The Unwilling
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Tia Rider
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By:
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Kelly Braffet
About this listen
“Fantasy at its most sublime.” (Erin Morgenstern, NYT best-selling author of The Night Circus)
A penetrating tale of magic, faith and pride....
The Unwilling is the story of Judah, a foundling born with a special gift and raised inside Highfall castle along with Gavin, the son and heir to Lord Elban’s vast empire. Judah and Gavin share an unnatural bond that is both the key to her survival…and possibly her undoing.
As Gavin is groomed for his future role, Judah comes to realize that she has no real position within the kingdom, in fact, no hope at all of ever traveling beyond its castle walls. Elban - a lord as mighty as he is cruel - has his own plans for her, for all of them. She is a mere pawn to him, and he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
But outside the walls, in the starving, desperate city, a magus, a healer with his own secret power unlike anything Highfall has seen in years, is newly arrived from the provinces. He, too, has plans for the empire, and at the heart of those plans lies Judah.... The girl who started life with no name and no history will soon uncover more to her story than she ever imagined.
An epic tale of greed and ambition, cruelty and love, this deeply immersive novel is about bowing to traditions and burning them down.
©2020 Kelly Braffet (P)2020 HarperAudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Elfreda Raughn will avoid pregnancy if it kills her, and one way or another, it will kill her. Though she's able to stomach the gruesome day-to-day duties, the reality of preserving the Order's magical bloodline horrifies her, but the Sisters of Aytrium have sworn to pay a price for the safety of their nation. Elfreda wants out, whatever the cost. So when a shadowy cabal approaches her with an offer of escape, she leaps at the opportunity. As their spy, she gains access to the highest reaches of the Order....
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Strong performance in a cannibalistic world
- By Bri N Miller on 06-23-21
By: Kerstin Hall
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Echo in Onyx
- Uncommon Echoes, Book 1
- By: Sharon Shinn
- Narrated by: Emily Bauer
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Brianna loves her new job as maid to Lady Marguerite. Like many high nobles, Marguerite is attended by echoes, silent creatures who look exactly like her and move in perfect synchronicity. News soon comes that Marguerite has been invited to the royal city as a potential bride for the crown prince. Brianna is delighted to accompany Marguerite to the city - and perhaps get a chance to continue her own flirtation with Nico, one of the king’s inquisitors. Then, disaster strikes on the road when they come under attack.
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Skipped ahead
- By Scarlettleigh on 03-24-19
By: Sharon Shinn
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The Dragon Waiting
- By: John M. Ford
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In a snowbound inn high in the Alps, four people meet who will alter fate. A noble Byzantine mercenary.... A female Florentine physician.... An ageless Welsh wizard.... And Sforza, the uncanny duke. Together they will wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester - and make him Richard III.
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Read not listen.
- By Anna Marie on 08-08-21
By: John M. Ford
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The Tethered Mage
- Swords and Fire, Book 1
- By: Melissa Caruso
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In the Raverran Empire, magic is scarce and those born with power are strictly controlled - taken as children and conscripted into the Falcon Army. Zaira has lived her life on the streets to avoid this fate, hiding her mage-mark and thieving to survive. But hers is a rare and dangerous magic, one that threatens the entire empire. Lady Amalia Cornaro was never meant to be a Falconer. Heiress and scholar, she was born into a treacherous world of political machinations. But fate has bound the heir and the mage. War looms on the horizon....
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A hollow, but enjoyable read
- By Maia Czwornog on 09-15-20
By: Melissa Caruso
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Lord of the White Hell: Book One
- The Cadeleonian Series, Book 1
- By: Ginn Hale
- Narrated by: Jakobi Diem
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Kiram Kir-Zaki may be considered a mechanist prodigy among his own people, but when he becomes the first Haldiim ever admitted to the prestigious Sagrada Academy, he is thrown into a world where power, superstition and swordplay outweigh even the most scholarly of achievements. But when the intimidation from his Cadeleonian classmates turns bloody, Kiram unexpectedly finds himself befriended by Javier Tornesal, the leader of a group of cardsharps, duelists and lotharios who call themselves Hellions.
