Category: Audiobooks

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Infinite (Ghostland #3) by Duncan Ralston

Posted on by elishasbookreview

*No Spoilers*

Ghosts wreak havoc in the streets of Duck Falls, and Lilian Roth has gone underground, hiding in the Laramies’ backyard bunker. With the town under military quarantine, the death toll continues to rise. And Hedgewood’s massive infrasound array stands to wipe out every “ethereal” within its radius, Ben Laramie and his friends at the Temple among them.

Setting the ethereals free from Ghostland was only the beginning for Rex Garrote. He’s returned to the remains of his house to tear open the Dark Rift – a realm of terrifying impossibilities between the living and ethereal planes – and unleash its nightmare creatures upon the world.

The End of Everything is on the horizon, and Lilian and Ben are humanity’s last hopes. Facing their greatest fears and insurmountable odds, they must return to Ghostland through the Dark Rift’s deadly, ever-changing landscape for a final confrontation between good and evil, to stop Rex Garrote once and for all.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I can’t begin to describe the exhilaration I felt when I started this audiobook. It is quite rare for me to finish a series/trilogy these days with books to distract me. So, let’s dive into the long-awaited Ghostland finale, Infinite.

One thing I’d like to mention, I would recommend reading Afterlife and Infinite back to back, or at least not a month apart like I did. This book picks up more or less where we left off, and it can be jarring at first. However, it didn’t take too long to get my sea legs back (or should I say my Ghost legs haha) and we’re off to the final battle between Rex Garrote, Ben and Lillian, and the Hedgewood Foundation.

I also advise note taking, not on the characters per say, but more of the rules of how this supernatural world works. I listened to Infinite on audio, and I suggest not multitasking while listening. This needs 100% of your attention.

Still more perplexing was that this cadaver smelled not of smoke but of the foulest stench of rot and putrescence I have ever borne witness to, as if his remains had been excreted from the very bowels of Hell.

Duncan Ralston, Infinite

But, I feel like I’m critiquing myself more than I am this novel. This novel is fast-paced, and rewards you for reading Afterlife. The dominos continue to fall as all the characters are seemingly and unknowingly playing right into Rex Garrote’s plan.

However, Ben, Lillian, and Ghosts are People Too aren’t going to take this laying down. Seeing everyone fight for what they perceive as right is moving. Seeing the leader of the Ghosts are People Too realize how much she messed up and how she was possibly betrayed was satisfying.

Overall, I enjoyed Infinite. The final battle is epic and the anticipation while getting there is palpable. I am thrilled to finally say I finished a trilogy! This has been an amazing ride, and I can’t wait to dive into Duncan Ralston’s other works *cough* Woom *cough*.

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews

REVIEW: Rogue Protocol (Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells

Posted on by elishasbookreview

*No Major Spoilers*

Sci-Fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is again on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah’s SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Continuing on with the Murderbot Diaries series, we have Rogue Protocol. Now I wasn’t that impressed with the previous entry, Artificial Condition. So I was going into this novella with cautious optimism. So let’s secure this review for Rogue Protocol.

We are continuing on Murderbot’s mission to find evidence against the company that tried to kill their team, while also trying to figure out its past before it became self aware. Murderbot is finding itself going to another mining planet where GrayCris had a contract. Now, a different exploration crew is going to evaluate this mining spot and clear it before the next mining team moves into the spot.

There needs to be an error code that means “I received your request but decided to ignore you.”

Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

However, things go awry and it’s up to Murderbot and her newfound friend, Miki, to save Miki’s crew from combat bots. Miki is more of a “old school/traditional” robot as Murderbot describes it. Miki is close to his guardian, Don Abene, and it makes Murderbot have emotions about how its been treated in the past.

Overall, I found this adventure to be a lot more exciting than the previous entry to the series. Miki and all his crew are likeable, the action is intense, and I felt like there was a lot at stake. The mystery and saga continues and I’ll be sharing my thoughts on it soon!

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews

REVIEW: Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells

Posted on by elishasbookreview

*No Major Spoilers*

It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

As I continue on in this series, I was excited to dive into Artificial Condition as soon as I found the audiobook for this on the virtual library. So, let’s explore this review of Artificial Condition.

Originally, on Goodreads and StoryGraph, I rated this novel 4 stars. I usually rate books as soon as I finish them so everything is still fresh in my mind. After a day or two to think about how I feel about this, and I’m feeling somewhat different about this novel.

Sometimes people do things to you that you can’t do anything about. You just have to survive it and go on.

Martha Wells, Artificial Condition

I’m not sure if the audiobook just didn’t hold my attention, or I had a hard time focusing on it. My memory of this book comes in patches. I like that Murderbot got an upgrade/the possibility to blend in to this futuristic society.

