Wait, what? I have so many questions with that ending!

I really wasn't expecting to listen to such an interesting story - I am completely hooked and I must know what happens in the next book. This was one of the first audiobooks I have fully listened to, and I am very happy I was given the chance to listen to it.

The story is like a huge treasure hunt with mythical creatures and the promise of magic. There was always something going on, which I enjoy, and although there was an occasion where I felt information was given unnecessarily, I liked the pace of the book a lot. I quite liked Cadence's character arc, as at the beginning she seemed a naïve young girl, but you see her grow and start to become a young woman, and I hope this is continued in the next book. Slate was an addictive character in the book - even though he is a complete ass at times, you can't help but warm to him.

I loved the action scenes. Some were far more intense than others, but enjoyable nonetheless. I just hope I get more Cadence/Slate action in the next book! After growing closer and closer together in this first book, I need the complete connection in the next!

That final chapter and epilogue left me with so many questions! Where is the final piece of the quatrefoil? Why did the ring fall of Slate? Was Candace's father lying about how her mother died? Did he kill her mother? What is going to happen next - will they assemble the quatrefoil and bring back magic? I can't wait for the next book!

Thank you for allowing me to listen to this audiobook - I extremely enjoyed it and will be suggesting it to my friends.

Thank you to netgalley and Twig Publishing for providing me a copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

I am only recently getting into fantasy and this is my first urban fantasy read and I was pleasantly surprised. I will admit this is probably not a book I would have picked up a physical copy of but since I found it as an audio book I thought why not. It took me a little while to get into but I ended up enjoying listening to this one too and from my way to work I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much if I had to read it.

Firstly, I do love a book with two or more POVs. I loved how Wildenstein and Hayoz seamlessly alternated between perspectives, keeping the story flowing and allowing the audio book to be an easy listen.

I thought this book has the perfect amount of fantasy, especially for someone like me who is new to the genre. I enjoyed the French setting and the random french words thrown in. I thought this was a great touch to really set the scene.

Holly Fielding and Thomas Locklear do a good job of narrating the characters of Slate and Cadence. Although Locklear’s sounded too old and mature to suit Slate’s character as Cadence sounded so young.. I loved how the chapters alternated narrators to match the alternating POV, but I didn’t enjoy when they were narrating each other’s characters in their chapters.

The biggest downfall was the book’s ending. I felt it was very underwhelming with the outcome of their ‘quest’. That said, the authors have me hooked and left me with enough unresolved questions (like what is the father hiding!) for me to want to read the second book in the series when it is released.

This was such as surprising listen! I am not usually a huge fan of urban fantasy but this one was well done. I loved both of the narrators and they made the story very enjoyable to listen to.. I didn't lot the plot but It was still an interesting listen.

A copy of the audiobook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn't bad! I think it's actually cut out from a similar cloth as Jackaby and Stalking Jack the Ripper but without the mystery or the fact that it's set in Victorian England. I don't know why, but I kept being drawn to the sort of feeling I had while I was reading those books, despite this book's modern setting.

It also reminded me of another book I read fairly recently, All the Stars and Teeth, in that despite enjoying the general setting, plot, and characters, I still felt like there was something missing by the end and that I'm not sure if I would read the second book.

This also seemed to drag on a bit, having a few pacing issues and a pretty severe lack of urgency, despite the fact that Slate was due to die at a set time.

I also had a really hard time with some of the narration choices, particularly with the inconsistent and decidedly Not French way they pronounced some things, particularly in Slate's narrator's case, since he had a tendency to swear in French or use French swears and his narrator is the most Not French person. The two narrators also couldn't seem to agree on how to pronounce the word quatrefoil, neither of them being the actual French pronunciation of it, with Slate's narrator pronouncing it, "kwa-truh-foil" and Cadence's narrator pronouncing it, "kat-er-foil," so that was a little annoying.

That all said, this was a fun enough experience and I'm glad I got the chance to review it! Even if I'm not sure if I would enjoy reading the second book, I still may end up checking it out sometime, especially since this one was complements of the publisher, I wouldn't mind chucking a little money toward the second one!

