Oh my word.
This book was an absolute thrill to read. The world-building was so immersive, the character development was amazing, the plot was action packed and filled with magic.. And will remind you of works by Haiyo Miyazaki (studio Ghibli films)
Get this book if you love heart pounding adventures, mysteries that will keep you guessing till the end, and a strong female lead character.

Fog and Fireflies is easily my favorite read in years. It was an absolute honor to go on this adventure with Ogma, and I hope that she has many, many more!!

Unfortunately this is going to be a DNF for me. I was thrown off at first hearing a male narrator voice the female main character but decided to forge ahead. The language was very simplistic and while that can work for some books, it didn't work here. I felt like the world building was lacking and I could not connect to any of the characters.

Narration

Look, I love a good audiobook, but this one felt like a bedtime story—and not in a thrilling, let me stay up all night listening kind of way. The narrator has a soft, almost whispery voice that might be great for meditation, but for me? It was like a slow lullaby. I tapped out at 26% because I kept zoning out and forgetting what was happening. My brain needs a little more oomph to stay engaged.

Story

I totally judged this book by its cover (oops), expecting a spooky, Krampus-like tale filled with eerie fog and lurking shadows. Instead, I got full-on FernGully vibes—whimsical, nature-filled, and more “enchanted forest” than “creepy woods.” The writing is pretty, but I was waiting for something dark and mysterious to jump out… and it never did.

Audiobook Flow

The transitions were smooth, but between the soft narration and the slow-moving plot, I kept realizing I had no idea what was happening. Did I miss a major twist? Or did I just daydream through the chapters? Who knows!

Unique Elements

No sound effects, no music—just the narrator’s voice, lulling you into a peaceful (and slightly distracted) state.

Recommendation

If you love dreamy, nature-heavy stories and a narrator who could probably guide you through a yoga session, this audiobook might be your thing. But if you’re looking for spooky, fast-paced, or just something to keep you from drifting into the void, you might want to grab the print version instead.

I was immediately interested in this book as soon as I saw the cover, which is both beautiful and haunting. First off, this book is the first in a planned series, which was not immediately apparent to me. The book itself starts off strong and quickly pulls you into the eerie fantasy world of fog, where children are entrusted with the safeguarding of their village and the adults, which are suseptible to the effects of the fog. A young girl named Ogma is established as the main character, and the story focuses on her journey in this world. The book has many fantastical creatures and magical wonders to offer, and as others have noted before, feel reminiscent of Miyazaki works. The world building grows throughout the book and has some difficulty with balancing pacing towards the middle. The book feels to be aimed toward a younger/teenage audience, but I still had fun reading the story as an adult. Overall, this was a fun read. I give it a 3.5/5 as I enjoyed it.

The narration of this book was very good. I love the fact that the author was also the one that narrated it, so it kind of feels more authentic to how the characters are supposed to be because they were the one that wrote the characters so they’re the one that interacts with them the most.
The story kept you engaged and wanting to listen continuously. The different accents and voices brought a richness to the characters in the story.

A coming of age fantasy adventure that has all the classic fantasy elements I love. The world is adrift in floating settlements amongst a magical fog and the children have to be on guard. As the children tell eachother stories you are transported into the folktales and parts of the world open up to you as a reader.
The journey within the fog is at times like a fever dream and then there are moments of pure tension and truly scary creatures.
The narrator did an amazing job of immersing me into the world and bringing the characters to life.
This really is a magical story of friendship, fear and growth. The cover alone is brilliant and really made me want to experience this world. Definitely one to recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook and reader copy of Fog and Fireflies by T. H. Lehnen in exchange for an honest review. This was a beautiful book about age, fear, friendship, and hope. I loved reading about Ogma and her adventures. There was also the underlying question, "why do we get more scared as we get older?" I think this question can be asked if real life too. Is it because we remember more the older we get, do we understand the world better or maybe we understand what to be afraid of better.

First time reading anything from this author and not my typical read. However, I did enjoy the story. The story starts off with a village where children protect adults from a magical fog. Due to events of the story, there are aspects of time travel and magical encounters.

I was able to listen to the audio version of this book from NetGalley. Here was a few spots when the narration was a little hard to follow but overall it was good. The voice did fit the style of the story and was one of the better voices to listen to.

I have had my eye on this book for a while because I found the cover so appealing. I was dying to see what the story was about. And while to story is pretty entertaining, it's a bit young for me.

This felt more of a middle grade book to me than it did a YA fantasy, or perhaps I typically read more mature YA novels.

The audio file for this one is also extremely weird. I had to click through multiple different 'chapters' to even get it to play.

I'm going to give 3 stars, it's not the books fault I'm not the right audience.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-audio arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I did enjoy the book as it is a dark young adult fantasy that deals with a terrible fog that brings monsters to the world that only attack adults, leaving children to defend the town. The monsters that ate described throughout the book are definitely terrifying for a young mind, and the atmosphere is well set throughout the book.

Some things I did not like about the book that could be improved upon include the plot explanation and scene pacing. The book really takes off without much explanation until well into the book of what is fully going on, and while that is fine sometimes it kind of made the book drag a little for me especially towards the middle of the book. Also, with the jumping of scenes, it threw me off a little, but ultimately, they came together well at the end.

I'm definitely interested to see what more the author has in store!

Wonderfully narrated original story full of mystic wonder, enchantment and suspense to the very end