Audiobook Review: Splintered

About the Book

Title: Splintered

Author: A.G. Howard

Series: Splintered #1
Publisher: Amulet Books

Publication Date: January 1, 2013

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal

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This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

My Review of Splintered

Take a classic tale and put a darker twist on it, and you have Splintered. Splintered is actually so much more than a dark twist on Alice in Wonderland. A.G. Howard really takes the story and makes it into her own. Fans of the classic with recognize aspects, and a few familiar faces. They may just look a tad bit different. Splintered has such a unique beauty to it, even with the darker undertones. It almost like A.G. Howard crawled inside Tim Burton’s head but then took it up another notch to make it her own. 

Alyssa Gardner is the descent of Alice, the very Alice that Lewis Carroll based his story of Wonderland off. The problem is that insanity seems to run in the family. Alyssa tires to ignore the voices of the plants and insects that she seems to hear, until she discovers she maybe cursed not crazy. Morpheus (the caterpillar turned moth) befriends Alyssa and offers to help break the curse. While Morpheus seems a little suspicious, I really did like his protectiveness of Alyssa. 

The narrator, Rebecca Gibel, for Splintered did a magnificent job of drawing in listeners with her narration and her characters’ voices. She created the world with her voice, which is something that takes a true talent. I thoroughly enjoyed the Splintered audiobook. 

I know that this is not the end of Alyssa’s journey, and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book, Unhinged. I am just sorry I put off reading Splintered for this long. A.G. Howard has defiantly moved to my favorite authors list. 

**Unabridged Bookshelf purchased this audiobook**

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Book/Audiobook Review: Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line

About the Book

Title: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line

Author: Rob Thomas, Jennifer Graham

Series: Veronica Mars #1

Publication Date: March 25, 2014

Genres: Mystery, 

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From Rob Thomas, the creator of the television series and movie phenomenon Veronica Mars, comes the first book in a thrilling mystery series that picks up where the feature film left off. 

Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime, and corruption. She’s traded in her law degree for her old private investigating license, struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case.

Now it’s spring break, and college students descend on Neptune, transforming the beaches and boardwalks into a frenzied, week-long rave. When a girl disappears from a party, Veronica is called in to investigate. But this is no simple missing person’s case; the house the girl vanished from belongs to a man with serious criminal ties, and soon Veronica is plunged into a dangerous underworld of drugs and organized crime. And when a major break in the investigation has a shocking connection to Veronica’s past, the case hits closer to home than she ever imagined.

In Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas has created a groundbreaking female detective who’s part Phillip Marlowe, part Nancy Drew, and all snark. With its sharp plot and clever twists, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line will keep you guessing until the very last page.

My Review of The Thousand Dollar Tan Line

Oh for my love of everything Veronica Mars, how I love The Thousand Dollar Tan Line. Not only does it give fans more Veronica Mars, but also the entire novel reads just like an episode of Veronica Mars. I could totally see it playing out in my head. I loved seeing the old gang back at it, but for anyone who has yet to see the movie, there will be spoilers since this book is set after the events of the movie. 

My only complaint about The Thousand Dollar Tan Line is I wish there was more Logan and Veronica interaction. Due to Logan’s current situation at the end of the movie, he does not make that many appearances and for limited time when he does. I of course still loved it, even with less Logan. 

The big boast for this novel is that it features someone from Veronica’s past who did not appear in the movie. I am not going to spoil it, but I will say it was an interesting twist to the story. Veronica has really grown up and taking on the high profile cases, and that is very evident in this novel. When teenage girls start disappearing on Spring Break, it may be up to Veronica to find out what happened. 

The snarky voice over, the gang back together, and Veronica all grown up, The Thousand Dollar Tan Line is so much more than what I was hoping it would be, and the characters voices transfer to paper perfectly. Even though I have read the book, I have to listen to the audiobook someday, simply because Kristen Bell herself narrates it. I have heard hilarious things about her impressions of the other characters. 

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

Since I read the book, I was not going to listen to the audiobook, but it is narrated by Kristen Bell. Since Veronica Mars is reading her own book, I had to listen and I am so glad I did. It is such a marvelous experience to listen to this story. With Kristen Bell narrating, it gives you the feeling like the episode is on the TV in the next room, and you are just listening to it. I almost wish I had skipped reading, and just listen to the audiobook first. 

