Audiobook Review – The Vine Witch (The Vine Witch, Book 1) by Luanne G. Smith, Narrated by Susannah Jones (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 8 hours and 42 minutes
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Release Date: October 01, 2019
ASIN: B07NWXTWNM
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Vine Witch series
Source: Audible Audiobook borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

“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.”

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Vine Witch series. There are three books in this series right now. I borrowed this Audible audiobook through Kindle Unlimited.

Audiobook Quality (4/5): This audiobook was well done and I enjoyed the narrator. I would recommend listening to this on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

Story (3/5): This was an okay historical fantasy. I liked the idea of Vine Witch magic but felt like the story was a bit slow and predictable. The premise of the story is that Elena has been cursed into toad form for seven years, we meet up with her as she finally manages to break her curse. She is a vine witch and returns to her old family home to find things very changed and under the management of a young man who doesn’t believe in magic. Elena is determined to get the curses off of her vineyard and get revenge on the person who cursed her, but to do so she must be sneaky with her magic.

Characters (3/5): I never engaged with any of the characters here. They were all a bit shallow and selfish, they also didn’t have a lot of dimension to them. They were okay but not great.

Setting (3/5): I enjoyed the historical French setting but we don’t really get to see much outside of Chateau Renard. The vineyard was interesting and it was intriguing to learn about wine making some. However, I would have liked more explanation of the broader world and a broader setting.

Writing Style (4/5): This was written fine, there is some beautiful description in here around magic and the vineyards. I enjoyed the idea of Vine Witches and thought the magic was interesting, if a bit ambiguous about how it worked. I did think the pacing was a bit slow and didn’t care much for the characters or the overall storyline.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall this was an okay read. I enjoyed some of the beautiful descriptions here and liked the idea of Vine Witches and their magic. I didn’t enjoy the predictable, slow-paced story and never engaged with the characters all that well. I don’t plan on reading more of this series. If you enjoy historical fiction with some light fantasy touches you might enjoy this.