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Audio Book Review: The Corpse Reader

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The Corpse ReaderBook: The Corpse Reader by Antonio Garrido, translated by Thomas Burnstead, narrated by Todd Haberkorn

Published May 2013 by Brilliance Audio|Run Time: 12 hours, 14 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: None

Genre: Adult Historical Fiction

You can find The Corpse Reader on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: After his grandfather dies, avid scholar and budding forensic investigator Cí Song begrudgingly gives up his studies to help his family. But when another tragedy strikes, he’s forced to run and also deemed a fugitive. Dishonored, he has no choice but to accept work as a lowly gravedigger, a position that allows him to sharpen his corpse-reading skills. Soon, he can deduce whether a person killed himself—or was murdered.

His prowess earns him notoriety, and Cí receives orders to unearth the perpetrator of a horrific series of mutilations and deaths at the Imperial Court. Cí’s gruesome investigation quickly grows complicated thanks to old loyalties and the presence of an alluring, enigmatic woman. But he remains driven by his passion for truth—especially once the killings threaten to take down the Emperor himself.

Inspired by Song Cí, considered to be the founding father of CSI-style forensic science, this harrowing novel set during the thirteenth-century Tsong Dynasty draws readers into a multilayered, ingenious plot as disturbing as it is fascinating.

My Review:

The Corpse Reader isn’t a book I’d normally seek out on my own, but when I heard it mentioned on the Book Riot podcast, I was intrigued enough to read it.

What’s most interesting is that the book is inspired by a real person.  I can’t speak to the historical accuracy of the book, but it did the feel of 12th century China.  I’m definitely curious about Ci, and the sources Garrido used, because I’d really like to learn more about Song Ci.  It, unfortunately, wasn’t included in the audio book, so I may have to check out a print or digital version of the book to see if anything’s included at the end of the book.  It does seem pretty well-researched, and it’s pretty detailed while not being boring.  You get the right amount of information at the right time, and it was easy to stay interested throughout the book, since I didn’t find myself bored at any particular point.

I did notice that when we got closer to the ending, it kind of reminded me of an episode of CSI or Law & Order.  It’s definitely dramatic, but given that Ci seems to be considered the father of forensics, it also seems appropriate.  I like that it’s a murder mystery set in medieval China, because it’s not something I normally read about.

Garrido really does seem to be a great story-teller, but at the same time, there was something about this book I couldn’t quite connect with.  I’m not sure if something was lost in translation, but…there is something about The Corpse Reader that I can’t put my finger on.  Still, it did seem like it was pretty well translated.

As for the narration, I felt like Todd Haberkorn did a pretty good job.  I wasn’t blown away, but he wasn’t horrendous either.

Let’s Rate It:

I liked The Corpse Reader, and it’s definitely a book I wouldn’t have picked out on my own.  It’s different in a good way, and I liked the time and setting because it’s not what I’d usually go for in historical fiction.  The Corpse Reader gets 3 stars.

Audio Book Review: Spell Bound

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Spell Bound CoverBook: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins, narrated by Cris Dukehart

Published July 2012 by Tantor Media|Run Time: 7 hours, 30 minutes

Where I Got It: audible.com

Series: Hex Hall #1

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Spell Bound on goodreads & Rachel Hawkins on Twitter

Goodreads Summary: Hailed as “impossible to put down,” the Hex Hall series has both critics and teens cheering. With a winning combination of romance, action, magic and humor, this third volume will leave readers enchanted.

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

I’ve really enjoyed this series, and Spell Bound is a pretty good series ender.  I feel like I say this a lot, but it’s totally true.  There’s a lot going on, and we learn more about the Brannicks, and that things really aren’t what they seem.  I mean, things we thought we knew…really weren’t the case at all.

It’s definitely one of those things I don’t want to spoil, because I feel like it’s a big part of what’s going on.  At the same time, it was kind of predictable, and I’m kind of kicking myself for not realizing that earlier.

