📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖
Title: The Witchstone
Author: Henry Neff
Page Count: 462
Format: Audiobook
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Number: 44
Dates Read: 3/25-30
Review:

I received this free advanced copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a wild ride. I enjoyed the main demon character. He sarcastic wit gave a lightened side to the story. I would recommend to readers of fantasy.

Henry H. Neff’s The Witchstone, narrated by Ramiz Monsef, offers a captivating blend of humor and dark fantasy that engages listeners from start to finish. The story follows Laszlo, an eight-hundred-year-old demon and Hell’s least productive Curse Keeper, as he oversees the Drakeford Curse—a mysterious affliction haunting a family in upstate New York. Laszlo’s laid-back approach to his duties is disrupted when new management threatens his existence, giving him six days to rectify the situation. 

Neff masterfully combines elements reminiscent of The Good Place and Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, creating a narrative that’s both high-stakes and laugh-out-loud funny. The characters are richly developed, with Laszlo’s snarky demeanor contrasting beautifully with Maggie Drakeford’s earnestness as she battles the curse threatening her family. 

Ramiz Monsef’s narration elevates the audiobook experience. His ability to bring an exotic cast of bizarre characters to life is nothing short of magnificent. Listeners have praised his excellent narration, noting how he keeps characters distinctly separated, making the story a pleasure to listen to.  

Overall, The Witchstone is a delightful and engaging listen, especially for those who appreciate a mix of wit, fantasy, and a touch of the macabre. With its compelling characters and Monsef’s stellar narration, it earns a solid four-star rating.

Overall I had a fun time with it for the first 2/3 or so, but had one major issue of sexual assault and mocking the victim to intentionally cause harm that made the rest of it unpleasant.
I felt an adventure lacking more depth would’ve been stronger with a shorter length. I found my initial enthusiasm lagging by around 80%. The writing comes off as fairly YA, sometimes over-explaining things or “telling” in a way that felt more juvenile, but with the inclusion of references to drugs, sex, etc.

*more detail on the major issue: the teen girl who is cursed is essentially taken over by the curse which makes her attempt to force a frightened man to penetrate her. It started as him pursuing her thinking she was a SW and then seeing the curse doing creepy body horror and wanting to not have sex. Nor does she want to have sex and is not in control of her body. So both parties are essentially sexually assaulted, which seems completely unnecessary (the situation could’ve been interrupted earlier so it was less disturbing).
It was very much in contrast to the juvenile and light writing style (like haha he’s bad at his job he gets a bad parking spot, haha he’s mean to his coworker, haha the child is better at magic than him). While the horrors of a curse determined to continue through generations could be handled by a thoughtful darker story centering the victim of said curse, this wasn’t it.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it’s brought up later by the MC to taunt and shame the teen victim in front of her mother and her child brother, in order to maximize the amount she suffered emotionally and talked about how she was going to spread her legs to get pregnant as much as possible etc. he really just described an incredibly disturbing lifetime of trauma, rape, and forced birth due to the curse ahead of this teen, that the curse would force her to seek out or initiate.
While it’s later justified that he had to upset them as much as possible to complete his goal of not getting killed by the demon bosses, he also brags that he completed all 3 criteria despite only needing to complete one, which meant he actually didn’t need to traumatize her with a hypothetical life of pure trauma and hell as he did. It was literally unnecessary to the plot and incredibly disturbing.

The narrator did a great job, except for the voice for the mom, which sounded like a 70 year old voice not a presumably 40-50 year old, and was unpleasant to hear.

I would be open to more books narrated by the narrator. I would likely only be open to reading the author again if I knew for sure that sexual assault was not going to be used for fun bonus points for the MC to brag about .

I received an ARC from NetGalley and am providing an honest review.

This was such a blast to listen to. It was dark at times, but the comedy is very well placed and not cringe.

This is a fun one - especially if, like me, your favorite kinds of quests and heists are all about exploiting the loopholes. I love a good twist of the knife by the only character who took the time to read the fine print, and that is Laszlo’s specialty. He’s so shamelessly and unapologetically determined to keep his spectacularly mediocre life intact that you can’t help but root for him - but his ridiculousness makes him easy to laugh at when he overlooks things like security cameras and humans needing to eat.

Magical bureaucracy is hardly uncharted territory at this point, but this one can hang with the best of them in the inept management, half baked improvement plans, and general stupidity.