**Unabridged Bookshelf purchased both versions of this book**

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Audiobook Review: The Last Bastion of the Living

About the Book

Title: The Last Bastion of the Living

Author: Rhiannon Frater

Publication Date: June 12, 2012

Genres: Adult, Science Fiction, Horror

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As long as the undead hordes of the Inferi Scourge howl outside the dying city, the last remaining humans struggle to survive inside The Bastion. Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her entire life within the towering walls. Her only refuge from the overcrowded streets, rolling blackouts, and food shortages is in the arms of Officer Dwayne Reichardt. Then Maria is summoned to meet with a mysterious representative from the Science Warfare Division and is offered the opportunity to finally destroy the Inferi Scourge and reclaim the land and resources in the valley beyond the wall. If she succeeds, the city may be saved.
But if she fails, humanity faces extinction…

About the Author

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of over a dozen books, including the As the World Dies zombie trilogy (Tor), as well as independent works such as The Last Bastion of the Living (declared the #1 Zombie Release of 2012 by Explorations Fantasy Blog and the #1 Zombie Novel of the Decade by B&N Book Blog), and other horror novels. Her next novel for Tor, Dead Spots, will be published in 2014. She was born and raised a Texan and presently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and furry children (a.k.a pets). She loves scary movies, sci-fi and horror shows, playing video games, cooking, dyeing her hair weird colors, and shopping for Betsey Johnson purses and shoes.

     

My Review of The Last Bastion of the Living

Rhiannon Frater has delivered again this time with a futuristic Sci-fi novel with zombies or Inferi Scourge as they are known in the Last Bastion of the Living. The Last Bastion of the Living is a mind blowing story, but from Rhiannon Frater I have come to expect nothing less. The Last Bastion of the Living also does not slowly build to the action; it throws you right into the middle of it. Of course, the action packed opening had me hooked right away, even as the story slowed down before building up again. 

While the Last Bastion of the Living is not always so action packed, there is always an underlying tension from just surviving and the feeling of unknown secrets. As the story’s actions starts to build back up again, I knew I could not stop listening until I got to the very end. Trust me when I say that Last Bastion of the Living is nothing  like any book you have read before, and if nothing else just for that it is a must read. 

The number one issue I have seen about this audiobook is the lack of emotion from the narrator. While at first it did take some getting used to after coming from an audio with a more emotional narrator. I think that the narrator was the right choice for this particular novel, because with more subtle emotion changes in the narration the story really stands out on its own. 

Whether you read it or listen to the audiobook, The Last Bastion of the Living is definite must for fans of sci-fi, or zombies. It is twist on the genre that I never saw coming. I enjoyed the audiobook, but if you enjoy a highly animated narrator this may not be the audiobook for you. 

**Unabridged Bookshelf received this audiobook, in exchange for an honest review**

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AudioBook Review: The Golden Lily

About the Book

 

Title: The Golden Lily
Author: Richelle Mead

Series: Bloodlines # 2

Publication Date: June 12, 2012

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Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.
Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she’s been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California–tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.
But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age–old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and the sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi—the fiercest vampires, the ones who don’t die. But it’s her fear of being just that—special, magical, powerful—that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Brayden, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else—someone forbidden to her.
When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney’s loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.
Should she trust the Alchemists—or her heart?

My Review of The Golden Lily

When I read the first Bloodlines book, I was happy to see some of my favorite characters from Vampire Academy again. This time I opted to listen to the audiobook for The Golden Lily. While reading is always going to be my favorite way to deliver a book, I really enjoyed the audiobook. My favorite part was the few new to this series, but familiar faces that showed up in The Golden Lily. 

My only complaint about Bloodlines was Sydney’s constant immense whining about her weight and diet. In The Golden Lily, it continues but it is not as frequent of quite as whinny. That maybe because I heard it through the narrator’s voice instead of reading it and forming my own context. I really think it is because Sydney really grows into her own during The Golden Lily. She wants to protect her charges, and herself as new dangers arrive in town. Adrian also helps with her self-confidence, which is why I think there is less emphasis on her weight and diet.  

While there is a plot unfolding behind the scenes, my favorite parts were Sydney experiencing normal teenage life, dating, a boyfriend, and high school dances, the whole nine yards. Of course my true favorite scenes always involved Adrian, how could they not. In the audiobook, I find the narrator’s ability to capture Adrian was brilliant. 

The events of The Golden Lily left almost more questions than it gave answers. I can only imagine some of those questions will be answered in The Indigo Spell. I am more curious to see more of Adrian and Sydney. Besides, I have been dying to find out who is Marcus Finch since the promotion of The Indigo Spell release. 

**Unabridged Bookshelf purchased this audiobook**

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