Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Starling
    Starling
    Starling
    Audiobook8 hours

    Starling

    Written by Lesley Livingston

    Narrated by Lesley Livingston

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Mason Starling is a champion fencer on the Gosforth Academy team, but she's never had to fight for her life. Not until the night a ferocious, otherworldly storm rips through Manhattan, trapping Mason and her teammates inside the school. Mason is besieged by nightmarish creatures more terrifying than the thunder and lightning as the raging tempest also brings a dangerous stranger into her life: a young man who remembers nothing but his name—the Fennrys Wolf. His arrival tears Mason's world apart, even as she feels an undeniable connection to him. Together, they seek to unravel the secrets of Fenn's identity as strange and supernatural forces gather around them. When they discover Mason's family—with its dark allegiance to ancient Norse gods—is at the heart of the mystery, Fennrys and Mason are suddenly faced with a terrifying future.

    Set against the gritty, shadowed back-drop of New York City, this first novel in award-winning author Lesley Livingston's epic Starling Saga is an intoxicating blend of sweeping romance and pulse-pounding action.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 28, 2012
    ISBN9780062221155
    Author

    Lesley Livingston

    Lesley Livingston is an award-winning author of teen fiction best known for her Wondrous Strange trilogy. Captivated at a young age by stories of the distant past and legendary heroes and warriors, Lesley developed into a full-fledged history buff and mythology geek. Her fascination with ancient Celtic and classical civilizations—spurred on by recently discovered archaeological evidence supporting the existence of female gladiators—inspired Fallon’s story in The Valiant. Lesley holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Toronto and was a principal performer in a Shakespearean theatre company, specializing in performances for teen audiences, for more than a decade. www.lesleylivingston.com. Twitter: @LesLivingston

    Related to Starling

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Children's Legends, Myths & Fables For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Sweet And Sour

      May 23, 2021

      Jonas Jonasson’s novels stay thick as their content gets thinner. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared was diverting enough, but subsequent books have grown more improbable and laboured. This latest effort is so slight

      1 min read

    • Article

      Reader's Letter

      May 31, 2023

      SIR: I was astonished to read (Spring issue) that Hunter Davies believes he may be the only person left in the UK who has milk delivered in glass bottles every morning. Oop ’ere in t’north, we have milk delivered in this way. We also have Ringtons Te

      6 min read

    • Article

      Tessa Castro

      Dec 14, 2022

      IN COMPETITION No 287 you were invited to use given rhymes to make a poem in a game of bouts-rimés, popular since the 17th century and popular with you. The rhyme words came from ‘Death lies in wait for you, you wild thing in the wood’ by John Masefi

      2 min read

    • Article

      Memoirs Of A Fox

      Jan 1, 2019

      My year of graduate work in Cambridge, England was a somewhat bleak and desperate affair, coinciding with a bout of depression that could perhaps have been shortened or ameliorated if I had been assigned hard agricultural labor, a daily column of loc

      14 min read

    • Article

      Home Truths

      Sep 18, 2023

      Daniel Mason (John Murray, $37.99) ‘If these walls could talk” – surely a contender for the most heard cliché on certain history and/or real estate programmes. Yet many houses, especially very old ones, though constructed of ordinary, familiar materi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Bare Bones Baseball

      May 30, 2023

      Bare Bones Baseball
      3 min read

    • Article

      Tessa Castro

      May 31, 2023

      IN COMPETITION No 293 you were invited to imagine a vegetable at the heart of a murder and write a poem on it, called Vegetable Love. Max Ross’s narrator, reasonably enough, killed his stepmother for making him eat onions. It is curious that the carr

      2 min read

    • Article

      The American Rodeo

      Sep 4, 2019

      The American Rodeo
      11 min read

    • Article

      Out Now! Books

      Dec 2, 2021

      The Book No One Wants To Read by Beth Bacon Marcie Gill and the Caravan Park Cat by Monica McInerney, Illustrated by Danny Snell Sister Secrets. Life Lessons from the Pool to the Podium by Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell A book was sitting lo

      2 min read

    • Article

      'Camp Austen' Is The Most Delightful Jane Austen Book Of The Season

      Mar 8, 2018

      'Camp Austen' is a sharp and wholly affectionate portrait of author-fandom raised to a manic pitch.