It should be no surprise that Sophie gets her powers back and manages to stop Lara Casnoff.  It was quite predictable, but even a few things along the way managed to surprise me…including how Sophie gets to Hex Hall and how she manages to stop Lara from her evil plans.  One part that especially stood out was when she was thinking about how she was just a teenage girl and not a bad-ass heroine.  I really liked that moment because I feel like it’s not something something that comes up for a lot of YA heroines.  That moment of doubt because of how she’s just a normal girl was really refreshing.

As much as I enjoyed this series, I think Spell Bound is my least favorite.  There’s a lot of action, so there’s a lot going on, but it just didn’t have the same appeal as the other two books.  I think it’s because of certain things that I should have figured out in Demonglass, and because of things that seemed slightly out of place, while also not seeming out of place at the same time.  Some things also seemed like they were glossed over.

Let’s Rate It:

I’m not sure what else to say about Spell Bound.  There were quite a few funny moments, and I’m glad Sophie got her powers back in time to stop Lara’s evil plans, but something about it seemed less magical than the other two.  It was still an entertaining listen, and Cris Dukehart really brought Sophie to life.  Spell Bound gets 4 stars.

Audio Book Review: Demonglass

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Demon Glass CoverBook: Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins, Narrated by Cris Dukeheart

Published July 2012 by Tantor Media|Length: 8 hours, 23 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: Hex Hall #2

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Demonglass on goodreads & Rachel Hawkins on Twitter

Goodreads Summary: Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch. That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (a.k.a. witches, shape-shifters, and faeries).  But then she discovered the family secret, and the fact that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world-the other being her father.  What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves.  Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will either destroy her powers for good-or kill her.

But once Sophie arrives, she makes a shocking discovery. Her new housemates?  They’re demons too. Meaning, someone is raising demons in secret, with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good.  Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore.  Does she?

Demonglass!  I really liked it, and this series is super-interesting!  Things got REALLY interesting in this book, and it’ll be interesting to see how they play out in the last book.

Sophie certainly has an adventure in London with her friends, and she definitely LEARNS THINGS about her family and the council. The ending of Demonglass?  Not what I was expecting!  Which is why I really want to read the next (and last) book in the series, because Sophie has to go to a very unexpected place to get her mother.  And because of certain things that happened.

So…Archer.  I found that I didn’t really care about Archer, who seems all over the place.  I just really want him to go away, but I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen.  I did, however, find that I have a soft spot for Cal, who surprised me at the end of the book. Although…I’m actually fine with no romance in this one, because I really don’t like Sophie and Archer together.  But I also don’t like her with Cal, even though I really like him as a character.  Sophie does have a lot on her mind in Demonglass, so romance wasn’t a big thing in this one.

And what about Sophie?  I liked that she made progress with her powers, and we learn why hers so strong.  (hint: it’s because she’s a demon).  I love how snarky Sophie is, but other than that, I don’t have any other thoughts on her as a character.  Which is weird, because I should have more thoughts about her, but at the moment I don’t, so there you go.

Oh, the two demons that Sophie meets!  Nick is certainly interesting, but the other one (you know, whatshername) isn’t coming to mind at all.

Overall, Demonglass had quite a few humorous moments, but it did get a bit more serious towards the end of the book.  It would seem that things are going to go down in the next one, and I was really was surprised by certain things that happened.  I know I’ve been really vague, but it’s certainly plot-twisty enough for me to not want to spoil it.

Rating Time!

I really liked Demonglass (which didn’t make too much of an appearance in the book) but I don’t think I liked it nearly as much as Hex Hall.  Demonglass gets 4 stars.

