Customer anon98

Great series but the original audio is better!

Reviewed: 01-19-25

The Mercy Thompson series is a well-written long-standing series with great characters. Although I loved the original audiobooks, I was still looking forward to the dramatized versions since Graphic audio has done such an amazing job adapting other well know series (for example, Ilona Andrews books). However, I was really disappointed in the performances. It doesn't sound like the performers read the books or understood the characters. Mercy sounds very young and many times I felt like the actor was simply reading the script. The performances of well-loved characters like Bran and Stefan were terrible. Many of the male characters sound very similar and can be difficult to differentiate. All of these issues were present in the dramatized version of the first book, but I wanted to give it a second chance. Still disappointed. I will go back to listen these books again, as they are that good, but I will stick with the original version. Also, while the character of Charles Cornick only has one line in this audiobook, I really hope if they are considering adapting the Alpha and Omega series that they get a different performer.

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Tybalt's viewpoint! Fabulous narrator!

Reviewed: 03-28-24

This is book #18 in the October Daye series. Not many authors can maintain a series this long. Each book in the series adds to the world building and character development. This is a very strong series that only gets better with each new book.

The earlier books have all been from October's viewpoint and were narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal. This newest addition is from Tybalt's viewpoint and required a different narrator. Mr. Corkhill did a fabulous job of capturing Tybalt's kingly manner and I will definitely look for other books he has narrated..

This was the book you didn't know you needed but now can't imagine not having as part of the this finely crafted and often heart-breaking series. I personally think it is the best book of the series so far.

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A wonderful addition to this great series

Reviewed: 03-28-24

I have listened to both the original and the graphic audio version of this book. I preferred the graphic audio adaptation and the actors were absolutely perfect for their roles. I highly recommend this engaging series in graphic audio format.

This is the 5th book in the very strong Innkeeper series. Ilona and Gordon Andrews excel at story-telling, world building and character development. They are particularly good at providing wonderfully diverse supportive characters that are well crafted and add much to the story line.
This story gave us a wonderful glimpse of Dina and Sean settling into their life together and learning to manage the inn as a partnership. Of course, life is never dull for Dina and Sean and in an attempt to rescue a kidnapped friend, they must host a very complicated and risky spousal selection event for The Dominion. Not only are we introduced to some fascinating new characters it is particularly entertaining that some of the wonderful supporting characters are included as well (George, Gaston, Tony, Caldenia, Orro, Marais, etc). We need more Gaston! We also get a fun resolution to the Costco Lady (from Book 1).

We still don't have a resolution to the overarching storyline of Dina's missing parents but this book provides some tantalizing information regarding this mystery in the final chapter. I know some readers are getting frustrated with not having everything resolved into a pretty package but I am totally onboard with the authors not solving the big mystery yet as long as they keep writing these wonderfully crafted and wildly entertaining stories.

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Struggled with this story

Reviewed: 11-11-23

Reading this reminded me of the original Toby Day books where Toby was the helpless victim. She is once again the helpless victim, this time in an alternate version of Faerie. This is a pretty painful experience for those who have stuck with the books and moved on with the stronger independent version of October.

Many of the characters we have come to know and love are missing for most of the book (or are unrecognizable as their alternate form). There is a lot of revisiting the past or discussing an alternate history of this new world we hopefully (!) won't have to see again after this book.

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A confusing story

Reviewed: 05-19-22

I was confused by this audiobook and struggled to finish it. In this book, a young, orphaned female is forced into menial labor to survive. She initially works for very low wages in a restaurant with an obnoxious male boss that throws food, yells and garnishes her meager wages for minor errors. Then she ends up acting as a servant for a group of three paranormal men. By the end of the book they appear to have adopted her in some manner, but she still appears to the cook and bottle washer for these three guys. I was not sure if Pet was human and/or female for a while. We never hear her real name which further dehumanizes (and this isn’t Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier).
There is very little character development and world building. I assume the author is setting the stage for the future books, but it felt like too much was missing. In contrast, it felt like an excessive amount of time was spent on Pet’s job and her obnoxious boss, which didn’t feel particularly relevant.
There is what I assume to be Australian slang that I found a little confusing. The narrators performance for Jin Yeong, the Korean vampire was frankly painful to listen to.
I read in a few reviews that the later books flesh out the characters and provide some world building, but not sure I will be willing to spend time on another book in this series to get to find out.

