Alex McKenna & the Geranium Deaths

By: Vicki-Ann Bush

Narrated by: Marcus Rothenberg

Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

For Alex McKenna, high school is just a distraction from the love of his life Margaret, with whom he can't wait to spend more time once they get to college. In many respects, Alex is just an average 17-year-old boy...except for the fact he's a transgender medium born from a long line of Strega witches, possessing the ability to communicate with ghosts.

With the help of Margaret and his talented Strega great-grandmother, Alex will learn how to strengthen his abilities. The dead need Alex to help them reconcile issues they left behind, and he finds that he needs them, too.

As his abilities multiply, assisting the dead becomes an outlet to channel his new energy, giving him the strength to come to terms with who he is as a transgender male and how far he will choose to go.

©2019 Machovia Productions Inc (P)2020 Machovia Productions Inc

Great main characters

Well written main characters with enjoyable dialogue between them. I know that the narrator probably isnt an actual teen but he sure sounds like one.

Inclusive, enthralling & a constant re-listen.

I love this story. I find myself talking back to the main character a lot like it's a movie or a ball game. No matter how may times I listen, I still talk to Alex like he's in the room with me. This book makes me a fly on the wall I'm the story and I love it.

The inclusivity was absolutely my favorite. I didn't read the blurb on the book before I started it (I like surprises) and when I realized Alex was trans I fell even more in love with the book. Love to see it.

The narrator does such a good job of voicing the different characters that I follow along easily. I have epilepsy and sometimes I blank out for a bit and some audiobooks are hard to follow when the voices of all the characters are not distinguished and I haven't listened to it 8 times yet. I don't have so much of a problem when I can easily separate each voice to each character and Marcus makes the listening easy. No matter how many times I listen it's like the first time and I always have emotions along with the characters.

a ghost story with ghosts

Alex McKenna is a transgender teen with the gift of being able to see and interact with ghosts. He is also a member of a family of Strega witches. Alex and his family try to cross over deceased spirits who are causing problems in the living world. This time the case hits very close to home. His own house. People are dying of no apparent reason but the weird part is when they are found their head is frozen. it is up to Alex, his family, and his best friend Margaret to figure out who the spirit is and stop them before the body count goes up even higher. And hopefully Alex will not become a tally mark on the body count.



This is my first book by Vicki-Ann Bush and it could be considered YA if not for all of the language used in the book. I enjoyed this book. I loved the way Alex uses his gift and his detective skills to search out the spirits. I think my favorite character is. Alex's mom she is great. Marcus Rothenberg does a awesome job narrating. he kept my attention and really made this book come alive.



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

Alex McKenna & the Geranium Deaths

Having the gift of sight would probably be helpful, but would it be scary? Imagine you are sleeping and you suddenly wake up to find a ghost sitting on your bed or standing over you, just waiting for you to open your eyes. That would be pretty terrifying for some. For others, it might be entertaining. Who knows. In this world filled with paranormal activity, Alex McKenna is the lead character and Bush has added a little bit of spice to his character. He sees ghosts! Who doesn’t love that?

Alex lives with his mom and his younger brother. His mom’s family has the gift of sight, the ability to see into the spirit world, but Alex frets that his brother won’t possess the gift since he hasn’t yet shown any signs. His grandmother helps where she can, but things are starting to fall on Alex’s shoulders now seeing as his mom tries to avoid the sight. All he wants to do is help them. When a dead body with a frozen head is found in his small town, he knows immediately that he has to become involved. This is definitely not natural. He enlists the help of his best friend, Margaret, and his mom. Getting his mom involved would only be possible if he gave her no ultimatum; he knows she seems them too, but she can’t hide from it. Looking into as much research as possible, it slowly leads them to the past…which happens to have a great deal to do with the house that he lives in. His beloved home once had a wicked past, filled with hate, that he never saw it? How is that possible? When another body is found the same way, Alex knows he is just barely scratching the surface and needs to find something fast. As if on queue, his grandmother reveals a pattern between murders. The killings seem to occur every six days leading up to Halloween. Wicked! Knowing a timeline helps, so Alex sets out to find as many answers as he possibly can before its too late and another death is on their hands. What awaits him, Margaret, and his mom is nothing more than the insatiable lust for revenge. Who’s revenge is the question? And once they’ve invited it in, how will they survive?

