This was such an adorable short story! I loved the narrator as well. So perfect. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to it.

I really enjoyed this short story about a woman called Riley who works in a bakery and is asked to fetch a specific plant to make bread with. The story is magical fantasy and it really interested me. The audiobook narrator was very good. The story was very short, but I will look to see what else I can read from this author.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this audiobook in exhange for an honest review.

A nice short story to introduce Balkan folklore. Since it's so short, I had no time to immerse myself in the story and character. Overall it's a nice story to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lore and Lyre for the eARC of the audiobook!

Riley works at a local bakery where a strange man enters and asks for yarrow bread. This sends Riley into the dark woods at night and into a small adventure. I really enjoyed the story telling and set up. The narrator did a fantastic job of setting the scene and making it feel real. I wish it were longer so the story arc would not have been as rushed. But overall I really enjoyed it!

The link to my full blog post is below:

Captured my interest straight away, and I would definitely enjoy reading more in set in the same world. I did want a little more context however, for the fae lands and the twins aims, although I appreciate it is a “micro story”

This short story is just the perfect length to leave you wanting more however, unfortunately for the reader, we are not granted this. The language and imagery is beautiful, with the Balkan folklore introduced and woven throughout in a way that intrigues and mystifies the reader.

However, thanks to it being so short, it is near impossible to fully immerse yourself in the story and, as a result, it is difficult to rate highly as it is left feeling unfinished.

The narration and writing style, however, cannot be faulted.

A really nice, short, and lovely little short story. It was a little too short, but I enjoyed the read overall. I could probably summarize it in two or three sentence and I don't want to spoil anything. However, the plot was pretty decent, albeit, if a stranger asked me to head to the forest at night to fetch an ingredient, and the stranger was already a little strange, I probably wouldn't...go to forest. But it's a fairytale so who am I to question motives and reasoning. I thought that the end was pretty cool and leaves off with a bit of a headscratcher.

Still, for a short story, it was still enjoyable. The cover is stunning and the narrator did a fantastic job as well.

This was the perfect audiobook for me. I find I lose focus very quickly with audiobooks and as this was just 15 minutes long I was able to concentrate fully on it the whole time. This short stand-alone story was whimsical and a great representation of Balkan folklore.

The cover is what 100% drew me in. I love the art style and I think it is a perfect representation of what the story is about and the type of story it is. The characters look very much like ones you would find in a ‘fairytale’ setting and I like that even though you do not know them for very long you are able to visualise them fully.

There isn’t really a lot I can say about the plot without giving away the entire story so I will just say that it was fun, interesting and one that I would actually have liked to see in a longer format. I love folklore and fairytales so this was right up my street.

If you are looking to get into audiobooks then this is definitely a great place to start. With its short length, you are able to get a good idea of where you stand with audiobooks. I’m personally not the biggest fan of audiobooks, however, I really enjoyed this one.

This was such a sweet and enchanting fairytale, inspired by a Balkan folklore.
It was incredibly short and it left me wanting more. I was disappointed when it ended.
I really enjoyed listening to it, the narrator was great and made the story even more enchanting.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a fairytale/folklore.
All in all a fun short read.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for an advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing the ALC of True Loaf's audiobook💟
The story was short yet well wrote,  recommended to middle graders who are fond of folklores & fairytales ✨
The narration was nice & captivating🎧

Short stories are often too short for me but this one was a great length to keep me on the edge of my seat for the entire thing. I have never heard the original story but this version was certainly entertaining.
The audio version adds an extra layer of folklore feeling to the story as well.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

True Loaf is a short story where we meet Riley, a baker who is asked to produce an interesting ingredient for a loaf of bread. What tricks or treats await her if she fulfills this order?

What a cute short story! I was surprised that so much was packed into such a short and sweet package, but I really enjoyed it! A quick and delightful read that makes me want to learn more about the folklore that inspired it.

Of all the stories I’ve read and listened to this year, L. Austen Johnson’s True Loaf is truly unique. A short tale based on Baltic folklore, True Loaf follows a young woman named Riley working at a bakery. She’s approached by a mysterious customer asking for tea and bread made with a very specific ingredient and vows to pay her handsomely. On Riley’s journey into the forest, she gets lost before meeting another stranger who asks for some of whatever she makes with it.

