The Vine Witch

The Vine Witch, Book 1

De: Luanne G. Smith

Narrado por: Susannah Jones

A Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller.

"Cleverly crafted.... The Vine Witch is a grown-up fairy tale with a twisty-turn-y story line of magic, love, and betrayal that holds your attention.... Pure escapism." --Forbes

A young witch emerges from a curse to find her world upended in this gripping fantasy set in turn-of-the-century France.

For centuries, the vineyards at Château Renard have depended on the talent of their vine witches, whose spells help create the world-renowned wine of the Chanceaux Valley. Then the skill of divining harvests fell into ruin when sorcière Elena Boureanu was blindsided by a curse. Now, after breaking the spell that confined her to the shallows of a marshland and weakened her magic, Elena is struggling to return to her former life. And the vineyard she was destined to inherit is now in the possession of a handsome stranger.

Vigneron Jean-Paul Martel naively favors science over superstition, and he certainly doesn't endorse the locals' belief in witches. But Elena knows a hex when she sees one, and the vineyard is covered in them. To stay on and help the vines recover, she'll have to hide her true identity, along with her plans for revenge against whoever stole seven winters of her life. And she won't rest until she can defy the evil powers that are still a threat to herself, Jean-Paul, and the ancient vine-witch legacy in the rolling hills of the Chanceaux Valley.

©2019 Luanne G. Smith (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"The vineyards of the fictitious Chanceaux Valley play home to magic, romance, and mystery in Smith’s contemporary debut fantasy.... The specter of savage, early European witch hunts ups the stakes, mixing real history with folklore...this is an ambitious debut from a promising author." --Publishers Weekly

Entertaining enough for a credit

I enjoyed the story and it kept me entertained. It’s a good story that could have been developed more fully. I wouldn’t say it’s spectacular but it’s worth a credit. Easy listen not deep.

Wine + fantasy lovers rejoice...everyone else, move along

I love a good fantasy novel, but this one is squarely for the wine lovers. If you love the flowery language of the sommelier, you may well love this book. The author spent an inordinate amount of time describing wine, vineyards and inanimate things than she did developing the characters. The explanation of their actions were left to unknown/unknowable descriptions like “sacred pose”...what is that? I found myself wanting better people descriptions so I could envision the characters more clearly.

And I’m not sure if it was the narrator or the story, but it was slow! It also felt weird that they were in France and the narrator used a superb French accent for certain words, but not all dialogue. That would have made the story richer in my estimation.

Overall, a listenable tale, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

Great story idea

Decent writing, weak character development and some groan-inducing cliches. It was fun to escape to French vineyards and a world of magic though.

Great read (listen) for a picky person

I loved the story, the characters and the narrator. One of my favorite books and although "witches" was not my typical genre, when I saw wine added into the plot, I was sold!!!

My opinion

The book was awesome! I really hope there is a second one to this.

A real page turner!

Loved it. I didn't want to put it down but I needed my rest. Thanks!

Enjoyable story

I enjoyed the story and the performance of the story. The reader has a smooth voice and brought life to the characters. .

a spell is cast

I loved it! a very interesting story that I could not stop listening to. The reader was fantastic on Audible. Compelling storyline.

Delightfully Eco-Sensual with a Sour Aftertaste

The Vine Witch had me engrossed; throughly engaged in its unique magic. The pages unfold in a sensual and poetic rhythm, taking the listener into the world of winemaking like one who takes in a lover. Among the moments she is with the earth, the author absolutely shines while describing her protagonist Elena as she weaves through spells and her relationship to the land and to the vines and the deeper mysteries and complex nature of what is required to truly create an awe inspiring bottle of wine. The blood, the breath, the bones of how Elena communes with the living world is riveting. Yes I was engrossed, that is until about halfway through the book.

For when it comes to the bulk of the plot, and the requirements for this fiction to find the bold footing that catapults us from the very start, it instead soggily crumbles into a worn-out damsel-in-distress cliche with an unsurprising backstab to boot. The romance was atypical and boring, the intertwining mysteries easily predictable, and the way The Vine Witch hits its climax and then resolves, discouraging.

The performance as well during the second half matches the storyline’s awkwardness so it’s hard to stay enraptured with the characters and their shared plight. Plus the editing is horrible. The places where paragraphs were stitched together were loudly obvious in very audible pauses and clicks that echo throughout the entire book.

Unfortunate

Such a sweet book.

Such a sweet book! Beautifully written and performed with excellence! This was my first book listens to by the author and it will not be my last!