‘The scenario is intriguing and the characters are realistic. It feels like I know them in real life. But the best part are the mysteries! Dominic Jericho keeps me on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to read what’s going to happen next!’Andressa Andrade (www.andressaandrd.wordpress.com)Chardelia Foss and the River of Fear is an engrossing romantic mystery thriller set in a gothic school in the … thriller set in a gothic school in the North East of England.
When Danny Canterbury begins his fourth year at St Oliver Plunket’s all he wants is for fellow student Janna Chisely to notice him. But when sinister episodes shake the school, Danny finds himself at the centre of a destructive plot. Can the enigmatic Chardelia Foss help him rescue the truth before it becomes too late?
Chardelia Foss and the River of Fear is a startling debut that marks the pain of first love within the often dark skies of school.
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Danny Canterbury and his friends are fourth year students at St. Oliver Plunkett’s on the northeast coast of England. They’ve been together, for the most part, since childhood but as adolescence dawned they’ve begun to view each other as more than playmates; they’ve started to pair off as couples, break up, and grow up. But something else is different at school this year, more than a feeling of change, and when one of their teachers, Professor Woodbridge, is murdered that is just the start of a growing feeling of menace.
Danny, Tim, and Amanita comprise the staff of the school newspaper, The Oracle, and they decide to investigate and report the truth behind Woodbridge’s death when the police don’t seem to be getting anywhere. And when more teachers are killed, rather than being scared off, the trio become more determined than ever to get to the bottom of the evil that has infiltrated their school.
I listened to the audio version of this book as well as followed along in the Kindle edition. Numerous reviews praised this particular narrator of the audiobook but I found her very difficult to follow initially. I had to start over a couple of times (the reason I eventually grabbed the Kindle edition) because I was unable to get accustomed to her accent. After I became comfortable with her though, I enjoyed the various inflections she used for different characters. However, there were so many mispronounced words!
Rather than let a difficult narration completely color my view of this story (seriously, I was ready to throw in the towel), I picked up the Kindle version which helped comprehension and focus immensely. The book read better than it sounded, and it was good. It felt like a genuine look into teen and school life. The deaths of the teachers were mysterious and puzzling. I didn’t see the cause or resolution coming at all. Despite the title, the story focuses on Danny Canterbury. The “River of Fear” doesn’t enter into it until almost 80% into the book. My initial impression before reading the book was that this was going to be a middle-grade story; it is not. I saw later in one online source that this is the “Adult Edition,” and it is. There are grown-up issues and situations. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series, and I recommend this one for readers that enjoy teen coming-of-age stories that also include action, adventure, and paranormal overtones.
Smashwords. Parts of this were really good and engaging. Some parts didn’t make any sense or I struggled to understand what the point was. I think the Goodreads “blurb” does this book a disservice because as a reader I was anticipating certain things based on that and they never came about. It also makes it sound like the book is about Chardelia, when it’s not really. 90% is Danny. I like the one here on Bookbub better.
Small parts are written in 1st person, I *think* they were supposed to be Chardelia, but I honestly couldn’t tell.
The rest was 3rd person. Except, that it sort of vacillated between being 3rd person subjective to Danny and then there would be intermittent sentences where we’d get glimpses of other characters thoughts & feelings that Danny couldn’t possibly know. This was a bit disjointed for me as a reader and gave the book an unpolished feel.
The “set-up” took nearly 70% of the book. It kind of rambled and meandered and the author didn’t manage tying all of it up back in at the end.
SPOILER
Danny has sex with Anjalie and the very next day she’s out of school at a doctor’s appointment to learn that she’s pregnant. Danny thinks he might be the father. What? Haven’t these kids had sex-Ed. You don’t get a positive pregnancy test 12 hours after sex. So she ghosts him for a bit and then says it’s not his. And THEN, skipping to the end of the book, after being told all year he isn’t, she says that he is. And he’s super calm and “OK”. I’ll love you and I’ll love the baby and then nothing is said again.
END SPOILER
I don’t know what the point of Robin Vernal was. Is there going to be another book where she comes back or something, because her leaving town and Danny’s visions of her feel dropped into the story for no reason.
We don’t meet Chardelia until at least halfway through the book and even then it’s a sentence there or there. There’s a party at her house, but even there she’s a minor/background character.
SUPER DUPER SPOILER
Because we don’t really know Chardelia, it’s hard to feel sad when she dies. I don’t AT ALL understand Danny stating he loves her. They exchange like 5 sentences with each other.
END SUPER DUPER SPOILER
There’s a compelling mystery in here ~ but it’s so bogged down by pointless minutiae that it is hard to keep track of. Oddly enough, while the book felt too long at some points, it actually could have benefited by being *longer* where the details related to the murdered and the castle secrets were concerned. I wanted to know more about the ring. I wanted to understand this mystical river ~ was it magic? was it some deadly natural formation? It’s in the title, but it’s barely explored.
It’s not all bad. I sort of loved Danny. He was just this normal 15yo living his life the best that he could with all these hormones, feelings, and thoughts. Trying to make sense of all these other teenagers with their hormones, feelings, & thoughts. While thrown into the insanity of having their teachers killed.
The action at the end was good, but again, I wish it had been fleshed out more and we could have spent more time enjoying that suspense.
Chardelia Foss and the River of Fear by Dominic Jericho is a coming-of-age series that I listened to on audio narrated by Alicia Rose.
This is the first book of Dominic’s that I have read and it definitely won’t be my last. He does an amazing job on his describing events to make you feel like you are actually there.
Alicia did a great job on the narration. I felt like her voice really fit the characters and made the story come to life.
I would recommend this book if you like Young Adult coming-of age series.
You enjoyed the narrators presentation and the way the story unfolded.
And you enjoyed all the characters you meet. So when you get a chance to
check out the audio version or the book, pick up a copy and enjoy
*Thank you to the author for my audio review copy.