The Vine Witch

kari_kirfman shared a tip "Magic, wine, woman starts the book as a toad… need I go on? I enjoyed reading this, but it fell short of my expectations. Elena has been a vine witch (a witch who protects and enhances the vineyard) for nearly her whole life. Her ex fiancé turned her into a toad, and she has returned to her beloved vineyard to find it sold to a new owner and cursed. There are elements of romance with the new owner, but also a mystery brewing as to who is befouling the vineyard and the town. This book ended up being a bit darker than I originally supposed. I did enjoy watching Elena come to terms with the limits of her ethics and morality. A few critiques. Elena was not a perfect character, and sometimes she was unlikeable. I don’t need my protagonists to be likeable, but I do prefer that they behave intelligently and aren’t saved by Deus Ex Machina plot devices. I didn’t love the magic system in this book. I want to stay spoiler-free, but I found plot holes in the magic police department as well. I would recommend if you love the idea of a horror-tinged magic wine book. I would not recommend if you’re after either romance or a rules-based magic system."

robin_siddiqui shared a tip "Really enjoyed the descriptions of the wines, vineyards, different types of magic. It doesn't tell you exactly what year it's set but enough information given throughout the book to figure it out in general."

daniel_huerta_3841 shared a tip "This book was pretty good, but it does use a lot of french words that are a bit difficult to pronounce. This made it a bit hard for me to read because it slowed me down while reading aloud. The atmosphere is very descriptive in this book which I found really refreshing. I felt as if I could visually see each character in my mind. The story was a bit boring, mainly because the chapters are long and daunting. Very wordy at some places. All in all, I would rate this book about a 6 out of 10. Very interesting but it feels too long. If I had to give this book an analogy, I would call this book the equivalent of a fight scene in the dragon ball anime: there is a fight that should take 5 minutes, but its stretched out to 3 full episodes. Its a fun read for sure though and if anyone wants to read it, I'd say, give it a shot! Especially if you are into magic. #fantasy"

christine_capute shared a tip "A book where the lead is a brave self sufficient woman who can save her damn self and must keep her powers hidden while trying to fallow the old ways to make the best wine. Also there is revenge and romance friendships and magic."