DEAD TO ME

Dead To Me by Annie Anderson
Book 1 in the Grave Talker series
Narrated by Cassandra Parker
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Dead To Me:

Meet Darby. Coffee addict. Homicide detective. Oh, and she can see ghosts, too.

There are only three rules in Darby Adler's life.
One: Don't talk to the dead in front of the living.
Two: Stay off the Arcane Bureau of Investigation's radar.
Three: Don't forget rules one and two.

With a murderer desperate for Darby's attention and an ABI agent in town, things are about to get mighty interesting in Haunted Peak, TN.

Source: Info in the "About Dead To Me" was taken from amazon on 29/05/2025.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

By chapter 5, I was thinking, are they all related??

Darby is just a bit too cocky for my liking...

This is my interpretation of the ABI's (Arcane Bureau of Investigation) logo. This is just to show you what I saw in my head when I was reading the book. I am not artistic, so don't judge my rendering too harshly. Perhaps, if the logo has been described a little bit more in detail. Like the triangles are supposed to be overlapping or something?

At first, it was a bit difficult to figure out whether the rest of the world knows about the supernatural or not. But then there is the ABI. A government agency. The FBI equivalent for the supernatural beings. That means that the world knows. Otherwise, the ordinary people would not know about the ABI. But it seems like they do. So, the supernaturals are known to the general public. This is an "open world". It is important for me to know that to appreciate the story.

The ending is a cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers! This is one of the main reasons that this book will never rate higher than 4.

Cassandra Parker reads with a sass which befit the main character!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 2.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (5 hrs and 53 mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Grave Talker Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Annie Anderson:

Annie Anderson is the author of the international bestselling Rogue Ethereal series. A United States Air Force veteran, Annie pens fast-paced Urban Fantasy novels filled with strong, snarky heroines and a boatload of magic. When she takes a break from writing, she can be found binge-watching The Magicians, flirting with her husband, wrangling children, or bribing her cantankerous dogs to go on walks.

www.annieande.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | tiktok | pinterest | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Cassandra Parker:

Actress / Voiceover Artist / Singer / Gamer / Pet Portrait Artist

www.cass-parker.com | twitter | instagram | imdb | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

TEMERAIRE

The Book

Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Book 1 in the Temeraire series
Narrated by Simon Vance
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About Temeraire:

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain's defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future –– and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France's own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte's boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

Source: Info in the "About Temeraire" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/891592.Temeraire on 27/08/2022.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

I am an old fan of this author and that is the main reason that this book got bought and read. Because I was looking for more of the Uprooted reading goodness! But, I don't know... maybe I was in a reading funk... or something... this book took a whole lot longer to read/listen to, even with the convenience of the audiobook format... The story telling quality just seems to be not on par with Uprooted...

There wasn't much of a plot really. This book being the first book in the series, is mainly an introduction to the world of Temeraire, establish the characters, fights to give it dramatic flair and that is it mainly. However, I bawled my eyes out in the middle of the night of the death of a beloved character that the author killed in chapter 12! I wanted to throttle the life out of Rankin!! And that,... shows us the quality of the story telling quality of this author. The ability to spin moonbeams and rainbows essentially out of nothing...

Now, Simon Vance is an old veteran of a narrator and it shows! And oh, he does autocratic British accent really well!!

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (10 hrs and 8 mins listening time)
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Temeraire Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Naomi Novik:

An avid reader of fantasy literature since age six, when she first made her way through The Lord of the Rings, Naomi Novik is also a history buff with a particular interest in the Napoleonic era and a fondness for the work of Patrick O’Brian and Jane Austen. She studied English literature at Brown University, and did graduate work in computer science at Columbia University before leaving to participate in the design and development of the computer game Neverwinter Nights: Shadow of Undrentide. Over the course of a brief winter sojourn spent working on the game in Edmonton, Canada (accompanied by a truly alarming coat that now lives brooding in the depths of her closet), she realized she preferred writing to programming, and on returning to New York, decided to try her hand at novels.

Naomi lives in New York City with her husband and six computers.

www.naominovik.com | twitter | facebook | instagram | pinterest | tumblr | audible | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Simon Vance:

Simon Vance is a stage, TV, and film actor who has narrated more than 200 audiobooks for which he has won multiple AudioFile Earphone Awards and Audie nominations. He has also been selected as an AudioFile Golden Voice. Formerly a BBC Radio newsreader in London, he now resides in Northern California.

simonvance.com | twitter | facebook | imdb | wikipedia | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.