Hummingbird

Charade of Magic, Book 1

By: Helen Harper

Narrated by: 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

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! 🤩

Like the concept

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

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.

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.

dnf

really only listened to a few chapters. Narration was difficult for me, couldn't grasp the story. I think, dystopian