Audio Book Review: Blameless

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Blameless CoverBook: Blameless by Gail Carriger, Narrated by Emily Gray

Published March 2011 by Recorded Books|Run Time: 11 hours, 59 minutes

Where I Got It: audible.com

Series: Parasol Protectorate #3

Genre: Adult Paranormal/Steampunk/Fantasy

You can find Blameless on Goodreads|You can find Gail Carriger on Twitter, Facebook and her website 

Goodreads Summary: Quitting her husband’s house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season.

Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London’s vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.

While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires — and they’re armed with pesto.

BLAMELESS is the third book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

I am so enjoying this series!  I really liked Blameless, and things got interesting in this book!

Alexia being pregnant with Lord Maccon’s child is quite scandalous, as werewolves do not have the ability to have children…which means it would appear that the child is not Lord Maccon’s.  But Alexia and a select few know that she did nothing scandalous at all. But as most everyone believes differently, Alexia travels to Italy to find out the answers she is looking for.  Namely, how one can have a child with a werewolf.

Conall and Alexia are separated for almost the entire book, but I do like that we see Alexia’s adventures and Conall dealing with banishing Alexia from his home.  He did, in the end, realize he was acting like a complete idiot, and he and Alexia did make up by the end of the book.  She did, I suppose, forgive him a bit too easily, and the entire situation in France and Italy could have been (mostly) avoided had she insisted she didn’t do anything wrong and had he not acted like an idiot.  Still, given the times, I kind of understand why he had her leave.

So…Alexia’s unborn inconvenience.  I like that she and her friends were trying to figure out what happened, and what her child could be.  We do get an answer with the help of a German scientist, who kept referring to Alexia as his female specimen.  The way he said it was hilarious, but it did get a little trying by the end of the book.  Still, since her child is the result of someone who is soulless, and someone who is a werewolf, it’ll be interesting to see if Alexia is repelled by her child (if indeed her child is a preternatural) or if her child will take on other supernatural qualities that no one can foresee. Since it’s pretty rare and all.

There were quite a few times when I could not stop laughing!  Alexia is hysterical, and she is such an interesting character!  Not only is she funny but she is not one to mess with, because she’s smart and witty and pretty quick on her feet.  And I liked how she had the support of her friends while traveling through France and Italy, and that Conall saw the errors of his ways and came through for Alexia in the end.

Emily Gray is such a great narrator!  She does so well with the different accents, and she really does bring Alexia to life!  I can’t imagine anyone else narrating the series.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed Blameless, and it was such a fun book to listen to!  It’s hard not to laugh at Alexia sometimes, but she’s a great character, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her and Conall now that she’s pregnant.  I didn’t completely love Blameless, and I did miss Alexia and Conall together, but Blameless is still a great book!  Blameless gets 4 stars.

Audio Book Review: Changeless

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Changeless CoverBook: Changeless by Gail Carriger, Narrated by Emily Gray

Published March 2011 by Recorded Books|Run Time: 10 hours, 33 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: Parasol Protectorate #2

Genre: Adult Fantasy/Paranormal/Steampunk

You can find Changeless on Goodreads|You can find Gail Carriger on Twitter, Facebook and her website 

Goodreads Summary: Alexia Maccon, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears; leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. So even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

CHANGLESS is the second book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

I loved Changeless!  It was such a fun book to listen to, and I loved the adventures and trouble Alexia got herself into.

Alexia is absolutely hilarious, and I couldn’t help but laugh almost the entire book.  I can’t help but love Alexia.  Especially when she’s with Maccon.  I just love the two of them together!  Actually, I love Alexia with pretty much anyone.  Like her friendship with Ivy, or how she was with her sister or many of the other characters we meet throughout the book.  Because we meet quite a few new characters, and see quite a few old characters.  I did like the new characters, who made Alexia’s troubles really interesting.

So, in Changeless, we learn that there’s something that can neutralize vampires and werewolves.  Naturally, Alexia is unaffected, but also blamed.  At least, she is at first, because she’s soulless and can do that.  But not to the scale that happened in Changeless.  Everything gets sorted out, of course, and there are a few other interesting things that come up throughout the book.

