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My Review:Title: Gathering Water
Author: Regan Claire
Series: Gathering Water #1
Published by: Indie
Release Date: July 10, 2018
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Jennifer Swanepoel
Length: 6 hours and 45 minutes
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Coming of Age
Source: the author, Audible
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Big Summer Birthday Bash 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:
Blurb:Listening time 6 hours and 45 minutes
There are plenty of things I could tell you about my life; plenty of things happened during my years in an inept foster care system. But my real story—when my life really began—started on the day I turned eighteen.
It was the day I discovered who I was. I learned my real name, my dead mother’s identity, and where we come from. These simple things prompted me to pack my meager belongings, hop on a plane, and come home to the dilapidated house in North Carolina that belonged to the mother I never knew.
Even though I have a home and a family for the first time, my thoughts are still burning with unanswered questions. Like why did my mother run away? Why the heck has my skin started to tingle every time it touches the water? And who—or what—is my father really? Because it definitely isn’t human--
And if all that weren’t enough, there’s this guy, Dove. Yeah, he might be a distraction from my true purpose, but when he offers a healing hand to sooth the damage from my past, I’m helpless to resist.
All I ever wanted was to know who I am, but my journey to self-discovery might just lead to the destruction of mankind.
My name is Della Doe Deare and this, well, this is my story.
I received a free copy through the author, Audible in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
4.5 stars — I adore this series, and so checking out the audiobook version was a no-brainer. I had previously felt the start was a bit slow, but when listening to it I thought the pace flowed much more smoothly. Ms. Swanepoel’s narration of Della was pretty spot on…she conveyed the snark and sassiness quite well. Occasionally I wanted a bit more snark, but that’s a personal taste thing…it was always my favourite part of Della’s character.
When the book first started I was a bit concerned over whether Ms. Swanepoel’s voices for the different male characters would differ enough for me, because the first few extremely minor characters sounded the same. But once we got into the true secondary characters (Uncle Luke, Cash, Uncle Connor, Dove), they all had their own tone and were easy to distinguish.
I absolutely loved being able to reread this story through listening to it, and it’s just made me extremely impatient for the rest of the audiobooks of the series to be finished. I LOVE the action in this story, it seriously keeps me on the edge of my seat once it starts up. And the completely unique paranormal elements and the world Ms. Claire has built keeps me coming back for more.
But, as always with me, it’s the characters that truly stand out. As I said above, Della’s sass is bar none, and she is such a strong character. And of course her cousin Cash is one of my favourite secondary characters of all time. Their relationship always makes me laugh.
If you want more in depth, check out my original review here.
I’m still listening to this but I totally agree about the male voices in the beginning.