A Spell in the Country

By: Heide Goody, Iain Grant

Narrated by: Diana Croft

Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jenny doesn’t know what they’ll do when they find out she’s a wicked witch.

She can’t help being a wicked witch. It’s in her blood.

She’s supposed to eat children, blast people with witchfire, and plot dark deeds with her foul-mouthed imp familiar, Jizzimus. Instead, she’s rescued a girl, Kay, from a band of people traffickers. To keep her safe they have signed up for a college course in an English country mansion. Jizzimus is not impressed.

The mansion is not the safe haven they thought it would be. They say they want to turn good witches into great witches, but witches are going missing, there are far more ghosts round here than there ought to be and there is something huge and terrible in the woods.

If Jenny thought that messing up her witchcraft coursework and getting distracted by the handsome gardener was going to be the worst of her problems, she’s dead wrong.

With new witch friends, sexy mind-controller Caroline and soft-hearted herbalist Dee, Jenny’s determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. It turns out that at Effie Fray’s training college you have to learn fast or die trying.

You’ll love this fun-loving witch academy audiobook because sometimes it needs friends to show us how to be a better version of ourselves.

©2018 Heide Goody and Iain Grant (P)2020 Heide Goody and Iain Grant

Hilarious and fun

Characters, plot, setting all great. A bit of a “Terry Pratchett meets Liane Moriarty” vibe, and Goody and Grant’s personal style. And the Audible performance: fantastic— the reader is top marks with accents and personalities.

Delightful

In depth character development of funny, delightful and intelligent women. Wonderful narration. As close to Terry Pratchet, someone who’s writing I’ve desperately missed in my efforts to make sense of the world through humor.

poorly edited and repetitive

was not able to finish audible. I tried, but there was no plot, and audible editing was extremely poor.

Amusing

This is well written and funny. I laughed a fair amount. Well worth a read.

Brilliant!

Diana Croft is nothing short of amazing as a narrator.
The story was entertaining and a fresh take on the genre.

Reluctant hero witch & her demon

What a fun, silly book! Toss a bunch of ladies together for a free 3-week self-development course in the countryside with a bit of mystery, a bit of magic, and at least one very vocal and naughty little demon. lol Jenny and Jizzimus had me laughing often. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect with this story but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless. Since the tale starts off a little serious with Jenny rescuing young Kay from some sort of human trafficking, I wasn’t sure if this book was going to be a thriller or a comedy. But if you’re looking for something light-hearted, I think this fits the bill, and then some. Kay and Jenny get to meet out some justice along their way to self-improvement while in the country.

Jizzimus is a little entertaining smartass. He often had me laughing (often in an inappropriate and juvenile way). I could just picture Jenny face-palming often, at a loss for how to rein in Jizzimus. And yet the little guy seems to have a little heart of gold too, always watching out for Jenny when it really matters.

And Jenny’s secret (which we know right away) is that she’s a wicked witch (even though she denies herself the worst of her witchy ways like eating kids). It causes her some angst but her will is strong and refuses to give in to the bad habits that give her kind a bad reputation and end them on an impromptu pyre.

Meanwhile, the self-development course is full of all sorts of surprises! Indeed, Jenny finds out she has a lot in common with these other ladies. They are an eclectic lot and there’s a lot of fun personalities to mesh and collide and bounce off each other. It also turns out that not all of them are as benevolent as we first think. The plot thickens! By the end, we have a lot of questions answered, some solid justice handed out, and a good place for a sequel to launch off of. 5/5 stars.

The Narration: Diana Croft was a good fit for this book. I felt her voice for Jenny was spot on and I loved her voice for the irascible Jizzimus. My one little quibble would be that a few of her male character voices could use a bit more masculinity. Croft did have unique voices for all the characters so it was easy to keep them straight, which was especially important for all the quick back-and-forth conversations and quips. The pacing was spot on and there were no tech issues with this recording. 4.5/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own.

Witty and entertaining

From the authors of Oddjobs another nice, funny and plot- twisting title.

Performance is quite good. In part, of course, because most of the characters are female.

The only minus is that some references are obscurely English and therefore difficult to catch.

Not what I expected

The book was well written, but not quite what I was expecting. I would definitely listen again.

