The Upheaval

By: Erica Stevens, Claire Bloom

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

The first tremors of the earth were felt at 7:22 EST. time. Every single person felt the rumbling and experienced the tremors that would forever alter the course of history. Most did not survive. These are the accounts of some of those who did.

Following three sets of people, The Upheaval is filled with heartbreak and hope. The day starts out like any other but soon goes to calamity. From earthquake to fire to tsunami, they must face disaster from every angle - the world they once knew has shattered in a just a few hours.

©2018 Erica Stevens (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc., and Skyboat Media, Inc.

Dreary Apocalyptic Tale

Kind of a weird book. Several information dumps that will hopefully pay off as the series continues. Unfortunately, the dumps dragged down this entry quite a bit. As others have stated, it does get better towards the end. But, then you get the cliffhanger.

The narration was quite good.

Recommended half-heartedly.

Bad

I couldn't get past the narration, his voice is terrible and he should not be reading this. I got a whole 5 minutes in and wanted to rip my ears off. And I really wanted to listen to this book.

Just a tease for free

The story is slow and it doesn’t get anywhere by the end. I downloaded it as part of the free stories and wish the fact it was part of a series I would have liked to know that first. The story is not going anywhere after nine hours and I doubt it will in six hundred.

boring

not my favorite no real plot just boring the story line is sadly lacking sorry

Not a prepper book

Pushed Through 7 chapters and had to stop. A lot of character history and relationship development through out. Mostly focused on how characters interact with each other and very slow movement through the story. Sorry couldn’t keep my interest. Maybe more interesting to a female audience??

Good

At first I felt the performance and story dragged. I guess because of the introductions to the characters of course was probably it but when it all started coming together that’s when the story was keeping you on the edge and yes there is a cliffhanger and you are still left with wtf is happening. I love this authors work I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed. Can’t wait to read or listen to the next audiobook whenever it finally comes out.

Awesome Narration

I purchased this book when it first came out and loved the storylines. yes, all of the books in the series. When I noted the Audible version was available on Erica's FB announcement page, I immediately purchased it. The Narrator, Stefan Rudnicki, does a great job! The 2nd book in the series has some of the most memorable parts of the series in my mind. Therefore, as soon as it comes out, I will definitely be hitting play.

Narrator is AWFUL

I was really interested in this story, but I couldn’t stand the narrator long enough to even finish a chapter. He’s so monotoned! His voice and the way he talks just makes my skin crawl. So I’ve returned the book because I won’t ever be able to stand it. Disappointed! This guy should find a different job!

Very Entertaining

This nice was exciting and something new. I enjoyed the narration and the story unfolded nicely. Definitely recommend!

Good read

Wish there had been more discussion on what happened to Earth, will probably show up in a later book.

Brilliant

I loved this book !
I liked the characters and I felt I knew them well enough to care about them. I’m definitely going to buy the next book to find out what happens next.
It was pretty intense , so many disasters and I was as shocked as the characters . It helped that the writers gives really good descriptions and the narrator got the emotional tone just right. He injected a good bit of fear and panic in his reading which gave it added drama and made me sit tense in my seat !
I can’t wait to find out what is actually going on , it seems like a natural disaster type book but hints at more .
I love all apocalypse type books , zombies, nuclear, pandemic. This is my new favourite!
Long review but I loved it

Bad narration

Narrators voice too deep and lacking variation, can’t yeah one character from another especially female from male. Bad choice. Couldn’t even finish the first chapter

A very good story

There is a lot of story in this medium length book, so much happens in a short space of time.
The characters are well written and relatable.

The narration is superb, Stefan Rudnickni could bring my shopping list to life.

One of the worse books I have read in ages

Unbelievable plot line, 2d predictable characters, corny dialogue, vampire diaries-esq romance. I want back the energy I spent listening. I also didn't like the narrator. I really would not recommend.

Gripping

This is a very gripping, tense read. The natural disasters come one after another as the main characters try to stay alive using their wits and instincts. The tension is unrelenting though the real time in the book seems to be less than one day. The main characters are ordinary people and varied ages, which I like. Under the need to work together there's a quick development of bonds and mutual care and this gives you something to believe in and root for. At the end of the book they are still running ahead of the disasters and I definitely want to find out what happens next. So I'm into the next book in the series!

cliche ridden and poor story

Nothing new here. Strange events but no attempt to explain anything. Characters lacking in any depth. Narration is fine but can't cover for a poor story

Really good start to a series!

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters. The story line was very good and the narration was absolutely brilliant.

Good story, characters and narration

I love dystopian fiction and liked this more than I'd anticipated. It's quite slow at tines, almost reading in real time but that just means you end up feeling more invested.
The female voices were a bit squeaky but i think it's always difficult to do the voices of the opposite gender.
The romance felt a bit YA but that didn't put me off. It's done it's job as I'm now going to buy the next book.

Interesting start to the series

Really enjoyed this book. Not your average apocalyptic story. Narration is good, though I am sometimes left questioning who spoke.

The Upheaval

This story is so very BORING!
I didn't care what happened to any of the characters, or the rest of humanity. I didn't care to find out what was causing the cracks and fires etc... The characters were all wooden, stereotyped and only surface deep.
The story was repetitive, cliched and dull.

The exposition was so basic and mediocre that I checked Goodreads to see if it was a YA novel. I was sure it was either YA or perhaps even younger - preteens maybe.
However Goodreads says "Due to language and graphic content this book is recommended for readers 17 and older."!
So I have no idea who the target audience is here.

I didn't think much of the narration either. His voice was too deep, he didn't have much range and he WAY overacted in parts.