The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith(Vine Witch #1)
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2
Elena Boureanu, the vine witch of the famed Chateaux Renard vineyard, has just broken free of a seven year curse. With thoughts of revenge filling her head, she makes her way home, only to find that things are not as they should be. The vineyard has been sold to a man from the city who doesn't even believe in magic, and the vines are covered in hexes. Not knowing who to trust, and forced to hide her spells from Jean-Paul, it will take every ounce of magic Elena has to save the vineyard, and to take revenge on the person who cursed her.
I really enjoyed this book, the main character Elena is done really well. A talented vine witch whose focus in life was to make great wine. When she manages to break free of a curse after seven years, she not only has to restore her vineyard with weakened powers, but she also turns her mind to seeking revenge on the person that cursed her. Things don’t go well for her, but she never gives up, proving her strength and determination under very trying circumstances, and testing her resolve to take the revenge she seeks.
While I liked the character of Jean Paul, a lawyer from the city who tries using science to make good wine, and doesn’t believe in magic, his initial introduction and description was a bit underdone. Maybe I missed something because I was listening to the audiobook, but I ended up picturing him as kind of an older guy with the kind of hat my grandpa wears. I suppose it’s a bit different to the urban fantasy books I usually read where every man has a perfect body and is super hot. Anyway, I still very much liked his character, and seeing how he comes to terms with the existence of magic in his logical world.
I quite liked the narrator for the audiobook. I think her style suited this book, and she also did well with the side characters voices and accents. She made the transition to random French words very smooth, even if I didn’t understand them.
The romance was sweet, though it’s certainly not the focus of the book. Elena and Jean-Paul seem to develop affection for one another without having too much dialogue or interaction on the page. It’s a case of opposites attract, with a small magical nudge. She initially sees him as something of an adversary, the man who bought the vineyard she was meant to inherit, and he forbids the use of any magic. He sees her as a strange woman who showed up out of nowhere and claims to live at his vineyard. He ends up having to come to terms with the existence and reality of magic quite abruptly. Towards the end of the book there’s a damsel in distress situation where he gets to use his lawyering to help her, only to have the situation flipped and she uses magic to save him, and herself, which was fun.
It felt a little slow for the first half, although I had to remind myself this was a historical fantasy set in a quiet, rural vineyard in France, not an action-packed urban fantasy, so it actually works quite well. I thought this made it feel a little abrupt when the action does get going later on in the novel, but I still enjoyed that.
The general magic system is fairly classic witchcraft with spells, herbs, hexes, curses and grimoires. Elena herself was turned into a toad, which is explained as being very old-fashioned magic. The unique part of it was the focus on using magic for wine-making, and the casual use of hexes to sabotage other vineyards, as well as Elena’s skill at Shadow Vision.
I really enjoyed the side characters Yvette and Sitra. I found Yvette a little annoying at first (though that might have been the audiobook narrators portrayal of her) but she grew on me with her street smarts and bold character. I’m excited to read the sequel, The Glamourist, which promises to explore more of her background and magic.
The bad guy/girl was done well, and you even feel a little bit bad for him/her once or twice, but only a tiny bit. It seems fairly obvious from the start who the culprit is, but the book makes you question that, and then there’s a twist or two at the end that you won’t see coming. I’m not sure I liked the very ending twist, but it makes a certain kind of sense in retrospect.
I really enjoyed reading/listening to The Vine Witch, and I thought it was very well written for a debut novel. I enjoyed the book, even though I don’t drink red wine. The descriptions of the colours and flavours and the vines and cellars made it seem very appealing. The romance was a nice touch, and the magic was interesting. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fantasy and books with witchcraft. If you've read it, what did you think?
Check out my review for Book 2 The Glamourist
Great review! Glad you enjoyed! ♡
ReplyDeleteThanks! I appreciate it. Love your blog!
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