Monstrous Beauty
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Narrated by:
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Katherine Kellgren
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By:
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Elizabeth Fama
About this listen
Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.
Almost 140 years later, 17-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect...or a curse?
With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean - but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.
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Story
Caretta Rutledge thought she’d left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind. But an unusual request from her mother – coming just as her own life is spinning out of control – has Cara heading back to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers. Before long, the rhythms of the island open her heart in wonderful ways as she repairs the family beach house, becomes a bona fide “turtle lady” and renews old acquaintances long thought lost.
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Good story, very poor audio quality
- By Dawn on 04-11-16
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Remake
- By: Ilima Todd
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Nine is the ninth female born in her batch of ten females and ten males. By design, her life in Freedom Province is without complications or consequences. However, such freedom comes with a price. The Prime Maker is determined to keep that price a secret from the new batches of citizens that are born, nurtured, and raised androgynously.
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Don’t waste your time and money
- By Jewel on 01-28-15
By: Ilima Todd
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A Strange Scottish Shore
- By: Juliana Gray
- Narrated by: Gemma Massot
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Scotland, 1906. A mysterious object discovered inside an ancient castle calls Maximilian Haywood, the new Duke of Olympia, and his fellow researcher Emmeline Truelove north to the remote Orkney Islands. No stranger to the study of anachronisms in archeological digs, Haywood is nevertheless puzzled by the artifact: a suit of clothing that, according to family legend, once belonged to a selkie who rose from the sea and married the castle's first laird. But Haywood and Truelove soon realize they're not the only ones interested in the selkie's strange hide.
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Time travel escape
- By M M on 11-07-17
By: Juliana Gray
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A Single Breath
- By: Lucy Clarke
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell, Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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From the celebrated author of Swimming at Night comes a powerful and moving saga of one woman's struggle to overcome her husband's death and uncover his dark, mysterious past. Eva has only been married for eight months when her husband, Jackson, is swept to his death while fishing. Weighed down by confusion and sorrow, Eva decides to take leave of her midwifery practice in London and visit Jackson's estranged family in Tasmania with the hope of grieving together.
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Ehh.
- By A cops wife on 10-22-22
By: Lucy Clarke
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On Folly Beach
- By: Karen White
- Narrated by: Lyssa Browne
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Folly Beach, South Carolina, has survived despite hurricanes and war. But it's the personal battles of Folly Beach's residents that have left the most scars, and they are why a young widow has been beckoned there to heal her own. To most people, Folly Beach is simply the last barrier island before reaching the great Atlantic. To some, it's a sanctuary for lost souls, which is why Emmy Hamilton's mother encourages her to buy a local bookstore, Folly's Finds, hoping it will distract Emmy from the loss of her husband.
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You won't want to get out of your car
- By L. Persyn on 08-08-10
By: Karen White
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Sea Change
- By: Karen White
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Kate Forbes, Peggity Price
- Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Karen White' s New York Times best-selling novels keep audiences up well into the night with their compelling plots and engaging characters. Sea Change is a riveting tale of second chances, forgiveness, and leaps of faith. Plagued by feelings of loneliness and not belonging, 35-year-old Ava Whalen is as shocked as anyone when she falls for child psychologist Matthew Frazier, elopes with him, and settles down on St. Simons Island, Georgia. But her newfound happiness is threatened when her past proves difficult to escape.
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Slow moving
- By Mon on 11-21-12
By: Karen White
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Emerge
- By: Tobie Easton
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Lia Nautilus may be a Mermaid, but she's never lived in the ocean. War has ravaged the seven seas ever since the infamous Little Mermaid unleashed a curse that stripped Mer of their immortality. Lia has grown up in a secret community of land-dwelling Mer, hidden among Malibu's seaside mansions. Her biggest problems are surviving P.E. and keeping her feelings for Clay Ericson in check.
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I want more of this world.
- By Mary Ellen on 10-12-16
By: Tobie Easton
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Bleeding Violet
- By: Dia Reeves
- Narrated by: Suzy Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna's tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas, in search of a new home. But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. She discovers secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she's far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen, and no one is safe.
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Didn't like it. Sorry, not sorry
- By Cii'Em on 02-15-16
By: Dia Reeves
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Timeless Moments
- By: Michelle Kidd
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Jack Vines has the Victorian home of his dreams - or so it seems until he discovers an intriguing beauty lurking in the shadows. Stunned, he finds they share the house but live a century apart. The realization leads him to questions so disturbing it changes both their lives forever. She is a prisoner of the past, shrouded in a world of dark mysteries. He holds the keys that will protect their future. But first, he must solve the mystery concealed for nearly 100 years.
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Good time travel story, great narration!
- By Long Island Reader on 08-09-18
By: Michelle Kidd
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Swimming at Night
- By: Lucy Clarke
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Katie’s world is shattered by the news that her headstrong, bohemian younger sister Mia has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Bali. The authorities say Mia jumped - that her death was a suicide. Although they hadn’t spoken since Mia suddenly left on an around-the-world trip six months earlier, Katie refuses to accept that her sister would take her own life. Distraught that they never made peace, she leaves behind her orderly life in London and embarks on a journey to find the truth.
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Meanders too much
- By Delah on 05-22-13
By: Lucy Clarke
What listeners say about Monstrous Beauty
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Arlene-CUR
- 04-02-24
Intricately Woven
The story involves two time periods. I usually don’t like this because it takes skill to do it in a way that doesn’t seem contrived, isn’t confusing, or isn’t done just for the gimmick. This author manages to weave in the two time periods effortlessly. They are both necessary for the story and I adore figuring things out before our main character because the author still manages to hold things back. You figure things out, but still don’t have all the pieces. It’s done in a natural way so that things remain surprising.
