Dark Woods Realm

A small thing but beautifully crafted and absolutely worthy of the cause it supports.

Loved it, got me hooked from the start. Actors, characters and plot just brilliant. I listen to audible stories regularly and this one is a goodie. You can really feel the pain in the voices, feels immersive with sound effects and environment.

I would have loved to have given this series 5 stars. The acting was superb and the characters are great, even the writing is nice and don’t get me started about that really cleanly polished soundscape. My issue is that the ending felt rushed, like their had been sections cut out and left on the chopping room floor. We didn’t have the time with Miguel we needed, and everything that followed felt like a sprint to the finish rather than savouring the tension and inter character drama that had been building up.

What let this down was the fact that realistically the last two episodes should have been 4 and you should have taken the time to properly explore the scenarios introduced in episode 7 & 8. You can’t cram stuff into a finale and say there we go, any cliffhanger or loose thread may or may not be picked up in another season if you get one. I don’t know whether or not it was budget constraints or a set run issue but I mourn the loss of the finale that could have been.

To others reading this please don’t let my review put you off, this is a high quality podcast level with the production value of the Bright Sessions or Ars Paradoxica, and the voice acting is really good, everyone is very well cast and you can really connect with the characters because they are well written. I think that’s worth it in itself. As I’ve already said though the ending feels a bit rushed so if that is something you wish to avoid then use your own discretion.