I really enjoyed this book. The story is great and involves a lot of familiar characters from magic realms with a new concept of how magic works in the world. The characters are well written and believable I wanted to know more about them and the background stories work well to the current situations they were in. I can't wait for the next installment to see what the characters are up to.

3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5) The magic system was my favorite aspect of this book. I loved getting lost in it. The generations-long stories and curses kept me interested and enthralled as to what would happen next. The world of Quatrefoils and Brume magic led to a great mix of life-threatening situations with funny laugh out loud humor.

The intricate details of the curses and magic made me want to get lost in the research. Such great thought was put into it! High praise for the uniqueness but also being able to bring it into a contemporary world so well. I’d be marking this down on my bucket list just to be able to experience this town. The authors brought it to life brilliantly. I am very curious as to what these authors have written previously!

I had a hard time picturing the characters. In the audio, Cadence sounds so young, and naive. Slate sounded so much older. Slate is a bad boy but has a heart of gold. I found myself liking him a lot, but then I would remember the things he had done and it would turn me off. I honestly don’t understand why Cadence didn’t take some of those things into consideration. Cadence is 17 and in college. She has a very close relationship with her father and is very innocent to the ways of the world.

Content Summary: This is the type of book that makes me do content reviews. I would not want my young teen to read this book. I do not think this should be labeled YA. There is one, maybe 2 girls who are 17 but it did not fall in YA parameters. While there is not sex, it’s very sexual. Thoughts, actions and more are way above YA standards. The language is very high also. I actually feel this book will get better traction if it’s labeled as New Adult or Adult genre.

So this was a random pick while filling out a survey for Netgalley’s app, the audiobook portion. I grabbed the ebook since the audiobook had some glitches through the app.

It took me sometime to get into the story and found myself zoning out, but after 20% I was devouring every single word. From the characters, even though I was more invested in Slate than Cadence. However, with this being a series, there’s no doubt that we’ll see more character development with Cadence. We definitely saw a little glimpse of it at the end of the book.

I had trouble deciphering if this would be a YA or NA. I’m a romance reader and there’s some elements that seemed to cross over into the NA category.

I’m definitely invested in this magical world and the characters, the narrators were great, but think the ebook suits me better.

What an enjoyable read from two new to me authors, can’t wait for the next book.

Of Wicked Blood was an enjoyable read! I love that the 2 different character perspectives are so different, and Slate's sarcastic personality/voice is so entertaining. And it was fun seeing things from both Cadence & Slate's perspectives. The world-building is also really convincing--it felt like I was actually in Brume. The trials they go through are intriguing & captivating. But I did have a difficult time understanding everyone's motivations and the end I felt a little abrupt and I have a handful of unanswered questions. Overall though it was very well-written & thought-out and I'd recommend it!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Of Wicked Blood was an exceptionally fun read! I adored all the characters, the slow-burning romance and the feeling of being a Goonie!

The treasure hunt of the story line was like trick-or-treating down a spooky town with a huge smile on your face. Ghosts, Dragons, Sirens, Greek mythology and more coming to life on the page! It was like I was part of this quick to love scooby gang that incited so much love and edge of my seat concern for their safety at the end!! Will all the personalities make it out of the Wicked Blood alive?! You need to add this book to your list and find out how much fun this hunt was!

Ahhh. I was very close to not finishing this book, but i am so happy i finished. It was such an fun fantasy and original consept. The snow burn romance was top notch. I really liked watching Cadence and Slate bantere. Can’t wait for the second book. 2022 can not be here fast enough