Especially the part that happens in the last 10 minutes or so.  I’ll admit, I did figure it out right before it came up, and it will make Blameless a really interesting book to listen to.  I mean, Alexia’s not lying, and we know she’s not lying, but other people don’t believe her.  Like Lord Maccon, for one.  It makes me wonder if it’s somehow connected to the supernatural neutralization, or if there’s something else going on.  Because it involves Alexia and Lord Maccon, and so it’s not going to be normal.  Because nothing in their lives are normal.

Emily Gray is such a great narrator!  She really captures the essence of Alexia and who she is, and Alexia really comes to life because of her.  Whoever decided to go with her as the narrator did a great job in picking her.

Final Thoughts:

Changeless is such a great sequel to Soulles, and I loved it much more than Soulless.  I still like Soulless, but Changeless was really fun to listen to.  I can’t wait to see how the ending of this book gets sorted out in the next book.  Changeless gets 5 stars.

Audio Book Review: Beautiful Redemption

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Beautiful Redemption CoverBook: Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Narrated by Kevin T. Collins and Khristine Hvam

Published October 2012 by Hachette Audio|Run Time: 11 hours, 21 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: Beautiful Creatures #4

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Beautiful Redemption on Goodreads|Kami Garcia’s Website|Margaret Stohl’s Website|Series Website

Goodreads Summary: Is death the end…. or only the beginning?

Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.

Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan’s return, vowing to do whatever it takes – even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect.

Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this fourth book and stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series.

I can’t believe I’m officially finished with Beautiful Redemption.  I’ve really enjoyed this series, and Beautiful Redemption is such a good ending to the series.

This book is different from the other books in the series, mostly because Lena narrates a good chunk of the book.  That was a surprise, and it was actually nice to hear what was going on in Lena’s world while Ethan was in the Otherworld.  And how they managed to work together while in two very different worlds.

What was really interesting about Lena and Ethan narrating is that they narrate in sections.  While Ethan is narrating several different sections, Lena gets a section at the very beginning and in the middle of the book.  And it worked really well, because her narration sets up the book and later shows how she’s trying to figure out how to get the Book Of Moons to Ethan.  Still, I didn’t like her part of the book as much as I liked Ethan’s.  I think it’s because I’m so used to Ethan narrating that anyone else narrating would have been weird, no matter how well it worked.  

I liked Ethan’s travels all over the Otherworld, and how parts of it mirrored our own world.  I loved seeing Aunt Pru and we finally get to meet Ethan’s mom!  We’ve had glimpses of her, but we actually got to see more than a few glimpses, and that was nice.  Pretty much because we’ve heard so much about her that it was nice to have more than a glimpse or two of her.

I also liked how Ethan just wanted to get back to Lena.  Ethan definitely had some anger issues at the beginning, and I liked that he finally realized the consequences of his sacrifice.  And how he appreciated the people in his life after realizing how important they are.  He came across some really interesting people, and I really wish Xavier were in the other books, because he really is an interesting character.  It’s too bad he was only in this one because I want to know more about him!

I don’t think I could have predicted anything in Beautiful Redemption…except for the HEA, of course.  I thought things were wrapped up really well, and parts of Beautiful Redemption made me a little teary-eyed.  

As much as I love Lena and Ethan together, I have totally neutral feelings about her.  Link was funny, as always, but it’s strange to think of a Beautiful Creatures book where Ethan is separated from his friends and family for most of the book.  Amma was great, as were the sisters.

And Kevin Collins did a great job narrating!  I’ve really come to enjoy him narrating the series, and Khristine Hvam is what I picture Lena to sound like.  

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Beautiful Redemption, and I thought it was a great ending to the series.  We meet some really interesting new characters, and we see quite a few old characters too.  Overall, I’ve come to love the Caster world and how intricate it is, and I’m really sad to see this series come to an end.  Beautiful Redemption gets 4 stars.