The book description did not quite match up to the story, and left me thinking it was the wrong audiobook for the entire first quarter of the book.

It was not the greatest of starts, but I think I could listen again and enjoy the story more now I know what it was about.

Super fun

Great story with vivid MC's, hardcore crime and Magic. Can't go wrong with the authors. Perhaps there will be more?

Fan-freaken-tastic

what a great story. so enjoyable. loved every moment. these two rarely miss when it comes to story telling.

you will have lots of laughs with this one

A Spell in the Country
By: Heide Goody, Iain Grant
Narrated by: Diana Croft
Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
Release date: 29-08-20

Having listened to a few story's about witches, this one took me by surprise and went in a totally different direction to the usual format, it was quite unusual and very enjoyable.

The characters were well thought out, and what made the book extra special to me was that it was set in the area I grew up in, which is now 240 miles away from where I live now, hearing the place names where I lived, the correct distance between Skegness and Boston, village names and even the mention of Pilgrim Hospital took me back home. When facts are correct in a book I think it makes it far more enjoyable.

My favourite character was Jizzimus, the naughty imp, foul mouthed and full of naughty humour. I would love a Jizzimous but I am not a wicked witch and only wicked witches can have an imp. Interestingly the Imp is the symbol of Lincoln and the story is set in Lincolnshire.

Diana Croft is a super narrator and I have never known her disappoint, she did a fantastic job of narrating this story, and really bought the characters to life.

thoroughly enjoyed

really enjoyed this book. food characters and story and the narrator is fab! will be getting more by these authors

jizzimus is one funny melon farmer

Entertaining story with a nice selection of characters. Well narrated. The imp is puerile, irreverent and hilarious.

Hilarious and fun

The story is about a rag tag group of witches invited to a self-help retreat in the countryside, where they learn about themselves, the value of teamwork, and being the best witches they can be. There are some darker themes as well, hidden in the comedy, which adds another layer to the story.

It’s the characters in this book that make it brilliant – I adored all of the witches in their own way (apart from Caroline, who’s a bit of a dick). Dee is a sweet witch who works in a charity shop and specialises in communicating with animals and mending clothing; Jenny is a wicked witch who doesn’t really have a bad bone in her body but is discriminated against anyway; Nora is a haughty older lady with a secret rebellious streak and Shazzam, a hilariously naïve witch you can’t help but love.
However, these are all honourable mentions because the title of ‘Best Character Ever Written’ goes to Jizzimus the imp. He’s fiercely loyal to Jenny but otherwise a total disgrace with a fart or dick joke for all occasions. His antics cracked me up every time!

I’ve listened to most of Diana Croft’s audiobooks at this point because it’s a pretty safe bet I’ll enjoy the book, but I would venture that this is the best book she’s ever done. She brings the fantastic characters to life, each one with their own distinctive personality and voice, especially Jizzimus the imp.
I rarely relisten to audiobooks but I can happily play this one on repeat!

If you need something genuinely funny, adventurous, silly and uplifting – this is the book you need in your life.

Huge chapters

Narration was good. Occasionally a couple of hard to hear parts. But better than a lot of others. Probably the recording.

The chapters are sometimes an hour and a half long! Really? How did that come to be. Try to find your place if you doze off or interrupted.

Story is OK. Passes the time.

Brilliant, gently amusing and beautifully read.

The story is light (with some gruesome moments best not dwelt on). It made me chuckle out loud and was so well read that I could recognise some of the characters by voice alone. A sublime production all around. Thoroughly recommended.

Witty at Times

What a lovely listen not quite what I expected, not all ghouls & spells and yes Jenny has a familiar Jizzimus an imp, of course not all witches have familiars only the wicked ones. The book is quite light-hearted easy to listen to and has a few sniggers along the way.
Well crafted and put together not heard of the authors Heidi Goody & Iain Grant maybe it's because this is not my general haunt, and the narration was particularly good by Diana Croft.

Funny lighthearted

Not as good as Pratchett but same ilk.
Zany and light hearted and slickly written with a modicum of Girls’ Own adventure.

Hilarious!

I loved this book. why can't I have a Jizemous?? wonderful narration too. perfect mix!

Great narration

The book is very well read by Diana Croft, with some excellent voices and accents.