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Dazzler For Kaz

      Jul 12, 2022

      A Dazzler For Kaz
      6 min read

    • Article

      Low Expectations

      Feb 1, 2019

      Low Expectations
      7 min read

    • Article

      FALL & REDEMPTION

      Nov 13, 2019

      FALL & REDEMPTION
      12 min read

    • Article

      How White Supremacists Used Mardi Gras to Enforce Racial Division

      Aug 4, 2020

      The stage is arranged, the Ku-Klux pageant begins. On March 4, 1867, a Monday at 10 am, 2,000 firemen jostle left and right into parade columns on Canal Street, near the levee of the river. Their costume is full dress uniform. Marshals from the Firem

      5 min read

    • Article

      Excerpts From The Works Of The 2024 Whiting Award Winners

      Apr 10, 2024

      The 2024 Whiting Award winners were announced Wednesday night. Below are excerpts from their work.

      19 min read

    • Article

      Jeffy The Bear

      Aug 5, 2023

      On May 6th, 2003, five of us gathered on the east side of Northern California's Marble Mountains for an esoteric pilgrimage. Shackleford Creek is not considered a classic. At the put-in, it is little more than a snowmelt-induced firehose in the steep

      4 min read

    • Article

      New Zealand Books

      Dec 9, 2019

      Peter Simpson draws on several decades of thinking about, studying and teaching the work of Colin McCahon in this first of two volumes surveying the artist’s career. It is not a biography of the man but a history of his work. Nevertheless, there are

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Chant

      Dec 1, 2022

      As soon as protagonist Jess changes from her travelling clothes into white commune overalls, you know it’s an impractical decision. Sure enough, a little later the pristine linen has been spattered with mud and blood stains that no detergent will shi

      4 min read

    • Article

      Dream Interpretation + Wwrd

      Mar 3, 2021

      I was working an event at the gym, the final of a social competition. The gym had taller walls and a big esplanade in the middle, set with dining tables. We had food for everyone participating, the brother of one staff member was roasting fingers in

      4 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Apr 27, 2022

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      On Heels

      Aug 4, 2022

      On Heels
      4 min read

    • Article

      Tessa Castro

      May 4, 2022

      IN COMPETITION No 279 you were invited to write a poem called Broken Bottle. Basil Ransome-Davies portrayed himself as ‘The man who dropped his wine in Marks’, by Bateman. Mike Morrison’s narrator found that the wind had knocked from the shelf ‘A nov

      2 min read

    • Article

      From The Foreword To Debths

      Jun 27, 2017

      From The Foreword To Debths
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Starling

    3.5/5

    58 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Lesley Livingston revisits her “Wondrous Strange” world, with a twist, in the action-packed Starling. Bringing back the Fennrys Wolf from her previous series, Livingston adopts a more mature and intricate writing style that will attract older teens and adults looking for a YA paranormal that mixes mythology, intrigue and romance against the gritty backdrop of modern-day New York City.

      When Mason Starling and her fellow fencing team members become trapped in the new Gosforth Academy gymnasium during a massive – and unnatural – electrical storm, none of them could foresee the dangers that would suddenly disrupt their peaceful lives. Attacked by ghoulish, zombie-like creatures, Mason and her classmates end up in a fight for their lives. Only the mysterious arrival of a dangerous stranger gives them hope to survive the night. Unexpectedly drawn to the young man who has fallen into her life, Mason finds herself trying to help this stranger – known only as the Fennrys Wolf – to recover the memories he has lost and discover why he has suddenly appeared in this time of turmoil. Little does she know that her own family, and other founding members of Gosforth Academy, are involved in an attempt to fulfill (or disrupt) dark prophecies tied to the ancient Norse gods – and that Mason and Fennrys are vital to their plans.

      I am a huge fan of Livingston’s “Wondrous Strange” trilogy, so the biggest shock for me was the change in writing style that is immediately apparent with the opening sequence of Starling. The simple, sweet style that made “Wondrous Strange” an easy, breezy read has given way to a more complex sentence structure that gives a feeling of maturity to the narrative. Even the character of Fennrys, who was probably one of the more layered characters in “Wondrous Strange,” has grown-up and become more complicated after his voluntary removal to Valhalla at the end of Tempestuous. It felt like I was discovering a brand new author, yet it worked perfectly for the subject matter. Norse mythology has always seemed a bit darker and “heavier” to me than the world of faerie, so the increased density in Livingston’s writing matches nicely.

