The Vine Witch

Title The Vine Witch Author Luanne G. Smith Release Date October 1, 2019 Description from Amazon A young witch emerges from a curse to find her world upended in this gripping fantasy set in turn-of-the-century France. 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. Initial Thoughts Ok so this was entirely a “bookstagram made me do it” purchase. @xentatine did an unboxing for this book a while back and it looked so interesting, I had to give it a read. Well, technically, I listened to it as an audiobook, but I was really excited about the premise all the same. Some Things I Liked Adult fiction. I don’t read a ton of adult fiction (I lean more toward YA), but I loved that this was a bit out of my usual genre. I liked that Elena was an older character and I found her to be more relatable because of that. Fantasy grounded in reality. I read too many stories where everything wraps up neatly and precisely. Characters who you thought were bad turn out to be good and everything is happy. The Vine Witch is filled with realism and I loved that. Elena’s circumstances were terrible, and she wanted to do something terrible in return. I don’t want to go as far as calling her “morally grey”, but, she exemplifies a realness in her struggle to sort out her life. Subject matter. I thought the concept of “vine witches” was so unique. I’m not a big wine drinker myself, but I know a decent amount about it from my days as a waitress. I loved the care and detail used to describe both the technical and magical aspects of wine making. Reading this book made me want to like wine more. Series Value I was happy to see the way this story wrapped up. I feel like I have closure with Elena but there are so many open possibilities of future storylines described throughout this book. I could easily see the next book, The Glamourist, being a spin-off story about one fo the other ladies Elena meets in prison. Or, I could also be happy with another story about Elena. Overall, I’d just be happy to go back to the world Luanne G. Smith created. Final Thoughts I adored this book. I am so glad I stumbled upon it on Instagram and now I am a lifelong fan of Luanne G. Smith’s writing. She painted a vivid world with an incredibly captivating magic system rich with characters that I am eager to learn more about. This book was the perfect fall read and I can easily see myself re-reading it next year. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recommendations for Further Reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – ok, this is one of my favorite books of all time. I can easily say, if you liked The Vine Witch, you will enjoy The Night Circus. Both stories have such rich world building and are perfect fall stories. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness – if you liked the supernatural elements in this story, witches, demons, etc., give the All Souls trilogy a try. Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin – once again, if you liked the witches element, do yourself a favor and read this new release by Shelby Mahurin. It’s seasonal, perfect, and has multiple POVs.

Like many a millenial woman in her mid-to-late twenties, I have grown to appreciate wine. Do I know much about it other than the basics -- is it dry, sweet, tart, sour, or bland? Is it carbonated or not? What's the color? Do I like the label? But, this book made me appreciate wine in how the author gave great detail to describe it. When a character would taste a particularly great glass of wine, the descriptions of the taste and the vast use of adjectives made me realize I probably haven't been utilizing my full pallette when tasting wine. Granted, I think spending more than $15 on a bottle is too much. And I'm not normally pairing it with my dinner, I'm uncorking it right after work in an effort to drown my sorrows of working on corporate retail America. But I digress. And apparently like a good wine, there are a lot of flavors and aromas that come through. Or is it a bouquet? I'm not sure. Anyway like a complex wine, this novel was also pretty complex. We went from a revenge plot, slight enemies-to-lovers (though that's being generous with that trope, it doesn't really fit but it's the best I've got), to murder mystery, to magic dueling. And apparently a witches discipline can vary, but in this particular setting there seem to be a lot who love making alcoholic beverages. I was ready for a full on duel between the vine witches who make wine and the hops witches who make beer. But that didn't exactly happen. The main complaints I have was we're given the impression that they're in French country, and that with names like the Chanceaux Valley these characters are also French. But one thing that kinda irks me about novels like this that take place with characters who would probably speak another language other than English (in this case French), but the book is written in English so all dialogue and descriptions are in English, and the the token French word or two is thrown out. There are in some cases where the word is probably of French origin, but then names like Grand-mère are used, or others comme ci, comme ca (italicized with correct spelling that I'm not doing here.) It's a small thing. Also, there is a romance plot. It's there, but it's small and kinda feels rushed. We didn't get to watch Jean-Paul and Elena fall for each other in a way that felt genuine. We know they find each other attractive, but time kinda jumps forward a lot. This novel is 261 pages, which isn't bad, but I do feel that it could have had some more scenes that deepened the romantic plot. Like it's there like it wants to be more, and I wanted to route for the couple, but there wasn't anything that gave me purchase to want to stand with this ship. Just some nice fluff scenes would have been nice to show them fall for each other more. We get more from Jean-Paul and his infatuation with her and his comments on her beauty and his obvious attraction for her than we get from Elena. I know she has a lot on her plate, but I especially didn't get the feeling she thought of him as anything more until the end. OVERALL. I rate this a four stars because I do want a physical copy on my bookshelf, and while I might be craving more it was still a great read. Or in my limited wine knowledge, a good shiraz. I don't really have a wine grading system but I normally like shiraz and this feels like a good shiraz so DON'T JUDGE ME WINE SNOBS.