Are the details of the central curse and adjacent magic system overly convoluted? Yes. Could Maggie be a more three-dimensional character and less of an action movie mashup of Lydia Deetz and Sophie Hatter? Also yes. But the ending lays the groundwork for potential sequels that could offer opportunities for improvement in those areas, so I’m looking at this as a pilot episode.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Lazlo is a curse keeper and his lazy lifestyle has finally delt him the consequences -he has 6 days to complete his mission or face a gruesome end. The book was funny and entertaining, fast paced and easy to read but I feel like it was a bit forced and like it was trying too hard at points to be witty. Would still recommend to those looking for a fun halloween vibe book !

I founnd this book rather enjoyable. intriguing storyline, enjoyable character, wonderful narrator. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity.

The Witchstone
Written by Henry H Neff
Read by Ramiz Monsef
Book 205/250
Genre: Fantasy, Satire
Format: Audio, Digital, RC
Pages/Time: 462/17hr 43min
Published: June 18, 2024
Rating: 8/10
Narration: 9/10

“And it wasn’t just physical pain. The experience also included pangs of inconsolable malaise, ennui, and other angsty French terms.”

Darkly hilarious in the vein of Good Omens, The Witchstone, while not too spooky, is a fun read for Halloween season. Featuring a family of curse bearers, a demon really bad at being a demon, and a huge cast of assorted characters, Neff’s satirical novel had me laughing from the beginning. And what’s more is that this book has a lot of heart. I greatly enjoyed these characters and interactions; Neff excels at writing the banter and camaraderie that makes this book so well. And with the book’s epilogue, I would definitely be interested in seeing what’s next for this rag-tag group of curse breakers.

The Witchstone was funny, creative, and interesting. A very dynamic novel that exceeded my expectations!

I really enjoyed the narration of this book, I think the narrator really captured the characters well.
I enjoyed the story too, the character arc were great and I was routing for them the whole time.

This was a fun science fiction/fantasy adventure/quest tale. It centers around the cursed Drakeford family, and their curse keeper, the demon Laszlo. You go with the younger Drakefords as they travel the world with Laszlo in hopes of finally breaking their curse. The book is full of adventure, has great world building, character growth, and a ton of humor. It will keep you entertained from start to finish, and that says a lot since the audiobook is over 17 hours long.

The narrator does an excellent job reading the book. You are always able to tell which character is talking, and he handles the different languages with ease. This book is perfect for those liking urban fantasy, adventure tales, new takes on demon lore, and serious quests told with humor.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This book follows two MCs, The first is Maggie Drakeford, a 19-year-old from many centuries-old cursed family. They turn into grotesque creatures and live their life in pain after a while. She meets our second MC Laszlo an 800-year-old demon who is the curse keeper of the Drakeford curse. Laszlo approaches the Drakefords with a deal to help them break their curse, of course, everything comes with a cost. As Maggie and Laszlo take off on their quest the 11-year-old (or was it 12 or younger....I forget) Lump tags along. Lump is Maggie's younger brother also doomed to fall under the curse's harsh consequences. As the trio trapes around they are stalked by assassins, henchmen, and deadlines. With plenty of humor, horrific moments, trickery, and magic this story takes us on a fun wild journey.
The characters are all very well put together, everyone fits together and brings something to the team. Whether that be comedic relief, a bit of heart, or crazy and gross antics the group was written with fantastic chemistry. In the audiobook, our narrator does not pull his punches. He brings an extra light to this story and makes it so delightful. Nothing was over the top and all characters had their own unique voice, cadence, and tone. Very well-done narration. The book read like you were watching this great movie with very exquisite details that brought each scene to life. Some I could do with less imagery because it was icky. I did find that the twists and turns were very obvious and were projected very early in the book. The big reveals would have been a bit more impactful if some things were held closer to the chest. Overall, this is a fun, witty, demon-filled ride.

This was a lot of fun. Somewhere between Crowley from Good Omens and the Screwtape Letters with a little of Pratchett's Moist von Lipwig thrown in. If you enjoy diamond in the rough con artists who are way more competent than they think they are, you won't want to miss this.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an advance audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. (I am very sorry for not posting a review sooner; I thought the publication date was in October.)

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK!

I had an amazing time reading it. I loved every character, and the story was well-put-together.

If you love Deadpool's sarcasm, you will love Lazlo. He is charming and a very sexy playboy. He always has a plan up his sleeve, even when his plans don't go his way.

