ListenUp Audiobooks

Bury Me by Tara Sivec (Audiobook Review)

November 17, 2015 by Darlene

Book Summary from ListenUp Audiobooks

I hear screams in my head.
I see blood on my hands.
When I look in the mirror I see a stranger.

How is it that I can remember bits and pieces of my life, but nothing of any importance and nothing that makes any sense? Everything is twisted and nothing is right. I’m choking with every breath I take, suffocating on the unknown.

Two days ago, everything changed. Two days ago, the people I should trust the most became strangers in my convoluted head. The dreams I have can’t be real. The fleeting memories that whisper through my mind are scary and wrong…they have to be. If they aren’t, I have something much worse to fear than my fractured mind. I need to find out the truth, even if it destroys me.

I’ve been told my name is Ravenna Duskin. I’m eighteen years old and I live in a prison…

My Thoughts

I loved this audiobook! Having never listened to Stephanie Willis before I found her to be a fantastic narrator. Her performance was perfect for this book which is suspenseful and mysterious and I found she really brought out those elements of the story keeping me on the edge of my seat at times. I couldn’t put it down and the six and a half hours spent listening to this book flew by in a flash!

Ravenna Duskin is eighteen years old and she lives in a prison. She remembers bits and pieces of her life but not enough to put it all together. Ravenna is an interesting character and especially so as we learn more about her as she begins to remember more and realize that her parents are lying to her about her past. As these memories become continually more disturbing though Ravenna is left wondering just who she is and what she may have done…

Bury Me is a dark novel full of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing at just what is going on and how it will come to an end. Each time I thought I knew what was going on I came to realize I really didn’t. Bury Me is sure to please those who enjoy a fantastic psychological thriller!

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Source: Review copy provided by ListenUp Audiobooks for an honest review. No compensation was received.

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The Only Ones by Carola Dibbell (Audiobook)

September 21, 2015 by Darlene

In a Nutshell

The Only Ones by Carola Dibbell is a novel that takes place in a post-pandemic world. It is a novel about surviving in a very different world where diseases rage through communities and the fate of the human race is in question as fertility is highly compromised. It is a unique look at a dystopian world and the ways and lengths that people will go just to make it through another day.

Audio Thoughts

Fantastic. The book is read by Sasha Dunbrooke and she does a beyond awesome job. She truly brought this story and its characters to life!

Reflections

Inez, the narrator of our story, is one of those rare people who are immune to all the diseases. Because she is immune she offers herself up as a test subject to make money to survive day to day. She’s hired one day to provide genetic material to another woman who desperately wants a child but in the end the client changes her mind and Inez is left with the child – a child who is essentially a clone of herself. The book then follows Inez and Ani as Inez does everything within her power to give Ani the life she herself never had while, at the same time, always struggling never to reveal just what Ani actually is. I loved this about Inez since she really never knew love herself yet tried in every way to show Ani how much she meant to her.

Fancy It or Not

I did indeed really like this book. It’s unique because yes it’s a dystopian world but the author took a different approach with it being a world so ruined by disease. While the story was a little slow to start for me when it took off I could not stop listening to it and I was completely drawn into this world so different from the one we have, yet really not so unbelievable as to think it could never happen. Recommended for fans of dystopian fiction!

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Source: Audiobook provided by ListenUp Audiobooks for an honest review. No compensation was received.

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The Passion of Marie Romanov by Laura Rose (Audiobook)

July 29, 2015 by Darlene

If you’re anything of a history buff you likely already know about the Romanov family and their horrible end and in The Passion of Marie Romanov, Laura Rose brings that history to life. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Lillian Webb and Travis Smith and they bring even more power and emotion to the story. The majority of the story is narrated by Lillian Webb as the narrative itself is told by one of the Romanov daughters Marie. The ending is narrated by Travis Smith who in a very realistic way brings the tragic end of the Romanov’s alive in our minds. Very well done by both narrators who kept me rapt throughout the telling of the Romanov’s story and the very beautiful writing of Laura Rose.

The story is told from the perspective of the third Romanov daughter Marie and is based on original diaries and letters written by her. It’s a fascinating although terribly sad accounting of what happened to the Romanov family as they were kept in captivity. When taken the Romanov’s were told they were being taken somewhere safe and so they assumed their privileged lives would carry on as they had. It wasn’t long until they realized it wasn’t so when they were unable to even get proper provisions such as food and were no longer treated to the finer things like butter and coffee. At one point the guards even whitewashed their windows effectively cutting them off from the world. As it is historical fiction there are some things like the romance Marie has with a guard brought into the picture. For me I can see a young girl of nineteen yearning for love but I’m not sure that within the time period that the Romanov’s would have lived that a well brought up girl would have carried the romance as far as she did or even had the opportunity to do so. That aside the story is so beautifully told but I will say that the ending is not for the faint of heart. The Romanov’s execution is brought to life in vivid detail and I think that’s to portray the unfairness and downright evilness that was done to this family.

I have read a bit about the Romanov’s in the past including researching them a bit on the internet because their story is so tragic. To imagine that people can kill others so brutally is so horrific to me. One has to wonder how history would have changed had they all been allowed to live. I found this account by Laura Rose to be rich in historical detail with a fictional story weaved throughout that will definitely entice the historical fiction fan. Highly recommended … especially in audio!

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Source: Review copy provided by ListenUp Audiobooks for an honest review. No compensation was received.

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Searching for Grace Kelly by Michael Callahan (Audiobook)

March 3, 2015 by Darlene

Searching for Grace Kelly by Michael Callahan takes us to New York City in the 1950’s and vividly brings alive the sights, sounds, and happenings of the era. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Kristin Kalbli and she does a wonderful job. I haven’t had the pleasure of listening to her before but I thought she perfectly evoked all of the emotion of the characters and liveliness of New York. Searching for Grace Kelly is a story about friendship and of discovering oneself. It is funny, sad, and hopeful. I truly enjoyed every minute I spent listening to this book.

Laura Dixon is a small town debutante who attends Smith. Coming to New York to work at Mademoiselle for the summer has been her dream since she was a young girl. Upon arriving at New York’s Barbizon Hotel (where the famous Grace Kelly once lived) she meets Dolly, from a working class family, in New York to go to secretarial school and the British Vivian who cares not a whit for rules or regulations and lives life on her own terms. Although different in personalities and upbringing the girls forge a friendship that will carry them through the summer and have an everlasting effect on their lives afterwards.

Laura has big dreams for her future and they don’t include marrying well as her mother wishes. She wants to be a writer and New York is the perfect place to see that happen. Her only detour is the love triangle she finds herself in. Dolly’s only dream is to be loved and find the perfect man who fills that desire but she seems to have the worst luck in doing so. When she finally meets a man he turns out to be very mysterious and secretive. Vivian works as a cigarette girl at one of New York’s popular clubs and dreams of being a singer but being a troublemaker herself she finds herself dating one too. These men will change the lives of these girls forever.

I liked all of the girls but I think Laura was my favorite. She had a set of standards and morals she set for herself and she stuck to them no matter who was wooing her. Dolly irritated me at times but that’s probably because she felt her life depended on finding a husband and that’s not something I feel is true although in the era of this novel it was. Vivian I liked because she was such a rebel. I think any woman can relate to these girls as they grow and learn more about the world around them and themselves.

For fans of historical fiction and the fifties, Searching for Grace Kelly is the perfect pick! Highly recommended – especially in audio. It’s a wonderful audio production and the narrator Kristin Kalbli really brought New York and the lives of these girls to life for me. Loved it!

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Source: Audiobook provided by ListenUp Audiobooks for an honest review. No compensation was received.

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