This book combines magical realism, folklore, mystery, historical retelling and romance. It's definitely not the usual sappy contemporary romances or the high fantasy I usually read but it was intriguing and gripping enough for my liking. Though sometimes quite predictable it ended up being enchanting. And who would hate on a French setting? Not me!

The suspense was quite alive and it had a spooky atmosphere. Generally just a wonderous "different" kind of story which inspired me to reach out of my comfort zone from time to time. It also deals with grief which is hard hitting but real.

And it had a very beautiful cover.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It combines folklore, family saga, mystery and romance. I liked that it was set in Brittany on the Atlantic coast of France. And there’s TREASURE! And treasure hunting. The story is based on one of Brittany’s folklore tales, so there Is some magic involved too.

4 stars

This is the story of Ariadne, Rafael and lost city of Ys. Jason (Ari's brother) calls Ari back to work with him to investigate the lost city of Ys. And two years ago, Simon, Ari's former boyfriend, died while he was investigating the city of Ys. The legend had it that when Ys was destroyed, the princess of the Ys became a water witch. The generation of the betrayer of the princess, bore the curse of the princess, which is to die by the age of 35.

The Du Lac family, of which the males doesn't live further the age of 35, is funding the research. Ari meets Rafael ,whose 35th birthday is near. They both, with the help of the crew (Jason, their friend Nico) starts to look for the city of Ys to find out about the witch and its history and remove the curse.

This book is literally so good, I really loved the most of the book. But some of the parts dragged on, and I needed to put it down many times because I couldn't go through it. But I believe the 2nd half of the book made up for that. I finished the last 40% of the book in one sitting. Definitely one of the remarkable fantasy read of this year! The story was so fascinating and unique (at least to me). Can't wait to read more from the author.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC. Hope to read more from the author in future.

Sitting side by side on the clifftop, he turns to her solemnly and says, ‘The water witch is real.’ She rolls her eyes and grins, teasing him. ‘Sure. A psycho mermaid. Got it.’ But now he’s gone forever… will she find the truth beneath the waves?

Heavy on the romantic elements, a little light in the fantasy department, The Water Witch is a compelling and fast-paced read. Ari Walker and Rafael du Lac are both interesting, multidimensional characters who reveal their flaws and vulnerabilities as well as their strengths throughout the story. Secondary characters such as Ari's brother Jason, friend Nico, and Rafael's great-aunt Me'me' are also well-developed. The physical description of the environment is atmospheric and detailed. If you like stories that weave together the familiar elements of fairy tales, star-crossed lovers, and mystery, you will love this book!

Rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars

Summary:
Dr. Ariadne Walker is called back to Sainte Sirène by her brother Jason (yes, both from mythology) to investigate the lost city of Ys. It’s an investigation she has already worked on with her ex-fiancé Simon, whom she lost during their research. At first, she’s very mad at Jason, but the Du Lac family, that funds the research, manages to convince her.
She works on the research with Jason and their friend Nico, and love interest Rafael joins them a few times. During their work, they find out some strange and interesting facts about Ys and about earlier researchers of this place.
As their investigation progresses, weirder and weirder things happen, until the point where investigating the lost city can maybe even become life-threatening… what will they find out and will they manage to survive?

Review:
This novel is very interesting and well-written. Jessica Thorne has an interesting writing style, in which she manages to pull the reader into the story and she does not let you go until the story is over!
I have always been very fond of legends, myths, folk- and fairy tales and many more fantastical stories and this book revolves around a legend of a lost city, which was the decisive factor of me wanting to read this book. Thorne wrote the legend so well into this story and really managed to tie the past to the present in the novel and made this an urban fantasy with many mythical elements and details tied into ‘regular’ life. However, I would have liked it if the prologue had been addressed once more in the story. I understand that it was mainly to introduce the legend, but only one mention at the end was not really enough for me.
And can we talk characters? I loved them!! I often read books in which either the world or the character building is well developed, but in this book, I really thought they were well-balanced. I could envision the place of Sainte Sirène vividly, but I also often felt part of the group of people in the story. They all had their own, distinctive personalities and character traits and small hints in their written behaviour gave even more information away.
What I would have done differently is to write a bit less repetitive. At times, complete passages about f.i. the legend or a conversation between some of the characters were repeated with a slightly different choice of words and that made some passages lengthy and annoying to read.