      The complexity also shows in the varying points of view that appear in Starling; whereas “Wondrous Strange” basically switched between Kelley and Sonny, here the chapters switch between Mason, Fennrys, Mason’s brothers Rory and Roth, and Calum (Cal) – a fellow student whom Mason has a crush on and who had just started showing an interest in Mason before the storm hit. It seemed like the secondary characters had one or two pertinent pieces of information that Livingston wanted the reader to know about, so she would pop over to them for a chapter or two. All of these points of view make the story feel a bit disjointed at times, so it was not as smooth a reading experience as I anticipated. Some story threads I found more interesting than others, with Mason’s and Fennrys’ story being my favorite, but Cal’s was enjoyable as he struggled with the repercussions of the storm and was brought in on his family’s secrets. Rory had the most annoying point of view, but this was probably because I disliked his character so much (more on this in a moment).

      I loved the characters of Mason and Fennrys. Mason is an intelligent, sheltered young woman who suffers from claustrophobia and a mass of insecurities. With her skills and natural ability for fencing, Mason dreams of being a member of the National Fencing team – all she lacks is the killer instinct to get her there. It was nice to see the way Mason developed as the story progressed, and to see her working to overcome the insecurities and claustrophobia that crippled her. An action sequence taking place on a train in the cliff-hanger finale of the book really allowed Mason to shine, as she fought with everything she had to escape the situation she found herself in. She also showed a lot of compassion for Fennrys (even as she feared him), as well as a deep love and respect for her older brother Roth and father Gunnar. Mason was a well-rounded character it was easy to relate to.

      Making one of the most memorable entrances I’ve seen in a YA novel (the vision in my head was just…wow), Fennrys burst onto the page and made me forget everything I thought I knew about him. At times a bold and confident warrior and at others a bit of a lost soul, Fennrys has become more complicated – and even more fascinating as a result. While he finds himself drawn to Mason, I didn’t get the feeling that it was a romantic attraction at first. Fennrys seemed to be responding more to Mason’s compassion than anything else, and the romance built slowly from there – which I appreciated. I enjoyed following Fennrys’ efforts to recover his memory, and it was interesting when little things from “Wondrous Strange” popped into the story. My favorite was probably the homeless man with the teddy bear who made a brief appearance in Tempestuous. It was nice to see him again and to have him recognize Fennrys, even if Fennrys couldn’t quite remember him.

      The characters surrounding Mason and Fennrys were well-defined and easy to tell apart. There were a lot of characters introduced and I never had any trouble recognizing them as they moved in and out of the story. The two most developed were Mason’s crush Cal and her brother Rory; the first I liked (and had a little bit of a crush on myself by the end) and the second was not nice at all. Cal was gorgeous, strong, and had real depth. His confidence was shaken by the attack on the gym and the results, but his snarky responses when his mother introduced him to their family history showed he still had some spirit left in him. It looks like he will be getting a parallel plot line as the series progresses, with the way the finale of Starling played out. Rory was the complete opposite of Cal. Sly, sneaky, selfish, and at heart a coward, Rory was an over-privileged rich kid who seemed to feel he was always getting the short end of the stick. His true colors are revealed early on, but I was still shocked by how far he went in his attempts to fulfill the dark prophecy at the heart of this story. Definite sociopathic tendencies there.

      Starling has plenty of exciting action sequences involving all kinds of monsters – human and not – and a killer cliff-hanger ending, so it moves relatively swiftly. As noted above, it did feel a bit disjointed at times with so many different viewpoints, but every character added something to the story and set up a nice foundation for the rest of the series. Once I got into the story, it was very difficult to put down when I had other tasks to accomplish (like go to work, for example). I wanted to see what would happen next with Mason and Fennrys and after that ending I wanted to start begging Livingston to release book two right now! I am especially intrigued with the way she is mixing a lot of different mythological pantheons and legendary creatures into the story. I’m pretty sure there are some Greek sirens here, and we actually have the Egyptian god Anubis joining the fray. Livingston has also managed to find a place for the world of Faerie between Earth and the gods. This should lead to some titanic battles in the future, and hopefully some visits from past friends of Fennrys.

      I’ve made a lot of comparisons to the “Wondrous Strange” books in this review, but I want to emphasize that it is NOT necessary to have read that trilogy before starting this one. If a reader is coming to this book cold, they will have no difficulty slipping into the story and enjoying it. Livingston provides enough back story where necessary to keep anyone from being lost. If someone has read “Wondrous Strange,” though, I think they will appreciate the little nods to that trilogy that Livingston sprinkles through the narrative. It adds an extra level of fun to recognize a character or event from that series in this story.

