I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith Series: Vine Witch #1
Published by 47North on October 1 2019
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 268
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: A touch of romance blended with a magical tale of witches and wine, The Vine Witch was a pleasant surprise.
October is the perfect month for stories about witches, and The Vine Witch is an atmospheric tale that, while very light on spooky elements, offers plenty of magic and witchy folklore. I don’t know much about wine, but I have a feeling that readers who do are really going to connect with a lot of the elements in this story. I did have a few issues, mostly in the second half, but overall I enjoyed Smith’s debut and I’m anxious to read the next book in the series.
Elena Boureanu is a vine witch, someone able to use magic to grow vines that produce the best wine in the valley. She’s always lived at the Chateau Renard in the Chanceaux Valley in France, taught the art of magic by her Grande-Mère from the time she was a young girl. But an unfortunate incident involving her fiance Bastien results in Elena being cursed for seven years, although she is finally able to break the curse through sheer determination.
Finding her way back home to her beloved Chateau Renard after breaking the curse, Elena is shocked to find out that she’s been gone for so long. Her Grand-Mère still works at the vineyard, but without the protection of a strong vine witch like Elena, she fell on hard times and was forced to sell the land. A man named Jean-Paul Martel is now the owner of the vineyard, but the wine he’s produced in that time is bitter and nearly undrinkable. Using her ability to delve into the “shadow world” to see other witch’s magic, Elena discovers that someone with very strong magic has cursed the Chateau Renard vines.
Elena convinces Jean-Paul, a man who doesn’t believe in witches and magic at all, to allow her to find the witch responsible for all the damage and break the curse that’s destroying the vines. At the same time, she vows to find Bastien and kill him, as she believes it was he who cursed her in the first place. Determined to save her beloved vineyard and get revenge on Bastien, Elena finds herself up against a powerful bierhexe from a rival vineyard who will do anything to prevent Elena from reclaiming her old life.
My favorite part of this book was learning about the folklore of the vine witches themselves and how they shape the wine that is produced in the Chanceaux Valley. In Smith’s world, vine witches are known and accepted and are a vital part of making the best wines in the country. I loved the details showing the intricate spell work and ritual surrounding a vine witch’s work, and how much love and care they put into their spells. Smith also talks about the “terroir” of the land, which I’ll admit is a word I’ve never run across before (although if you’re a wine connoisseur, I’m sure you recognize it!). Terroir is the essence of the land, everything that goes into making extraordinary grapes, like sunlight, soil and air. Elena is bonded to the Chateau Renard’s terroir and has an intimate relationship with all aspects of growing the vines. I have to admit that for me, there just wasn’t enough about the vine witches in this story, as it takes a turn about half-way through, which I’ll get to in a bit.
I also loved a few of the side characters that we meet later in the story, although again, I would have liked to see more of them and their relationships with each other. At one point, Elena is arrested and taken to prison and there she meets a couple of other witches who have also been arrested for dubious reasons. Yvette is a carnival witch and Sidra turns out to be a jinni, able to turn into smoke. At first the three women are wary of each other, but later they end up helping each other survive various dangerous situations. I always love reading about female friendships, and I do hope these three come together again in the next book.
As much as I loved the atmosphere of the story, I did have some issues with the plot and pacing. The first half of the story, where the focus is on the actual vine witch magic, was definitely my favorite part of the book. Once we hit the halfway point, the plot takes a sharp turn into more of an escape/chase story, where Elena is trying to track down the killer and save Jean-Paul from her clutches. I think part of the problem was that I didn’t like the villain at all, the bierhexe Gerda du Monde. She felt like more of a cliche of a villain and just didn’t have enough depth for me to truly care about what she was doing. I wanted to worry more about Elena and Jean-Paul during the chase and rescue scenes, but for some reason the stakes just didn’t seem high enough.
And speaking of Jean-Paul, he and Elena form a romantic relationship, but unfortunately it wasn’t very satisfying. They go from enemies to starry-eyed lovers in the span of a page or two, which was way too abrupt to be believable. I think if the author had made the book a little longer, some of these issues could have been smoothed out with more story development.
But despite my criticisms, I enjoyed this book enough to give it four stars. Luanne G. Smith’s lyrical writing is perfectly suited for this story and gives it a delightful fairy tale vibe. The story ties everything up neatly at the end, and because there’s no description yet on Goodreads for the sequel, The Glamourist, I’m not sure whether the same characters will make an appearance or not. In either case, I’m very curious to read more from this author, especially if she plans on delving deeper into the alluring magic of the vine witches.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
A great review about an intriguing book with a really fascinating premise – how original! Thank you for this one, Tammy – as ever you manage to increase my teetering TBR pile…
Ha ha, then my job here is done;-)
Glad you enjoyed this one! I just got a copy for my birthday, so I’m even more excited to read it; it was actually a gift from my friend Elena who loves wine, so I think she chose well. 😉 Great review!