Bush has an interesting take on this YA Paranormal story. She’s included some mystery, suspense and a bit of a romance. From the narration, it is a bit hard to tell whether the story has been written well, as the narrator stumbles over a few words and repeats himself a few times throughout. These errors are few and far between, and should not hinder enjoyment of the story. Rothenberg does show his skill in his ability to captivate his audience by drawing personalities into the characters that Bush has created with his voice. His narration is entertaining and suits the story quite well. The pace appears to be well kept and steady during voice relay, while the tone of story switches back and forth between a light and more serious setting in the appropriate places. If you are interested in reading YA Paranormal, supernatural mysteries, and suspense, you may want to pick this one up.

An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a four-star rating to Alex McKenna & the Geranium Deaths by Vicki-Ann Bush.

Fun Paranormal YA Story

This was a fun YA urban fantasy. Alex and Margaret were fun main characters to follow around. I really liked Alex. He’s well grounded and comfortable with his witchy skills that let him communicate with the dead. For a YA novel, this story did an amazing job of avoiding teen angst (something that usually turns me off YA). I loved that Alex and Margaret have regular teen challenges, like school and a little bullying, but then they also have this passion to help spirits move on and protect the living from evil ghosts.

Alex is a lot of good things, and he also happens to be transgender. It’s great to see that he’s Alex first, ghost hunter second, and transgender third. While that label does carry through everything he does, the focus of this story is on how he handles this old murder mystery and recent deaths. He handles it all very well, making a few mistakes which can be allowed for because of his age and limited experience.

There’s a smidge of romance in this story but it doesn’t distract from the larger plot (yay!). Margaret is far more than a romantic interest too. She’s got her own set of skills and her own problems at home. She and Alex work very well together, saving and protecting each other in turns.

The ending did feel very rushed. It was over and I was left waiting for another chapter when I heard the final one-liner from Audible signaling the end of the book. Over all, it was fun and charming. I would like to see Alex and Margaret on further adventures. 4.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Marcus Rothenberg had a great voice for Alex. He’s sounds like a teen on the verge of manhood. I also liked his various female voices for the ladies (Margaret, Alex’s mom, granma, and a few others). All characters had distinct voices. I liked his old man voice for the 95 year old. However, his voice for little kid brother (Weebelow? Weatherby? Warwick?) sounded more like a 30 year old with a head cold. So little kid voices could use some work. On the technical side, there were a few sentences that were repeated here and there. Other wise, the recording was good. 4.5/5 stars.

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

YA LGBTQ MYSTERY PARANORMAL +ROMANCE

First off I will say I loved this book and cant wait for the 2nd.. The author does her job of pulling you in and believing in the paranormal. I actually was drawn in by the mystery and the lovely family relationships. I actually felt like I was in NY. This narrator was just as amazing at conveying the author's story and making you feel like you were watching everything unfold in front of you. I will say this the book keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout..

A teen, transgender medium? Yes please!

I received this as an audiobook to read for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to The Parliament House for giving me access.

A transgender medium?! Yes please!! I went into this not thinking I would enjoy it (I am a total "judge a book by its cover" person). Vicki-Ann Bush created a story that I definitely need more of. Having a character that is transgender and going through treatment for change, all while in a fantasy world, this is something more authors need to incorporate into their writing. I'm sorry, contemporaries are not for me.

The actual story line was amazing as well, there was a Ghost Whisperer vibe to it (a favorite that I love to binge watch).

Why do I give it 4 stars if I loved it? It would have been perfect if the narration was read by someone with an Italian accent.

Vicki-Ann did it again!

This book is phenomenal! The story grabs you and makes you feel as if you are apart of the story!
Highly recommend this book!

Physically reading this book is the way to go

I personally love books, shows, etc., about people who can see, talk to, and help the dead. I couldn't wait to read this book. While I really connected with our MC, Alex, and was super intrigued by the plot and subplots of this book I could only identify one giant flaw. The audio narrator. I know if I would have physically read this book I would have loved it a lot more. While I enjoyed his tone of voice, I felt like he didn't emote the other characters well. I didn't like his voice for the females, little brother, or elderly people in the book. I also felt like he read the book to me instead of performed the book for me. Lack-luster is the best way I can describe it. If you're going to read this book, do yourself a favor and read it physically.

*The audiobook was sent to me in exchange for an honest review.*