      With a more mature writing style, a deeper complexity to characters, and an action-packed story Lesley Livingston has taken Starling to a whole new level from the “Wondrous Strange” trilogy it is spun from. Even though it felt a bit disjointed at times, the story and characters were so engaging I was able to forgive the rough spots and just immerse myself in this new YA paranormal world. Older adults and teens who enjoy mythology mixed with paranormal romance will find a lot to sink their teeth into with Starling.
    • 3/5
      Starling quickly drew me in with a fast paced and fascinating story. It simply starts with a bang, Mason and friends become trapped in a gym as a storm rages outside when suddenly they find themselves under attack by strange mythical creatures. The situation seems hopeless until they are unexpectedly saved by a hot naked guy bearing a sword and no idea who or where he is or how he came to be there. The story continues with hints of prophecy and norse mythology and epic battles to be waged with dark forces and it sounds altogether absolutely wonderful and I found myself really enjoying the first part of this and eager for more!

      The audio narration certainly added to my enjoyment of this story. I think that the superb narration by the author, Lesley Livingston added that extra element that may have been missing for me in the book. I could tell how completely she understood her characters personalities by the way her performance communicated their individual personas and added a depth that was somewhat lacking in the story itself.

      Unfortunately the story began to fall off for me in the dialog and character interactions as well as the far reaching plot and the odd pacing of the story flow. One moment, the book was action packed and exciting, the next the story seemed to drag painfully with a lot of information being thrown out but not weaved into the tale in a way that kept me engaged, instead I became a bit bored and confused. And finally a cliffhangery ending...blah. I'm never a fan of those.

      Ultimately, I liked Starling and I'm hopeful that the series continues with more of what I enjoyed of the first half of the story and less info dumpy-ness. I still think that this has the potential to be a series that I really enjoy so I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I think I would still recommend this to fans of YA mythology themed books.
    • 4/5
      Starts with a bang, ends with another and there's a ton of action and intrigue between the two. It took a bit of digging to learn there are two more books in the series as no Maine library has either, so I've ordered the second and hope it's as satisfying as the first.
    • 2/5
      So much irritating melodrama.
    • 3/5
      Mason's life is turned upside down one night when she gets locked into the school gymnasium with her brother, two other students and a teacher. They are attacked by draugrs and saved by the Fenrys Wolf. The group decides to keep the actual events of the night a secret, since the both the draugr and the Fenrys Wolf disappear, but Mason can't seem to get away from them; particularly when she starts spending more time with the Wolf.

      There aren't as many based on mythology books are based on Greek myths. I liked that this one was based on more heavily on the Norse myths (even though there are several other mythologies referenced as well.) I liked Mason and Fenrys although the number of times that they each mentioned the attractiveness of the others eyes was a little bit excessive. I also wish they had gotten to know each other rather then doing the insta-attraction but such is paranormal romance. I do wish that we had gotten to see a little bit more of the development of Heather and Mason's friendship, and am hoping that comes in the next one since I really liked Heather and am curious about her ability to see love. I also wish Cal hadn't gotten it quite so tough. I'm assuming that he ends up in the next one but I wont explain why b/c that would be spoilerific.

    • 3/5
      Starling quickly drew me in with a fast paced and fascinating story. It simply starts with a bang, Mason and friends become trapped in a gym as a storm rages outside when suddenly they find themselves under attack by strange mythical creatures. The situation seems hopeless until they are unexpectedly saved by a hot naked guy bearing a sword and no idea who or where he is or how he came to be there. The story continues with hints of prophecy and norse mythology and epic battles to be waged with dark forces and it sounds altogether absolutely wonderful and I found myself really enjoying the first part of this and eager for more!

      The audio narration certainly added to my enjoyment of this story. I think that the superb narration by the author, Lesley Livingston added that extra element that may have been missing for me in the book. I could tell how completely she understood her characters personalities by the way her performance communicated their individual personas and added a depth that was somewhat lacking in the story itself.

      Unfortunately the story began to fall off for me in the dialog and character interactions as well as the far reaching plot and the odd pacing of the story flow. One moment, the book was action packed and exciting, the next the story seemed to drag painfully with a lot of information being thrown out but not weaved into the tale in a way that kept me engaged, instead I became a bit bored and confused. And finally a cliffhangery ending...blah. I'm never a fan of those.

