By a Silver Thread

DFZ Changeling, Book 1

By: Rachel Aaron

Narrated by: Naomi Rose-Mock

Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

A new DFZ series from the author of Nice Dragons Finish Last and Minimum Wage Magic!

In the world’s most magical metropolis where spirits run noodle shops and cash-strapped dragons stage photo-ops for tourists, people still think fairies are nothing but stories, and that’s exactly how the fairies like it. It’s a lot easier to feast on humanity’s dreams when no one believes you exist. But while this arrangement works splendidly for most fair folk, Lola isn’t one of the lucky ones.

She’s a changeling, a fairy monster made just human enough to dupe unsuspecting parents while fairies steal their real child. The magic that sustains her was never meant to last past the initial theft, leaving Lola without a future. But thanks to Victor Conrath, a very powerful—and very illegal—blood mage, she was given the means to cheat death.

For a price.

Now the only changeling ever to make it to adulthood, Lola has served the blood mage faithfully, if reluctantly, for 20 years. Her unique ability to slip through wards and change her shape to look like anyone has helped make Victor a legend in the DFZ’s illegal-magic underground. It’s not a great life, but at least the work is stable, until her master vanishes without a trace.

With only a handful left of the pills that keep her human, Lola must find Victor before she turns back into the fairy monster she was always meant to be. But with a whole SWAT team of federal paladins hunting her as a blood-mage accomplice, an urban legend on a silent black motorcycle who won’t leave her alone, and a mysterious fairy king with the power to make the entire city dream, Lola’s chances of getting out of this alive are as slender as a silver thread.

©2023 Rachel Aaron (P)2023 Rachel Aaron

Great story! bad narration

I am a big fan of the heartstricker series and the DFZ series. this story has the same qualities as those, but I can not deal with this narration. there is no flow or emotion, and she stops for 3 seconds at the end of every single sentence, so there is this really weird pause, and at first, I thought there was something wrong with audible.

if I can get a physical copy of this story, I definitely will.

Pay heed your beliefs

Lola is our protagonist, but she’s a monster.
What is really real?
Bound by love through the silver thread, Lola opens my eyes to a new perspective.
I await the next book, impatiently.

Loved it!

Another thoroughly enjoyable DFZ story by Rachel. This was a book I needed right now - about self acceptance, dealing with manipulators, and finding a different way to deal with things.

The reader was good. Her voicing and pace were great. But the corrections pasted into the audio were so different, they took me out of the story.

good book

another good storyline by Rachel Aaron cannot wait for the next adventure in the DFV.

Couldn't put it down

I read this in one afternoon. I was gripped by Lola's situation by the first chapter, and I reread a few chapters, and still finished it before going to bed.

Not my cup of tea

Rachel Aaron is one of my favor authors. But the plot and characters of this particular book did not hold my interest. I feel that in comparison to the other books the characters were not well so developed, not enough for me to care and root for them.

Does the narrator have a cold?

listening left me wanting to clear my own throat and blow my nose every 5 minutes. unpleasant sensation.

Great story as always, so-so performance

Story is great as always, buy for that reason alone and to support the author's work 😁

It seems like audible didn't option this one for production, or the author wanted a bigger cut. I definitely don't begrudge her that as she is entitled to everything she creates.

That said, I have to critique the performance. The audio is inconsistent, ranging from reasonable to full potato, and in desperate need of de-essing. Narrator needs some noise insulating foam, a good quality mic boom and pop filter, and something to avoid smacking the mic.

Note for other listeners: the audio sounds significantly better with the bass turned up and audio configured to mono. This will normalize a lot of the less enjoyable mouth sounds.

Podium, Soundbooth theater, anyone please option the DFZ books! They're excellent and your audience would love them.

Great new series!

I really enjoyed this book. I was able to guess where the story was going, but the ending was a nice surprise for me. Can’t wait for the next one.

Wasn’t sure at first

When I read Ms. Aaron’s bio, it indicated that she was an author of YA literature, but in my mind none of the DFZ series is YA. The only reason why it might be classified YA is that there’s not any real erotica. Maybe some of her other literature would fall under that classification. When I started to listen to this series, I wasn’t too sure. The heroine came across as being weak and a victim of her master. But throughout the book she develops, her courage, her willpower, and her direction in life. It seems that both the good guys and the bad guys try to portray her. Yet she overcomes and keeps overcoming. I also wasn’t too sure about Ms. Rose-Mock’s performance. To me, it started out shaky but she, too, became better and better as I listened. I was a little prejudiced by the previous DFZ narrator.