Bride

By: Kyle Alexander Romines

Narrated by: Becca Ballenger

The year is 1795. Frankenstein’s monster has given his creator an ultimatum: Victor must build the creature a mate, or watch as the monster destroys everything and everyone he has ever loved.

You know their story.

You don’t know hers.

She is born into darkness, her destiny entwined with an unspeakable evil. Her sole companion is her creator, the inscrutable Victor Frankenstein, gatekeeper to a life she has never experienced. As her understanding of humanity takes shape, she must contend with the horrific nature of her intended mate and conflicting feelings for her creator.

She wants more from life than to be the bride of Frankenstein’s monster, but will she seek freedom, vengeance, or something else entirely?

©2017 Kyle Alexander Romines (P)2018 Kyle Alexander Romines

A completely unique take on the bride of Frankenstein!

Bride by Kyle Alexander Romines and narrated by Becca Ballenger is an Audible book I requested and the review is voluntary. This book is a completely unique take on the bride of Frankenstein! The whole story takes place from the view of the "bride", Justine. Throughout the story the reader gets to know more about the first creation of "monster", Victor himself, and others in relationship to Frankenstein and Justine.
This has a unique plot and characters that hooked me right away!
It is a horror story, but it is so much more! There is so many emotions expressed by all players that this author makes you feel. My emotions were all over the place! It was suspenseful, heartbreaking, tender, crushing, horrifying, and more. Certainly unpredictable!
The narrator performed this perfectly! I was lost in the story and never once thought of her voice as "the narrator's" voice. It was always the character's voice.

Bride

I have to admit Bride is not in my typical go to genre. After reading the blurb, I was intrigued and decided to give it a try. This is proof why I should go outside of my comfort zone to keep from missing out on an awesome. I had the pleasure of listening to the audio version and enjoyed every single minute of it. Becca Ballenger did a fantastic performance. Her voice was perfect for this book. I plan to give it another listen some time soon.

I would give Bride one hundred stars if I could. I would love to give Kyle Alexander Romines another try to see where else his imagination takes his readers. This one was awesome. I highly recommend it.

I received the audio version of this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

if you like Frankenstein you will love the Bride

We have all no doubt heard of Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein, and we have all read, watched, or listened to countless versions of these stories. Bride is just another version BUT it is strictly from the Brides point of view. This is a fascinating story.

Kyle Alexander Romines has brought us a wonderful tale starting with how and when Justine (the bride) lived and died, how she was reborn and her struggles and joys along the way to becoming the Bride. The book has just enough description to give your minds eye a vision of the people places and things throughout the book. It was very hard to have to stop or even pause the story.

Becca Ballenger does an amazing job with the narration. She pulls you in pretty much from the first sentence and doesn't let go until the very last word of the book. She breaths life into each character in the book and makes you feel like you are walking beside them.

I was given this free audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Spellbinding story and narration!

Enjoyed this so very much. Kept me deeply interested, and I didn't want to stop listening. Narration was wonderfully done, which only added to the spellbinding effect of the story.

4.5/5 Stars Excellent and creepy

*Will try to keep main part spoiler free

Summary:

Victor Frankenstein’s attempt to correct his mistakes take a dangerous turn. The monster wants a mate and demands Victor fulfill a promise to create a bride for him. Justine begins as the nanny for Victor’s two younger brothers, but life—and death—have other plans for her.

Additional Comments:

- Story 4/5: A strong horror tale/ companion piece to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I confess to not knowing the story well enough to be offended by things that would contradict the original tale. Like Wicked or Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies, this story takes a classic and reworks pieces into a new and engaging minisaga.

- Characters 4.5/5: Justine/Persephone takes on several roles throughout the book. The story unfolds from her perspective, and even when things get crazy, one can sympathize with her. Victor’s not very likable, but I don’t think he was ever meant to be.

- Performance 5/5: Becca Ballenger finds nice balance for Justine’s innocence, Persephone’s journey, Victor’s many blunders, and the monster’s rage.

- The ending is satisfying even if it fits somewhat “neatly.”

- One must have pretty solid suspension of disbelief to buy into Frankenstein’s shaky science. Same holds true here. Put a body out in a lightning storm and—boom—reanimation. Sometimes, Persephone eats and claims to be tired or hungry and other times it’s mentioned that she’s impervious to such human weaknesses.

- I especially enjoyed the parts where Persephone learned about Victor’s family and got to know them. Side characters were unique and compelling in their own right.

Conclusion:

If you’re in the mood for something both excellent and creepy, check this out. Perfect for the Halloween creepy season.
*I received a free copy of the book; I chose to review it. All thoughts are my own.

Even better than I expected!

I received this audiobook free in exchange for an honest review.

What can I say but “Wow!”

The story was fantastic, and the narrative performance was also amazing!

Kyle Alexander Romines has written an exquisite companion piece to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and you can tell that this was a labor of love for him as a writer because of how much care he put into honoring Shelley’s work as original source material. Any fan of Frankenstein will become an instant fan of Bride.

