Annie

AMAZING STORY

Reviewed: 01-14-19

I picked up Trail of Lightning on a whim while trying to find something new to use my Audible credits on. This is easily the most pleased with a random purchase since...well...EVER. Trail of Lightning is not only a well-written story, but the characters are dynamic and each page seemed to bring an unexpected turn.

Trail of Lightning follows Maggie Hoskie on a very interesting journey both physically and mentally. As a supernatural monster hunter, she must fight her inner struggles as well as figure out who real monsters are. Listening to this story reminded me of home, which I know sounds weird but let me explain. I grew up on 95% Alaskan Native folk stories as a child. They all brought a scary threat of what not to do and the pretty clear-cut consequences of what not listening to your parents/elders/nature get you..normally dead or maybe your family killed. Hey, it's Alaska and I was a weird child. Trail of Lightning had the same undertone set in an apocalyptic future, caused by rising waters and severe drought. I couldn't help but feel the same type of meaning in Roanhorse's writing.

Every aspect of Trail of Lightning is worthy of praise. I would like to wrap this author up in love and praise for providing such beautiful and creative quality work. It seems like adult dystopian or apocalyptic reads are a rare find with most publishers leaning toward YA in these genres. Roanhorse built a world that held me captive from beginning to end.

The world is grim and this isn't a rainbows-flying-out-of-unicorn-butts type of book, but it still wasn't overwhelming negative. In my opinion, this was one of the best debut novels by an author that I have read in a very long time.  Possibly ever.

If you enjoy a great apocalypse, dystopian or urban fantasy read...READ THIS NOW.

Audio thoughts: Narration takes place by Tanis Parenteau. Parenteau did a pretty decent job. The narration felt smooth and never pulled me out of the story. I always felt like a little something was missing to make it great. A solid 4 rating for narration.

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170 people found this helpful

LOVING THIS SERIES

Reviewed: 03-13-18

With a strong Urban Fantasy feel laced with some sexual tension, Ravenheart is an entertaining read (or in my case listen). This second installment in Dark's Crossbreed series flow seamlessly from the first book and my enjoyment never lagged. Raven Black is a very clearly defined lead character. Black's snark, confidence and concern for her moral compass makes her story compelling. Black is still doing a lot of self discovery and continues to learn more about herself and abilities as a half mage - half vampire. Becoming more self aware and accepting of that part of her she has mostly ignored, character growth is where it is at! The author provided a few glimpses of Black's vulnerabilities and things she never really experienced in her life. Peaking into this aspect of Black really intrigued me.

The group which makes up Keystone adds a lot of diversity and contrast throughout the story, creating an addictive world. Tension between Christian Poe and Raven Black provides something that is a little unexpected with its subtle, yet clear romantic edge. The mystery conflict in each book take precedent overall, but the secondary push and pull of Poe and Black is a great addition to the world. Their similarities did not go unnoticed nor are they subtle and honestly it is a nice contrast to so many of the traditional "opposites attract" kind of relationships.

Narration: Nicole Poole provides an excellent performance in Ravenheart. The voices and accents were consistent from the first book. I think one of the hardest things to pull off is a strong female character with snark. So many times they end up sounding whiny or too snide during narration. Poole nails the snark without making it feel forced. Bottom line..she nails it.

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Great Narration for a Fantastic Story!

Reviewed: 10-21-15

Original rating = 4.5/5

No Such Thing as Werewolves by Chris Fox is the first book in his Deathless series. This audiobook was a truly wonderful surprise. My brain was not quite ready to process the awesome it was receiving. Hey! I was caught off-guard!

It is true. I loved this book. I kind of suspected a bit of mediocreness all the way around, but that is what I get for assuming. In all fairness (so this doesn't sound like I am saying this was peeerrrfffecccctttt) the beginning was a little slow and pieces of it took a bit to fall into place. OK, so there are the negative things.

The positive things are all over the place. Fox managed to create a fairly simple new reality with a mind blowing basis and reason for this new reality. Egyptians might have been involved and It is my personal belief that adding any kind of Egyptian shenanigans into a story makes everything better. Fox created a fully plausible situation and ran with the "what ifs". The sum of this equaled really great world building and a great step into another reality.

I am going to say this story doesn't have ONE true hero or heroine. It kind of has one of each. I guess will tend to happen when the Werewolves have a matriarchy hierarchy. I wish I could say more about this....but I cannot without launching into super spoilers!

