Unworthy

The Blacksea Odyssey, Book 1

By: J.A. Vodvarka

Narrated by: Paige Reisenfeld

Capture one harmless fugitive. What could go wrong?

Nyssa Blacksea is eager to silence her doubters. As the only warrior in her guild without magick, she's forced to rely solely on her martial arts mastery, unwavering confidence, and charisma. When given the chance to hunt down a mysterious woman named Quinn and earn the coveted title of Ashcloak, Nyssa seizes the opportunity. Track down a fugitive? An easy task.

There's just one problem—Quinn isn't receptive to Nyssa's charms and refuses to go down without a fight. Dangerous secrets swirl around Quinn and a treacherous guild leader, rattling Nyssa's faith in the very system that raised her.

Though troubled by the sinking feeling she's not meant to survive the mission, Nyssa confronts the dangers awaiting her, clashing with pirates, assassins, and undead horrors. Duty pulls her in one direction, but a strange, undeniable spark of connection draws her towards Quinn. With only her heart and code of honor to guide her, Nyssa risks death to stay true to herself.

For listeners who love unique epic fantasy set against a semi-modern backdrop, featuring a sapphic, enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romance. Unworthy will appeal to fans of Arcane, The Legend of Korra, and Gideon the Ninth.

©2024 Jennifer Vodvarka (P)2025 Podium Audio

Incredible world-building, likeable characters, funny jokes

Very good listen - the story, characters and the world is built up very well. And the description of food made me hungry every time!

Started out a little slow but a very good read!

I like that there are more in the series. Starting book 2 and looking forward to 3!

Sapphic adventure!

The reader was perfect for the book. Her voices for each character made it easy to follow. They were consistent and she always emphasized the right words. I love the story and the story teller.

Fun setup, looking forward to watching the author grow into their craft!

This was a fun set up with interesting characters, it really got good at the very end and I’m glad I stuck it out for that, wish some of that action and tension had begun a little sooner. I mean this with a heart full of love, but it is apparent the author is a little green. There’s some head-hopping and a few places where we get unnecessarily side tracked, but for a debut this is pretty solid and it’s very clear Vodvarka is capable and actively dedicated to writing. Excited to keep following this story/author and seeing those skills polished and shining. (Seriously, please stick with it!)

SO here for the pirate vibes!

I wanted a little more angst and depth of emotion from the characters, maybe book two will deliver?

Wasn’t crazy about the narrator, not bad by any stretch but perhaps not the right choice for so many vivid characters that need their own subtle voice. Still, these things only come with practice and all around I enjoyed the experience.

Good overall

I liked this book. Though, while none of the romance scenes are detailed there is one hetero scene that would have caused me to reject this book had I known. Also, the narrator of this book was fantastic but the second and third book have a terrible male narrator that caused me to return the second book. Idk whose idea it was to put a male narrator in a sapphic book but trust me read these books elsewhere.