This story as a whole is okay, not the best one so far. I’m hoping going forward things will pick up and we get more entertaining temporary companions for Murderbot. I like that this A.I. is making friends along the way whether they want to admit it or not.

Overall, I thought this is novella was alright, I am going to continue the series and we’ll see where we go from there!

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews

REVIEW: Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

Posted on by elishasbookreview

*Spoilers Probably*

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company.

It’s the perfect wedding venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends.

But a night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare. For lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart.

And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

I was hearing mixed reviews about this novella, so when I saw this at my local library I thought I’d give it a chance to see what was in store. So let’s creep into this review for Nothing But Blackened Teeth.

First off, I hate this trope in horror where all the characters are unlikable. Even our main character is unlikable. I wish she was more fleshed out because I wanted to learn more about her. Everyone else seemed like a jerk with no justification for being that way.

This is trying to be visceral by making us question our main character’s perception of reality. I feel like a lot of it is wasted because we don’t know about our main character. She says she was in the mental hospital for exhaustion or something like that, but doesn’t go into more detail.

It wasn’t charitable but apologies didn’t exonerate the sinner, only compelled graciousness from its recipient.

Cassandra Khaw, Nothing But Blackened Teeth

When the horror kicks in, I felt like it wasn’t all earned. Sure, we get the typical urban legend, a bride who got left at the alter and was so heartbroken she asked her wedding party to bury her alive in the palace she was going to live with her future husband. However, the book admits that they aren’t even sure if that’s the urban legend to go with the palace they were spending the night. Ergo, it makes me think that by them being drunk they willed this legend into being.

Like I stated earlier I’d like to know more about our main character’s relationship to her friends. Why is she so loyal to these people who seem to treat her poorly after her hospital stay? No one’s motives and reasonings are fleshed out other than “I need to save them because they’re my friends”. Unless she is that type of person who attracts poltergeist activity, then I’d ditch them as soon as they showed their true colors.

Overall, to keep from beating a dead horse. I wasn’t impressed with Nothing But Blackened Teeth. The characters are jerks, no one really gets their comeuppance. I just felt like this was a waste of time. Maybe if negative or mixed reviews make you more determined to read a book then I’d check it out from the library.

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Doctor Who: Scratchman (Adventures of the 4th Doctor #20) by Tom Baker and James Goss

Posted on by elishasbookreview

*No Major Spoilers*

In his first-ever Doctor Who novel, Tom Baker’s incredible imagination is given free rein. A story so epic it was originally intended for the big screen, Scratchman is a gripping, white-knuckle thriller almost forty years in the making.

The Doctor, Harry and Sarah Jane Smith arrive at a remote Scottish island, when their holiday is cut short by the appearance of strange creatures – hideous scarecrows, who are preying on the local population. The islanders are living in fear, and the Doctor vows to save them all. But it doesn’t go to plan – the time travellers have fallen into a trap, and Scratchman is coming for them.

With the fate of the universe hanging in the balance, the Doctor must battle an ancient force from another dimension, one who claims to be the Devil. Scratchman wants to know what the Doctor is most afraid of. And the Doctor’s worst nightmares are coming out to play…

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who for several years. For anyone who knows me personally, I collect the Doctor Who spin-off books. I have even reviewed several of them on this blog. Even though Doctor Who isn’t as popular as it was when the reboot started, my passion for this British icon still burns strongly.

This Doctor Who Adventure features the fourth incarnation of the Doctor who is traveling with his companions Sarah Jane Smith, and Harry Sullivan. Sarah Jane is a journalist for the local paper and Harry is a surgeon-general for the secret military group U.N.I.T.

When the Doctor and crew stumbled upon some scarecrows that are infecting the local villagers with a mysterious substance that’s turning everyone into scarecrows. I thought I’d heard some version of this idea before. Interesting how the human psyche fears things that somewhat resemble ourselves.

One of the more memorable moments in this novel features Sarah Jane running back to the TARDIS to fetch a contraption for the Doctor so he can build a mechanism that’ll help defeat the scarecrows. Well, a scarecrow got in by mistake and starts chasing Sarah Jane in the many hallways and corridors of the TARDIS. Well one of the rooms had a device that shows the occupant’s life. From the day they were born up until the day they die.

Well, the scarecrow is about to corner Sarah Jane in this room and infect her with this scarecrow dust and it sees it’s life play out before it. We see the humanity in the voiceless and nameless scarecrow and it gives Sarah Jane enough time to escape the TARDIS which is coming down with this mysterious infection. I love how Doctor Who shows the humanity in the monsters/aliens when they have those characteristics.

Overall, I loved Scratchman, the atmosphere is creepy and suspenseful. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook, but either way, check this story out.