I must be on some kind of role, because Fox did a great job with his female characters. No, they were not all perfect and complete greatness. All the characters were written with a feeling a "truth" to them. I don't know how else to describe it. They all had flaws, no one was perfect and yet none of those things were tied solely to their gender. Thank you! I have already launched myself into book 2, No Mere Zombie, because I need to know what is going to happen! WARNING: this book does contain a cliffhanger ending, but not an overly traumatizing one. I think it was fairly well placed, but I am extremely grateful book 2 is already published. If I had to wait, I might not have been QUITE so blase about it.

Audiobook Thoughts

No Such Thing as Werewolves is narrated by Ryan Kennard Burke. Burke nails this narration. Nails that bitch right to the wall. I don't discriminate when I am picking audiobooks to listen to. I listen and read both traditionally published and Indie audiobooks. Often the narration on Indie audiobooks tends to fall a little short, but Burke truly brought this book to life. Burke holds a great pace throughout the narration and remained consistent with every character, even though this book contained a huge cast. Expertly executed and very pleased the author chose to remain with this narrator. To summarize: He rocked it.

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Certainly NOT for me...

Reviewed: 08-27-15

Honeymoon Bite by Sharon Hamilton is the first book in her series, the Golden Vampires of Tuscany. This paranormal romance focuses on a traumatized bride and an unusual solo honeymoon that changes her life.

Reviews like this are painful for this reviewer. No joke. I finished this audiobook several weeks ago and I knew it was going to be a tough review, but I have to fight through and persevere to maintain what I want to this site to be about. Honesty. And I honestly did not like Honeymoon Bite.

I think that the general story line was a great idea, but the execution of this story just fell short. So many dreadful tropes were injected for no apparent reason and served no purpose in moving the story forward.

Anne seems scared and intimidated by Marcus and his pushiness even scares her, yet he bullies her into meeting with him. Marcus also visits Anne cloaked and invisible to "pleasures" her as she thinks it is her imagination. Of course, this is all justified that she is fated mate. This seemed to really push my comfort level and I didn't really understand why it was needed in the story. I don't think it added anything other than a factor of creepiness. Chemistry between characters should not come from just the damn sex or physical pleasure. And don't me started on the moment of glowing genitals. Normally, I would probably soften this blow a little, but this was a LOL moment where there should NOT have been one. WHY! It served absolutely no purpose to advance the story whatsoever and no fabric was laid out for this event being anything other than random.

These issues are not the only ones I had with Honeymoon Bite either. Anne's husband (or non husband?) cheats on her on their wedding night and that is only the beginning. I had a hard time grasping that Anne worked volunteering as an advocate for abused women and yet was completely fucking oblivious that her fiance was a complete womanizing man-whore. AND that she continues to pacify him in many ways like she is responsible for him. I did not like this dynamic at all and his exploits that we learned about in Anne's story - again - I don't think advanced this story or would have affected any of the bottom line. Pretty sure cheating on your bride launches you into total loser category and no further explanation is needed.

LIES. I hate lies and even lies by omission unless extremely detrimental. Like..if I reveal who I am, I get murderized. I get those, but Marcus lies about things A LOT. Anything he things Anne should not know, he just leaves out. I don't think there was one single male I liked in this entire book. Even when one of the male vamps becomes her best friend, I still felt completely turned off by the relationship. Because even he, in the beginning, creeped her the hell out in a completely bizarre scene after she was being "examined" (intimately) by the vampires....

I KNOW there are a lot of people that enjoyed this book. Maybe I am picky about what comes off as romance, as I need the sex to be hawt and make sense. I didn't find it sexy or romantic at all.

Audiobook thoughts: This audiobook is narrated by J.D. Hart. This part of the review is even HARDER. It becomes very hard to judge the voice of the book without taking into consideration the content. I think J.D. Hart did a fair job. Certainly not one of my favorites, but overall I think that he did a nice job with the characters and executing the story at a steady pace.

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A Unique Mixture of Paranormal and Rock Romance!

Reviewed: 08-21-15

Giving Up the Ghost is the first book in the 13 Shades of Red series by S.A. Price. A behind the scenes look at a band's life with an intriguing mixture of supernatural elements.

Giving Up the Ghost is a story I didn't know much about when I started it. Going in blind was a perfect way to start and I quickly became fascinated with the entire cast of characters. Each character held a unique feeling to them and as the story went on I became even more intrigued by the psychology of the story. What happens when the one you were so in love with dies and your grief shades the truth of who they truly were. Rhys Bellamy had obtained his obsession and then lost her again. Consumed by grief for years he finally begins to resurface, only to realize maybe his reality was only a shade of what it was. This aspect is what pushed this story to the 4 mark for me. The beginning held a few things that I didn't quite understand especially regarding Saffron. Although, I loved her character I thought a few of her actions in the beginning didn't really fit her overall personality. However, as a whole Saffron and Rhys' story is truly unique and entertaining!

