Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Audio Review: This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost


Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they've triumphed over the latest battle, Cat's new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance...
With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing. A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous "ally" - the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war...to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.
Well, I thought I'd try to get caught up with the series and although I have this in print, I thought I'd try it in audio. Luckily my library had it in the format I could use. Tavia Gilbert is the narrator and I have to honestly say that I did not like her pacing at all. It was too fast for most of the book, but that pacing was fine for the most intense action parts of the book. I also have to say that I did not like her Bones accent. Actually, the accent was "okay", but the voice for bones was just too wrong for me. Her voice actually seemed to raise a bit to do his parts. I was also not thrilled with the Mancheres voice either. It did distract me a bit from the book as a whole.

As for the book. I loved it. This one had quite a bit of humor and I LOL'd quite a bit. In fact I woke up my dog and got a dirty look for laughing too loudly. Yep, Cat had her snark on and even toward herself. Vlad also had a few really good one liners. Oh yea, can't wait to read his book. Yes, you can safely say I enjoyed the humor a lot.

We also get some good secondary characters involved in this book. Mencheres, Vlad, and even Marie Laveau. I have to admit, even though Marie has her own agenda and is on her own side, I like the ghoul. She is smart and quite devious. I hope there is more with her in further adventures with Cat.

I give this book 4 stars. It's possible I may rate it higher with a reread. I guess we will have to see. I didn't love the audio, but I did love the book and the adventure.

Alternate cover (I like much better):

25 comments:

  1. Ohh, new look! I love it.
    It's too bad the narrator ruined this a bit for you. I liked this book a lot, it wasn't until later that the series went downhill. And I agree with you about the humor, it IS excellent, especially the Vlad - Bones banter. But the audio cover is awful, gah!

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    1. I might still enjoy it. I'm such a fangirl for this series. :) I do think I'll reread it at another time. :)

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    1. I don't really care for the first, but I like the pb version.

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  3. Ahhhhh I love this series! I think the audio would be hard for me though with Bones. Just like you said, even if her accent is okay, it's still a woman's voice reading Bones and that would mess with my head:) So glad you love this series as much as I do!

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    1. It did mess with my head. I was able to get a bit used to it toward the end, but it still wasn't Bones...

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  4. this series is so great! But I should try an audiobook to see how it is too.

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    1. I'd like to see if you had the same reaction as I did. :)

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  5. I also much prefer that second cover but then I have a thing about gargoyles.

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  6. I have the first Cat and Bones book as an audiobook and I agree that the accent for Bones is kind of painful. Maybe that's why I haven't finished it/gotten any other titles in this series as audiobooks yet.

    On the other hand, if you like the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole, those audiobooks are AMAZING. The narrator is Robert Petkoff and he does a fantastic job with the voices.

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    1. Oh I'm so going to have to see if the library had those in a format I can use! SWEET!

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    2. The whole series isn't out yet, I think we're up to Cadeon's book, whatever number that is, and Lothaire is out already. Just gives a chance to catch up! Enjoy! :D

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  7. I am behind on this series as well. I need to read the last book that came out. I have read this one and I liked Marie for sure. Definitely creepy. I enjoy this series it is a guilty pleasure. I need to see when the next one is coming out and catch up!

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    1. I'm SO behind... I'm SO bad! I'm SO going to catch up. I know.. you are just going... "So?" ;D

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  8. I haven't heard any of the audio's for these, but I do love the books! I hope you catch up on this series soon cause it's SO great!

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  9. This is several books ahead of where I am in the series but I would have to have a deep, sexy voice for Bones. I'd have to have a female voice for Cat. It just wouldn't do for there not to be differing voices. It's how I imagine them in my mind when I'm reading the series. No audio for me on this one!

    Loving your April showers!! How wonderful to be showered with books!!

    Heather

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  10. I thought that cover was different. I've not read the series yet but have seen the covers many times. And sorry to hear the reader wasn't so good, but glad you still enjoyed the story. :)

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  11. dang..i started to drool thinking about Bones and that accent..he talks to me with one as I read ya know..it's dreamy. I love this series, too bad the audio didn't work as well. The cover is gorgeous and different from mine.

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  12. Ya know, I wouldn't mind listening to the voice of Bones if it was a guy and he has a british accent. Now that I can't resist. Still, I think I stick to the books so I can hear his voice in my head :)

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  13. Glad to hear there's some good banter in this book. I've become used to Bones getting into it with someone in every book. I'm behind, but hoping to catch up soon. Great review!

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  14. This is such a fantastic series! There are definitely many LOL parts to it (trust me, I've gotten the dirty looks from my dogs, too. Geeze. Dogs.). And, yes, I really like the second cover so much better. Cat's a little spooky looking in the first one.

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  15. Ooh I don't know if I could listen to this on audio. If Bones didn't sound right to me I couldn't un-hear it lol

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  16. Sorry the audio didn't do it for you, but glad you liked the action and humor. I need to try this series one of these days.
    Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog

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  17. Nice review, I need to catch up with this series too!

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