5 Wine Glass #Audio #Review of Falling Out of Focus by Brynn Myers

Title: Falling Out of Focus
Author: Brynn Myers
Narrator: Andrea Parsneau
Format: Unabridged Audiobook (5 hours and 18 minutes)
Published: March 15, 2017 (Amber Leaf Publishing)
ISBN: ASIN: B06XG6YZVF
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Audible
Reviewer: Linda
Source: Amazon
Rating: 5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

I was drowning, but all I needed to do was breathe.

It was 5:45pm when I decided my future. By 9:43 I was well on my way to making it all come true. At 11:16 I took the first step to make it a reality. At 11:17 I fell and found peace.

When a dream of dying actually becomes a chance to live. All you have to do is fall.

Linda's Thoughts:
I gave in to the weight around me. I’d become the Lady of the Lake without Excalibur, the damsel in distress without the prince to save her, Dorothy without her slippers or Alice without her “drink me” potion. Fantastic dreams weaved into amazing tales of triumph over obstacles. I was not triumphant over anything. I was a coward.

Falling Out of Focus by the fantastically talented Brynn Myers is a wondrous journey of self-discovery and self-healing commingled with Arthurian, Alice in Wonderland and Labyrinth dark fantasy feels. I confess that, at first, I thought I was reading a very imaginative fractured fairy tale. My original impression changed dramatically as I continued reading and the story morphed into so much more.

Novaleigh Darrow, our heroine, has fallen out of focus. She is burdened by guilt for the choices she’s made and the expectations she feels that she’s not lived up to.

Her life has come to a crossroads and she needs to make choices between light and dark paths. Nothing is written in stone. The choice is always hers. But, the colorful characters in this tale ensure that Novaleigh sees the whole picture, not just the light’s view or the view of the dark.

The supporting cast include, but are certainly not limited to, Oliver, a talking otter and Novaleigh’s guide on her journey to find her way back to who she is and who she wants to be; twin queens who rather bizarrely talk in alternating sing-song; and creepy harlequin clowns.

This whole book is comprised of favorite quotes. Please find following a minuscule taste of favorite quotes from Falling Out of Focus:

I looked around I realized I was standing on the edge of the muddy bank with tall trees in the distance. I could see the sun rising over the water just as the sky glistened a beautiful rose gold with ombre shades of purple and blue––just like in my dream. But this wasn’t my dream or was it? I can openly admit I have been mentally lost for months, but now as I sit here with an irate otter yelling at me, the idea of lost took on a whole new meaning.
---  

“This is no dream, Novi. Everything you are experiencing is real and until you accept that, you will not be able to go home.”
“Yeah, okay. Sure. Twin queens, talking otters, Autumn Fae, houses suspended in midair. Yep, totally real. Got it.”
--- 

“You still smell like a human. They hate humans.” 
I closed my eyes and cried some more. It was my fault. You did this, Novaleigh. You killed an entire village of fairies.
--- 

The day I let all that fear and worry consume me was the day it all changed. I slipped off that bridge and fell into the void I’d always dreamt about. The thing was, that was also that day I started to live.

Andrea Parsneau is the superb narrator for Falling Out of Focus. This is the first time I’ve listened to any works voiced by Andrea Parsneau. Her voice is clear and easy to understand and she consistently differentiates between the characters to where I had no issue whatsoever knowing who was speaking at any time. Her voice is so spot on that it literally gave me chills when the tone was dark; evoked tears when our heroine was either overwhelmed or sad; and elicited feelings of delight when her surroundings were happy or joyful. The audio production is polished perfection. I did not want to put the audio down and snuck in additional audio time every chance I could. Without a doubt, Andrea Parsneau’s performance added to my pleasure of listening to Falling Out of Focus.

Falling Out of Focus is inventive, magical, scary, heartfelt and thought-provoking. There’s also a touch of romance. If you’ve ever ridden a classic, much beloved ride such as Forbidden Journey at Universal or It’s a Small World at Disney World, you may be able to relate to discovering something new in the experience every time you ride. Falling Out of Focus is like that. I hope to hit play with it again soon!  Falling Out of Focus is an incredible adventure. If you love audios, I would highly recommend springing for the audio to further enhance your enjoyment!