Maggie is a 19-year-old girl who is cursed, and her whole town hates her family. She is strong and doesn't take no for an answer.

Lump was very lovable, and I honestly don't have a bad word to say about him. HE NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS!

Even though the book was amazing, let's give a round of applause for the narrator! Sir, you did an amazing job.

I hope we get a second book, but even if we don't, I loved it either way as a standalone.

Reading challenge category - Popsugar 2024: Magical Realism (but after reading, not really - more like urban fantasy)

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of this work.

Laszlo is a demon, a 'curse keeper,' a partying playboy (playdemon?), and an overall hedonist. He is given 1 Hell week (6 days) to get his sh*t together and maximize the curse's potential on the family on which it has been cast. Laszlo goes topside and visits the Drakeford family - the cursed. The father is already fully affected by the curse, and it is just beginning to take hold for 19 year old Maggie. Her little brother (Lump) is yet to be affected and her mom, not being a bloodline Drakeford, is only affected by proxy. Laszlo informs them that they have 6 days to break the curse or it becomes permanent. Laszlo, Maggie, and Lump set off on an adventure to obtain pieces to the reversal spell to break the curse. They encounter other demons, witches, monsters, gross dudes in Vegas, and more.

I had a very hard time getting into this book. I feel like I was 2/3 of the way through it before I actually enjoyed it. There were sections that felt overly detailed and dragged on. I think it could have been cut down by 100-150 pages and it would have been better. I did enjoy the final climactic scene and 'battle,' as well as the ending. With a better editor, this could have been a winner, but it was just okay.

The youngest son of a noble demon family, Lazlo is a failure, by demon standards. He is a cursekeeper, but the humans who bear his curse seem to have resigned themselves to a cursed existence. He has given himself over to debauchery and human creature comforts, and hasn't even contacted his curse bearers in over 100 years. When his overseer decides that he is going to give Lazlo one week to up his curse bearer's misery upon pain of death, despite the lazy young demon's esteemed parentage, Lazlo decides it's time to visit his curse bearers, the Drakeford's, and put into play a complicated plan of his own devising that will save his skin by promising the Drakefords that their curse will be broken. This is a promise that he has no intention of keeping. But what he doesn't count on are 19 year old Maggie Drakeford and her brother Lump, and their ingenuity in the promise of breaking the hundreds-year-old curse that has plagued their family.

This was a fun book. I actually ended up really liking all of the characters. Lazlo was a slimy jerk, but managed to be there at the right times and redeem himself when necessary, Lump was kind and thoughtful, even in the face of a reality in which his sister was turning into a monster and everything was going wrong. Maggie was just badass. I would have liked a little more depth of character, but I like that the book ended with the potential for more stories of Maggie and Lazlo moving forward and working together. I liked the pacing of the book, and I liked the twists and turns of a story where things seemed to go wrong at every turn.

Ever notice how some books stick with you and others are sort of...forgettable? Sometimes I go to write a review and for the life of me, I can't remember what happened in the book even though I JUST READ IT!

This is not that type of book. It's so vivid that I could probably outline the whole plot for you almost a month after reading it. It's a new take on demons (slightly good omens-ish, I'd be surprised if the author wasn't influenced by Gaiman and Pratchett).

My ONLY beef with the book is the laugh out loud funny bit in the description. Is it humorous? Definitely. Did I LOL? No.

Would I read more from Mr. Neff? Absolutely!

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Audio for the Audiobook for review.

I received this audio DRC from NetGalley.

I enjoyed this one, and I think the narrator did a good job with the different voices and different languages. The story didn't have any lulls. The demon character gave it Good Omen vibes and was amusing in general. There was some body horror, which I wasn't expecting, and worked in the sense that it definitely grossed me out. Maybe some things at the end were a bit convenient, but it was fun overall.

Henry H. Neff weaves a captivating tale that immerses readers in a rich world of magic and mystery. I found the plot to be intricately crafted, with twists that kept me guessing until the very end. Neff's character development stood out, particularly the protagonist who grapples with formidable challenges while evolving throughout the story. The vivid descriptions and imaginative settings truly brought the enchanted realm to life, making it easy to lose myself in the narrative.
However, I did feel that some pacing issues arose in the middle, where the story slowed down, causing a slight dip in suspense. And while most characters are well-developed, a few felt a bit one-dimensional, leaving me wanting more depth from them.
Overall, The Witchstone offers a compelling blend of adventure and emotion that left me eager for more, despite its minor shortcomings.