Conclusion:
I really recommend this book to all fantasy lovers! I’m not really a romance reader, but I didn’t think the romance was annoyingly present in the story, so I also wouldn’t really call this a romance novel I think. The romance in the novel is sort of a love triangle/enemies to lovers trope, but not fully. However, I think Thorne creatively combined the past with the present and the legend with the city and I think she greatly balanced world- and character building in the story, which made you feel as if you were living the story yourself.

** 4 Stars **

At the half way point, I wasn't quite sure where I was going to land on a rating for this book. However the last third really made up for some of the slower parts.

The story starts in the past about how the water witch and curse came to be, then jumps to present day with our two main protagonists Rafael and Ari. The story then is told in their two perspectives.

Rafael is a rich playboy who just broke up with his model girlfriend. Ari is a teacher working with her brother to find the lost city of Ys. Prior to meet Rafael, Ari lost her boyfriend Simon when he died looking for the Ys.

The majority of the story is learning of the curse and the fate that meets men of a certain family line. We also follow Ari, Rafael, and Aris brother/crew as they look for proof. While we follow the budding romance of Rafael and Ari.

I really loved the very first part of the book that followed the water witch timeline. I thought this was so fascinating I'd love to read a prequel of just that. After that the first half of the book is slow burn and I was struggling a bit to get thru.

It did though really pick up in the second half. I really loved the ending. I thought it was really great and I did not see any of it coming. The romance honestly could have been left out of the story for me. I just couldn't get into that part and didn't feel the chemistry. However at the same time I understand why it was there, but the story was strong enough to stand without it.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy tropes of old curses and hidden cities like Atlantis.

Thank you to netgalley and bookouture for the opportunity to read this E Arc. My review is voluntary.

Good premise & idea but bad execution!

See this started out fine .. I mean it was slow but I was expecting a slow fantasy romance anyway so i thought it would be fine but man did this drag! Not only was it slow but nothing much happened really. I was bored.

Let’s start with the characters .. ehm all characters were pretty much one dimensional. They had no depth to them. The one main problem they had or their one goal they were trying to achieve was basically their only personality trait.

The romance fell flat. Let’s be honest there wasn’t much chemistry between the main characters and they didn’t really catch my interest. They were falling for each other and it was supposed to be this big thing but it was truly lack luster! And even them ending up together wasn’t anything to get excited about. (They don’t talk to each other for a few days (i think) after smth happens and then they meet and he tells her he loves her and she didn’t even say it back? i guess they kissed so .. but even that was meh)

I was more interested in the relationship between her brother and his best friend nico and those two had a better confession scene .. but it was like half a page long at most.

and the FANTASY aspect was really what disappointed me most. We repeatedly got told about this local legend and the whole lore around it in detail. and in the end the whole thing didn’t matter? THE CURSE they were trying to break was already broken and all their work was for nothing? the whole book basically was for nothing.

and the actual reveal? the plotwist was that the mmc’s sister was the murderer and was killing people and it wasn’t the curse taking those men after all. but she didn’t really have a motive besides being a whiny ritch girl who was not getting her way?

we weren’t really shown much we were just told about the curse and the legends around it? this was basically a geographic description of the the place it was set in.

Although I didn’t enjoy this much, I can see why some other people might enjoy it. This story simply did not work for me!

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the chance to read and review this ARC!

4.5/5 stars

Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Jessica Thorne for allowing me to read this book and review it.

Although it did take me a little while to get into this book, but once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are so well written, and so is the plot.

The characters are loveable and irritating at different times, showing how well written they are. I thought I knew what was going on a couple of times during this book, however I was unsure until the very end. The ending was great, and it was a perfect wrap to the story.

This is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone looking for a good realistic story with real-life magical elements.

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for my e-arc. I fell in love with the cover and then saw the author and had to request it. Mageborn by Jessica Thorne was one of my first ever e-arcs and I absolutely loved it.