The paranormal aspects were not overwhelming and just added enough to the story to enhance the depth of not only betrayal, but of true friendships.

I rate Giving Up the Ghost 4 out of 5 Bullets!

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Meh.

Reviewed: 07-10-15

Discount Armageddon is the first book in Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid series. With a lot of worldbuilding and characters lining the pages this book was a “down the middle” for me.

I had been eyeballing this book for quite some time. Honestly, the cover itself invoked the same kind of mixed reaction that reading the book invoked. Kind of a mixture of WOW and SAY WHAT? Verity was a great strong female lead, but I felt the focus on her body image was a bit over the top. Maybe it was because I understand the rules of the ballroom dancing that was a big part of her life or maybe it was just because I overthought it. The conflict between Verity and Domenic was a bit predictable. Domenic was the standard brainwashed crony from an ancient society hell bent on killing everything non-human.

The good is as simple as this – I am truly hoping a lot of this book felt off because of the copious amounts of world and character building going on. Since I wasn’t expecting a romance per-se I was a bit surprised by the relationship being part of the story at all. I really enjoyed the interactions of Verity and her family unit that she was not geographically close to, but still remained very much a part of the family. Verity was a strong and confident female lead and that added another aspect to enjoy.

Audiobook Thoughts: Emily Bauerr manages to pull of a young and quick female lead just as easily as an english gent hell bent on exterminating everything non-human. The narration flowed smooth and I loved the variations in the characters Bauer pulled off creating unique feel for each character. I enjoyed this audiobook and honestly have no complaints!

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Just..No

Reviewed: 06-25-15

The Engineer Wizard by Glenn Michaels is the first book in The Genie and the Wizard series. This is a DNF review. After a very strenuous attempt to listen and make it though, I got to about the 1/2 way mark before deciding I just needed to move on.

It has been a very long time since I have posted a DNF review. Making it just short of the half-way mark before throwing the towel in is a big deal for me and I feel I need to speak my mind about my thoughts. After all …. that is kind of the whole point of having this review blog. So let me begin…

Paul is a 60+ year old engineer that happens upon a genie and becomes a wizard. The how and the why are probably the best part of the story and it just goes to sh*t after that. Although I can appreciate the author trying to assure the reader of Paul’s sci-fi nerdiness, I found the movie and sci-fi culture references more than over the top. I love Easter Egg references, but the full on constant quotes were just too much and too often. And for someone that is not only educated, but well read Paul still appears to be incapable of having an actual thought without quoting someone else. Very little of Paul’s own internal dialog contained original thoughts. It reminded me very much of my children when they were pre-teen. Not exactly something you would expect from a senior. Paul also seemed unable to actually problem solve anything by himself and was always seeking out the form of help in histories (some fictional) man-folk. Now we dive into the predictable “the most beautiful women EVAH” entering the scene in which he gets an insta-crush on. Again..not something you would expect from someone in their 60’s. I started to get some pulled muscles from all the eye-rolling. The author sets the scene in the beginning about what a “great guy” Paul is, but honestly I felt he was a typical man-child. The beautiful women must be good and her man-friend must be evil that needs to be stopped and obviously Einstein and Holmes would have the answer to everything….

I was really hoping to find a great read in this book, but it just didn’t work for me.

Audiobook Thoughts PNG
HOLY SOUND EFFECTS BATMAN! Why? I think this is the first audiobook I have listened to that contained sound effects. I understand the thought behind it, but my imagination is a pretty vivid thing on its own and the only thing the sound effects accomplished was distracting me from the dialog. I will say after the first 3 or 4 chapters the sound effects did calm down some. The various narrators (see the above list) seemed to do a good job narrating the story, but because I was just not diggin’ the storyline It was really quite hard to say if they accurately portrayed the voice of the story. On a more personal note one of the male narrators sounded exactly like my brother, but I think I managed to put this aside and not allow it to affect my ability to objectively view the narration.

I rate The Engineer Wizard 1 out of 5 Bullets. DNF

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A Great New Urban Fantasy!

Reviewed: 06-22-15

Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older is the first book in his Bone Street Rumba series. This Urban Fantasy was full of grit and soul and an absolute pleasure to listen to!

