From the Grave

The Arcana Chronicles

By: Kresley Cole

Narrated by: Emma Galvin

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Kresley Cole’s New York Times best-selling Arcana Chronicles series comes to a spectacular and fiery conclusion in this final installment.

When even the gods hold their breath...

To defeat the emperor and Fortune, Evie, the great Empress of Arcana, must repair her bond with Death, despite the earth-shattering developments between them.

...and danger lurks in every shadow...

Their allies—a sea witch, a band of roving warriors, and more than a couple of rogues—overcome terrifying obstacles to help them. But when Jack makes a shocking discovery, the fallout threatens to tear their alliance apart.

...one girl could deliver salvation—or doom.

If the empress and her friends can remain united, will their powers be enough to defeat a catastrophic curse on the world, or will hellfire reign forever? The end looms for us all until the best hand wins....

©2023 Kresley Cole (P)2023 Kresley Cole

Good Story but HUGE Narration Failure!

I had been waiting for years for this book to come out and was so excited once it did. I relistened to the whole series and then when I started this one. I was so upset and disappointed. I can't tell you how many times I had to rewind and relisten because I couldn't tell if it was Evie, Jack or Aric's thoughts or words. Jack & Aric's accents are gone! You gave them beautiful accents throughout the first 5 books but on the conclusion it was lackluster and flat. This performance is equivalent to switching out the actors of Harry, Hermione & Ron in the last movie of the Harry Potter Movies. That was very frustrating, disappointing and irritating. Accents aside, the ending was good but was ruined by the performance.

Love the story love the series

This final book was nothing short of amazing. The long wait for its release is understandable once you listen. The accents are spot on, and the heartbreak along with the surprises don't stop. I spent a fair amount of time crying while listening to this, and it was worth every tear. I don't believe I have ever been so pleased with the way a series was wrapped up. Authors should take a cue from Kresly, because she NAILED IT. I will miss these characters and all that they brought to the story. Thank you, Kresley for taking the time to do this right! Thank you Emma for giving us the story the way it should have been told. This re-recorded speaks volumes about how important this was to you:)

The audio recording has been FIXED!!!!

I was heartbroken when the book came out because the accents for most of the characters was missing and the book didn't feel the same. I saw a post from the author that the audio had been redone and it is everything that I could have hoped for!!! Emma did an amazing job bringing all the characters to life and all the action was easy to picture. From to Grave was a beautiful farewell to the characters that I've grown to love. The Arcana Chronicles will always be a beloved series.

Where are the accents? Emma, what happened?

I am a huge fan of the AC series and have been so excited for From the Grave. Kresley did an incredible job on this final installment of the series and I was thrilled that Emma was returning to narrate the final book. Emma Galvin made the Arcana Chronicles series intoxicating to listen to; her depictions and accents for each of the characters were incredible…but she utterly failed in From the Grave. Aric and Jack’s dialogue was particularly indiscernible at times, even taking on tones of Emma’s depiction of Richter’s voice. Emma’s disappointing narration was a disservice to KC, the fans, and most of all the LONG-awaited conclusion of this 10-year-long, 7-book series.

If there’s ever an opportunity for Emma to re-record, I hope she takes it. She is one of my favorite narrators of all time, but her performance in FtG was a letdown.

Great story, narrator didn’t prep.

I have this entire series on audio book and the ending is the Cherry on top! It rips your heart out and leaves you in a state of shock days after you are finished.
That being said I was so excited that Emma Galvin was coming back to do the narration, until I started listening. I almost returned this book, all of the voices are different, she didn’t give Aric his accent. It was so bad in the beginning of the book I couldn’t tell the difference between Evie and Aric speaking to each other. If you hadn’t listened to the books back to back it may not be noticeable but I did in order to be “refreshed” for this release. The difference are so jarring the main on being Aric but also Jack.
Overall I loved the story and am thrilled with the ending. I am completely disappointed with the lack a preparation on the part of Emma Galvin.

