Category: Audiobooks

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Extreme Makeover by Dan Wells

Posted on by elishasbookreview

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*No Spoilers*

Lyle Fontanelle is the chief scientist for NewYew, a health and beauty company experimenting with a new, anti-aging hand lotion. As more and more anomalies crop up in testing, Lyle realizes that the lotion’s formula has somehow gone horribly wrong. It is actively overwriting the DNA of anyone who uses it, turning them into physical clones of someone else. Lyle wants to destroy the formula, but NewYew thinks it might be the greatest beauty product ever designed–and the world’s governments think it’s the greatest weapon.

This is a satire turned horror story on how society as a whole treats the beauty industry. Everyone wants to be someone else. Plastic surgery, makeup, hair dye, the list goes on. So the concept of a lotion that can make you look like a model is remarkable.

I found the character development to be really well executed. Lyle grows from being a no confrontation type to being assertive and letting others know what he thinks. Seeing him grow and change throughout the novel made the cliche of one-dimensional character in the horror genre non-existent.

My favorite part of this novel was when Lyle had to face the remaining United Nations delegates, and he made the first step towards him growing as a character. Also listening to the delegates arguing was also funny.

The ending is the only part of the story I had major gripes with. I felt it be out of place and confusing. I won’t spoil the ending for you of course, but I felt like it was unnecessary.

Other than the one small nitpick, I found this novel to be enjoyable and yet terrifying in a realistic fashion. Makeup and beauty is such an important piece in a society that the thought of everyone looking like Tom Cruise or Jennifer Aniston is creepy.

If you enjoy satire and horror, this is worth checking out. I would also recommend this for people who love science fiction. I enjoyed this book and it will definitely be more of the memorable ones that I’ve read.

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Doctor Who: The Holy Terror by Robert Shearman

Posted on by elishasbookreview
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*No Spoilers*

The TARDIS lands in a forbidding castle in a time of religious upheaval. The old god has been overthrown, and all heretics are to be slaughtered. Obviously, it isn’t the sort of thing which would happen there every day – just every few years or so.

And when the Doctor and Frobisher are hailed as messengers from heaven, they quickly become vital to opposing factions in their struggle for power. But will they be merely the acolytes of the new order – or will they be made gods themselves?

An evil destructive force is growing deep within the crypt. And the pair soon finds out that they will be lucky to escape their new immortality with their lives.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I am still learning about some of the Classic Doctor Who Doctors. I am not familiar with the 5th-8th Doctors yet. However, I still enjoy reading their spinoff stories.

This audio drama was very interesting. I could imagine the whole story as if it was an actual episode. It was well-acted and written.

My favorite character was Frobisher. He was full of good humor and took a major roll in this story. I was a little disappointed when it seemed like Frobisher was overshadowing the Doctor.

One of the instances where I felt Frobisher was overshadowing The Doctor was when the other characters in the story put him into Kinglike and Godlike power over their Kingdom, with that, I found it to be surprised that they didn’t put The Doctor in that position instead since The Doctor is always the main focal character of most of the stories.

With everything that happened in this story, I found it to be well written and the ending wrapped up quite nicely with no loose ends.

If you are looking for a good Doctor Who story, this is your audiobook. I would also recommend this novel for lovers of science fiction and short stories. This audiobook is about two hours long, so it’s a quick listen if you need something to listen to while waiting on another book.

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Non-Fiction

REVIEW: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore

Posted on by elishasbookreview

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*History Spoilers*

The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines brightly in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive — until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.

But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women’s cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.

I first came across this nonfiction novel by listening to a podcast called Stuff You Missed in History Class. The way the narrators of the podcast discussed this story shocked me. It is a heart-wrenching story of young women who were just trying to support their country, in the end, to be poisoned and wasted away is difficult to hear.