I snatched up this offer on a whim after looking at the other audiobook options. An author I have never heard of, that is narrating his own book? Intrigue won the internal debate, but I am going to admit that I was skeptical and a bit pre-judgmental that it was going to be a flop. I mean, Mr. Older DID HIS OWN NARRATION. This is something that doesn’t happen very often, and I was even skeptical of Neil Gaimen narrating his own work and he is Neil freaking Gaimen. Are you feelin’ me here? I was skept-i-cal, but that skepticism swiftly turned into awe. You, Mr. Older are an artist. The world you created was full of beautifully diverse characters, colorful language, and spoken with the tongue of a poet. Well done, my good Sir!

With an air of mystery and mayhem on every page, I was transfixed into this gritty and original world. I always felt like the author had one up on me in the story and repeated thwarted my ability to guess what was going to happen next!

Diversity is something I have brought up before in reviews and although I don’t expect every single book to have a full color wheel incorporated into the story, I do think in most urban cities, and in most stories, it is absolutely necessary and keeps falling through the cracks. I am just confused about where these towns are that have 100% white people. I mean…I am white, but even my own family is a full spectrum. How can entire cities be full of whites in many of the urban fantasy and fantasy titles? How would they ever stock enough sunscreen? Shut up. That was funny.

Narration: Narrated by Daniel José Older the narration starts off a little choppy and Oldner seems a more confident. Part way into the book, about the first major bump in the road something happens and Oldner finds his inner center. The narration begins to flow like silk with passion shining through and remains steady through the end of the book. Older makes me think of a poet on the stage of a coffee house, sharing his inner demons and passion for us all to see. I loved it!

I rate Half-Resurrection Blues 4.5 out of 5 Bullets!

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A Sweet Story About Family and Growth + Magic

Reviewed: 06-22-15

An Imperfect Witch by Debora Geary is the first book in her Witch Central series. With a light feel full of family and growth, this audiobook was a joy to listen to.

An Imperfect Witch was kind of a random pick for me and not my normal go-to full of higher magic and action. This soft and sweet listen doesn't quite fit into one genre either. It had a touch of magic and a touch of mystery, but overall this book was really about family and personal growth. It also touched on some of the more raw pieces of myself - mostly family support. The fact that the author is able to create a family (and this doesn't mean just blood relatives in any way) that feels so genuine is truly a testament to the writing that went into Witch Central. The variety of characters that are written with true clarity made for a entertaining listen.

This first book is mostly focused on Lizard Monroe, but we are certainly introduced into the whole that is Witch Central. Lizard's growth and struggle to accept herself was easy to relate to and I think most readers will feel the same way. If you are looking for something on the sweet side with a touch of mystery, you have come to right place at Witch Central!

Audiobook thoughts: The narration matched the voice of the book very well and I really enjoyed the pace set by Martha Harmon Pardee. Pardee never missed a beat and kept me in the story the entire time. Even with a variety of ages and genders Pardee flowed through them easily and naturally. This was a very pleasant book to listen to and as a whole it just worked.

I rate An Imperfect Witch 4 out of 5 Bullets!

I was provided a copy of this title from audible.com in exchange for providing an honest review.

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Shorter, but a great story

Reviewed: 02-10-15

Neil Gaiman has a special talent – writing creepy and not in the same way blood or gore are creepy. Gaiman does not need to use curse words or violence. His true talent is recognizing the childlike fears we hold inside and creating a story that explores the depth of them.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is such a great example of this talent. The innocent fears of an everyday child come alive in this shorter story about an impossible journey. Impossible, yet completely brought to life through the eyes of a child. That being said, this is not specifically a children’s book. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is more about the fears adults like to believe they have grown out of. Told in a way that pulls you into the book and allows you to live their quietly while watching the memories play out.

Thought provoking and interesting, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a book I will not soon forget. If you are looking for a change of pace from the normal filler books, this is a great book to switch it up.

The downside was the ending. I am not sure what happened and felt like the ending didn’t fit the rest of the story. It was a bland ending to a great story.

Narration: Narrated by the creepy genius himself, Neil Gaiman was shockingly good. OK, so maybe that was kind of what I expected, so “shockingly” might be a bit of an exaggeration. I think a part of me wondered how different an author would interpret characters, and probably made a slight assumption that it would not be as good as I hoped it was going to be. That ended up not being the case. Gaiman glides through every part of the story and made feel childlike. I so wanted to close my eyes and wish myself young, cross-legged on the floor, with Neil Gaiman sitting on a stool reading this book to me.

I rate The Ocean at the End of the Lane 4 out of 5 Bullets

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