This stranger in the woods tells her how to get the yarrow, but she finds both white and yellow. She takes both, hoping that she can make both loaves look similar enough. When the strangers both arrive at the bakery she realizes they are twins and decides to give the first man the loaf made with the yellow yarrow, transforming him into something malevolent. Only when she gives the white yarrow bread to the other brother does he defeat his brother, claiming a bond with Riley that places her under his protection. He gives her only his name, Aiden, and tells her of his world yet he names no other names.

I don’t know much about Baltic folklore. It’s an area of folklore that I haven’t much explored, but I’m interested after reading True Loaf. I know of a concept where the fae do not offer their true names, or any at all, because names have power. However, that’s as far as my knowledge on the subject extends and I’m unaware of where that knowledge might’ve come from. I want to find the original tale so I can understand the material on which this story is based. As of now, I enjoyed this quick little jaunt, but I can’t help feel like I’m missing something.

The cover and the description caught my attention, and I liked the wordplay in the title. However, the story is too rushed. I felt like I am missing something. What is the difference between both types of Yarrow? What was the reason behind/ indication of the mysterious request and the assistance she received from the other guy?
The story had potential and I found it interesting, but it would have been much better had it been a bit longer.

True Loaf is a short story based on Balkan folklore, Riley gets a strange request by a mysterious man to bake something with Yallow which is found in a special place in the forest.

The story pulls you in right away as Riley searches for the special ingredient for the bread. The writing is wildly descriptive and the story was short and sweet. The cover is pretty cool looking too.

TRUE LOAF
Author: L. Austen Johnson
Score: ⭐⭐⭐
Recommended Age: +13
English level: B1

This is a short story based on Balkan folklore, it all begins when Riley receives a very unusual request from a customer at the bakery where I work and has to go on a trip but realizes that not everything is what it seems to be.
I was struck more than anything by its cover when I saw the book but the story itself is very unique. What made me like the book was the narrator. It set the story for the story and we could feel Riley's emotions as if it were us. Apart from that it takes you into the situation Riley is experiencing and makes you want to know what will happen.
I do not want to say much about the book since it is super short but I gave it ⭐⭐⭐for what I just mentioned and also I could not give it 5 stars since although it was entertaining and original, I miss more plot in the story.

Autor: L. Austen Johnson
Puntuación: ⭐⭐⭐
Edad Recomendada: +13
Nivel de Inglés: B1

Esta es una historia corta basada en el folclore balcánico, todo comienza cuando Riley recibe una petición muy inusual de un cliente en la panadería donde trabajo y tiene que ir en un viaje pero se da cuenta que no todo es lo que parece ser.
Me llamó la atención más que nada por su portada cuando vi el libro pero la historia en si es muy única. A mi lo que hizo que me gustara el libro fue el narrador. Le daba la ambientación a la historia y podíamos sentir las emociones de Riley como si fuéramos nosotros. A parte de que te adentra en la situación que esta viviendo Riley y te hace querer saber que pasara.
No quiero decir mucho del libro ya que es super cortito pero yo le di ⭐⭐⭐por lo que acabo de mencionar y además no le pude dar 5 estrellas ya que aunque estuvo entretenido y fue original, me falto más trama en la historia.

True Loaf is a short story based on Balkan folklore, that follows Riley, a bakery worker. Riley is given the task of finding a mysterious ingredient for a loaf of bread.

The imagery in the story was eerie and beautiful.

Although, True Loaf was a wonderfully whimsical short story, I was left wanting more at the end.

I thought this was a cute little short story. Overall I thought it was enjoyable, but not necessarily something I would normally listen to. I felt like it was a little too short, I feel like I missed part of the story.

First, a disclaimer: I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own opinions. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book.

This is a VERY short story. As in, a micro-story. I listened to this book in 15 minutes. I am unsure how to review such a short work of fiction without spoiling it. So I will just tell you that this is a short story based on Balkan folklore about a girl in a bakery and a man with a strange request for an unusual ingredient. I liked it! It felt like listening to a fairytale or a fable. It was entertaining and short enough that I did not even finish the chore that I was doing while listening to it.

CAWPILE Score: 50
Star Rating: 4
Pages: 10
Read on Audiobook

"True Loaf" is a mere morsel of a story that left me wanting more. This is a *very* short story; definitely appropriate that it is described as a micro-story in the description. I was intrigued by both the story and the writing and would have liked to experience something a little more robust. I'd be interested in checking out other work by L. Austen Johnson. I listened to "True Loaf" as an audio book, and while I didn't quite connect with the narrator, it didn't deter me from continuing on with the story.

This listening experience was provided by NetGalley. All views are my own.