Becca Ballenger’s narration gives great atmosphere to the story, and her accent draws you in, allowing you to believe that she truly is the title character of this work speaking to you.

I don’t want to gush too much for fear that my opinion of Bride will come across as disingenuous, but if you’re a fan of Frankenstein like I am, then grab this book! You won’t be disappointed.

Engaging, enthralling story

4.5 STARS. AUDIO BOOK REVIEW. What first drew me to Bride by Kyle Alexander Romines was *SHOCK* the creepy cover. With the eerie coloring, stormy sky, graveyard, and of course, the shadowy veiled woman, how could I pass-up the chance to have a read (with my ears)? Happily, the story held within is just as intriguing in this interesting companion story to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both books share the core elements of being horror with a bit of suspense and much tragedy, but Bride has the added element of romance. Strangely, it is really love that ultimately drives the action and consequences of nearly every event in the story – and it works.

Romines sets the stage with an excellent prologue that shows just how beautiful and vibrant main character Justine is before her death, and it shows just how quickly mob mentality can change the world in a blink of an eye. The consequences of that fateful day are far-reaching. As Justine is re-born, she’s also re-named Persephone. Even while Persephone doesn’t understand the significance of her name, readers know that it’s apropos enough. Just like the Greek goddess was abducted to become the wife of Hades, Justine was taken to become the wife of the Creature created by Victor Frankenstein.

As Persephone evolves and becomes smarter -- brilliant really -- she discovers love and tenderness. She reads stories that raise her awareness of feelings of affection, and naturally, she has those feelings for Victor. Again, author Kyle Romines does a terrific job of allowing readers to feel what Persephone feels and aptly describes her evolution as random pieces of Persephone’s memory return to her and she blossoms. But always lurking in the background is the Creature – fierce, dangerous, mysterious, but not wholly evil.

When Persephone grows smart enough to put the pieces together, she gets pissed… uh-oh. There is ruthlessly executed revenge, but there is also regret, heartbreak, love, and compassion – and Persephone the monster is more than anything else, human. Persephone struggles with her feelings, and her revelations make her (and readers) question who are the real monsters in the world.

Love is as much a driving force as hate and vengeance, which was a surprise to me. Had I known this beforehand, I likely would have passed on reading Bride, so I am glad I didn’t know. The book is longer than it needs to be, and there are two major plot holes that I feel need to be addressed regarding Victor and the Creature. However, Bride keeps the reader engaged and enthralled with its twists and turns, and the story finishes perfectly. Predictably, yes, but even this ending has an unexpected twist and there is definitely unfinished business that could merit another book. (I would read it.)

ABOUT THE NARRATION: Technically, there isn’t a single glitch in the recording. It’s professionally done, through and through. Narrator Becca Ballenger gives readers a wonderful performance with perfect pacing (I listened at regular speed). She speaks in a British accent, and in true Brit form, keeps the delivery fairly even with the emotions coming across in the enunciation and slight inflections of the words. Her voicing of Justine/Persephone is outstanding and authentic, making listeners forget they are hearing a work of fiction. She skillfully tackles male and female characters, giving each of them unique voices, and her delivery of the Creature’s lines perfectly conveys the rage within him. Well done.

Thank you to AudioBookWorm Promotions and the author for providing me an audio download in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.

So good!!!!

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

So... dang... this turned out to be one heck of a book. This was a cool way to approach the whole, Bride of Frankenstein thing. The conflict you experience through her eyes make for a fascinating and entertaining listen. The narration is great as well. All in all, if you like the horror genre, or even just the classics, you should check this book out. It is a masterful homage to the old with a fresh feel to it.

Breath of Life for a Classic Tale

Without a doubt, this is a wonderful spin on the classic Frankenstein tale. The dialogue, the action, the pacing are all fresh and exciting. Not only did I enjoy the story, but the narration was top-notch as well. I highly recommend this book to all who are a fan of classic horror. The telling of the Bride's story is incredibly intriguing.

I look forward to other works from Kyle Alexander Romines in the future.

An Excellent Creepy Listen.

At the beginning of Bride I was wondering if I would like the listen as it felt like it was dragging a bit but by the third chapter I was hooked. It kept my interest through the end and finished strong.
Following the main character's progress from when she was first reborn until she regained her memories was interesting. Her journey from the point where she regained her memories in full had lots of suspense and drama which are my favourite things in a scary book.
For me Romines really brought out the human side of the characters, making them all very relatable, which is not easy in something so fantasy based. I felt empathy for the creature, I understood Frankenstein's motives and my heart ached for Josephine. An emotional, touching read.
Becca is an excellent narrator for this book, the way she differentiated the characters made it easy to keep track of who was who. I really enjoyed the sound of of her voice and would happily listen to another book narrated by her.
Overall I would say the I highly recommend this audio book, well worth the listen.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Kyle Alexander Romines. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.