Although this is a fantasy book, it does take a while for the fantasy element to come through. For me this meant initially it was a struggle to sink in to. Once the magic and folklore aspect was established I sailed through this book.

There is a heartbreaking backstory, both for the main character Ari and the Water Witch herself. Their conclusions leave you a little wanting - but I loved that. It created such angst and longing that I feel it really added to the atmosphere of the story as a whole.

Ari - for me, I think it's important to remember that she is still grieving. 2 years later she still feels that loss. This has an impact on her actions. She is the typical reckless female lead that is often frustrating to read, but, when you think about what she had been through, you realise she's much more complex than that.

Rafael - the dark brooding billionair love interest. It was very satisfying to read a character that although had his own secrets for a short time, he was very forthcoming with Ari.

I'm a sucker for romance so the slow simmer between Ari and Rafael was fun to read. I will note here that although there is a sex scene in this book - it's not graphic as some adult romances are. So for those of you who prefer a more subtle intimate scene, this book is safe to read.

I thought that there may be a twist at the end - and there was, just not the one I had envisioned.

Overall this book was so fun to read, there a few tension filled scenes where you just HAVE to know the outcome. The brother / sister dynamic was spot on and although I wish there was less female rivalry in the books I read, the ending to this story was a welcomed surprise!

The Water Witch is available on Kindle Unlimited - so free to read as part of your subscription and I thoroughly recommend.

** I did not intend for any puns in my review - but now all I can see is sink and sailed!

Also posted on my blog: hklovesbooks.co.uk

I was really excited to read this book, but was not expecting the kind of story it actually is.
It reminded me of those Sunday afternoon movies with archeologists and you only find out whats really happening at the end. I was expecting more of The Mummy vibes.
It's great writing and I think the plot it's interesting and everything but It's not what I like and I was definitely not in the mood for it. Maybe I'll enjoy this book in the future

DNF'd at 65%. The Water Witch just isn't for me.
I'm not a fan of romantic relationships developing during grief periods and quite a lot of this book is focused on that. The book reads as a contemporary fiction, rather than a fantasy. The contemporary aspect itself is well written, particularly since the location was so well chosen for the story and characters.
It's the fantasy portion of the story that let me down and caused the book to feel muddled for me. It felt tacked on. Which feels terrible to say as it also seems like the author did a ton of work researching.
Maybe if the fantasy/supernatural element wasn't set and it was more about an archeological dig that appeared fantastical...

I really loved the pacing of this book. We all love a fantasy adventure, and the concept behind the story is intriguing from the get-go. Despite this being marketed as a fantasy romance, it is the mystery and folklore that keeps you captivated as each part of the story unfolds. The writing is exquisite, painting a magical and enchanting world with beautifully detailed descriptions, that makes you hope for a film-adaption!

Absolutely loved every minute of this magical adventure mystery novel. I have to admit I have been on a bit of alternate historic adventure stories.

Ari gets called back to an ancient city in France to explore the ocean in search of a lost city. She doesn't want to go because it holds all the memories of her fiancé, who died 2 years previously.

Rafael's elderly aunt is need of support and he comes home to take care of her. His family has a secret and all the men in his family are cursed. None of them make it past the age of 35, all called back to the sea....

The book is classed as a fantasy romance and I could buy that but what I found most intriguing is the adventure looking and discovering hidden things.

Overall really enjoyed this story and would reccomeded it to those who like the sound of the above!!

2⭐️

I’m really bummed that this book wasn’t as good as I had hoped. The characters are very one dimensional and the book itself is kind of repetitive. I wasn’t invested in anything that was going on and I didn’t like any of the characters at all. A lot of the story feels like the author is spoon feeding the reader information in the form of dialogue that has very little emotion. Cool idea, but not executed very well.

I really wanted to like the book but I ended up dnfing the book as the premise seemed interesting. The italics were annoying. The main characters were okay but nothing special and the romance was just a bit dull. It felt like a chore to get through the book. I felt like there was something I should have read before this book to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was unexpected. The story started with a bit of lore: A magical island named Ys, the water witch, Dahut, her former lover and the right hand of death, Ankou, and a mask that would kill any man who was untrue to her about his feelings.

