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jesserbessers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
tleigh206's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.
An interesting and unique read! The setting was beautiful and well-described, and I became invested in the lives of the characters. I would highly recommend for anyone wanting a romance with a thrilling, fantasy feel!
An interesting and unique read! The setting was beautiful and well-described, and I became invested in the lives of the characters. I would highly recommend for anyone wanting a romance with a thrilling, fantasy feel!
sonyayx's review against another edition
3.0
The Water Witch was a cute story about love, mysteries, and the supernatural. The folklore element together with the setting in France brings a unique and comforting vibe. I liked the narrator and the story was pretty easy to follow. If you feel like going on an action-filled treasure hunt in Europe, with a splash of romance and ancient curses, this book is for you!
brandyk13's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bolttasreads's review against another edition
4.0
The water witch by Jess Thorne
Publication date 5th August 2022
Brittany, France. Ariadne Walker’s fiancé Simon drowned in the stormy Atlantic Ocean doing what he loved: searching for the lost underwater city of Ys. Local legend says it was destroyed centuries ago when the princess of Ys became a water witch, cursing the name of the man who betrayed her.
What would you do if love of your life dies when looking for city that is actually underwater? What if your brother is still looking for it? And there is this man, who believes that he is cursed and you are his only chance to live?
Book started as a slow read, but as soon as I got more into it I couldn’t stop reading it and put it away. All story is so perfectly written that when you read you see it all visually in your mind, thinking “did I just watched it or read it” I could definitely see it as a movie or series !!!
The Water Witch is mystery combined with fantasy, slow burn romance between Ari and Rafael even though their love interest isn’t fully open and explored.
Jessica Thorne wrote this book as retelling of one of The Brittany, France folklore stories and I loved how it turned out.
The only thing that turned my 5 starts to 4 - loads of French words and names that I had no clue what they meant.
Over all, good and enjoyable read, would definitely recommend to those who loves fantasy, mystery and maybe a little bit of detective type of books !
Thank you NetGalley for this arc and opportunity to read this beautiful work!!
I voluntarily read and reviewed copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Publication date 5th August 2022
Brittany, France. Ariadne Walker’s fiancé Simon drowned in the stormy Atlantic Ocean doing what he loved: searching for the lost underwater city of Ys. Local legend says it was destroyed centuries ago when the princess of Ys became a water witch, cursing the name of the man who betrayed her.
What would you do if love of your life dies when looking for city that is actually underwater? What if your brother is still looking for it? And there is this man, who believes that he is cursed and you are his only chance to live?
Book started as a slow read, but as soon as I got more into it I couldn’t stop reading it and put it away. All story is so perfectly written that when you read you see it all visually in your mind, thinking “did I just watched it or read it” I could definitely see it as a movie or series !!!
The Water Witch is mystery combined with fantasy, slow burn romance between Ari and Rafael even though their love interest isn’t fully open and explored.
Jessica Thorne wrote this book as retelling of one of The Brittany, France folklore stories and I loved how it turned out.
The only thing that turned my 5 starts to 4 - loads of French words and names that I had no clue what they meant.
Over all, good and enjoyable read, would definitely recommend to those who loves fantasy, mystery and maybe a little bit of detective type of books !
Thank you NetGalley for this arc and opportunity to read this beautiful work!!
I voluntarily read and reviewed copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
mspilesofpaper's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Such a disappointing read. I thought that it would be a urban fantasy with Breton folklore as plot devices and a slightly creepy atmosphere. Instead I got a disappointing read.
The characters are flat, bland and underdeveloped. I didn't care about any of them. Their character traits tended to be contradicted later in the story.
- Rafael is vain, materialistic and hypocritical but in later chapters, he's suddenly not as materialistic as his sister but the running joke between Ari and him is that he throws money at everything because he's the CEO of the du Lac foundation, which means big money in this world. He was extremely unlikeable and gave me the ick.
- Ari is two dimensional and has no defining traits beyond "grief" and "smart". Oh, and gushing over Rafael between the "I'm still mourning Simon" scenes. Wow. Also, the woman has no standards when it comes to men (she praises Rafael at one point for accepting her opinion not to have sex now ... wow).
- Jason and Nico are pretty much two sides of the same coin - Jason is flirty and outgoing, Nico is calm and suave. Both are idiots. Also extremely unrealistic sibling relationship between Jason and Ari.
- The Mémé only appears in scenes where she needs to act as aging lady who's obsessed with Ys or when she's sick.
