The Vine Witch, and why I love Kindle recommendations

I am the type of person who immediately unsubscribes from all marketing emails, but I decided to keep my Kindle and Audible recommendations on. And I'm sure glad I did! Don't get me wrong, a lot of the emails I get are filled with books I would never even consider, but every once in a while I'll stumble upon a gem like The Vine Witch.

It jumped out at me from the email because of the cover, so I thought I'll check out the summary. Not my usual fare at a first glance, but it had magic, mystery and conflict which is bound to grow into a romance. Plus, it was free!! So I figured, let's give it a go.

This not being one of the titles on my 'Want to read' list, and thus not a book I've been actively looking forward to reading, I had a hard time getting into the story. On my first attempt, I made it through perhaps a couple of pages before deciding this was a bit too weird for me. Fast forward a few months, and here I am stuck on a series of trains thanks to some inconvenient flooding, just having finished a good book (did you hear how much I loved The Red Scrolls of Magic?) and unable to make up my mind about what to read next.

My Kindle app and The Vine Witch came to the rescue. You'll need a couple of chapters to settle into this strange universe, what with the main character starting off as a frog, and then introducing us to a bunch of magical rules that are more druid than wizard (and therefore less familiar to fantasy readers). But the more you read, the more the story grips you, and before you know it you're invested in finding out who cursed Elena, what's the matter with the vineyard and when will Jean-Paul admit he has the hots for a witch.

What I liked most about the story is that it's unusual. We've got a type of magic that's closely tied to nature and linked to a view of the connection between all living things that you can actually encounter in real life. As someone who is used to reading about more supernatural kinds of magic in my fantasy books, I found this both refreshing and deeply fascinating. The book also didn't present those gifted with magic as better or worse - both sides were depicted as co-dependent parts of society, which was a nice deviation from the traditional fantasy power hierarchy where magic users are often seen as superior.

The narrative itself was also a pleasant surprise. I've read my fair share of books (way more that my Goodreads profile shows), and I pride myself on being able to foresee many of the possible paths a plot could take. But every now and again a book comes along that surprises me. I don't even have to like where the story goes - I just delight in the unpredictable. The Vine Witch is one of those books, and I was completely enthralled by it. The character growth is amazing, the romance develops more naturally than many a fictional romances I've encountered, and although we get glimpses of the villainy, we don't get the full picture until the final section of the novel.

The side characters are also complex and excellently crafted, the wider universe of the story full with mysteries to be uncovered. In fact, I've been so intrigued by this world that I'm tempted to pick up the next book in the series when it comes out, despite reading this as a standalone (and a chance purchase!).

The Vine Witch has also made me want to learn more about natural remedies and such like. Luckily, my friend gave me just the book for that for my birthday, so watch this space for a review of The Green Witch!

5/5 stars