Then we're dropped back down to earth and meet sibling archaeologists Ariadne (Ari) and Jason Walker. They're searching for proof of Ys, the last project of Ari's fiance, Simon, before he was found drowned in the treacherous waters off the coast of Brittany. Enter into the picture Raphael Du Lac, a very wealthy man with a vested interest in Ys since all male members of his family have drowned or in some way been killed by water before age 35 due to a curse from Dahut.

This turns into a story steeped in lore, mystery, and treasure hunting, which was wholly unexpected for me. There were parts that I wish were fleshed out more, particularly the last quarter of the book felt rushed to me and left some unanswered questions. However, I enjoyed the characters, particularly Ari and Jason's sibling dynamic. And at the end of the book, I was left with an enjoyable feeling (half my books get thrown against the wall, so this is very good).

The Water Witch is a captivating, mysterious, and intriguing fantasy novel. Saint Serine is a town plagued by a curse with mysterious water related deaths. Ari’s fiancé, Simon, was one of those. Simon was obsessed with finding the lost city of Ys and that obsession took his life. When Ari’s brother, an archaeologist, calls her and says he’s found a clue to Ys she gets pulled back to the cursed town. Along the journey she meets Rafael from one of the most prestigious families in the area. With the clues Simon left her, Ari and Rafael try to uncover the city of Ys and stop the curse on his family that is soon coming for his life.

I found myself really enjoying this story. It did start off a bit slow but around chapter 10 the plot really kicks up and I couldn’t put it down. With a description of a fantasy romance novel, I anticipated there being more spice. We are given a good build up slow burn between Ari and Rafael but when it comes down to it, it’s completely fade to black. There is a lot of mystery in this story that takes quite a few turns but all wraps up nicely in the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookoture for the eARC and the opportunity to leave a voluntary and honest review.

Memorable fantasy, search for a lost city

Wow! That prologue! The lush description of an innovative fantasy setting pulled me in: a stormy night, lashing waves. A beautiful princess whom every man desires appears holding a gorgeous gold and lapis lazuli mask. She sets her eyes on the handsomest man you've ever seen. This fantasy world was in the past.

I was looking forward to more of the princess' story. Instead, we fast forward to the present, real world. To Brittany, France. Much of the novel is told in the third-person POV of the 2 protagonists, Ari and Rafael.

Ariadne (Ari) Walker’s myth-loving fiancé, Simon, drowned in the Atlantic Ocean 2 years ago, while following his passion of searching for the lost underwater city of Ys. Breton legend had it that Ys was destroyed centuries prior, the princess of Ys simultaneously becoming a water witch. She disappeared kicking and screaming, cursing the succeeding generations of the man who betrayed her; the Mac'htiern, protector, of his people.

Ari is pulled to Brittany, and finds herself furthering Simon's search. She is rapidly fuelled by clues, the princess' mask no less, during a deep sea dive in the Atlantic.

Ari meets Rafael Du Lac after he emerges from his dive, also looking for the city of Ys. Rafael believes in the legends of Ys, the princess, the curse. For him, it's personal. For centuries, his male ancestors have been cursed to die by their 35th birthday by the water witch. His thirty-fifth birthday approaching, Rafael's mortality is at stake. The stakes couldn't be greater. With Ari's help, he urgently sets out to undo the curse, the mystery of which he is convinced lies in the hidden city of Ys.

Page turning, fascinating. Unputdownable. Highly recommended.

#TheWaterWitch #NetGalley

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC of The Water Witch by Jessica Thorne in exchange for an honest review. My review can be found at https://thereadersvault.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-water-witch-jessica-thorne-5.html?m=1 and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4915617304

Romance, mystery, fantasy, adventure all found in the pages of The Water Witch.

I loved the setting of the book and the author’s detailed description of people and places. I could almost feel the ocean breeze. The folklore and the characters felt real, and I couldn’t help but root for Ari & Rafi.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Bookouture for a copy.