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.

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 .