Pretty When She Dies

A Vampire Novel

By: Rhiannon Frater

Narrated by: Kristin Allison

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Amaliya wakes under the forest floor, disoriented, famished and confused. She digs out of the shallow grave and realizes she is hungry... ... in a new, horrific, unimaginable way... Sating her great hunger, she discovers that she is now a vampire, the bloodthirsty creature of legend. She has no choice but to flee from her old life and travels across Texas. Her new hunger spurs her to leave a wake of death and blood behind her as she struggles with her new nature. All the while, her creator is watching. He is ancient, he is powerful, and what's worse is that he's a necromancer. He has the power to force the dead to do his bidding.

Amaliya realizes she is but a pawn in a twisted game, and her only hope for survival is to seek out one of her own kind. But if Amaliya finds another vampire, will it mean her salvation... or her death?

©2008 Rhiannon Frater (P)2012 Rhiannon Frater

Frater brings the darkness back to vampires!

I received this audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.

Frater brings the darkness back to vampires! The story is a bit gory at times, which serves to remind us that vampires are lethal beasts.

Amaliya Vezorak, a 24 year old woman, is a bit of a loner and social outcast. She dyed her blonde hair black, and she is covered in tattoos and piercings. She feels like she has never really fit in anywhere, and her appearance only adds to the problem. Her mom was stricken with cancer when Amaliya was a young girl, and her father started an affair with Amaliya’s 18 year old cousin before her mom had even passed away! Amaliya’s cousin eventually became her step-mother. All Amaliya wanted to do was to go away to college and get away from her family. However, when she received the shocking news that her younger sister, Rachel, was terminally ill, Amaliya left college to return home to take care of her.

After her sister dies, Amaliya returns to college and enrolls in a psychology class that is being taught by a prestigious professor from England. Unbeknownst to Amaliya, the Professor is not just a vampire but also a necromancer: He can control the dead. He bites Amaliya but, just before she dies, he gives her some of his own blood and then buries her in the woods. After she awakens, she is mad with the hunger. She crashes a dorm party and slaughters them all, and she realizes that she cannot stay. She sets out to try to find others of her kind and to learn to survive. She eventually meets up with Cian, who was also created by the Professor, and he agrees to help Amaliya learn some survival skills.

Underneath her tough persona, Amaliya is just like anyone else and wants to fit in. She longs for that acceptance of self and peace in her life. I liked her character, and I was amused by her cheekiness. I wanted Amaliya to find that happiness that she was seeking. My favourite character was Amaliya’s grandmother, Innocente: Who wouldn’t want a kick-ass grandmother like that?! She is tough as nails, and I love her unconditional acceptance of Amaliya. I enjoyed the ending of the book, and I can’t wait to read more about Amaliya and Cian in the next book in the series, Pretty When She Kills.

I really enjoyed Kristin Allison’s narration. I thought she did a great job of capturing the essence of Amaliya, with just the right amount of attitude. Her pace is excellent, and her subtle characterizations worked well.

This ain't your daughter's Twilight

Any additional comments?

This book was surprisingly sexy and full of the traditional vampire cliches...no sunlight, crosses, holy water, etc...the narrator is one of the best of heard. There was a vast difference between her voice in narration and the voice of the characters. I'm excited to listen to the series. You'll like this if you like the "White Trash Zombie" series by Diana Rowland.

Pretty Awful

Move along folks, there's nothing new to see here. Same old same old and boring. The only thing new here is the amount of sex the main character has. I couldn't finish it.

A great Back to Basics Vampire Story

Would you consider the audio edition of Pretty When She Dies to be better than the print version?

Maybe

Have you listened to any of Kristin Allison’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

What was there not to like ... ok LOVE about this book? It was a refreshing return to traditional vampire lore; sunlight kills, no eating animals, have to be invited inside someone's home ... It was great!

There are two clear halves to the book, the first half where Amaliya is trying to figure out what happened to her, and adjust to her new "life", and the second half, where she meets other vampires and learn about her maker. If I had to pick a favorite half, I am not sure I would be able to. They are just to different; like comparing traditional vampires to sparkly vampires. They both drink blood but that is pretty much it.

I really felt for Amaliya during her struggles. She had a pretty tough life, and her after-life isn't shaping up to be so hot either. Due to he upbringing, she has next to no self-esteem, but is pretty self reliant and stubborn. That turns out to be her biggest advantage.

When she finally meets others of her own kind ... Oh Cian. (Pronouced Key-an) She wins the lottery when she meets him. Except he is engaged. To a human. But that's ok, he isn't even her type. Sure sure honey, keep telling yourself that. He is everyone's type.

