Book Review: A Whisper of Secrets and Ashes by Jada McCrary

 

 Jada McCrary is an Indie author who writes mainly fantasy/romantasy. When I saw this very short novella in audiobook format on Net Galley I rushed to request it! I love a short read, or listen! It gave me an opportunity to get to know McCrary as an author without diving in to a full length novel.  

 

  

     I very much enjoyed A whisper of Secrets and Ashes!  While it clocks in at 52 pages and about 58 minutes of audio, McCrary shows her ability as an author as I didn't feel like there was much missing from this novella. With the details sprinkled into the novella, I was able to visualize the world with ease, and while I didn't have ALL the tea on the two main characters, I felt like they fit the mold of many romantasy characters, so I kind of felt like I understood the motivations of both female and male leads.  In some ways, this was much more enjoyable than having to read through a character having a flashback or dream (to show readers why they have come to be who they are at the time). Instead, we jump right into an adventure.

No Spoilers here:  Our FMC is a healer facing down a plague that seems to have no cure, while our Main man has lost something that is may be quite related to the current plague. Faelynn (FMC) is in service to the Fae God who directs her to Dreythis (MMC) as she works for a cure. Neither is really interested in love, but in a world of magic and mayhem, sparks will fly. 

  The novella is done in dual narration and it was very well done. Narrated by Jacci Prior and Anthony Palmini, the quality is high, and I felt like both narrators really hit it out of the park, imbuing the story with lots of emotion, and propelling it forward without going into the maudlin- which is pretty easy to do with romantasy content! The dual narration was extra special, and I always enjoy a dual narration! 

I enjoyed this novella, and I will be looking for more from this author! I'm invested, and I found this to be a lot of fun interspersed in between some of the heavier reading!  If you are interested to learn more about the author, HERE is a link to her actual webpage.  Her novels are some of the most beautiful ones I've seen in a while. 

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First Published : 2025 in an anthology, now as a standalone. 

Pages: 52

Available as an Audio Book : Yes (58 min) 

Trigger Warnings: strained family ties, magic, references to God (a Fae god) - please read responsibly.