actress’s soul!

She never has any issues with sound quality either – her voice is crisply heard and wonderfully produced to where each listening I have of one of her narrations is a treasure trove of story, cast and wonderment!

Preference after listening to re-Listen or pick up the book in Print?

Ooh, I definitely would love to collect both the print books and the audiobooks for this series! I know I received the digital audiobooks whilst on the blog tour however, if I could find them on discs as well, I’d love to add them to my personal library. This is definitely a series I want to introduce my children to as a gateway into Fantasy and into the kinds of worlds within Fantasy I love discovering the most! It is written in such a keenly approachable way for young readers that it makes listening to it as an adult a throwback to my own childhood. Thereby outside of sharing this with future children, I’d love to read the books in hand whilst hearing the stories once again brought to life by Ms Bretton in my ears! I can also see myself listening to these stories whilst knitting with Mum. It is just a wonderful story and you feel so drawn into the world behind the suspense of what has trapped Melissa!

In closing, would I seek out another Kim Bretton audiobook?

It is more of a question of how fast I can devour each of her performances as I have been re-listening to the Wonky Inn series this year at different intervals to get back inside the head of Elf and to bring new reviews to Jorie Loves A Story to share in the excitement I’ve had in following Elf’s journey past The Wonkiest Witch. However, I have also been blessed with other audiobooks she’s narrated and within the months of Autumn I can foresee I’ll be pleasantly consumed by her voice, her enticing way of transporting us into the stories she’s narrated and feeling uplifted for the hours I’ve spent hearing her performances. She’s already enriched my readerly life tenfold and I know she will continue to each time I listen to a different story and/or series she’s narrated.

Quite literally she’s one of my top favourite narrators and it is never a question of seeking out a new audiobook but rather, finishing the ones I currently have to listen to before I seek out another!

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 This blog tour is courtesy of Audiobookworm Promotions:

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Be sure to follow the blog tour route to see what else awaits you!

Sebastian & Melissa series blog tour banner provided by Audiobookworm Promotions and is used with permission.Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Listening to this audiobook counted towards some of my 2020 reading goals:

2020 Audiobook Challenge badge created by Jorie in Canva.

Whilst this marks my second entry for #RIPXV

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{SOURCES: Book Cover for “The Winter of Enchantment” and “The House Called Hadlows”, the biography and photos of Victoria Walker (Clayton) and the narrator, Kim Bretton as well as the blog tour banner, the audiobook promo banner and the host badge were provided by Audiobookworm Promotions and are used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Audiobook Review banner, 2020 Audiobook Challenge badge; 7th Annual Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards badge (using Coffee and Tea Clip Art Set purchased on Etsy; made by rachelwhitetoo) and the Comment Box Banner.}

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About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Thursday, 1 October, 2020 by jorielov in Audiobook, Audiobookworm Promotions, Blog Tour Host, Children's Classics, Children's Literature, Classical Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Indie Author, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Juvenile Fiction, Middle Grade Novel, Portal Fantasy, Self-Published Author




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