Thank you to NetGalley for this ALC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What would you do if someone told you the legends were real? Would you believe them? For Ari (Ariadne) that's exactly what happened. Returning to Brittany, France, where her Fiancee drowned, she meets Raphael. A man who claims his family is cursed, specifically that he is cursed. From this, all Ari wants to do is find a way to break it. Turning her into believer like her Fiancee, who spent his life and resources, researching and looking for clues to find the lost city of Ys.

This had loads of things I loved in a book. It was steeped in tales, folklore, legend, magic and a curse! It had mystery, some romance a legendary WItch. I was intrigued from the beginning. I also enjoyed the tension surrounding the diving crew on their quest to find clues, I loved the twists and turns throughout the story too!

The author built this story really well. She's managed to intricatey weave elements of the past into the present as the story unfolds. Thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to reading more from Jessica Thorne.

This book was great! I really enjoyed the audiobook of this! The narration was great and the story was intriguing!

Sadly, this book wasn't for me as much as I wanted it to be. The Water Witch is less a fantasy, but more a mystery/paranormal story (at least in my opinion). It took me way too long to get through the story, but that might be due to the time it took for something to be happening. It was too slow for my preferences and while I actually enjoyed parts of the plot in the second half of the book, I wasn't as enchanted as I could've been. On top of that, the characters annoyed me more than I ended up liking them and the writing style also isn't for me. It was too repetitive and lacked some of the underlying magic the story tried to convey.

This story was "fine" -- By this I mean, it was good enough, not mind blowing. I did like the mystery aspect but I guessed it quite quickly. It has decent magical realism. The main character felt realistic (flaws and all). The slow burn could have heated up a bit quicker (I know that's the purpose of a slow burn but sometimes they are too slow). There needed to be more motivation behind some actions of the characters. At times I was left questioning why things were happening. May have just been me! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

This took a little getting into for me which I put down to the main character holding the reader at arm's length at the beginning of the book. It appears to be a deliberate stylistic choice attributable to the MC's gut wrenching sense of ongoing grief and denial, and in that respect works very well. On the surface, <i>The Water Witch</i> is a simple novel about a lost kingdom and an ancient curse, but once Thorne combined it with a nuanced portrayal of woman grieving over choices - her own and her dead fiancée's - as well as mourning his loss, it becomes a subtle, beautiful recreation of a folk tale with a strong sense of place and dynamic characterisation. I don't want to stray into spoiler territory but in many ways this is a love story or at least a story about love and how it can both tear things down and mend wounds. It was clever and quiet, with clear perfect prose. By the end of the book I was in love with the story. Highly recommend for anyone who loves fantasy that clashes with the real world and savours strongly of folklore.

This didn’t really scream “romance” to me- but it wasn’t a bad story either way. I loved the idea behind it, and felt it was very well thought out.

This is both a fantasy and a love story surrounded by folklore. Ari’s fiancé, Simon, died tragically in the waters of Sainte Sirene, France, where her brother, Jason, is currently searching for the lost city of Y’s. He needs her to help him dive and search the same waters where she lost Simon. Still grieving, she agrees to help him and quickly falls for the wealthy investor of her brother’s project.

The story is eerie dripping with old wealth, history and the supernatural. The intrigue was fairly mild in the beginning, but in the middle ramps up as more discoveries and mysteries unfold. By the middle, it was hard for me to put this book down.

While the plot is good one and resolves well, my one disappointment is the lack of more fully developed characters.

If you enjoy folklore, mystery and romance, I highly recommend this story.

I found this book very disappointing. First of all this was under the romance genre and it is definitely not a romance book even if romance is mentioned a few times. I would call it paranormal as it involves a curse. But even under the paranormal genre I was not impressed. I found this book slow moving and dull. The theme of a story was a good idea it is just not meaty enough.

Ari lost her fiance Simon several years earlier, looking for the place he was obsessed with, the missing underwater city of Ys. Her brother calls her back to Saint Sirene, convinced that he might have found proof of the city's existence, but he needs her help. Once there she meets Rafael Du Lac. The water witch has cursed all the men of his family to die young and he's desperate to end it. Together, they set out to find Ys and break the curse once and for all.

The Water Witch is an action-packed romance with an air of mystery and a dash of the fantastical.

There's great description and some vivid imagery that draws you into the story and gives you a genuine sense of place.

The mythology and folklore of Brittany is weaved expertly through the book. From the missing city of Ys, the power hungry princess who later becomes the water witch, along with a guest appearance from the servant of death, I just loved every minute of it!

Ari and Rafael are great characters. Their banter and chemistry was fun to read. Ari is still deeply scarred by Simon's death, even quitting a career she loves because it reminds her too much of him. Rafael is headstrong, used to getting what he wants by throwing money at it. The romance between them was nicely done, slow burn and didn't feel too rushed.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending, but it made sense once I put the book down and thought about it.

If you love romance with a sprinkle of adventure and splash of fantasy, then I'd highly recommend The Water Witch to you!

#TheWaterWitch by #jessicaThorne is a mix of #romance #fantasy #mystery set in France. It is deeply emotional with a strong prevailing theme of grief. Many thanks to #netgalley and #bookoutureaudio for gifting me an #arc in exchange for an honest review

I love this book.
Ari is so relatable and likable (and I love her full name because I love the myth of Ariadne) it’s such an immerse story and I caught myself listening to this pretty quickly instead of doing things I was supposed to😂
The narration is great as well

This is a wonderful romantic/fantasy/paranormal/mystery story which is set in France, and I really enjoyed it!