- Gwen was so predictable and Laure's development was so ... ugh. It felt like the author realised that she needed to tie up some loose ends.
- Simon was an ass. Being engaged to a woman he loves (Ari) but having no trouble to cheat on her. Instead of making a decision that have been better for everyone involved, he became reckless and was considered a suicide risk. Wtf?
The developing romance between Ari (FMC) and Rafael (MMC) is pretty much insta love and feels unrealistic. It doesn't help that Ari still deals with grief about Simon (who died two years prior the story) and that she never went to therapy to get help.
The worldbuilding felt underdeveloped as well. It might be because the village, the du Lacs, ... don't exist in reality. The overall region is pretty accurate in terms of description but as soon as the village, in which the story mostly happens, is mentioned, it feels underdeveloped. The village is pretty much described as "small fishing village with a tiny folklore museum and touristic shops". That's no worldbuilding and the reader can't imagine anything in their mind either. The folklore aspects are muddy. They include several Breton folklore figures (sometimes it is one and the same figure with several different names which does not help tbh), mentions of Celtic folklore and Atlantis. Because every sunken city will be considered as a version of Atlantis. In addition to the folklore elements, the author added a couple of real world elements as well to give it some substance but it didn't help much in my opinion.
Unfortunately, the murder mystery / the mystery around the curse is pretty bland as well. I found it easy to guess what happened / who is who because the author gave broad hints instead of subtle ones. It doesn't help that the author picked the worst character as killer instead of actually developing a good plot point / character when it came to the mystery aspect.
If you still want to read it: it's part of Kindle Unlimited (at least it was when I read it).
The characters are flat, bland and underdeveloped. I didn't care about any of them. Their character traits tended to be contradicted later in the story.
- Rafael is vain, materialistic and hypocritical but in later chapters, he's suddenly not as materialistic as his sister but the running joke between Ari and him is that he throws money at everything because he's the CEO of the du Lac foundation, which means big money in this world. He was extremely unlikeable and gave me the ick.
- Ari is two dimensional and has no defining traits beyond "grief" and "smart". Oh, and gushing over Rafael between the "I'm still mourning Simon" scenes. Wow. Also, the woman has no standards when it comes to men (she praises Rafael at one point for accepting her opinion not to have sex now ... wow).
- Jason and Nico are pretty much two sides of the same coin - Jason is flirty and outgoing, Nico is calm and suave. Both are idiots. Also extremely unrealistic sibling relationship between Jason and Ari.
- The Mémé only appears in scenes where she needs to act as aging lady who's obsessed with Ys or when she's sick.
- Gwen was so predictable and Laure's development was so ... ugh. It felt like the author realised that she needed to tie up some loose ends.
- Simon was an ass. Being engaged to a woman he loves (Ari) but having no trouble to cheat on her. Instead of making a decision that have been better for everyone involved, he became reckless and was considered a suicide risk. Wtf?
The developing romance between Ari (FMC) and Rafael (MMC) is pretty much insta love and feels unrealistic. It doesn't help that Ari still deals with grief about Simon (who died two years prior the story) and that she never went to therapy to get help.
The worldbuilding felt underdeveloped as well. It might be because the village, the du Lacs, ... don't exist in reality. The overall region is pretty accurate in terms of description but as soon as the village, in which the story mostly happens, is mentioned, it feels underdeveloped. The village is pretty much described as "small fishing village with a tiny folklore museum and touristic shops". That's no worldbuilding and the reader can't imagine anything in their mind either. The folklore aspects are muddy. They include several Breton folklore figures (sometimes it is one and the same figure with several different names which does not help tbh), mentions of Celtic folklore and Atlantis. Because every sunken city will be considered as a version of Atlantis. In addition to the folklore elements, the author added a couple of real world elements as well to give it some substance but it didn't help much in my opinion.
Unfortunately, the murder mystery / the mystery around the curse is pretty bland as well. I found it easy to guess what happened / who is who because the author gave broad hints instead of subtle ones. It doesn't help that the author picked the worst character as killer instead of actually developing a good plot point / character when it came to the mystery aspect.
If you still want to read it: it's part of Kindle Unlimited (at least it was when I read it).
thelauramay's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a little outside what I normally read, but it quickly became enthralling. Somehow, despite the book being written for the world at large, it feels a bit like it is talking directly, and only, to you. That's likely partly an effect of the shifting narrative and vulnerability of the protagonists, and partly because it's a story of treasure and magic. While I've not been to Brittany, I've walked parts of the coast of France, and the writing was truly evocative.
