thewhisperingpages's review
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
the_wanlorn's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This didn't suck? So weird. Also lmao
Spoiler
George's drink being spiked... classic George.nwhyte's review
3.0
Chasers picks up the storyline from the previous book about George (the werewolf) being asked by lesbian friends to father their baby. There is also a creepy chap who befriends Mitchell (the vampire) for ulterior motives. It's decently done but not spectacular.
lisa_setepenre's review
4.0
I read all three of the Being Human tie-in novels over the course of five days in February, 2013. I read them on my Kindle, not knowing there had been audiobooks voiced by cast members released. Having recently learnt of their existence and gotten my hands on them, I decided to give a books another go as audiobooks.
Being Human was a UK television series based around the premise of a ghost, werewolf and vampire sharing a house together. It lasted five series, but the original trio of Annie, George and Mitchell only lasted three (Annie alone stayed until the end of the fourth series). The tie-in novels are set fairly early in the show's timeline and though Being Human became quite dark, these tie-in novels recall some of the joy from the show's first series.
Chasers, the second of the tie-in novels, focuses on the theme of wanting to live forever. George chases a type of immortality as he agrees to donate sperm so Gail and Kaz can have a baby. The possibility of the werewolf curse being heredity makes the choice complicated, risking exposing not only himself but the vampire and ghost he lives with. Mitchell has his own problem: Leo, a wannabe goth and stalker, who sees Mitchell as his path to immortality.
You can read my original review here – but I don't think it's particularly insightful.
As before, I found the ideas behind the story really interesting, though the execution needed a little push to transform it from "okay" to "awesome". Main areas for improvement were the characters (including the originals) and the tone.
Typically for a tie-in novel, the characters of George, Annie and Mitchell didn't translate perfectly onto the page. Michalowski didn't really capture the essence of them – or the spirit of the show – in his writing. Though I have to say, once again, this was massively improved in the audiobook and none of the characters seemed out of character. That said, Annie was underused. Additionally, the original characters (Leo, Gail, Kaz, Olive) didn't really work for me – they didn't feel real, almost stereotypes. Kaz was just annoying. It was impossible to see what Gail saw in her, how they'd managed to stay together long enough that having a baby was the natural progression if their relationship. You wondered how insane or desperate George would have to be to agree to have a baby knowing that Kaz was going to one of its mothers.
Like The Road, the overall tone and feel of the book was uneven. A chapter could begin tipping towards the juvenile but then rapidly become darker and more mature. For example, a chapter begins with George high on coffee but ends with his drink being spiked by vampires.
Chasers seems like it was meant to be the "George-centric" novel of the tie-in series, much like The Road was meant to be seen as Annie-centric. It's Russell Tovey, the actor who played George, who narrates the book and it's George's photo on the cover. While the baby-plot is interesting and provides George with a narrative arc, it's the Mitchell subplot that (to my eyes at least) is the driving force of the story and provides much of the tension.
Despite all of this, I felt it was an overall jump in quality after The Road. Even though the stakes are seemingly lower, it's tighter, tenser book. The characters gel well together and there's humour to be found. Certainly, even with the in-fighting between the trio over the baby, I really loved the relationship depicted between George, Annie and Mitchell.
Once again, the audiobook has a boon thanks to the choice of narrator. Chasers is voiced by Russell Tovey who portrayed George in the series. Once again, the use of one of the three leads added a sense of authenticity in the books and, as noted above, Tovey is a skilled enough actor that the characters were convincing and real. I have to highlight Tovey's narration of George's emotional outburst in Chapter Six. The print version read, to me, as a rather by-rote – nothing special, nothing particularly moving. But Tovey's performance transformed it into something truly heart-wrenching, where I could really feel George's anguish over his situation.
Chasers is a still flawed, but ultimately stronger, instalment in the Being Human series. Tovey's narration pushed it from beyond an slightly above average tie-in to something special and it was a sheer joy to listen to it. 4 stars.
Being Human was a UK television series based around the premise of a ghost, werewolf and vampire sharing a house together. It lasted five series, but the original trio of Annie, George and Mitchell only lasted three (Annie alone stayed until the end of the fourth series). The tie-in novels are set fairly early in the show's timeline and though Being Human became quite dark, these tie-in novels recall some of the joy from the show's first series.
Chasers, the second of the tie-in novels, focuses on the theme of wanting to live forever. George chases a type of immortality as he agrees to donate sperm so Gail and Kaz can have a baby. The possibility of the werewolf curse being heredity makes the choice complicated, risking exposing not only himself but the vampire and ghost he lives with. Mitchell has his own problem: Leo, a wannabe goth and stalker, who sees Mitchell as his path to immortality.
You can read my original review here – but I don't think it's particularly insightful.
As before, I found the ideas behind the story really interesting, though the execution needed a little push to transform it from "okay" to "awesome". Main areas for improvement were the characters (including the originals) and the tone.
Typically for a tie-in novel, the characters of George, Annie and Mitchell didn't translate perfectly onto the page. Michalowski didn't really capture the essence of them – or the spirit of the show – in his writing. Though I have to say, once again, this was massively improved in the audiobook and none of the characters seemed out of character. That said, Annie was underused. Additionally, the original characters (Leo, Gail, Kaz, Olive) didn't really work for me – they didn't feel real, almost stereotypes. Kaz was just annoying. It was impossible to see what Gail saw in her, how they'd managed to stay together long enough that having a baby was the natural progression if their relationship. You wondered how insane or desperate George would have to be to agree to have a baby knowing that Kaz was going to one of its mothers.
Like The Road, the overall tone and feel of the book was uneven. A chapter could begin tipping towards the juvenile but then rapidly become darker and more mature. For example, a chapter begins with George high on coffee but ends with his drink being spiked by vampires.
Chasers seems like it was meant to be the "George-centric" novel of the tie-in series, much like The Road was meant to be seen as Annie-centric. It's Russell Tovey, the actor who played George, who narrates the book and it's George's photo on the cover. While the baby-plot is interesting and provides George with a narrative arc, it's the Mitchell subplot that (to my eyes at least) is the driving force of the story and provides much of the tension.
Despite all of this, I felt it was an overall jump in quality after The Road. Even though the stakes are seemingly lower, it's tighter, tenser book. The characters gel well together and there's humour to be found. Certainly, even with the in-fighting between the trio over the baby, I really loved the relationship depicted between George, Annie and Mitchell.
Once again, the audiobook has a boon thanks to the choice of narrator. Chasers is voiced by Russell Tovey who portrayed George in the series. Once again, the use of one of the three leads added a sense of authenticity in the books and, as noted above, Tovey is a skilled enough actor that the characters were convincing and real. I have to highlight Tovey's narration of George's emotional outburst in Chapter Six. The print version read, to me, as a rather by-rote – nothing special, nothing particularly moving. But Tovey's performance transformed it into something truly heart-wrenching, where I could really feel George's anguish over his situation.
Chasers is a still flawed, but ultimately stronger, instalment in the Being Human series. Tovey's narration pushed it from beyond an slightly above average tie-in to something special and it was a sheer joy to listen to it. 4 stars.
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