The Gifting

The Gifting Series Volume 1

By: K.E. Ganshert

Narrated by: Heather Masters

If the world is right, then I am crazy. And crazy is dangerous.

In a future where faith is obsolete and the mentally ill are removed from society, Tess Eckhart is terrified she’s losing her mind. After a public breakdown at a high school party, her parents are terrified too—enough to uproot their lives and move across the country, next to a private facility that might be her only hope.

Tess is determined to fit in at her new school, to ignore the whispers and stares. But when it comes to Luka Williams, a reluctantly popular boy in her class, she’s unused to a stare that intense. Then the headaches begin. The prophetic dreams. The creeping sense that something inside her is unraveling. As Tess fights to keep it together, she can't shake the suspicion that Luka knows what's happening—that he might even be responsible.

But what if she’s wrong? What if Luka Williams is the only thing standing between her and a madness too terrifying to fathom?

©2015 K.E. Ganshert (P)2025 K.E. Ganshert

Great story! but speed up the narration 1.25X !!!

This was an interesting story with a unique twist.. In many futuristic dystopian stories, they depict a society that has become very creepy due to the take over of fundamentalist religion. Don't get me wrong, I like those stories (i.e. Handmaid's Tale). But this one depicts the opposite... a future where religion has become completely extinct. People don't believe in anything supernatural. And just for good measure, they throw in that the the second amendment has been repealed "When we repealed the 2nd amendment, we didn't get rid of guns, we just ensured that only the bad guys would have them." (at this point I did get a little worried that this book was NRA propaganda!) And the main twist is that, not only is abortion legal, but women are required to get screened during their pregnancy and are required to terminate, or get "cured," if the fetus is found to have any abnormality. In fact, mental illness is basically a crime and the state will capture you and institutionalize anyone who needs meds. So this was an interesting twist. I myself am not religious, am pro choice and anti-guns. but it was refreshing and interesting to see a depiction of what the world might look like if these beliefs were made more extreme.

Most importantly.... I SOLVED THE NARRATION PROBLEM BY SPEEDING UP THE RECORDING TO 1.25X!!. Many early reviews said that the narrator sounded odd. so much so that it was a distraction. Well, I felt the same way. And I noticed that the weirdest thing about it was that Tess's voice was really slowwwwwww. I tried speeding it up to 1.25x and guess what? Tess sounded totally normal. I think what happened is that some tricky sound engineer (for an unknown reason) went in and slowed down ONLY Tess's voice. Did they want the recording to last longer? I'm not sure why. but speeding the whole thing up to 1.25X made her voice sound normal. Unfortunately, the other voices sounded a little too fast... but not annoyingly so.

Anyway, it would be great if the producers would go back and release version where they hadn't speeded up the narrator's voice.

But that said, the story was cool and interesting and I am going on to listen to the next book.

Unique giftings

Any additional comments?

I recommended this title to my friend earlier today. This is a new author for me as well as a new narrator. I'm pretty sure I love them both. This is one of those books that have you waiting and waiting for the couple to FINALLY kiss! Finally admit their feelings. Finally confirm what you knew way before they did. It is deliciously maddening and I love it! I am going to start the second book today and I do hope that the third is going to be available in audiobook format soon. Waiting for that is a different kind of maddening that is quite suckie. Leaves a sista hanging, ya know?

Good

Recommend speeding up the narration to 1.2x.

The story was slow to start for me but about halfway through I found myself unable to put it down. Looking forward to seeing how it all ends.
Don’t care for cliffhangers, so only 4 stars.

Excellent

Excellent! Edge of your seat. Heart stopping. Great performance. Believable voices.
Can't wait to listen to book 2.

Loved it!

Wonderful narration of this exciting story. Highly recommended to those looking for a well-written fantasy. Tess is an endearing character, and I enjoyed every moment of this book.