For centuries the vineyards of France have relied on vine witches to help cultivate their crops for their wine. They have the ability to know exactly what the grapes need to become perfect and young Elena loved being a vine witch under grand mère's tutelage. When a curse is placed upon her she vows to find her way back to herself and exact revenge, but when she gets home seven long years later much has changed. Grand'Mere has sold the vineyard to a handsome young stranger, Jean-Paul Martel, and her magic remains largely out of reach. Can she still exact her revenge and save her home? This book was an impulse purchase forever ago and it took me a while to actually get to it. I loved it, don't get me wrong. My TBR is always forever long, but once I started reading it I loved it. We start just as Elena is breaking the curse that was put on her. We occasionally backtrack to get information needed from before the curse was placed on her, but it never takes you out of the story. We also get to see how Elena's relationship with Jean-Paul changes as he slowly becomes more open to things outside of his understanding. I enjoyed the twists and turns as we learn more about the curse and how it affects Elena even after it is broken. The story was well-written and engaging and I would definitely read more by this author!! There is fantasy, magic, betrayal, and a dash of romance thrown in. We even get a bit of budding friendships within the pages. I don't have any complaints on the story from the characters, story-line, or writing.

An interesting story that transports the reader to the wonderful French wine fields. However, it lacks more elements to sustain the facts and the all explanation is left for the last chapters but not as complete as the reader expects.

I found the introductory prose vivid and deliciously evocative, immediately setting a scene that drew me into the vortex of the story. I had to know more. The quality and vividness of the writing continued throughout this mysterious tale, weaving ancient enchantments into an intriguing romance, with a satisfying complexity, dark undertones and beautiful imagery.. As I continued to read I felt as if I were sipping a rich tantalising wine - the equal of the revered vintage that is set before the reader, which had a wonderful palate and evolving characteristics, as it was consumed, leaving me thirsting for the next bottle - and Voilà - Volume 2 is on the way!

I really enjoyed this book, it was a nice change from all the other reading I’m doing. I loved the poetic side of the winemaking, of the connexion to earth. A bit predictable, but I still had a good time with the characters.

A fantastic witchy story, perfect to start off fall season, i devoured this book in two days. I loved the details of magic, potions and spells. Genius!

This is not my usual reading taste, if I am honest, I only chose it because it was free! How pleased I am that I did. This is, surprisingly for its type, an excellent read, all written, beautifully constructed and lovingly done. A story that sucks you in, slowly but inevitably, to be read in one sitting. A world has been created that is imbued with magic and imagination that one truly believes in as a real place. A love story and a mystery, neither diverting from the other, complementing instead. Take a chance on this novel, read it and be taken to another time and place, a wonderful diversion from the grim realities of life and it's uncertainty. Ms Smith is imaginative and possesses that unusual ability that marks her out as a wonderful story teller.