The story is 15 minutes of perfect folklore. There is a mysterious quest, a deep dark wood and an unexpected hero. It’s the perfect, bite-sized dark fairytale and I’m all about it!

This was a really cute short story! It was a bit slow (though it was only 15 minutes long), so I ended up putting it on 1.25x speed. I really liked the small setting it created in such a short time, and somehow even though it was so short, it felt incredibly calming and almost made me want to fall asleep.

Honestly just confused with this. I got an audiobook copy from NetGalley and didn't realize how short it was. What could have been a cute little novella, instead is a 10-minute random story that has no meaning, no development, and no purpose. I actually feel guilty for even counting this as a book because it's so short, but if I don't I will have weird unnecessary anxiety about the order of things. So I'm counting it and it's just going to get offset by the fact that I've read multiple 500+ page books this year.

Sixteen minutes. I have never expected an audiobook to be so short! Some music videos are longer than that!

When I had the description and saw that this will be some kind of folklore Balkan stories I was fascinated. I think that this is so much underappreciated region and it would be an amazing opportunity to find out something more about the culture, history, and life there. But sixteen minutes?! C'mon...

The story is not only short but weird... I know, I know folklore has its own rules and it's a completely separated genre of literature, but the thing is, that I would love to know what happened next! It ends in so a strange way that I take a moment to find what it was really about...

I don't like it. Expected something more than that. But the cover is great!

This was so cute!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this audio arc!

Inspired by Balkan folklore this short story was so whimsical and nice! I love short stories so if you personally prefer longer ones I would direct you elsewhere, as short stories have their own feel and atmosphere.

A very autumnal read! I recommend this for September-November months!

I am a fan of short stories. I was hopeful for this one, but I think it just didn't hit the mark. It felt magical, but then there were some moments of disconnect that took me out of the story. Maybe I just wasn't fully inversed in the world and it didn't allow me to enjoy it as much.

This is a very short Fairytale based on Balken Folklore, I don't know anything about the origin story so I cannot comment on that. The story was very enjoyable and a quick read. True Loaf gets a little dark and there is a lot that happens in such a short story. I am very curious and will be looking into the original inspiration for this story. The narration was very well done and sucked me into the world. And I just have to state the obvious, that this cover is STUNNING. Check it out if you enjoy short stories!

The cover is what first drew me to this story and it matched the vibes of the story perfectly.
Penny Scott-Andrews is a wonderful narrator.

This was such an interesting story and I enjoyed it very much. The atmosphere was absolutely wonderful and the writing just bumped it to another level. I do wish that the story were a bit longer to explain more about the ending. The story just kind of ended without any explanation as to what just happened.

I want to first thank Netgalley for giving me an advanced audiobook in exchange of my honest review.

4.5/5


This is a short story, and it is really fast paced, that even if I had to summarize it, it will have a lot of spoilers.

Even though everything was beautiful and I loved it, just took 15 minutes of my time listening to this intesting story.

I really have no complaints about it, it's just beautiful and interesting and we learn about some things, and also this teach us some beautiful lessons.

I have got nothing else to say except that I will give it 4.5 rating, I enjoyed it. I hope if you read it, you would enjoy it too.

Short Story Inspired by Balkan Folklore

When a strange man puts in a strange request at the bakery where she works, Riley must go on a mini-adventure to find one unusual ingredient. Along the way, she realizes that things are not always what they seem.

A micro-story. Actually just 10 pages long and 15 minutes on audio with stunning narration by Penny -Scott Andrews had me immersed in Riley's world of fantasy and magic giving me a warm autumn feel.

It is available to listen to on @netgalley. Do check it out if you just want to take a break and sit back for a while.

This was such a wonderful short story audiobook. I really enjoyed the fairytale theme. This was a perfect bite sized short story. Despite the length, a lot happened and the story wrapped up nicely. The narration was also very well done and I enjoyed the quick listen.

This left me wanting more. it was very. written very fairy tail like whimsical I love the setting and I think this book would be good for people that like old fairy tales .

On an ordinary day in the bakery, a not-so-ordinary customer walks in with a strange request. Riley reluctantly agrees to it, but a journey is necessary to find a particular ingredient for the bread. After a peculiar venture through a forest, things become a little more complicated than Riley had anticipated.

As a short story, it managed to captivate my attention right from the beginning and left me wanting to hear more by the end. I was intrigued by the slice of magic that was served and thought it was very well written overall. This story is a perfect quick read for people who enjoy lighthearted tales if magical forests and mysterious beings!

I have been looking for a short story audiobook for a while, the cover called my attention, unquestionably great.

This is my firsts short story by the author, can't wait to listen/read more of her work.

I definitely would love to read more of Riley's adventures. It'd be wonderful to continue this story I'm sure Riley has more to give us.

This book is simple, short, and amazing. The characters are enticing, the plot is engaging, and the ending left me wanting more, so much more. I'd read a full-lenght novel about this story without a second thought.

If you want to satisfy your itch for a fantasy, magic and intrigue then this is your book- look no further!

True Loaf gives you a quick literary hit; it being very short in length but no less enjoyable for it. It can be read (or listened to if you are an audiobook listener) in very little time and is a great little listen if you’re after a rapid but well formed little story.

Riley, who works at a bakery, gets somewhat of an odd request from a customer and works to comply and goes in search of this obscure recipe ingredient. What unfurls from there you’ll have to discover for yourself, but it’s bound to be something that is beyond the expected!

Thank you to the author and publishers via NetGalley for this audiobook, in return for my honest thoughts and review.

true loaf, a short story inspired by balkan folklore :)

age: any (childrens)
my rating: 3 stars

this was a cute and suspenseful foll story that i very much enjoyed. i liked the characters and the amount of description the author managed to include in such a short space of time was truly impressive. while at first i did not really like the narrator, i fell in love with the voices they put on and listened to the whole thing!

What an absolutely delightful story!

The cover is what caught my eye at first, and I'm glad that it did. I can imagine the tale of Riley and the stranger being passed along through different generations altering with each retelling until iI was lucky enough to hear it today. It is everything you expect from a story inspired by folklore - a little mysterious, a little frightening (if you're young), with a moral at the end.. but I'll leave that for you to figure out!

I'm not entirely sure what I just listened to ..... I never knew there could be a story about bread.

A very short story about a girl in a bakery who goes in search of an ingredient to fulfill a mysterious customer's order. Interesting story but I thought the ending seemed abrupt and left me a little confused.