      Ultimately, I liked Starling and I'm hopeful that the series continues with more of what I enjoyed of the first half of the story and less info dumpy-ness. I still think that this has the potential to be a series that I really enjoy so I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I think I would still recommend this to fans of YA mythology themed books.
    • 3/5
      Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.Starling was an interesting change from what I've been reading lately. On one hand, I was expecting it to be different, but on the other I was way surprised by the direction it went. At first, I was just really confused. We get thrown into the story immediately, with no real precursor to give us a hint at what's going on or anything. Talk about adrenaline rush, you know? When a naked guy drops out of the sky with a band of freakish zombie draugr, it gets kind of weird.And to add more weirdness to the cake, the naked guy gets chapters. There is alternating points of view! Yay! My only problem with this is that sometimes in the middle of a chapter points of view would change to someone who's pretty much unrelated. It was always obvious when it changed, but still. There was a bit of shock there.Mason was a little bit boring, to tell you the truth. Her chapters were way too formal for me to really just sink into the narration, and the Fennrys Wolf's chapters followed that tradition. Strangely, I was more okay with that because he was an otherworldly creature. But let's talk romance. I didn't feel like there was any chemistry or build up to the romance. They're friends, then they're not and they're making out. It was too fast for my taste, and like I said, there was no build up.Throughout the first three quarters of the book, the story really went nowhere. There was info, mostly. A lot of info on Norse mythology, which was cool, and even more info about the school and the families who's children go there. The first three quarters really was just information. I feel like everything happened in the last quarter-- all the action was there.And then, with no warning, the ending hits. It was open and unexpected, and it really left me wondering what was going to happen next. I'm excited to find out! All in all, Starling was a surprise. It may not have been super awesome amazing, but it was interesting paranormal read.
    • 3/5
      Oh I definitely want to see where this series is going. Yay!
    • 3/5
      This book wasn't exactly up to my expectations. I was expecting a fast paced novel that would rock my socks off with all its mythology and action, but what I got was just a mythological novel that fell flat to me. Mason Starling is a girl who is a master in fencing. She can take over any competition and win against anyone. One night while practicing, a storm come and almost wipes out her entire school, Gosforth Academy. With the storm comes a mysterious stranger whom makes all the difference in Mason's world. As I said this book sort of fell flat from what I was expecting. So here's what I really enjoyed. I LOVED the mythology aspect of the story. It was a really interesting read. I'm not that familiar with Norse mythology (although its like all other legends where they are all basically the same gods and goddess and they all do the same things, just with different names) so everything I read in this book was basically a learning experience. I learned a lot from this book and was able to take a lesson away from it. The only bad thing about this lesson, was the fact that the plot was moving so slow. It seemed like after the amazinf first chapter, nothing "exciting" happened until the middle of the book. That quarter in between just seemed like an information dump. Then at the second part it of the book it was the same way. The first quarter was like another information dump (like she was setting up for the climax) and then there was the amazing ending. It was literally like this /_____/____/ Then there was the writing itself. I LOVED its descriptiveness. Its what saved the story for me. I wanted to continue reading her writing versus wanted to finish reading the story. Its what kept me pulled into the story. But along with that comes the insta-love. The romance was pretty weird. Like at first, it was they didn't like/know each other and then as soon as they were able to spend more time together, after the first time they were in love. I can't stand that instalove scenario anymore. Be original, make them fight for each other, make their love forbidden or something. Overall, it wasn't a bad book. i really enjoyed the writing and the mythology. The plot and insta-love not so much... But with an ending like that I will definitely be completing the series.
    • 4/5
      Being that I have never read anything by Ms. Livingston, I was super excited to dive into the book. I have heard some great things about it. And you know what? It did not disappoint me.I love a good story that has mystery built into it well. Mason is not your average girl. I like that she is kick-butt and strong. Right away, the author throws a lot of plot twist and turns at the reader. I like that Mason's history is blocked from not only her but as the reader as well. Being kept out of the loop, heighten my excitement to find out what Mason's family is hiding.The characters themselves as really well written. The main character Mason is very easy to step into. The author did a great job in making her characters inviting. Once in Mason's shoes, I was able to follow along with the plot line and unlock each mystery one by one. The love interest makes this story even more interesting. The fast that the love interest is doomed from the start leads me to root for them. Both of them face a world of trouble. The mystery that lies in both of their lives is the exciting part. Each of them rely and trust each other, discovering what has been hidden from them all along.Starling immediately resigsters excitement and mystery. The ploy of the real battle is kept from the reader till the end, making me appreciate everything that Ms. Livingston has written. Starling intrigues the reader with foretold prophecy emerging through sacrifice. Starling is the start of a great series!