What a nice surprise! This book won my heart for how amazing it was. This was also my first ever experience listening to a NetGalley audiobook, and fortunately it was a positive one.
The story is super good and it exceeded all my expectations. The search for magical artifacts with limited time added a lot of motion to the story, so of course I was hooked from the beginning. I think the fantasy world was very interesting and the setting in Europe was definitely a good decision for this book.
The characters were interesting, and I feel I did care about all of them. I liked everyone, even the characters you are supposed to dislike. Everyone had their own story and uniqueness, and they made a great team with great dynamics. A cool thing I saw in this book was that not every relationship in this book is linear. Most of the characters had complex relationships with each other. There are so many examples in the book for this, but I’ll just give Slate and Adrian’s relationship as an example. They both have strong feelings for the same girl, and there are moments where they dislike each other, but there are also moments where you see how close and amicable they have become with each other. A few more relationships I found very interesting were the relationships between Slate/De Morel, Adrian/Cadence and Cadence/her dad.
The romance was a huge aspect of why I liked this book so much. It’s the kind of romance that starts with them both hating each other and it transforms into a very intense and loving relationship. I think the authors did a great job with this relationship, but I have to admit it felt a bit like insta-love. It didn’t bother me too much because the good thing is that even the characters address it in the book. I don’t know why, but I feel like when they acknowledge it, it doesn’t feel that bad! But yeah, I wish they didn’t feel like they actually loved each other so soon.
There were so many things that made this book amazing - the plot, the romance, the characters and relationships -, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. I flew through this book!
I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series! Since the book is named “Quatrefoil”, I’m assuming there will be four books in total? Fingers crossed!

Perfect for fans of The Gilded Wolves and Six of Crows.

It should be pretty basic that you shouldn't steal from the dead but Slate isn't always the brightest despite making his living stealing. After a bender Slate decides to break into the De Morel crypt resulting in him stealing the Bloodstone ring which has a habit of killing the person currently wearing it if they don't complete a series of tasks in a specific time frame. Cadence is the daughter of the ring's last victim and must help Slate complete his tasks before time runs out. Slate and Cadence along with two other descendants of the founding families must work together to find the missing Quatrefoil pieces and restore magic to Brume. Each person will have to complete a specific task to obtain their piece of a corresponding element within the time limit or Slate will die.

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did but man do I want the second book already. The magic system was different from any other book I've read lately but it wasn't complicated or hard to follow. I appreciated that while it's classified as new adult some of the language and scenes are pushing that NA boundary. Nothing worse than reading a book with high stakes or your main characters are tailoring their language for a younger audience. The growing relationship between Slate and Cadence made sense without being inst-love and the drama with Adrien was excellent.

*Thank you to Netgalley, the authors, and Twig Publishing for allowing me to listen to an arc in exchange for an honest review."

4.6 starlights ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Such a fantastic and original story. It is captivating and imaginative and kept me intrigued throughout.

The story follows Slate, a savvy thief that spent most of his difficult childhood in foster care. However, a letter calling him back to his birthplace, Brume (a village in France known for its magical heritage), changes everything. Armed with this letter, his birth certificate and his real name, he discovers Cadence, hidden secrets, adventure, romance and magic.

Olivia Wildenstein and Katie Hayoz are brilliant writers! The narrative starts off a little slow but definitely picks up with its excellent and enticing plot and compelling characters (especially Slate) and thrilling action.
This is perfect for fans of urban fantasy, french dark academia, unique characters and a fascinating magic system. I loved this story a lot!

And the audiobook narrative is just as amazing! I’m really enjoying the listen! Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the audiobook and arc.

I received an ARC of Of Wicked Blood by Olivia Wildenstein and Katie Hayoz thanks to the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Content warning: child death, prior child abuse mentioned (no, these are not related)

Review of narration:

When I started Of Wicked Blood I was reading the eARC version, which is great, but then I saw that there was the audiobook ARC available and immediately started listening to it as well. The narrator for Cadence is incredible. Literally exactly how I imagined Cadence sounding. She reminds me of the voice actor who did American Royals/Majesty, which is high praise. Slate’s narrator I was less a fan of, but that is totally because I imaged him to sound differently. If I had started off listening, I wouldn’t have this complaint. I’m still happy I got to enjoy the audiobook version though and I do recommend it! Just maybe not after starting the book without audio.

Review:

I am obsessed with this book. After the first chapter, I preordered the sequel (August cannot come fast enough). I knew it was going to be a hit because Slate is incredible. The banter between Slate and his brother is priceless and that banter continues throughout with multiple characters. Slate is so much fun to read! Cadence is not quite as good of a character as Slate (morally grey characters just sing to me) but their chemistry together is wonderful.

