Answering the prompt : Hocus Pocus | Find out what #JorieReads which befits this prompt for #SpooktasticReads!

We LOVE challenging each other during #WyrdAndWonder and #SpooktasticReads with prompts which inspire responses which can be taken literally by the words of the prompt itself or become explored more creatively by what sparks a response from the reader, blogger or social Fantasy lover to share with us during the months of May and October. This year, I’ve decided to post complimentary discussions featuring the prompts I am responding to via Instagram on our @WyrdAndWonder feeds. As it was a goal of mine last year but not one that I could fulfil properly.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I am a HUGE appreciator of #WitchyFiction – as I am quite sure many of followers and bookish friends online can attest as I regularly feature them during both #WyrdAndWonder and #SpooktasticReads annually! This year, I decided to seek out new voices in this niche of Fantasy I adore to discover – one was a recommended read by a fellow book blogger and reviewer I’ve known for quite a long time now, Maelia. She also used to be a regular chatter when I hosted @SatBookChat (on Twitter) every week and then, bimonthly, until I had to take a sabbatical from hosting the chats due to my work schedule the last few years. We’ve both crossed paths with the author Emma Jackson – as I previously read her novel The Devil’s Bride (which was a featured review during #SpooktasticReads 2021).

This time round, I am soaking into the audiobook version of her novel “Witch You Weren’t” which sounds like a delightfully lighter read than the previous one! And, a bit of a cheeky plot, too, which is right up my street this year! As I try to find a balance between the more dramatic stories and the lighter ones which give me more laughter than tears. Spooky reads to me are the kind of stories which are more Cosy than Horrific and give a cheeky glimpse into the paranormal realms moreso than they scare me out of my mind. Laughs. We all approach this readathon and concentration of stories differently but for me, I love seeking out the magic and delights moreso than the chilling stories which chill your bones!

A second audiobook which I read about by a fellow book blogger and bookstagrammer (of whom I’ve forgotten offhand!) leant me the impression that I might enjoy “The Crescent Moon Tearoom”. Whereas there was something enchanting about “Cinders and Sparrows” and I purchased the audiobook during one of Audible’s sales this end of Summer.

I am appreciating having a subscription to Everand again, as it helps me re-align back into audiobook stories and seeking out different genres of interest which they have in their catalogue of audioreads available to listeners. Whilst with my membership with Audible, I can purchase audiobooks as well as listen to others in their Plus catalogue which also consume a lot of the bookish interests I have in respect to genre and niches of literature I routinely seek out to read.

The audiobooks I purchased for #SpooktasticReads2024:

Cinders and Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann

Witch You Weren’t by Emma Jackson

And, the one I’m listening to via my subscription to Everand:

The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski

I have decided to make my #25PagePreview a duology feature – meaning, when I am sampling books in print, the original tagline of a #25PagePreview will apply. However, as I’ve been moving more into audiobooks over the years since (2016) when I first learnt about them and delved into seeking out narrators and narrated stories – I’ve decided it is time to make a proper declaration about splitting this feature into two equally beautiful parts. Thereby, the following are the thoughts and musings I had whilst I listened to the first twenty-five minutes instead to keep within the concept of my feature even though that might be past a traditional twenty-five pages of a printed copy.

Cinders and Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann

Site | @Stefan Bachmann Insta
Pub’d by Greenwillow Books, imprint of HarperBooks

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

(*) self-purchase on Audible

Opening credits had a wicked awesome opening score attached to it! I love musical interludes at the beginning of audiobooks and this one definitely gave off a great vibe. Blessedly there are more musical segues between chapters, too! The music befits the mood of the end of chapters and sets the mood quite well indeed. It is a wonderful addition to the audiobook.

As we begin the story, the Zita knows very little about witches and the lives of witches – except for the coachman who decides to enthrall her with the stories about the witches he knows about himself. He doesn’t like the people who live in the hills, and he doesn’t trust the things he hears about in respect to the mysterious occurrences happening locally. Blackbird Castle is her destination but the coachman in the thralls of superstition and lore declines her request to deliver her directly to the castle. For him, the request wasn’t backed with enough coin and even he admitted no amount of coin would be enough. He was a cranky character who allowed others to influence his mind and despite the remaining distance to the castle being quite arduous for a young girl – he still left her there and high-tailed it back to towne. Zita for her part tried to see past the gloomy arrival and keep a bit of optimism in her heart.

The story shifts backwards a bit to show how Zita started her journey to Blackbird Castle – wherein a scarecrow delivered a letter to her place of employment as a maid. Bachmann has brilliant descriptions within this world he’s created – you could distinctively see the scarecrow and how it felt as normal as can be for a young girl to receive a letter from them. Even if scarecrows aren’t generally known to deliver mail. Much less known to be fully sentient and able to carry out tasks!

Minifer and Bram greet Zita on her arrival and blessedly they were there as the woman she meets is less than enthused by her presence and more than a little cruel in suggesting that Zita took this journey for nothing. There is a question of inheritance and with that comes suspicion and disbelief. Apparently, there is a question about Zita’s true identity and that sets a very somber mood on arrival, and it is suggested that Zita won’t be staying very long at all. From that very grim moment, everything took a bit of a turn – Minifer and Bram were told to put Zita away for the night and just before they closed her door to a room Zita couldn’t even fathom as being hers, they told her the unfortunate news about how so many people had gone from the castle and how they suspected they all were targeted and killed. They also had a lot of healthy advice about wandering the castle and which places not to enter – which leant the impression the castle held more secrets than meets the eye.

Oh! By the time the second chapter concluded I was well hooked and ready for the third! I cannot wait to continue my journey inside this story – as it leans the impression of an evolving story where secrets and truth lie in wait for someone to unearth them. Plus, I can’t wait for the magic to show itself, too.

