- Title:
- Witch’s Knight
- Author:
- Evelyn Silver
- Release:
- September 7, 2022
- Format:
- Audiobook
- Narrator:
- Heidi Hogarten
- Series:
- The Bloodline Chronicles #1
To cut the review short, this review covers the audiobook. I can’t recommend the book because of the audio version, not for the content. It’s plagued with issues listed below, and selling such a sub-par product and making excuses for it is a show of disrespect to unsuspecting consumers.
One of the things that stood out with his book was how beautifully descriptive it is. One witch was described as having eyes that looked like “Windows to an abandoned home, where the electricity had been gone for years.”. Due to this level of detail, it’s slow-paced. To borrow a line from Aron Beauregard yet again, it’s as “slow as a crockpot”. While there’s plenty to enjoy in this book, it’s almost entirely set up for a greater plot throughout the series. This won’t be a story you can get into, enjoy a tale, and leave. It truly lacks any sort of finality and doesn’t wrap up any of the plot points.
I found the characters interesting and compelling. I enjoyed the attention to detail, such as how the vampires wear clothes from the eras they lived in and reminisce about the old days. I was fond of the different factions, alliances, interplay between them, the drama and rivalries, and more. The lore, the powers of the witches, and the vampires. It was all interesting and creative, and put some new twists on lore that many people often just adapt without questioning it or giving it a second thought.
The romance scene(s) and the romance between the characters were nicely done. I particularly enjoyed getting to be a “fly on the wall” throughout. It was paced believably for a novel.
Aside from the abysmal audio, the only gripe I have with the book is the misinformation about donating plasma. At one point, it’s mentioned that you can only donate blood or plasma once a month. I used to donate plasma, and I know this is not to be the case. I used to donate plasma twice a week, every month. I despise misinformation in any form and this is something I wanted to correct.
The audio in this is inexcusably horrendous. One narrator sounds as if she’s chosen a gymnasium to narrate from. Another has a fine singing voice, but the background static distracts from it entirely. Another narrator, or maybe it’s one of the previous, sounds as if the’s speaking through a fish tank. Towards the end of chapter 4, one narrator had so much background hissing, I could barely hear what she was saying.
Throughout the book, there are instances of obnoxious background hissing, repeated dialogue, and obviously different recordings. The reason this is notable is that the narrator’s voice is inconsistent, either louder, quieter, muffled, more echoey, etc.
The primary narrator chose to read everything in the same tone of voice, and she sounds like she was whispering the entire time. The best way to describe it is; it sounds like she’s trying to speak as loudly as possible without disturbing somebody sleeping in the next room over. Finally, it sounds as if she needs a pop filter. there’s always a hint of a hissing sound at the end of every sentence, though it could be just the way she speaks. it can be heard in the Audible sample of this book.
This is truly one of the worst audio productions I’ve ever listened to. This level of mediocrity and lack of polish should never be acceptible, and I find it distasteful to release it and charge full price without warning to unsuspecting readers.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.