Audiobook Review: Of Thorn and Thread (Daughters of Eville #4)

Author: Chanda Hahn

Narrator: Jesse Vilinsky

Audiobook Length: 10 hours 38 minutes

Something evil this way comes.
7 Vengeful Sisters
7 Fairytale Kingdoms
7 Daughters of Eville

Born an empath, I have the power— and burden— of hearing thoughts and feeling emotions of others. Retreating from the world, my only refuge is an ancient tower, but my haven is shattered when an injured man arrives with a plea to save the kingdom. Liam is the perfect knight, yet one attribute makes me hesitate. He is immune to my powers. His thoughts are a mystery, his heart an enigma. And while I fear the unknown, I cannot resist the desire to unravel his secrets. For I am Aura, one of the adopted daughters of Lady Eville. I have joined Liam in his quest to destroy a magical blight that ushers in darkness and poisonous thorns. The closer I get to the source, the more I sense threads of destiny weaving a deadly cage, and at the end of the journey lies a fate worse than death. Eternal slumber.

Of Thorn and Thread is the fourth novel in the Daughters of Eville story that continue with the fourth daughter, Aura. As with all the other novels in the series, which provide a unique fairy tale retelling, this story is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. This novel went into more heavy subjects compared to some of the others in the series, which was unexpected. While it does not go into detail about each subject, it does keep the reader aware of them. Some examples are sex trafficking, abuse, and mental health, including depression. I liked the author’s note at the end of the story that gave more insight into the topics covered in the story.

Aura is an empath where she can feel the emotions and hear the thoughts of those around her. She internalizes a lot and isolates herself for her own protection. Liam from the kingdom of Rya approaches one day to the House of Eville to seek help to break a curse. Aura ends up with Liam on the journey back to Rya. Throughout the entire story, the reader gets to see Aura grow and I loved watching her become more confident in herself and her abilities. There is also an appearance by Aura’s sisters, including Eden and Dorian in the kingdom of Candor. There is also another appearance of the main villain Allemar, who is featured throughout the series. There isn’t a ton known about him, but it looks like he’s more prominent in the next novel, so it will be interesting to learn more.

Overall, the series continues to become more complex as each of the sisters have their own stories. Aura is thrust into the middle of this adventure and tries to figure it out as she goes along. Liam starts more mysterious, and it was nice to see him open up as the story moves forward. Like the other stories, Aura learns more about her past and why Lady Eville was set for revenge of the kingdom. The more the stories and secrets are revealed about each daughter, the more the reader also learns about Lady Eville. This installment kept my interest as I wanted to learn more about Aura and enjoyed her as a character. I looked forward to reading Maeve’s story in the fifth installment Of Mist and Murder, next!