Author: Kyle Alexander Romines
Narrator: Becca Ballenger
Length: 9 hours 52 minutes
Publisher: Kyle Alexander Romines⎮2018
Genre: Horror
Release date: Apr. 14, 2018
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?
**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.**
“Bride” was amazing! It was horrible and beautiful and captivating all at once. This is graphic—then again, the review is for a horror novel—but it reminded me of a wound; just when things started to settle, started to heal, it was ripped wide open again and the reader will bleed right along with Persephone.
The reader will know Persephone’s identity from the very beginning and, for me at least, it made the story that much more heart-breaking. There is wonder in watching her rediscover humanity and herself in a way that’s a bit like watching a baby learn to crawl, walk, and then run. When they’re running, it’s hard to remember what it was like when they were only learning to crawl—and so it goes with Persephone’s journey. After a while, she operates so well and normally that one can almost forget her beginnings.
Almost.
Her character is complicated and flawed, and so are the characters of Victor and his monster. Each of the main players has their redeeming qualities, which are portrayed in such a careful way that none of them are truly good or truly evil, and readers will find something intimately familiar in all of them. They each have their deep-seeded motives for what they do, and Mr. Romines paints them so well that the reader even starts to sympathize with the monster a little. I mean, he’s horrible and cruel and violent, but who made him that way? And what does how he turned out say about his creator? And if that same creator made Persephone… you see the struggle they all face along with the reader, right? That is just one of the many complicated threads to traverse the narrative and the result is something quite beautiful. Even the ending can be seen in more than one light, and I found myself alternating between happiness and despair at what could easily be a repeat of Victor’s mistakes.
Becca Ballenger narrated “Bride” beautifully. She has great range to her voice and alternated between male and female characters flawlessly. There were a few places where the quality of the audio seemed to change, as if they were recorded at different times under different conditions. It was occasionally distracting and annoying, but not enough to dock stars.
Bottom line: If you think you know Frankenstein and his monster, think again! Mr. Romines penned a beautifully unique telling of a familiar story, and it was so beyond worth the time to listen. I can’t recommend this highly enough!