This was a “Goodreads Choice Winner” in 2017. I can see why this historic story won. A tale of 1920s America and the mistreatment of the female workers is what makes this interesting to read. The coming age of nuclear energy is clear in this memoir.

The Ramifications from this outbreak of what’s proclaimed to be “not harmful” and “a miracle medicine” caused laws and legislation to be put in place so that workers have rights if their workplace caused them harm. As well as regulations and laws about protecting a worker from radiation poisoning and keeping the Earth safe from fallout debris.

I would highly recommend this novel if you’re interested in true stories about the 1920s America and scandals involving large corporations. This memoir will have you reaching for the tissues and make you feel for those workers and their families.

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Subhuman: Unit 51 #1 by Michael McBride

Posted on by elishasbookreview
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*No Major Spoilers*

At a research station in Antarctica, five of the world’s top scientists have been brought together to solve one of the greatest mysteries in human history. Their subject, however, is anything but human.

Deep beneath the ice, the submerged ruins of a lost civilization hold the key to the strange mutations that each scientist has encountered across the globe: A misshapen skull in Russia. The grotesque carvings of a lost race in Peru. The mummified remains of a humanoid monstrosity in Egypt.

When a series of sound waves trigger the ancient organisms, a new kind of evolution begins. Latching onto a human host–crossbreeding with human DNA–a long-extinct life form is reborn. Its kind has not walked the earth for thousands of years. Its instincts are fiercer, more savage, than any predator alive. And its prey is the scientists who unleashed it, the humans who spawned it, and the tender living flesh on which it feeds.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I enjoy reading books based on conspiracy theories. I have reviewed a few novels in this category. So the summary of this thrilling novel caught my attention.

My only downside is that there were too many characters. I felt like I needed to take notes about who was who and why they were invited to the Antartic research base.

Man is not what he thinks he is; he is what he hides.

Michael McBride; Subhuman

Other than that negative, I found this book to be enjoyable. It has an interesting premise that the author pulls off fairly well. I felt like this novel was inspired by the Alien franchise. The description of the monsters reminded me of the Xenomorphs in the famous franchise.

I am interested to see how this series progresses from here. I will highly recommend this book to science fiction lovers. If you enjoy conspiracy theories and the Alien franchise, then this is the book for you!

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: The Deep by Nick Cutter

Posted on by elishasbookreview
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*No Major Spoilers*

A strange plague called the ’Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget—small things at first, like where they left their keys…then the not-so-small things like how to drive, or the letters of the alphabet. Then their bodies forget how to function involuntarily…and there is no cure. But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Marianas Trench, a heretofore unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia” has been discovered—a universal healer, from initial reports. It may just be the key to a universal cure. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But now the station is incommunicado, and it’s up to a brave couple of people to descend through the light-less fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I will put a warning up front, read this with caution. I listened to the audiobook and it gave me terrible nightmares.

This thriller/horror starts from the first page. The impending doom of an unknown and incurable disease makes for a great premise of a horror novel.

Our main characters include Luke, a man who lost his wife and child, Clayton, a popular famous scientist, and Alice or “Al”, who delivers supplies to the scientists.

The Trieste is a multitrillion-dollar scientific base that is eight miles under the sea in the Mariana Trench. Being isolated from society to that extreme could drive perfectly sane people to their breaking point.

Water is what runs out of the kitchen taps or a playground drinking fountain. It fills bathubs and pools and yes, of course, the ocean- but at a certain depth, water becomes a barrier from all you remember, all you think you know.

Nick Cutter; The Deep

Things go haywire as soon as Luke and Al arrive on the Trieste, vivid memories begin to surface, nightmares terrorizing everyone on board. Something is up, and it’s up to Luke and Al to find out what is going on.

I noticed that the author takes inspiration from authors like Stephen King. It ends unsatisfyingly and abruptly. With that said, overall it was a good book, I found it to hold my attention, even though it gave me terrifying nightmares. If you’re looking for a good scare I would say this is a perfect book of choice.