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1 person found this helpful

Great fun!

Reviewed: 05-09-22

I am a big fan of the authors and the original narrator for this series (Rene Raudman) is fabulous. That said, I totally enjoyed this new Graphic Audio version which is worth buying even if you already own the original audiobook. The cast is absolutely fabulous. I particularly loved the performance of Orro, the chef. I will definitely be listening to these Graphic Audio versions more than once. There were a few tweaks from the original story but nothing that I felt detracted from enjoying the audiobook. I will be buying this whole series on Graphic Audio and I am anxiously awaiting book#5 in Graphic Audio format (the original audiobook did not feature Ms Raudman as the narrator and I could not listen to it).

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Really enjoyed this!

Reviewed: 05-02-22

I have read everything by Ilona Andrews and I am a big fan. They are great storytellers with strong character development and creative world building. Renee Raudman's narration was absolutely amazing and it was hard to imagine any way to improve on the original version which I own and have listened to more than once. I was curious about hearing this story performed by a full cast and was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this version. The selection of actors was spot-on. I have already purchased the next book in this graphic audio series.
I will add that there are a few spots where the audio was a bit problematic. For example, when audio is coming from a character that is at a distance. There are a few cases where the music overwhelmed the audio. Not serious problems.
I am hoping they will continue through the entire Innkeeper series, and I anxiously await the new version of book 5 which was not narrated by Renee Raudman. The new narrator was terrible and I had to resort to the written version of the book.

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Tedious, boring, don't waste your time or credit

Reviewed: 12-01-20

Not sure where to start, but this was a terrible book. The narration was awful. There is one female character and a number of male characters. Ms. Rivers struggled with the narration for the male characters. Painful experience.
The plot was weak and character building was lacking.. The reverse harem trope was tedious. Poor Sawyer surrounded by 5 incredibly hot men. The writing was weak and often resorted to excessive use of foul language (yawn).
It was hard to like any of these characters and I have no desire to revisit them in a any future books.

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1 person found this helpful

Don't love this narrator, will try the book

Reviewed: 09-02-20

I am generally a fan of everything these authors write, however, I struggled with this book. I think this this is primarily due to the choice of narrator, who has a very limited range. While she does fine with the main characters, the many supporting characters are difficult to distinguish. Many of the characters appeared in previously audiobooks which were performed by the very capable Rene Raudman. It is difficult to reconcile characters that were brought to life so vividly in previous books with the current boring narration. A few examples are Augustine Montgomery, who had a wonderfully aristocratic voice (as performed by Ms. Raudman) that perfectly fit the authors writing of this character. In the current books, he sounds like any ordinary guy. "Bug", so wonderfully performed in previous books, also now just sounds ordinary. Oddly, Leon often sounds like an old man who was a long time smoker instead of a 20 year old. I struggled to finish the audiobook.
I did appreciate the inclusion of Cornelius in the beginning (a great character). Also, the odd dismissal of Nevada and Connor in the previous book is starting to be resolved.
This second part of the Hidden Legacy series featuring Catalina and Allesandro just doesn't have quite the same magic of the first few books focused on Nevada and Connor. Parts of the story line felt repetitive from the first books (the two protagonists, both super-Primes split at the end of the first book when the male appears to dump the female only to join together again at the end of the second book, and Catalina warning Allesandro her family hates him are a few examples.
I will take a break after reading the audiobook and then pick up the kindle book to see if my opinion improves once separated from the poor audio performance.

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Can't finish this audiobook, poor narrator

Reviewed: 03-08-20

The new narrator for this series is absolutely jarring. I own all of the books by Ilona Andrews and I am a huge fan. I often listen to them more than once. Rene Raudman was outstanding and the authors were incredibly lucky to have teamed up with her. I don't know what went into the decision to change narrators, but it was clearly a bad one. I have tried several times to listen to this audiobook, and I can't do it. The narration is terrible. Dina's soft, southern accent is gone. The narrator can't do male voices at all. The narration is inconsistent and flat. While changing narrators mid-stream is always difficult, this one is particularly challenging since it is a fan favorite series that had a fabulous narrator. I will have to return this audiobook and go back and listen to an earlier book with Ms. Raudman to purge the memory of this awful narration. Sooooooo disappointed in this audiobook.

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62 people found this helpful