Thrown to the Wind

A Country for Castoffs, Book 1

By: Amanda M. Cetas

Narrated by: Daniel Kay

Based on a true story. In October 1660, Etienne Gayneau rushes through the cobblestone streets of La Rochelle, France, to meet his cousin at the harbor. A ship carrying King Louis XIV's elite musketeers is docking. He dreams of becoming one himself, but has no idea that their arrival will force his Huguenot family to flee in the dead of night. His cousin has offered him a safe haven. Now he must choose - stay and pursue his dream or leave and face an uncertain destiny. Both choices are fraught with dangers. Either way his life will never be the same.

©2019, 2023 Amanda M Cetas (P)2024 Amanda Hanson

Critic reviews

"Cetas skillfully plots Etienne's journey as an uphill climb full of switchbacks, with determination gradually replacing indecision, and a clear-eyed faith supplanting fantastical visions." - BookLife Review

Great Historical Coming-of-Age Story

This was my first experience with Amanda M. Cetas' work, and I was amazed at the amount of historical information and wealth of details found throughout the story. The story was fascinating and kept me glued to the audiobook as the story unfolded. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Daniel Kay's narration was absorbing and kept my attention. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

Historical Fiction - 1660 France

Parents- PG- 3rd-4th Grade and up
Language- Not that I remember, at least not directly said but alluded to
Violence- PG- normal to genre nothing too graphic
Sexual Content- nothing to warn of

This is set in France in 1660 and is about an 11-12-year-old boy and his family. It shows the struggles of this family in a country arresting and killing Protestant citizens but is very much a coming-of-age story as well. He wanted to be a Musketeer but they were forced to flee in the night. That is just the start of their adventure. This is not a pushy religious story, but one that shows a family in the middle of the political turmoil and injustice of the time. I really enjoyed this one and recommend it to anyone curious about the time and/or historical fiction fans.

Narrator- He did great with the differentiations, did pretty well with the French accent, and was easy to listen to. I did notice a few repeated lines and pauses that were missed in the edit, but not so bad to take away from the story. I did prefer listening at 1.35x speed.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A Pleasant and Engaging Story

The story was engaging and seemed to just fly by. I have read the book and the narration provided by Daniel Kay gives it a fresh take. It is easy to intellectually know that the young hero is French, but to hear Kay’s portrayal of the accent and the pronunciations as the characters must have had them really brought that home.
Overall very enjoyable.

shows the tension of being uprooted

Amanda Cetas does a great job of showing how abruptly persecuted people have to change thier whole lives in order to escape the degradation of being on the wrong side of politics. she builds tension through consistently challenging her main character in ways that feel realistic and the reactions of a child to these situations feels authentic.

Daniel Kay did a good job of expressing the anxiety of the journey and the feeling of helplessness the Huguenots must have felt as they fled with no chance to truly plan.

I will say that I ha e noticed that recent audible productions fail to add a pause for scene changes or dream sequences, and this makes some scenes disorienting. this is an audible issue though, and has nothing to do with the reader or author so I still give this 5 stars

Great story, great narration

I read the book when it first came out and listened to it as an audiobook recently. The basic story is historically accurate, provides an appreciation of the culture and conflicts of the era and demonstrates the commonality of human interactions over the centuries. The narration adds sparkle and vitality. A very nice enhancement and great distraction while on long drives.

Our 9 and 11-year-old loved it! (And I did too!)

My 9-year-old, 11-year-old and I listened to this book over the course of a couple weeks--enjoying a couple chapters each night before bed. The historical and cultural context in which the story takes place is rich and detailed. It took us a little time to find our footing in this new world, but it was a rewarding experience--and we were amazed to later discover how much of this book was based on a true story! It was easy to connect with the main character--a young man of noble heart and humble upbringing--as he flees from his home with his family and begins to find his way in life amidst many difficulties. The story itself is full of adventure and suspense and we had many nights where we ended on a cliff-hanger and my daughters begged for "one more chapter." I also liked how the narrative dealt with substantial themes of life and character. It wasn't just entertainment--it presented opportunities for follow up conversations as we talked about what we had just heard. I'll also mention that Daniel Kay has a wonderful reading voice. He did a spectacular job bringing the characters to life with his skillful accents (I've listened to many audio books where it's good content, but not very engaging due to the narrator). All in all, it's a wonderful story, and we loved listening to it in this audio format. We can't wait to listen to the next book in the series!