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#NarratorMotivated
- By Rhonda Richardson on 04-04-21
By: Ginn Hale
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Flora Segunda
- By: Ysabeau S. Wilce
- Narrated by: Danielle Ferland
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In Ysabeau S. Wilce's exciting debut novel, Flora's mom is away, leaving Flora and her father home alone at Crackpot Hall with its 11,000 constantly shifting rooms. Late for school one day, Flora decides to take the elevator down to the first floor. But without her mother around, the elevator has ideas of its own and drops Flora in an unfamiliar room. Lost in her own house, Flora embarks on a harrowing quest to find her way back to where she started.
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Surprising and fun
- By Charlene on 10-13-07
By: Ysabeau S. Wilce
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All the Murmuring Bones
- By: A.G. Slatter
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Orphaned as a young child, Mirin O'Malley has been brought up by her grandparents on their isolated, rambling estate Hob's Hallow. Long ago her family prospered due to a deal struck with the mer, the terrifying creatures who live in the depths of the sea: safety for their merchant ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and their fortunes have suffered as a result. When Mirin's grandfather dies, her grandmother puts in train a plan to restore their glory - but at the price of Mirin's freedom.
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Drags on and on.
- By Amanda Turner on 04-10-21
By: A.G. Slatter
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The Hills Have Spies
- Valdemar: Family Spies, Book 1
- By: Mercedes Lackey
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In this new series, set in the bestselling world of Valdemar, Heralds Mags and Amily must continue to protect the realm of Valdemar while raising their children and preparing them to follow in their footsteps.
Mags, Herald Spy of Valdemar, and his wife, Amily, the King’s Own Herald, are happily married with three kids. The oldest, Peregrine, has the Gift of Animal Mindspeech—he can talk to animals and persuade them to act as he wishes. Perry's dream is to follow in his father's footsteps as a Herald Spy, but he has yet to be Chosen by a Companion.
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Great continuation of the series!
- By Peter on 06-28-18
By: Mercedes Lackey
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Stronghold
- Dragon Star Series, Book 1
- By: Melanie Rawn
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 24 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In the first novel of Melanie Rawn's Dragon Star trilogy, there is a devastating new challenge to the power of both the High Prince Rohan and Andry, Lord of the Sunrunners at Goddess Keep, as a mysterious and seemingly unstoppable invasion force swarms across their lands. For Andry it signals the start of a nightmare made real, the horrifying fulfillment of his long-ago visions of his homeland in flames, and he will draw upon even the forbidden sorcerer's magic in an attempt to destroy this enemy which is bent on the extermination of all Sunrunners.
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Ends in the middle of the action
- By redfox on 12-03-24
By: Melanie Rawn
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Inkmistress
- By: Audrey Coulthurst
- Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Asra is a demigod with a dangerous gift: the ability to dictate the future by writing with her blood. To keep her power secret, she leads a quiet life as a healer on a remote mountain, content to help the people in her care and spend time with Ina, the mortal girl she loves. But Asra's peaceful life is upended when bandits threaten Ina's village and the king does nothing to help.
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a fun harrowing fantasy with a bisexual lead
- By joel on 08-21-18
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Sixty-One Nails
- The Courts of the Feyre, Book 1
- By: Mike Shevdon
- Narrated by: Nigel Carrington
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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There is a secret war growing beneath the streets of London. The immense Sixty-One Nails follows Niall Petersen, from a suspected heart attack on the London Underground, into the hidden world of the Feyre, an uncanny place of legend that lurks just beyond the surface of everyday life. The ancient peoples are at war - but is Niall really the one who can wield the dark magic of the Untainted, and save them all?
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Urban Fantasy with a Gothic Flavor
- By Tango on 03-16-14
By: Mike Shevdon
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The Lights of Prague
- By: Nicole Jarvis
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In the quiet streets of Prague, all manner of otherworldly creatures lurk in the shadows. Unbeknownst to its citizens, their only hope against the tide of predators are the dauntless lamplighters - a secret elite of monster hunters whose light staves off the darkness each night. Domek Myska leads a life teeming with fraught encounters with the worst kind of evil: pijavica, bloodthirsty and soulless vampiric creatures.
