Witch's Knight

The Bloodline Chronicles, Book 1

By: Evelyn Silver

Narrated by: Heidi Hogarten

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Sarai Reinhart is a witch in hiding. Having inherited rare dual gifts of healing and necromancy from her late Jewitch mother and cruel German father, she needs to be constantly on her guard to avoid those who would use her.

But even a skilled witch cannot run from everyone. After a mental breakdown, someone sees her turn a mouse into a zombie, and she is captured by an organization of witch hunters. To her great surprise, salvation arrives in the form of vampires and one vampire in particular: the beautiful and deadly Knight Commander Marcelle. Sarai is brought to the local vampire kingdom's seat of power, a place no witch has seen and survived, and finds herself falling for her rescuer. Can she trust the vampire woman when Sarai's blood holds secrets that could change the occult world forever?

©2022 Evelyn Silver (P)2022 Evelyn Silver

Great new story!

It took me a while to get into this story but glad I stuck it out! Interesting character and story building. I enjoyed having different narrators for the characters. More graphic audio than your traditional audiobook. I wish other authors did this. Totally recommend!!

Wonderful, but keep some things in mind

I've never written an in depth review of a book I've listened to before. I experienced this one through the full cast audio book and am coming at this from the perspective of both a queer woman and hobbyist level audio performer.

The good:
It was marketed as a bisexual polyamorous romance of a vampire and witch, almost exactly what I was looking for. I really enjoyed the story, the way the eroticism was handled, the characters, the world. The depiction of someone entering a poly relationship for the first time also felt incredibly real. Doing the audiobook as a full cast production was also an interesting experience, and in some cases I really wish more productions would do something like this, it really helped the characters stand out distinctly. The actors truly sound like they're having a blast, and it's obvious a lot of love went into this production.

The not so good:
Keeping in mind this is the first published novel by this author, the book feels very exposition heavy and the word choice feels a bit juvenile at times though that could easily be a taste thing. The first example that comes to mind is the use of the word druggie instead of addict. 
The production of the audiobook itself is not polished. This may bother some less than others, but the audio quality sounded inconsistent to me. The voices were very obviously recorded in different spaces, with differing echoes and room tones. The timing with some of the edits feels awkward, there are at least two times an alternate take was left it, and two flubbed lines I noticed. The acting style is inconsistent across the actors, with some giving understated realistic performances, and others going deliciously campy. There was also at least one instance of a performer delivering a line with neutral affect when the text was saying they should be aroused. The repeating of the full book title before each chapter gets quite repetitive, especially with most chapters being less than 20 minutes long. The impression it all adds up to almost like it was originally released online chapter by chapter like a podfic. This is their first time doing something like this, though, and they admitted to learning a lot.

Conclusion:
The story has me hooked, and I desperately want the next book now! I'm really hoping that the entire cast returns for the next one, and I'm looking forward to seeing how what was learned making this book helps make the next production more polished. (I also may be hoping for more involved depictions of sensual blood drinking…) Anyway, I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a sapphic romantic story with a vampire (which I was) as long as you aren't bothered by violence and threats of sexual assault. 

Riveting New Take on Vampires and Witches

I read this book and listened to it on audiobook. The narration is superb and keeps you wanting to hear chapter after chapter. Excellent audio version of this book.

Captivating, well-told story!

As someone who has trouble getting into books, this one was very easy to get into! I listened to the entirety of the story in one day. The world building, plot, and character development is strong. The voice actors were fantastic. My only note would be audio quality varies a few times, but the story and performance are so strong it is not noticeable. Also, it is an indie project and book, so consistent equipment would be tricky! I am just glad an audio version exists for me to enjoy.

Can't wait for the next one!

Great bisexual polyamorous story, ok performance

I got recommended this book by a friend who said it was polyamorous and bisexual and really well written representation and she was right! I feel like I havent read much like this before so wanted to leave an indepth review. There were so many people involved in this book, I feel like they deserve recognition.

Chapters are mostly 20 minutes, which was great for me because I usually listen to stuff on my way to work and the commute is about 40 minutes.

The world building with the covens and hidden magical groups was fun. I loved all that. There was a perfect balance of showing the world and plot and characters. I felt like I was pealing back layers along with Sarai, the witch who was the main character. The erotic parts were really well done, and not too over the top, and the development of a polyamorous relationship felt so real to life (as real as vampires can be, lol) The sprinkling of humor was also good.

The characters were all very distinct which was helped a lot by this being a full cast recording. I wish there were more books like this with lots of different voices, it really helped the whole thing pop, even if it wasnt perfect. By not perfect, I mean its clear that people recorded in different places and the quality was inconsistent and the audio mixing felt a bit amateur compared to other books Ive listened to. It didnt bother me too much, to be honest, because the story really sucked me in (lol vampire sucking pun) So if you go into this with the expectation that its not perfect, you can have a really good time

The narrator voice was kinda relaxing, almost intimate, in most parts. I liked the style, almost made me think asmr? Could use some retakes, but not bad.

Sarai was a really good "regular" persons voice and since shes the main character, it felt good as an audience insert. Shes also a great character whos spunky and strong, in a way that makes her both flawed and powerful. I want to protect her in a cocoon and also want to see her kick ass.

Marcelle, the vampire main love interest, was enjoyably sultry, though felt a bit off with the audio quality compared to others. Her character had some great layers. There was one scene that jumped out as really amazing by the actor and like, rip out my heart and stomp on it, why dont you? Literally had tears in my eyes, you monster. More please.

Setanta was... damn. Wow. Really good. Like, really, really, really good. Setanta was the best voice in the whole book and he alone is worth buying this to listen to. Great lines and brings a good perspective on the kind of person able to survive immortality without being angsty and depressed about it. “Strength, cunning, and hedonism” - chefs kiss. Im in love.

Another stand out performance was a side character Locklan. He didnt have a lot but he really jumped out as a great voice and I hope theres going to be more in the future with him. And the actor who did the villainous character voice that tries to assault a character (not a spoiler, theres a CW for attempted sexual assault right at the beginning!) gave me chills, really good.

Unfortunately... not all the voices were great. There were some little flubs, and i can tell this wasnt made by a big company. Rosaline in particular just... nah, didnt like her performance at all. Thankfully shes only in a few chapters. I think maybe the actor had mic issues or something, and her delivery was annoying. Theres one character that sings that had a sorta echo-ish effect added that Im on the fence about though some people might like, but the singing was good. Other side characters were mostly good, cant remember them all off the top of my head.

OveraIl, great story, great world, mostly good actors, some audio issues. The end acknowledgement thing by the author said she learned a lot, so hopefully in the next one the issues with recording will be fixed up, because that would make this whole experience perfect. I want book 2 yesterday and might listen to this again on the way to work because I just need to hear Setanta's voice again.

Exciting Story Full of Representation & Intrigue

Loved seeing a neurodiverse romance that touches on lots of exciting themes of marginalization within a broad, fun tale. The cast was fun to listen to, and I didn't expect a full cast recording from a new author! What a delight!