Red Winter Audiobook By Annette Marie cover art

Red Winter

Red Winter, Book 1

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Red Winter

By: Annette Marie
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
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Emi is the kamigakari. In a few short months, her life as a mortal will end, and her new existence as the human host of a goddess will begin. Carefully hidden from those who would destroy her, she has prepared her mind, body, and soul to unite with the goddess - and not once has she doubted her chosen fate.

Shiro is a yokai, a spirit of the earth, an enemy of the goddess Emi will soon host. Mystery shrouds his every move, and his ruby eyes shine with cunning she can't match and dares not trust. But she saved his life, and until his debt is paid, he is hers to command - whether she wants him or not. On the day they meet, everything Emi believes comes undone, swept away like snow upon the winter wind. For the first time, she wants to change her fate - but how can she erase a destiny already wrought in stone? Against the power of the gods, Shiro is her only hope...and hope is all she has left.

©2016 Annette Marie (P)2017 Tantor Destiny Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Paranormal & Urban Urban Paranormal Heartfelt Demons
Immersive Worldbuilding • Engaging Mythology • Excellent Pronunciation • Excellent Character Development
Highly rated for:
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Most relevant  
Firstly, the trilogy is amazing. Full of romance, humor, abd nerve-wrCking moments. You also learn a lot about the Japanese culture. (the kindle version has pictures through out and meanings of Japanese words at the end).

The narrator is the BEST female narrator (Nick Podehl being one of the best male narrators). She bas the best male voices and I can truly believe the characters. She doesn't just read eitger... her inflections and natural ability at narrating makes the story feel real, like you are THERE watching it. It does not seem "fake". She is truly amazing!

Both the great story and amazing narration contribute to this being one of my top audible books and I have quite a huge variety (over 1,000 audible books).
I actually wish this was not a trilogy and more books were coming....I just fell in love with all the characters!!

wonderful all-around listen!

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Japanese mythology
Slips into the soul
As Sakura falls on snow

As someone who grew up with Black Belt Theater and Saturday morning cartoons heavy on anime,
I loved the Asian atmosphere. As they tend to, the stories start slow and restrained, focusing on a day in the life of Emi, sheltered and prepped to become a vessel. I considered giving up after a few hours because it was just so much clueless girl bumbling into danger. Halfway thru the first book, however,
I realized the story got ahold of me.

Oni (demons), fox and crow Yokai (shape shifting spirit folk), Qi (soul/life magic), and the battle between gods … by the end of book one I was invested in Emi, Shiro, and the fate of this fantastical land.
Sure, there are times when it was a bit YA heart eyes, but to me that matched the anime sentiment.
I don’t know if the author spent time in Japan; she certainly captured the essence of Asian fantasy.

If you need fast paced action and the more traditional snark and bark fantasy, try the author’s various Guild Godex series. If you want something different, that will stick with you after the last page,
give this a go. I found it well worth the investment.

Seeps into your bones

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I read a lot of fantasy and this one is so different. I love this series and really recommend it.

Fun Story

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at first I was hesitant and lost because I have no knowledge of the culture.. but I soon was hooked.. action packed loved the reader.. I highly recommend..

love love love

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I usually like Emily Woo Zeller, but her narration for this book was WAY over the top. She acted out Every. Single. Word. Even when it didn’t make sense to do so. She also made the FMC sound more whiney and wimpy than I think the author intended. Overall it was distracting and took away from the story for me.

As for the story, I love Annette Marie and I think she is wonderful at world building and painting a beautiful picture in the reader’s mind, but this story wasn’t my favorite of hers, it started out on the slow side and I didn’t really see a reason for the romantic build between the two MCs. I hope we’ll get more to develop their relationship/connection in the next two books. I know her fans love this series so I’m keeping with it in the hopes that it gets better as it goes along.

Overly Dramatic Narration Ruined it

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It took me a long time to finally read this series. I love Annette Marie’s work, especially the guild codex and the Spell Weaver series so I don’t know why it took me so long to read this but it sounded kind of boring at first. However, it did pick up and the series has become captivating!

Emi goes from being a naive, obedient, and submissive girl to someone willing to stand up for herself and disobey to do what’s right. It was a refreshing balance between self discovery and being boss while maintaining humility and the ability to ask for help. She has just the right amount of stubbornness to her without it being too over the top like so many YA female leads.

The budding romance is awesome! I am a sucker for romance but I struggle when the whole plot is based on the romance because authors use misunderstandings and selfishness as the obstacles in the book. I love that this book doesn’t do that. Yes there are misunderstandings but they are resolved fairly quickly. The romantic additions are just one of the many things that makes this book awesome.

I love Shiro! His instant flirty persona and his ability to joke through the dangerous and scary situations is awesome! He is so fun and such a tease!

The second book gets 5 stars, this only 4 cause it was a brutally slow start. But stick with it!!! Such a good series even if Japanese culture isn’t initially your thing. So fun!

Completely worth the initially slow start!

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I don't have a whole lot to say about this book due to taking a long break because of schoolwork. I believe this is the second or third time I've tried listening to this book, but the first time I've completed it. I think when I first tried reading/listening to this book, I had read the summaries for the other two books and it had stressed me out. I believe I had also spoiled a few moments for myself as well. I unfortunately remember a vital piece of information that I couldn't forget when I was reading/listening to this book.
I honestly enjoyed this book. The main characters are interesting. The narration was fantastic. And I don't really have anything else to say. I will probably update this at a later date when I reread/re-listen to this this book.

- 4.5 stars -

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I absolutely LOVE this series. I have listened to it 3 times completely through and plan on listening again.
The characters are well developed and I love the plot, Asian culture/mythology and slow romance.

Red Winter: My Favorite Annette Marie Series

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Was a beautiful book! It really resonated as someone who was raised in an extreme version of a religion.

Surprised Me

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I couldn’t stop listening to it despite knowing pretty much where the story was going. And I feel like the romance between the two mains was a bit rushed. I have a feeling as to why. If I’m right, saves the story a bit more. If I’m wrong, well it’s still a cute story and I’m just grateful for no love triangles lol

Predictable yet enjoyable

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