About the narrator: I loved how she created the different voices for different characters – as it gave such a theatrical treatment of the text. Her voice pulls you into the story and gives you reasons to stay rooted there. I loved her ability to voice different ages of the characters too whilst giving you the feel of a larger cast. This is the first time I’ve heard her narrate a story and I am loving every moment of it. 

Verdict? Most definitely will be continuing this story! It is such a delightful discovery because it starts slow and is building into something quite special. I loved how we’re seeing everything through Zita’s experience and her own memories about herself and her place in the world. I love the details being revealled at a slower pace too – as it lends well to the evolving mystery behind the events and circumstances which has given Zita a ticket so to speak to Blackbird Castle. 

Witch You Weren’t by Emma Jackson

Site | @emma_s_jackson Insta | Pub’d by Orion Dash

Narrated by: Imogen Wilde

(*) self-purchase on Audible

I admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one – and I was hoping I could get engaged with the plot but unfortunately for me, I couldn’t find anchour with the plot, the characters or the setting. Partially I think that had to do with the narrator as I found her style of narration to be a bit choppy and non-connecting to the story. Almost like there were invisible start and stop moments as she was narrating, and it kept leaving me disconnected. This for me was a DNF – as it was a non-starter.

Verdict? Due to these reasons – I ended up returning the audiobook to Audible and exchanged it for two new audiobooks which were on sale. The two audiobooks I replaced this one with are as follows: This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron and Changeling by Molly Harper – as there was two for one sale. I featured a #25MinutePreview for “This Poison Heart” previously on this post. 

The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski 

Site | @stacy_sivinski Insta | Pub’d by Simon & Schuster Audio 

Narrated by: Nikki Massoud

(*) part of my subscription to Everand

The sisters, Anne, Beatrix and Violet are charmingly sisterly as soon as you meet them. Anne takes the role of guardian watching over her sisters. As Anne is the one who knows things ahead of the other two and is the narrating voice of the story. The young sisters had spent the night in the attic discovering different items of interest to them – from a cloak to a book about fairytales which didn’t quite paint witches in a favourable light. The sisters had a lot of synchroneity with each other, too. Though it was Anne who had awoken first and had snuck downstairs finding her mother meeting with another woman in the kitchen. 

From that sweet moment in the kitchen, the story shifts immediately forward in time – to where the sisters developed and opened the tearoom. Changing the family business after the death of their parents (which hadn’t yet been revealled or explained) and taking charge of their own destinies by curating a business they could thrive at running together. It was apparently popular with shoppers who wanted a place to relax before going back home and with witches who wanted a place to find respite themselves. The witches, of course, had their own day of the week to arrive and be outside the shadows and sight of humans but for whichever reason they also came on other days, too. It was here in the story we learnt about how Violet can read tea leaves and how she interprets what the leaves are telling her to say to the customers.

This is a slow-brewing story – wherein, you have more questions as you listen to it and wish in some respects that those reveals would arrive a bit sooner than later. I was a bit frustrated a first in a way because there is a large gap in time between when we first met the sisters as young girls’ and the present day wherein, we find them as owners of the tearoom. There wasn’t a lot written between the gap either – to explain that shift in time. I always wish in those instances we could have a time rewind moment to fill in the gaps in the narrative or at the very least, a flashback to explain pertinent details. The sisters themselves feel a bit disconnected from each other – even before I believe they are meant to have distance between them, too. As I know that is a plot thread for this story. You don’t fully feel connected to each of the sisters in that respect. Thereby I was left wondering if I should give this one more chapter to resolve some of my missteps with the plot or give up listening to it completely and mark it as another DNF. 

About the Narrator: She has a lovely spoken narrative style wherein you feel as if you’re listening to a conversation about the sisters and through that conversation you’re learning about their history and their lives. Her pacing is good, too, and was enjoying her approach to the story.

Verdict? I am definitely on the fence with this one – as part of me is intrigued by the premise and the promise of a plot. Whilst at the same time, in listening to the story, I feel a bit let down by how the story is unravelling and how there are disconnections within the plot and the story itself as well as not feeling as though I am properly connected to the sisters as individuals or as a sisterly unit. The jury is out on this one apparently.

And, what about you?

Which kinds of Witchy Reads do you enjoy yourself? Any you’d think I’d enjoy too?

We’ll be sharing our #SpooktasticReads prompts via #bookstagram as well as celebrating the ‘spookier side of Fantasy’ on our book blogs. Join your hosts: Imyril, Lisa, Jorie, Annemieke and Ari as we sort how to rock out our Autumnal event as we chase after Halloween!

Spooktastic Reads is Wyrd and Wonder’s autumnal ghost, 13 days to share the thrills of dark fantasy, paranormal romance, ghost stories, urban legends, all things Gothic and even a side of horror for those who dare. – as revealled by Annemieke

Last year, I compiled a bit of a back-history of #SpooktasticReads on Jorie Loves A Story which you can happily re-visit by reading this lovely post! We look forward to sharing this journey with you via Discord, BlueSky and Instagram socially whilst we’ll be looking out for your posts on your blogs if you choose to explore this side of Wyrd And Wonder with us, too. If you’re into pre-planning and sharing what you’re going to be doing in October, be sure to tag us socially and/or share links in our comments via our blogs so we can visit with you and see what you’ll be doing, too!

To get a bit of an inkling of what to expect from me this year, kindly visit my previous #SpooktasticReads posts. Remember: I originally created this as a personal readathon and concentration of certain kinds of stories before I pitched it to become a part of Wyrd And Wonder wherein it took on a new life of its own over the years to become what it is today. I am very proud of its history and humble origins as much as I am wicked happy it developed into a lovely addition to our Wyrd And Wonder community.

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