Plot-wise the story was excellently crafted. There was the perfect amount of build up and the action-packed scenes were not piled in one spot. The way the history of Brume was told (which is an extremely important aspect of the story) was brilliant. I never felt lectured to, despite there being parts where it was literally be taught to Slate.

The descriptions were great. A picture was painted as the story was being told. I felt like I was walking through the events with them. I would have like a bit more detail to the environment, but the book is already 400+ words of perfection so I totally get why those details are not there and as you’re reading you don’t even notice.

I cannot recommend this story enough. It gives me flashbacks to all the good aspects of Endgame (which honestly aren’t that many looking back on it, but this gives off that same “adventure, save the world” vibe). Another book it reminds me of is Lore (minus the mythology). Definitely worth picking up and moving it up the TBR list!

This was a great start to a new series, and I really enjoyed most of it. I liked the characters for the most part, Slate, specifically, although Cadence has potential to grow on me more, once she discovers that she doesn’t need her Papa for everything, and that really sinks in.
The beginning of this took awhile for me to get into. Lots of information being doled out, which is necessary, of course, but it got to be that I felt inundated with it all.
However, once we got over the hump and things picked up, I was throughly invested. I’m excited to read the next in the series, because 8 can see many things on the horizon for this group.

As a side not, I read and listened to the audio, and the narrators were absolutely wonderful. I didn’t feel like I couldn’t listen to either of them, and felt they did justice to the characters.

This is the first book I have read from this Author and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I thought the writing was good and the Narrators have pleasing voices (especially the Narrator for Slate). I liked that there were female and male Narrators for the different PoV's. I'm a bit long in the tooth for YA books now, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless and I can definitely picture this as a film. If anything, I do think the ending could be improved - after the whole epic adventure, it's really quite rushed and disappointing: Although I can see that it is the first of a series, so probably left open for the next installment. I would love to read a non YA book by this Author.

I am grateful to NetGallery for giving me the opportunity to listen to this book.

I was very surprised by this book. Its not my common choice of book but wanted to give it ago and well I'm glad i did. I was hooked from the very start and loved every second of this book. The authors writing skills are superb and the thought behind this story is incredible. I would be interested in reading more of both of the ladies work. It's a 4* for me.

Loved loved loved... oh my goodness this story was exciting! I listened to this story in audio through NetGalley.
The book cover, the story line, the characters, that setting loved it all, there was nothing not to love about this story. Even my family enjoyed listening while I had it playing. I can’t wait for book 2!

Thank you to NetGalley and the authors for an advance audiobook galley! My review is for the story as a whole, and notes regarding the audiobook are included as part of my review.

ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ: I’ve been in a bit of a mental funk lately, and 𝘖𝘧 𝘞𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 was the perfect escape. This story transported me to France with its witchy fantasy goodness, entertaining characters, unique magic system, and slow-burn romance.

The premise of the book—a wicked treasure hunt to defeat four curses—really shaped this up to be a fast-paced read. The setting and storytelling were immersive, and I was very happy with the dual POV. Slate and Cadence were fun to follow, especially Slate (I’m such trash for morally grey characters lol), and I’m ready for the romance between these two to heat up.

ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴜᴅɪᴏʙᴏᴏᴋ: Audiobooks can be a hit or miss for me, but this one was definitely a hit. The narrators did a fabulous job bringing Slate and Cadence to life, and I easily got sucked into the story.

All in all, I really enjoyed this one and am excited to see what unfolds in 𝘖𝘧 𝘛𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵.

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜɪꜱ if you love magic, mystery, adventure, and slow-burn romance!

This was a fun fantasy mixed with magic and characters that I enjoyed! I really enjoyed Slate's brooding attitude and thieving activities! He was a great MC with a wonderful character arc. I thought this story had some lovely romance with a suspenseful plot that was filled with twists and turns!

I really enjoyed the story, and I think that YA fantasy readers will love it! I listened to the audio of this book, and I thought the narrators did a great job. If you're an audio fan, this is a good one for you!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.