I enjoyed the story and must acknowledge the masterful work of the voice actress. She did a fantastic job!
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- Sleeper
- 08-31-15
loved this book
I was completely sucked in and obsessed until I finished I love mermaid and this book is one of my favorites in a long time well written and narrated made me feel like I was looking at the story on fold beautiful I love the mermaid language and
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1 person found this helpful
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- MVF
- 08-13-18
a unique take on the mermaid story
usually I start with the overview of the story itself, but I think I need to talk about the audio voice narrator.
Katherine Kellgren was phenomenal in the voicing of this story, her emotions the different dialects, making each person sound different was outstanding. Just for this alone I think one should listen to the story.
this is an interesting take on the mermaid story. The author did a interesting job of weaving past and present stories to coalesce into the final confrontation of what had been done in the past, in order to fix it now in the present.
just because it's an interesting take I do recommend the story. There were elements I did not like, and some of them dealt with souls and such. It's my personal opinion which is why I suggest you read it.
(note I did not go into rewriting the blurb of the heroine who is Hester and her friend Peter plus her love interest Ezra. I did this because I wanted to write a review based on my impressions and I didn't want to give too much away because I do think it's worth listening to.)
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- Scarlett ^-^
- 07-16-18
This is no ordinary Mermaid story!
This was an amazing story! I started this without knowing truly what it was about. I knew it was about mermaids and it was different.... and wow! It really was different!! Different and good. These are not your typical mermaids, just like this is not your typical mermaid love story. This was a mystery story, mixed with fantasy, love, twists and turns, and what I loved more: A great ending!
Some books have an amazing 3/4 story and then it all goes to the ground in the last 1/4. Not this one. This story will keep you on the edge of your seat. As you progress in the story, you will want to know more and you’ll start making your own predictions. “This is what happened!” “No, this is what happened” and so on.
I would totally recommend this book for those who love fantasy, mysteries and just a plain good story.
So.... what are you waiting for?? Go ahead and give this a try! You will not regret it ;)
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- Gaven
- 10-01-12
Implausible, with flat characters
This book tries to tell two stories - one in the past, and one in the future. The story in the past is the only one worth reading, and it's so frenzied and complicated that it can be a bit confusing. The story in the future is driven by a protagonist with no personality. Her character is comprised of two things - not wanting to fall in love (for a really, really dumb reason - she doesn't want kids - because she's never heard of getting her tubes tied) and being obsessed with history. Both things serve only one purpose: for her to research the story from the past. She exists only as a medium through which we can understand the past storyline. Nothing about her makes her interesting as a character on her own. She has a brother who pops up twice in the book, and both times their dialogues are pointless and flat. She tries to conjure up familial feelings between them but it doesn't work.
The woman who reads the book is too old to read this book (I feel). She does the mermaids' voices very well, but when she narrates a teenage girl, it sounds like an older aunt or grandma reading you a bedtime story badly. This doesn't help to make her sound like a realistic character.
It was an interesting-ish take on mermaid lore, and entertaining enough if you can get the book for free from a library. But I dislike that I paid for it.
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- Yl'luria
- 07-07-14
GREAT Fodder for Fans of Enchantment- YA and Above
This was recommended repeatedly in forums I found while trying to find good, new, adult mermaid-centric fiction, and now I TOTALLY get why. This is not only a great story (rated YA I believe, but perfectly suitable for adults as well), but the narrator is absolutely MARVELOUS. Katherine Kellgren is on point from beginning to end, and since so often the narrator can make or break a story (even the best ones), this was s double delight. (And I am PICKY about my narrators. ;))
The writing was thoughtful, the plot interesting and unraveled at a good pace, the characters were interesting, palpable & believable, and overall the whole book was both smart AND heartfelt, which doesn't always happen together in fantasy stories. I think my only criticism would be that I can't remember if/where the main character (Hester) was described, but.. that may be my crappy memory, or something deliberately left out by the author. Either way, I loved the thought-provoking, truly immersive way this book was written, and now just can't wait to read more by Ms. Fama, as well as hear more by Ms. Kellgren. -Thanks to "Monstrous Beauty," you may henceforth officially consider me a devoted fan of both. :) ♥
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- Verity
- 08-17-15
Mounstrously bad
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
I'm not sure, people who like horror stories and don't mind a very predictable plot. The concept was interesting enough, but I so hated the characters.
What could Elizabeth Fama have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Have more enjoyable characters.
- Ezra: flat character that is the love interest (result of an insta-love).
- Hester: boring main character (she spins around in a circle and is just really undeveloped)
- Lynny: the most annoying kid in the world
- The pastor: the only useful character in the book (still didn't like him)
- Olaf's wife (forgot her name) - most hateful woman alive or dead...
- The sea witch: crazy fat hag
So, yeah, the story had potential, but the stereotypes totally killed the mood.
Would you be willing to try another one of Katherine Kellgren’s performances?
God no. I hate her performances. She keeps on screaming in my ear. She ruined the Ashes series for me and here it was even worse because I didn't even like the story.
What character would you cut from Monstrous Beauty?
All of them except Syrenka.
Any additional comments?
Again, I hate the way Katherine Kellgren performs. don't know who told her it would be a good idea to scream while narrating. Really, I'm listening to this on my headphones and her voice goes right to my brain and slowly kills it. If it wasn't for the narrator I might have enjoyed this more. Not sure, but probably...
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2 people found this helpful