The Marionettes

By: Katie Wismer

Narrated by: Stefanie Kay

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

A betrayal. A deadly secret. An unlikely ally.

Valerie Darkmore’s entire life has been building up to this moment - her initiation into the Marionettes, the prestigious league of witches sworn to serve the vampires. As one of the last remaining blood witches, her spot is almost guaranteed. At least, so she’d thought.

The academy is full of sabotage and secrets as the tasks begin, and Valerie quickly realizes she has more than her spot on the line. Her survival seems just as uncertain. The closer she gets to the final trial, the more she learns everything - and everyone - around her isn’t quite what it seems.

©2021 Katie Wismer (P)2021 Katie Wismer

This was good!

The Marionettes is a compelling read! I could not stop listening to it, and I am excited for the sequel! This is exactly what I have been wanting in a paranormal read. I just wished there was more; it felt like there was something missing. But that ending, what a cliffhanger!!

Witches, Vamps and Tramps oh my!

Valerie is exactly the type of character I love to root for. She's strong, vulnerable and has a crappy family (I have issues). She doesn't have it all together, but she is trying her best to make it. I love that Katie allows her to make mistakes along the way and she isn't just the ultimate badass that never faces danger "ahem, dear god the Russians". Her friends have her back and I can tell I'm actually going to like their parts in the story and not just want to rush past it to get back to the spicy tension with a certain someone. Overall, great start to the series! love the narrator. Can't wait for book 2 on audio!!!

Amazing book, amazing audiobook

This is everything I’ve been promised paranormal romance books have! Not usually my taste in genre, but Wismer has made me a convert.

You need you read this book!! OMG!

I really enjoyed this book! I am not surprised I have read a loved everything that Katie has written. But as her first time in the fantasy genre this was so well done! It was fast paced and well plotted! I felt like so much was happening but I was able to keep up very easily and it definitely keeps you on your toes!! The characters were so well written that really sets the rest of the series up for such great character arcs! It was a fun ride from start to finish and I cannot wait for book two!! That cliffhanger!!! Like WTF! December are you here yet????

More like "Part 1" vice "Book 1"

I enjoyed the premise of the story but it ends too abruptly..and not in a "wow, what a great cliffhanger" kind of way. It just ends. I don't feel compelled to continue the series. Nothing is really resolved by the end. It honestly reads like it should be the first half of a book.

I feel like I barely know the characters--Valerie included despite the story being told from her POV. I wish the characters were more fleshed out. Some characters' relationships with Valerie seem more convenient for the plot than believable.

Loved it!!!

Story was fantastic, narration was spot on! I was hooked beginning to end…..and let’s talk for a second about that ENDING!!!! Actually no, I don’t have time. I need to go start book 2 right now.

Omg!!!!

Soooooo not only did she left me hanging on the edge of my seat but this book is so good!!! Can’t wait for the second one !!! And the narration !!!!!! Was amazing !!!!!!!

loved it!

I enjoyed this book. It has a great storyline, very nicely written.I got to read the next!

wtf was that ending

so I've been a follower of Katie Wismer for years. I've loved watching her writing journey on her YouTube channel but I haven't been all that interested in her work until now. you can bet that as soon as she mentioned she was releasing a New Adult romance series with vampires and witches that I immediately needed to get my hands on it. Overall, for the author's first venture into paranormal/fantasy romance, The Marionettes was really good.

At first I wasn't sure I'd like this since the world building is pretty much non-existent in this first book. The lack of world building is not something that gets better as the book goes on, which I found pretty annoying. I don't like not knowing what the stakes are or what characters mean to each other or why the world runs the way it does, etc etc. For me, I think this issue could have been resolved if there was more downtime for Valerie. Valerie is almost always going somewhere or doing something; there's never really any downtime in the plot for us to get to know her as a character. A constantly moving plot works for a lot of people but I personally prefer my paranormal/fantasy books to slow down occasionally so I can get to know the characters or world better.

That being said, the plot in this is so darn fun, especially near the end. I could not put this book down because I needed to know what the heck was going on. Chapter 22 in particular had me with my jaw open the whole time. I'll never look at snakes the same again, I'll tell you that much. I'm dying to get my hands on the sequel now. I want more romance and I desperately need to know what the heck was going on with that ending, lol! What an exciting first book in a promising new series!

Witches, Vampires and Tension!

This was a really fast paced story. It's an interesting combination of similar plots. Basically, vampires are the top dogs. And they have to have a witch as their bonded pair. Witches go through an academy to become ready for this. There are different types of witches but our MC is a blood witch and one of the last remaining. Thus, she is desired by royalty as a bonded witch. However, there are lots of twists and turns here and not everything is as it seems. It's not clear who Valerie (the MC) actually is and she's as lost as we are. Someone is syphoning her magic on the DL and she randomly gets paired with the vampire prince as a trainer for her final tests, which is unheard of. Lots of court intrigue and politics also play out as the story progresses.

Be aware this book ends on a cliffhanger! I'm gonna go start the next book immediately because screw that.

Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice . 5 🌶️ (slowly getting spicer and I'm sending a slow burn romance in my future.)
Audio ⭐⭐⭐⭐