Ari is heartbroken as her boyfriend Simon died a few years previously, after breaking up with her in a letter. Now she is in France, and there she meets Rafael, who is the great nephew of Madame du Lac. Madame du Lac thinks that there is a water witch in the region, who has placed a curse there. Ari and Rafael set out to find out as much as they can about this, so that they can try to break the curse. Ari is an archeologist of the oceans, and she is in her glory as she investigates the water witch and the goings on in the area. Her and Rafael get close, and they make a great team.

I found this book really fascinating and enjoyable, and I also loved the audiobook narrator. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author, narrator, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This is a book that I have a hard time with because I am a real archaeologist. This is a grief book. The heroine is deeply sad about the loss of her husband. The book really sits in that feeling, which I don't love. But the thing that made me not like this book is the depiction of treasure-hunting/archaeology. The main female character is meant to be a professor, but still engages in treasure hunting in France. I really can't get past how unethical this behavior is and how much she would be fired. This is a hang up specific to me, I get that.

Plot: This standalone novel follows Ariadne Walker, a marine archaeologist whose ex-fiancee Simon becomes obsessed with finding the lost city of Ys, said to have been destroyed centuries ago when the princess cursed the land following a betrayal. Following Simon's death, she returns to Brittany to discover the secrets left behind after her brother Jason convinces her to help them - but the ultra-rich and incredibly determined Raphael begins to tell her of the same curse Simon had been searching to unlock, she finds herself tied to this threat.

Review: This book was a solid 4.5 stars which I am happy to round up. This was the perfect mix of dealing with an exciting adventure arc, part-mystery part-fantasy in a way I found very intriguing while also dealing with some serious emotions. Ari's character is very believable, and, still dealing with grief, this is not skirted over. Her thoughts are believable and her motives clear - she is roped into this without wanting to, and you can palpably feel her trying to evade involvement but being unable to prevent being drawn back into the fold. This book contains relationships of all sorts - deep friendships, romance (both straight and gay), sibling bonds. I really loved the way all of these different dynamics were handled, with all the emotions it dealt with alongside an arc of fantasy and adventure.

Narrator: I listened to this book in audiobook format and I have to say the narrator (Helen Keeley) was SUPERB. I don't often take so much time to comment on the narration style but I absolutely felt every. single. word. The accents were great (and the narrator speaks in a Southern (British) accent which I realised is quite unusual in most of the audiobooks I have picked up), and the reading was not at all monotonous - in fact I think part of the reason I enjoyed this book so much was the emotions I felt as a result of it being read in such a dramatic (but not over-dramatic) way. You could feel every bit of anger, every bit of stress - pulling you to the edge of your seat. I will be looking for narrations by her again as I enjoyed her style so much!

Would definitely recommend listening to the audiobook format of this particular novel as it enhances the already great story very well!

<i>I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from Boukouture Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily.

Folklore and tall tales, a slow burn adventure that absolutely dripped magic. A curse that haunts the Du Lac family, a fiance that drowns searching for the lost city Y’s and a water witch that lurks.

The beginning of this book was absolutely magical, but I have to say from there on it just went a bit bizarre. I enjoyed however how the author wove past and present as things started to unfold. The central mystery kept me intrigued enough to continue, only to chop all this magical folklore and curses into pieces being controlled by a manipulative lunatic. I was so bummed! So many questions where I get no answers too, yet again bummed out.

I loved the premise, enjoyed the writing style and the narrator, the plot just fell extremely flat for me.

This book..... I was NOT expecting it to be so darn good. I was thinking it would be a sort of suspenseful witchy read that I could walk away from with little to no reflection. I was wrong and immediately had to follow the author on all the sites.

Generational cursed family, protecting a secret that inevitably kills them one by one. ✔
Heroine who doesn't even want to be here, heartbroken by the loss of her love AND protecting his deathbed secret. ✔
Doomed romance. ✔
Ancient witch. ✔
Azula and Zuko vibes. ✔

Overall, this book had it all and I 100% recommend.

Who doesn’t love a psycho mermaid?!!

Right I do that’s me! I really enjoyed this novel however isn’t not saying I read it on the app. Must be a glitch

"The water witch is real"
"Sure. A psycho mermaid. Got it."

This is my second Jessica Thorne book and like her previous book I opted to listen to it as an audiobook which once again proved to be a good decision. This time around the author tackles the legend of the lost island of Ys and the water witch who has cursed the men of a particular family line to an early death.

I had a great time listening to this audiobook and the narrator Helen Keeley did a superb job of bringing the writing and story to life visually in my mind. I have to say I did figure out who the water witch was halfway through the book but definitely not the climax.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture Audio and author Jessica Thorne for the audio Arc of the book.

I’m so grateful that I got to read this text. I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to making some videos for my TIkTok and other social media channels to recommend it to my friends and followers. It was an excellent read! 5/5 stars. I’m going to write a longer and more detailed review on my Goodreads and TikTok and I will link back once I’ve posted.

Thank you netgalley for providing me with a free arc of the water witch in exchange for a honest review.

I dnfed this at 40% in. The writing failed to intrigue me into continuing it, as it's quite blank, missing the element of mystery and paranormal horror this book promised. The characters are also very uninteresting and feel extremely one dimensional having very unstable developments as a way for the story to continue. Overall I lost all interest and will probably not try to read this again