Worth a Saturday lie-in to finish this book, because it was difficult indeed to put down. The only detraction was the somewhat convoluted ending. Still, 4.5*, and I'd read another book by this author.
Worth a Saturday lie-in to finish this book, because it was difficult indeed to put down. The only detraction was the somewhat convoluted ending. Still, 4.5*, and I'd read another book by this author.
thereaderandthebeast's review against another edition
4.0
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A delicate prose, myths that merge with reality, intertwined stories, mysterious deaths, a lost city, an ancient curse and a promiscuous-witch-queen-psychopath-murderer that you must defeat to save you, the man you love and the soul of an old love.
From Hitler to Atlantis, translating from French to Breton, you seek the treasure, you risk your life... and you expose your heart.
What beautiful and dangerous book it is!
~•~•~•~•~
Una prosa delicada, mitos que se fusionan con la realidad, historias entrelazadas, muertes misteriosas, una ciudad perdida, una antigua maldición y reina-bruja-promiscua-psicópata-asesina que vencer, para salvarte a ti, al hombre que amas y el alma de un antiguo amor.
Desde Hitler hasta Atlantis, traduciendo del francés al bretón, buscas el tesoro, te juegas la vida... y expones el corazón.
A delicate prose, myths that merge with reality, intertwined stories, mysterious deaths, a lost city, an ancient curse and a promiscuous-witch-queen-psychopath-murderer that you must defeat to save you, the man you love and the soul of an old love.
From Hitler to Atlantis, translating from French to Breton, you seek the treasure, you risk your life... and you expose your heart.
What beautiful and dangerous book it is!
~•~•~•~•~
Una prosa delicada, mitos que se fusionan con la realidad, historias entrelazadas, muertes misteriosas, una ciudad perdida, una antigua maldición y reina-bruja-promiscua-psicópata-asesina que vencer, para salvarte a ti, al hombre que amas y el alma de un antiguo amor.
Desde Hitler hasta Atlantis, traduciendo del francés al bretón, buscas el tesoro, te juegas la vida... y expones el corazón.
victoriaisabel's review against another edition
2.0
I just want to thank Netgallery for the chance to read and rate this book and thank Bookouture for the opportunity as well. The Water Witch was a bit hard to get into and took longer to read. Although I do usually enjoy slow burn adventure novels I feel that maybe this wasn't for me. Without giving any spoilers there were a few tropes I did not care for in this novel. The "twist" in this book also felt unsatisfying as I would have liked to have a better reason for this particular character becoming completely unhinged? I just wasn't convinced why it would lead to this particular plot point. I was left with more questions than answers.
Just to clarify these are my own opinions and are of no reflection of anyone else.
Just to clarify these are my own opinions and are of no reflection of anyone else.
chronicledbycait's review against another edition
4.0
The Water Witch
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Mourning the death of her fiancé, Ariadne (Ari) Walker is hesitant to assist her brother, a treasure hunter, continue his search for the mythical city of Ys.
But what started as a simple diving adventure turns into more as legend and intrigue have Ari not only looking into the lost city of Ys, but racing against the clock to stop the curse of The Water Witch.
This was the first book I’ve read by Jessica Thorne and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved it! Fools Gold meets The Mummy, I was hooked on the mystery that Jessica expertly researched and took the time to weave into the legend of Ys.
The book itself wasn’t necessarily a quick read for me, and I did feel that it started to drag towards the middle but I pushed through and found myself flipping through the last pages, reading as quickly as possible to find out what happened!
The romantic angle didn’t play as large of a role in the book as I expected but I didn’t need it to feel connected to the story or the characters!
Definitely worth the read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Mourning the death of her fiancé, Ariadne (Ari) Walker is hesitant to assist her brother, a treasure hunter, continue his search for the mythical city of Ys.
But what started as a simple diving adventure turns into more as legend and intrigue have Ari not only looking into the lost city of Ys, but racing against the clock to stop the curse of The Water Witch.
This was the first book I’ve read by Jessica Thorne and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved it! Fools Gold meets The Mummy, I was hooked on the mystery that Jessica expertly researched and took the time to weave into the legend of Ys.
The book itself wasn’t necessarily a quick read for me, and I did feel that it started to drag towards the middle but I pushed through and found myself flipping through the last pages, reading as quickly as possible to find out what happened!
The romantic angle didn’t play as large of a role in the book as I expected but I didn’t need it to feel connected to the story or the characters!
Definitely worth the read!