Worth the Wait

The conclusion of this wonderful series was brilliantly done. Kresley Cole delivered a story full of life, with all the emotional rollercoasters involved. I have already played this story twice, and I anticipate many more as I come to grips with the end of this world Cole created.

Don't bother with the audiobook

Both Aric and Jack's accents are GONE. It was hard to tell Evie, Aric, and Jack apart. For some reason the other Arcana still had their accents, but not the most important characters? It honestly ruined a lot of the experience for me. After waiting SO LONG for this series to have a finale, it was hard to concentrate on the story when I had to keep checking back to figure out who was even speaking. It was really disappointing.

Good Story with Narration Failure

What can I say? From the first words out of Aric's mouth I knew something was wrong. Where is my Latvian accent? Why does Jack sound like Evie? Who's speaking?

The whole purpose of audio is to get a different experience where the performer tells the story and gives the listener the characters and the voices they have come to love. This audiobook was an epic fail. There is no way a producer, proofer or narrator for that matter should have let this book go live without catching the mismatch of voices. Nobody, with the exception of Sol sounded the same. Even Evie sounded much older. I do not return books, but I was so close to just not finishing. However I needed to know how the story would end, so I pressed on...

The story started very slow for me. But I assume that was the purpose as it lead up to the climatic battle between the good Arcana and Richter and Fortune. I will say out of All the theories surrounding WHO or WHAT is Jack that's been circulating, kinda left me like really lol. I still enjoyed the story. I even cried a lot and I know some people didn't like the ending, but it was actually what I hoped it would be. It seemed like the best choice and I was totally happy. Biggest cry moment was Aric's letter to Jack and Matthew's return. That's all I got. I think if you are a stickler for audio (like me), you may want to read the book so your disappointment over the narration won't influence your review too much. Hail Ta Ro!

Thank You, Kresley

Thank you, Kresley, for all the good, bad, good, good, bad, good, good, good byes.

Hail Tar Ro!

This Review Was Hard To Write

More of this Review and others at my Bookstagram: @whimsically_bookish

I just want to start by saying I absolutely adore Kresley Cole and even though we don't know what made her go on a five year hiatus, I am grateful she came back and finished this amazing series... unlike George RR Martin who will probably take the ending of GOT to his grave.

Anyway, my expectations were HIGH with this book. I had five years of waiting and the entire series was so phenomenal... I think any ending wouldn't have satisfied me because I just never wanted it to end. That being said, as much as it pains me to write this, I didn't love it.

It started with the narration. The Arcana Chronicles has been my go to audible series rec for years because Emma Galvin was just a narrator queen. She made you feel like you were watching a movie. I had these characters in my head because of the voice she gave them. And it disappeared with this last book. Idk what happened. I know they were trying to hurry up and get the audiobook out, so maybe that had something to do with it, but both Aric and Jack's accents were gone. It was so hard to decipher who was talking and confusion abounded. I would have gladly waited longer to have those accents back.

And while I was so happy to get back to these characters this book read like a filler episode for most of it. It was just... off. I couldn't really stay into it for some reason.

What really upset me though was the ending. I won't spoil anything, but it just wasn't for me. And hey, you can't please everybody 🤷‍♀️

Last books are hard, especially when you have a series that was this good. It's hard saying goodbye to characters you love so much and the things you wanted may not be what the author had intended. And that's ok. Regardless, KC is an amazing writer and storyteller and I'm glad she's back. I'm thankful we even got an ending, even if it wasn't for me. I loved the characters and this world, and it definitely left me crying to have to say goodbye. I can't wait to see what else KC has in store for us down the road ❤️

Best ending

Couldn’t have wanted a better ending, fans of this journey will be left satisfied. I loved it.

Bittersweet ending

The story is fabulous, I was shocked at some parts of the story. The narration was difficult to bear but I preserved because of the power of the story.

An ending we all deserved

An ending we all needed and deserved. Kresley Cole never disappoints. It was well worth the wait.

An amazing tourney! thank you KC

A decade of the Arcana Chronicles, with so much heartbreak and joy. the conclusion to this series was everything I had hoped for and more.