Hummingbird

Charade of Magic, Book 1

De: Helen Harper

Narrado por: Ruth Urquhart

There are three absolutes in Mairi Wallace's world:

1. The Mages rule every city in Scotland with terrible, violent authority.
2. It is not physically possible for any woman to wield magic.
3. Mairi does not have a voice.

She is about to learn that none of these things have to be true.

From twisted wynds and tartan shops to a dangerous daemon and malevolent ravens, the future of a tattered nation might lie with one solitary woman.

©2022 Helen Harper (P)2022 Tantor

Like the concept

Overall a decent listen. I’ve enjoyed some of her other stories more but I’ll still continue with this series.

Excellent listen!

I rarely leave written reviews I normally just give five stars and call it good but I wanted to say this is a well done audiobook with a fantastic FMC who can shapeshifter and is mute until the end of the book but we get her talk to us, I absolutely loved this listen, well rounded characters that I got to know. Also, excellent narrative too! Five wonderful stars! 🤩

Love this world

A dark and gritty older world compared to some Helen Harper worlds. It’s one of my favorites from her yet.

Fun easy read

Good story, good character development and a great reader.
I was more than surprised at how much I liked this book. A hidden gem.

Glad I didn’t listen to negative reviews

Negative reviews made me question this book but I’m a big Helen Harper fan. Now I can’t wait for book 2.

I really enjoyed it

Great characters, great fantastical world and the challenge is interesting. I am grateful to listen to the next two audio books that are very well read.

More questions than answers in this slow open

I had so many questions in this vaguely detailed story. Was there always magic in the world? Was there an apocalypse? What is the year? What’s happening in other parts of the world? Why wouldn’t any of the allies Mairi meets along the way give her an overview of the situation? How do people become The Afflicted? How did the daemon get bound to The Ascendant? What’s the significance of The Ascendant?

This was a glacially slow building mystery that gave few answers and little action until the last thirty minutes and setup for the next book. It felt like medieval fantasy until a single mention about needing to get indoors to safety before the electricity went out. I liked the Sleepy Hollow vibe and yearned for better descriptions of the world, characters, and plot.

Sadly, instead of leaning into uniquely dark, this appears to be queueing up a fairly standard fantasy uprising with the tired romance between the dangerous daemon (whose abs get more description than any demonic magic or features) and the girl who amassed power/knowledge far too easily for me to take her seriously. Perhaps on sale I’d be willing to finish the trilogy.

A First

I have listened to every one of Ms. Harper's series and have loved them all. It is a first for me to not like this one. It just didn't work. The story idea was good. In fact, the concept was exceptionally creative. Unfortunately, the follow through logic was weak. The character bumbles her way through danger, somehow escaping each situation, despite there being no logical way for her to do so. Slouch Witch, Fairy Godmother Series, Highland Series, and the many other exceptional series by Ms. Harper are all worlds above this one. A caveat, I have a personal connection with the main character's name and really didn't enjoy the story from that aspect as well. I don't think I'm conflating the name with my dislike of the story, but there is a slim possibility that such might be the case.

Good narrator, story is a bit angry

I’ve liked some of this authors other stories but this one isn’t quite there for me.
It’s an interesting concept but there’s too much obsession and way too much anger from the main character for my liking.
The narrator does a good job but her accent is so strong that at times I’ve had difficulty understanding what she is saying.

Maybe the author should have hummed the words

For such an accomplished writer it was disappointing to listen to the "f" word continually throughout the story. It seems as if she ran out of imagination and substituted the easy, albeit lazy word for every frustration, surprise, hostility, and...well you get the picture. I usually enjoy Ms. Harper, especially the Spirit Witch series. Let's hope she gets her vocabulary back with future endeavors.