Gripping

Beautifully read Hard to put down despite the jumping through generations making new sub stories

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1 person found this helpful

A great listen

This was my first audio book and I am sure it won't be my last. I was hooked from the start.

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Excellent read

This is the fastest I've gone through a book on audible. Loved it.

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A good story and narration

I almost didn’t read this book because of some strange reviews. The story is fantasy fiction so does not need to be believable and the narrator pronounces some words in French because it’s a French family. The book of Veronica brings the whole story together and highlights the compromises made to carry on the family line. I really enjoyed this book.

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lost its way

I was really enjoying this book until the bit about Queen Elizabeth being a witch.... a step too far IMO and I gave up....

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Odd pronunciation of some important words

It's hard to get into this as I'm totally thrown by odd pronunciations. I'm a witch who's been around pagans for a while. I love reading historical or fictional accounts about witches even though most of it is fantasy and does not relate to real life Wiccans. I'm sure this is a great book but I'm not a fan of the narration. It's a dry, raspy academic sounding reading. And there are words that I've never heard pronounced like this like Samhain which the narrator reads as Sam-Hane. And Lith which she pronounces Lith-er. And even Sabbat has strange stress on syllables in this book. I kept thinking there was a male character called Louis Sept, then realised the narrator actually meant Louisette which should be more like Louise with an ette on the end. So however knowledgeable the author is with Wiccan traditions and the wheel of the year, hearing the odd pronunciations sounds like someone who's never met a Pagan and probably isn't interested to find out. So I'm curious, do publishers just get a voice artist to read then never check their product afterwards? Some strange things kept happening as well like sentences or pages that repeated twice and I checked on other devices and it kept happening. It seems to me there's a lot of money to be made when audible books are around £28 sometimes, or more, but publishers are behaving like it's just an add on perk or favour like they have produced a charitable reading for the blind to access, when we've actually paid a lot for it. I have come across annoying things about audiobooks like the fact it doesn't read the front pages, or the about book, nor does it ever read the afterword or info or acknowledgements at the back of the book, sometimes chapter numbers are missed too when ALL should be accessible to the visually impaired. Sometimes there are other mistakes too. Yet if we have visual problems and rely on an audiobook it's always a shadow of the cheaper text version. Anyway, my point is, publishers please check your audiobooks. And if you include elements of religion, culture or foreign languages, check that these are pronounced correctly otherwise it feels disrespectful. Also check that the voice is suitable and restful for someone who wants to listen for hours. Often I have to return an audiobook because the voice is hard, grating and painful with inconsistent volume. In this particular book, I don't want to be rude but mispronunciation aside, the voice just isn't a pleasant one to listen to for hours on end. I am continuing and hoping the story will distract me from these annoying bits.

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9 people found this helpful

Wonderful

Everything about this book I liked I know it’s a work of fiction but lovely to hear about 'THE CRAFT' without all the devil/god stuff that has hijacked any mention of the women who knew how to heal and nurture passing through the ages of time.
So sad it had to end but ended very well

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2 people found this helpful

Entertaining

This book was entertaining, engaging and kept my interest. Well written so very easy to listen to & the narrator is great. Not as good as her other book Age of Witches and this is why:

1. Couldn’t work out what the plot or the point was - other than a family history of a bunch of women. There was no overall purpose or message? Why did she write this family history? No climax or conclusion.
2. The descriptions of sex where so cheesy they were cringeworthy.
3. Why are these women so fertile they get pregnant after having sex ONCE and why do they fall in love so easily? And why do they never have sons???

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pleasant distraction

I felt the choice of narrator carried this for me a little as they did a fantastic job. I did enjoy the story but it was more a pleasant nostalgic ramble for me than something that compelled me onwards. I think there's room for that though and it was a really light and pleasant distraction to listen to while going about my own doings.

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1 person found this helpful

wow wow wow

love it, fantastic listen, worth the wait, a little slow at the start, but really really worth the wait

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