And the narrator, Kristin Allison, does a great job with the different characters. I never wondered who was talking. I was a little concerned right at the beginning, because she seemed a little monotone, but it fits with the story. Just give it a sec. :-)

I really have nothing bad to say about this book. I loved it and can't wait to listen to the next one, Pretty When She Kills.

License for driving, but anyone can make a vamp.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The Prose was rather simplistic but you slowly lose the feeling of being peached at after a chapter or two.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending was rather predictable, but the struggle made it worth while.

What about Kristin Allison’s performance did you like?

The Narrator did a great job. Nice inflections and her repitior of characters voices was well played.

Do you think Pretty When She Dies needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It ended well, and there is no REASON to continue. Doubtless if enough sold it will be continued.

Any additional comments?

The early prose were difficult to get past, but the overall story was well enough to keep us entertained.

Maybe it's me?

What disappointed you about Pretty When She Dies?

Listen to the sample before purchasing this book. I have tried to listen to this book four times, but I can't seem to get past the first 20 minutes. I thought it was the narrator's voice that was rubbed me wrong, but this time I paid close attention to the author's words and I realized that part of the problem is that the beginning of this book is boring. Maybe the story gets better, but I doubt I'll give it a 5th try.

What could Rhiannon Frater have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

A different narrator.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kristin Allison’s performances?

Highly doubtful.

I Couldn't listen to this for more than 15 minutes

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A different narrator would have made this book much better. She sounded very robotic - not unlike my car's GPS voice. Very choppy. I felt like listening to finger nails going down a chalk board.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kristin Allison’s performances?

I think I will avoid them from now on, based on this experience.

Loved it.. All of it!

Narrator was really good
The story line was nice, the description of all scenes seemed sometimes not enough though

Bought on sale, not worth finishing

Coming in as a fantasy fan, I wanted to see what the vampire fuss was about. This one has good reviews on Audible so I picked it up.

Gave it five hours. Can't stomach another. It's all trope, I see no attempt at originality, unless you count the fact it takes place in Texas and I guess good old southern vampires ain't too common. But honestly, I've never read a vampire novel before and I could predict each awful scene more easily than the last. Is that what fans of the genre enjoy? It's not for me. Attempts at humor, if that's what they were, felt cheap and masturbatory.

Characters are weak and make predictably bad choices to drive the uncompelling story forward through mediocre sex scenes. Vocabulary apparently targets an elementary school audience with an out-of-place GRE term hacked in to make sure your immersion in the already tenuous plot is never too deep. Writing technique is just nauseating, I'm going to guess that no editor ever laid eyes, much less pen, to this manuscript. The prose is so bad in places I'm frankly surprised any quality control agent allowed this to be released at all.

Performance is awkward, halting, and adds nothing to the experience for me. Constantly distracting with an over-the-top, sultry flair of brooding drama that doesn't fit the actual tone of the book. Every syllable is pronounced as a separate word with commas between.

Every hour was worse than the last, but I kept listening, hoping I'd find some value somewhere down the line. In the end I have up. This was a waste of time and money.

So Good, I immediately bought the series!

This audiobook is a movie waiting to happen! There was just the right mix of uniqueness, intensity, thrill, suspense, vampiric action and oh so sexy steamy moments of lust and passion. Great story! And the narrator was cool. Vampire story lovers welcome! But this story really is a must listen for all.

Even the Undead Can Have Daddy Issues!

Amaliya rises from the grave to find out she's got double the 'daddy' issues - the one who never cared in life and the psychotic vampire who sired her, this begins a bloody cat and mouse game that kept me enrapt for the whole book and left wanting more! Ioved Amaliya's grand mother Innocente and her cousin Sergio, but I found Cian's fiancee annoying and a bit of a shrew,
I can't wait to start book 2!

Sexy, Dark and Moody

This trilogy kicks off with a stellar start. As the title makes pretty clear, this series opens with our protagonists death and rebirth. It is brutal, it is painful and it is beautiful. I don't really want to spoil things, but I'll just suggest people read it. It's a fun ride, way better than the majority of indie stuff, it has a unique voice and manages to stand out from most of the paint by numbers urban fantasy out there. Though it's perhaps because it in many ways feels more like a dark fantasy tale and not your typical urban fantasy with a plucky heroine VS the world. This story is more personal, more raw. And Amalie is more real. Imperfectly perfect is what she is.

PS: Our Rock/Metal chick protagonist is interesting and multi faceted. For those of us who like diversity it's cool to know that our protagonist is bisexual and non monogamous (not something they make a big thing out of but something you figure put in later books.)

Very enjoyable

This book is a vampiric tale of blood, death and romance. I enjoyed it very much. Narration was good.