Jess @ Jessticulates recently posted…Review | The Cursed Wife by Pamela Hartshorne
Ooh I hope you enjoy!
I’m not sure this one is for me, but I do find it nice authors continue coming up with new and interesting places to take us. That’s what I love about speculative fiction, anything is possible.
I agree, Todd. This was a cool setting, I loved the French flavor to the story:-)
Oh my goodness, I am head over heels in love with the sound of wine related witchery! I feel like it would be so atmospheric to read this in autumn in the evening, snuggled up with a glass of red. Anyway, it sounds like the folklore was a very big highlight and I am glad secondary characters were likeable! I think I’d struggle with the cliched villain because I honestly can’t stand those…
Olivia-S @ Olivia’s Catastrophe
Olivia Roach recently posted…Some Places More Than Others [Book Review]
This was very atmospheric and well written!
I just finished this! I liked it fine, but it’s one of those “you can tell it’s a debut” books where I spotted some hiccups in the pacing and plot and character development as well. I enjoyed it, but it doesn’t have that spark that makes it memorable.
It definitely has some debut issues, but I did love the vine witch folklore, and I wish there was more of that!
HMMM, a bit of a mixed bag – I love love LOVE the idea of vine witches and having that connection to her land, it sounds really cool. the female friendship is a win as well! but I adore enemies-to-lovers so it disappoints me that they transition so quickly and there’s none of that delicious tension, lol. also I’m a bit puzzled that magic is known and vine witches are accepted, yet the main dude doesn’t believe in them? that cover is so so pretty, I will probably pick this up because of that, haha
It’s almost like people in the valley believe the mythology of the vine witches, but some people are in denial, I guess. It sort of makes sense!
I really love witchy reads too so this one definitely appeals to me. That is a shame about the pacing issues though and with the rushing of the romance.
It has a lot going for it, though, despite some of my issues.
There is a fascinating core concept here, and one I don’t believe I encountered before – magic and wine make for a unique combination indeed! That said, a villain who doesn’t sound believable, or worse, steeped in cliché, might indeed represent a letdown because, let’s face it, a good antagonist always makes for an enjoyable contrast…
Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…SALVATION DAY, by Kali Wallace
I did love the whole magic/wine story line, and I just wanted more of that:-)
I have to say- I don’t know that I’d be a match for this based on your review (magic and wine, oddly neither are my thing) but I’m glad you enjoyed it! The Glamourist- though there is no description yet, does sound a bit more intriguing to me. I’ve always thought of glamour as something witches used to cover up their true age/face whatever. I’ll be curious to see the blurb for it.
I’m wondering if The Glamourist is more of a companion novel than a sequel, and honestly I’d be OK with that.
That’s what it sounded like to me- but what do I know lol.
I got this one from Amazon First Reads so I’m glad to see you liked it. I have to admit those side characters sound pretty cool and since you mentioned more in the series, I hope we get books about them. Great review!
I loved the three women, it was really the male characters that didn’t work as well.
I am glad you liked the book! I’ve been hearing a lot about it and your review is excellent!
Thanks Jackie:-)
And on my TBR this goes! It sounds like something I’d enjoy reading too. Witches and wine immediately got my attention lol! Did you sip some wine as you read?
I think I’ll probably have the same probs with the story as you did, but I’m still willing to try it.
Ha ha I didn’t have any wine! What was I thinking??
Really appreciate your thoughts on this one, will temper some of my expectations going in (regarding the romance and such). But glad it was a good read overall! I like that you enjoyed the atmosphere–that bodes well!
Yes, I loved the atmosphere!
I’ve had my eye on this one and so curious to read it now. Thanks for such a wonderful review!
Laura Thomas recently posted…31 Days Of Thrills And Chills #22 ~ The 12 Terrors Of Christmas
Thanks Laura, I hope you get to read it:-)
This sounds like something that would work well for me. I’ll have to keep it. In mind for my wish list
Lynn
This book is so interesting! I love your review.
I love creative, original stories about magic and witches! I highly recommend the books of Jonathan Stroud, if you haven’t read them!
I’ve seen this cover and book around. It’s nice to have a thorough review. The wine/witch angle is interesting.