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Solid Debut
- By @abagoflit on 05-26-21
By: Nicole Jarvis
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The Path of Thorns
- By: A.G. Slatter
- Narrated by: Louise Williams
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Asher Todd comes to live with the mysterious Morwood family as a governess to their children. Asher knows little about being a governess but she is skilled in botany and herbcraft, and perhaps more than that. And she has secrets of her own, dark and terrible—and Morwood is a house that eats secrets. With a monstrous revenge in mind, Asher plans to make it choke. However, she becomes fond of her charges, of the people of the Tarn, and she begins to wonder if she will be able to execute her plan—and who will suffer most if she does.
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Amazing
- By Chariedel Davatos on 12-20-24
By: A.G. Slatter
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The Color of Dragons
- By: R. A. Salvatore, Erika Lewis
- Narrated by: Aline Stokes, John York
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Magic needs a spark. And Maggie’s powers are especially fickle. With no one to help her learn to control her magic, the life debt that she owes stretches eternally over her head, with no way to repay it. Until she meets Griffin, the king’s champion, infamous for hunting down the draignochs that plague their kingdom. Neither has any idea of the destiny that they both carry, or that their meeting will set off a chain of events that will alter every aspect of the life they know - and all of history thereafter.
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More please.
- By Allison on 10-24-21
By: R. A. Salvatore, and others
What listeners say about The Unwilling
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- goblegirl
- 02-07-22
dark story, but monotone narration
the story was good but darker than I care for, but I would have continued with the series if there had been any life and emotion in the narration instead of being so monotone.
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- ACV
- 02-13-20
Not YA- heavy on the violence
Just to limit your expectations: this is not YA “young adult” fiction.
There is a lot of violence and I think the author was appealing to Stephen King fans who intersect with some of the more edgier YA authors.
My mind kept going to “The Cruel Prince” if you’ve read that you’ll know it’s pretty violent for a YA novel so imagine this as an actual adult version...at least in some ways.
Don’t expect a neat and clear plot or twists or a nicely unfolding storyline.
I enjoyed it just fine but would have skipped this title if I had a better idea of how unsatisfying it would be.
The narrator wasn’t amazing but not terrible.
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6 people found this helpful
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- KR
- 04-11-20
Story good, narrator bad
I kept getting mentally booted out if the story by the narrator’s mispronunciations. About the 10th time I heard her pronounce “draught” as “drought” I almost returned the recording for credit. Lots of other words she got wrong, too. Is nobody working with her as she reads???
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2 people found this helpful
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- Andyi
- 07-01-20
well read plottings of plans within plans
The premise is a good start... politics and magic. you genuinely get to liking the children (main characters) and disliking the protagonists - of which there are a few.
then time skips ahead, we have games bc within plots and plots within games. and everything comes rushing forward so i hope you paid attebtion earlier!
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- Kindle Customer
- 01-17-23
what ..
I should have listened to the other review on this choice, this was an complete utter waste of my time, completely lost in the story that jump everywhere and it was said to be a novel but it's left open to a sequel. read at own risk.
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- Andrey Shabura
- 02-24-20
Boring
very hard to follow, boring reading. seemingly not going anywhere. characters don't seem to have any binding to whatever's happening.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Joy M.
- 03-10-20
Not Much to Like Here
I read this book because it was recommended by Erin Morganstern. Don’t be fooled. This book is no Night Circus. After giving us shallow, unlikeable, unmotivated characters, gruesome, sadistic violence and repetitive, poorly described situations, this author then has the effrontery to leave the story completely unresolved in anticipation of a sequel.
Don’t waste your time or money on this one. And I almost forgot to mention that the narrator is quite monotone and couldn’t bother to take the time to look up the pronunciation of words like sachet and wan. What a horror show! (And not in a good way.)
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7 people found this helpful