The Binding Witch and the Fortune Taker

The Kate Roark Magic Series, Book 1

By: Laura Rich

Narrated by: Sara Pauley

Length: 1 hr and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Binding Witch and the Fortune Taker

Growing up homeschooled on the Renaissance Festival circuit is weird enough, but when you’re the daughter of a powerful binding witch who makes a living as a fortune teller, and your best friend is a middle-aged sari vendor, weird is relative. 

Fifteen-year-old Kate Roark desperately wants to be a witch but isn't - yet. It’s not likely at her age until she meets the Fortune Taker and gets a taste of unimaginable power - but at what cost? 

Forced to choose between keeping stolen power or making her magic dreams come true, her ultimate decision throws her entire world into question. 

Described as "book candy" and "compulsively readable," The Binding with and the Fortune Taker is the first in the Kate Roark Magic series from emerging YA fantasy writer Laura Rich.

©2017 Laura Rich (P)2019 Laura Rich

Great story

I received this book for free at my request but the opinion is of my own. Kate is the daughter of a very powerful witch that binds powers of others. One day she runs into another fortune teller and suddenly feels something she’s never felt before. Is she really just a hedge witch or something more? Very quick enjoyable read.

Wonderful

I do not much care much for high fantasy novels, and I don’t often run across fantasy novels that I like because of it. I do like fantasy novels when they slowly build the fantasy world and add to it rather than suddenly immersing you in something completely foreign. That is just what The Binding Witch and the Fortune Taker does.

The story is set in our world with the assumption that there really are witches and they have been persecuted since the witch trials. Ms. Rich does a wonderful job of immersing you into that world and explaining the necessary elements without too much detail at a time. It is a perfect combination of the world we know and the world we don’t so that readers like me are not overwhelmed by the fantasy side of the novel. The story is a great tale with unique characters taking place at a renaissance festival. The narrator does a wonderful job giving each character their own voice and nuances. I would recommend this book and the series for both young and old alike. My only regret is that the novel was short, but it is likely a mixture of being such a great read and easy to listen to and being a young adult novel.

I was provided with a free copy of this audiobook for my honest review. The views expressed here are entirely my own.

Magical Short Story

I enjoyed The Binding Witch and the Fortune Taker so much that I finished it in one listen.
The story had me intrigued from start to finish. I love the world building going on so far and the magic. I just wish it was longer because I enjoyed it so much. However, there is also charm in that in the fact if you want a quick intriguing listen you can just listen to The Binding Witch in a little under two hours. I cannot wait to listen to the sequel. It is out now. I will be revisiting this book in the future.
Sara Pauley also does a wonderful job with distinct voices during the narration. I also felt her pace was perfect.
Update: I have listened to it twice now.
I received this audiobook at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Great short story

A quick listen. A magical short story story. Will listen to Book 2.
Narration was good.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

hedge witch, can't wait to see what she does next

loved this story! this is a very quick read. the narrator was good. towards the end she sounded like she may have had a cold or was stuffed up.
back to the story- quick paced but very interesting. love the idea of a witch posing as a fortune teller to pay the bills. urban fantasy at it's finest.

Great Story & Listen🎧 Magical & Enjoyable!

This is a great start to a new series. Laura Rich created an imaginative world with equally imaginative characters. She fit a lot of story into this short book, it is a nice introduction to who Kate Roark is and the dynamics of her world. She lives with her mother, a witch with magical powers but Kate does not have those powers. She is told it is because her father was human. Her Mom has a booth at The Renaissance Festival to earn money for bills, but there was only a little money to be made. Kate finds out there is another fortune teller doing business at the festival and goes to check it out. Only it turns out to be something else, a fortune taker, a taker of powers. This person is not a good person and with the help of her mothers friend Indira she seeks to put an end to her bad magic. Kate finds things out about herself, questioning who she really is. This is a fast paced story, there is drama, action, twists, mystery and some thrilling suspense. It brings you to the edge of your seat and has you thinking of what is happening and what is coming next. Laura Rich, thank you for this great story.

I listened to the Audible edition, Sara Pauley is a terrific narrator and voice performer. She brings these characters to life and sets the perfect tone for the story. She is an entertaining storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for this great listen🎧

Hooked!

As the first book in the series, we get to know the characters a little bit and then we are thrown into the story and wonder what is going to happen next. It really just feels like a teaser of what is to come and the series progresses, since it is so short. I'm very impressed with this shorter listen, the author is able to keep us engaged and give use a good story in a tiny package. I wish there was more and the series has a lot of potential moving forward. The characters are likeable and the plot is pretty good. I can't wait for more!

I thought the narrator did a great job representing Kate throughout this book, but she doesn't narrate the next. I'm not a fan of narrator switches in series like these where you would want the main character's voice to be consistent. However, the other narrator does just as good, if not better.

I received a review copy at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

Short & entertaining

This is book 1 in the series and a short one at that that hooks you into wanting to continue the series. Starts off kind of slowly but soon your engrossed. Good character and storyline development. The narrator did a nice job. I prefer narrating at my speed of reading. For this book a speed of 1.5x was perfect. I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

amazing

I received this book for free for a honest review. I loved the story. it was easy flowing, well put together and kept me interested. The narrator did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life.

Great short story

I enjoyed the story. Great start to a series. Is she more than a hedge witch can't wait to find out.

Wonderful!!

Loved listening to this series! I actually listened out of order...oops! But there was no issue with that. I was able to understand what was going on and loved it! One to listen to over and over!!

Great listen

The narration really brings this book to life. This is an unusual take on Fortune Tellers, it is a very entertaining story, well worth listening to. I would say it is for young teen readers.

Loved this audio

Enjoyed this audio from start to finish hopefully more books to come well written too more please