Umbrae

The P.A.W.S. Saga, Book 3

By: Debbie Manber Kupfer

Narrated by: Christopher Goodrich

Step into the shadows of Umbrae...

Miri's world at P.A.W.S. in St. Louis is falling apart. First, Danny is accused of stealing her opapa's charm. But before he can defend himself, he mysteriously disappears. Miri seeks Josh for help and advice, but he too has gone missing. Then, Lilith has a vision: Miri dragged away by wolves.

Miri needs answers. Answers that she feels sure are hidden in the blank pages of the book of Argentum.

With Lilith's help, she travels to the ancient city of Safed. There, with the aid of a mystical rabbi and an outspoken werecat, her omama's story is slowly revealed. And Miri uncovers something else, a world hidden deep beneath our own - the labyrinth of shadows, also known as Umbrae.

©2017 Debbie Manber Kupfer (P)2020 Debbie Manber Kupfer

A very exceptional story

I listened to this audiobook as the 3rd in the series. There are so many things going on, but whatever I say here I fear will be a spoiler. Read the description of the book, know that this book is truly amazing and the narrator does a good job in the telling of this story. You will be thinking abut this story well after the last page. I hope there is another book in this series being written, fingers crossed. I recommend this book. I was given a free copy of this book at my request and this is my honest review.

Great

I loved this story! The narrator and the characters are amazing. Debbie is an amazing author, I love all her books I've consumed so far!

Good Story

This story was great! It fleshed out some of the questions that Miri was trying to figure out. I was not impressed with the narrator, there was no feeling in the words. It was like he was dry reading a script. It explained also what happened with Josh and Danny and who the traitor was. I really enjoyed the story.

I received a copy of this audiobook for free from storyorigin for an honest review.

Loved it

Loved it, wanted the story to go on for a bit longer even though it was a long story I wanted more, I was so into the story, great book.

Audio quality very poor, book still worth listenin

This is the eighth book I have read/listened to by this author and I would happily listen to another. I’m quite enjoying this unique, easy listen, sometimes dark series. I like the shapeshifter and wereanimal variations. Having listened to many of the short stories prior to this one, I found it enhanced the listen since I had some background info going into this book. While Miri tries to figure out the writings in a book Argentum, we learn even more background info through stories of her family members. I love the pea soup! Also, clever how the regular cats interact with Umbrae. ———

This is the second book I have listened to by this narrator ( Christopher Goodrich ) The audio quality is worse in this than Argentum. It sounds like he’s in a tin can and it’s echoey. When he is speaking there’s quite a whistling when he pronounces the letter ‘s’. It is a higher pitch and louder volume than the rest of his narration. It was uncomfortable on my ears but I could not turn down the volume to make it bearable without having difficulty hearing the rest of the story. He does not vary his cadence or expression much so most characters do not get their own personalities, neither is the cadence natural. He definitely ‘reads’. The story instead of performing. Therefore the narration feels a bit flat. He does give some of the characters an individual accent/voice so there is potential. Despite all this, I enjoyed the book and only the whistling was close to making me stop listening.
There are no sex scenes, excessive / overly descriptive violence, i don’t recall any swearing. ———

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

Story 4/5
Narration 1/5

Detailed and involved as always

Even without Alister around things continue to get worse for Miri and her friends. Well woven as ever, this one has even more flashbacks which was easier to follow with the narration.

Unique

This series is so different it's hard to describe. My advice is to buy it. You won't be sorry. The characters are charming, and the story is wonderful. The only down side is that the narrator on the audio version, though he does have a lovely voice, mispronounced several words. including one which the author used many times (vulnerable). Start with the first book of the series P.A.W.S. I received a free review copy of the audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another great story

I am really enjoying the paws series. This one was full of loneliness, despair, treachery and magic. I was glad to learn the history of thres.e charms & how they were passed down through the families. A great series for anyone who likes fairies & magical creatures.

Do you like a dark graphic story?

Miri’s world is turned upside down.
The story circles around to the threads answering some of the mysteries in the series so far.

Very Enjoyable Third Book in the Series

This is my third audiobook from Debbie Manber Kupfer and I found this quite enjoyable. She is using a different narrator this time Christopher Goodrich whom I found easy to listen to and great with the vocal inflections for different characters. Debbie's story takes you deeper into the tale of Miri, Danny and Miri's family origins. Danny is accused of foul play and nowhere to be found. Miri is gone too but she is looking for her family roots in Israel and to learn the Hebrew language. She has taken the Argentum book with her and by learning Hebrew she hopes to decipher her family story which will lead to clues to help her find Danny. In the book she learns about the Umbrae a magical underground with secrets and lost souls and she believes Danny could be there.
I find that this story really grew on me and lingered long after I listened to it. It is haunting with it's secrets, shapeshifter, werewolves, and it's darker side, just like humanity. Debbie has expertly woven references of the Nazis, WWII, and the atrocities that happened to the Jews and any that tried to help but still keeps it light enough to not overwhelm young adult readers with gruesome details of those events. Sometimes it is easier to explain to a younger person or even an adult about these horrors in this world through a combination of fantasy and history. The Paw's Saga are reminiscent of the fantasy movie by Guillermo Del Toro, "Pan's Labyrinth" about a little girl during Franco's Fascist rule in Spain.
Manber Kupfers books are full of adventure, mystery, fantasy with troublesome pixies and wizards plus references of fleeing Nazi Germany. I agree with the author that these atrocities should never be forgotten for what is forgotten in history is bound to be repeated.
What a cool gift for a few humans being to be able to turn into a cat to escape from the evils of war and soldiers. Wow wouldn't the world be different if we all could do that.
I was given a free copy of the audiobook from StoryOrigin in exchange for a honest review.