Liam Bean reviewed The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith
Review of 'The Vine Witch' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The setting has promise. The writing, however, needs a considerable amount of work.
The first issue is that this is not a fantasy novel. A setting containing magical elements does not make something a fantasy novel. I direct you to the "romance" section of your local bookstore where you will find any number of romance novels that read like The Lord of the Rings: In the Bedroom. This book is a romance novel. It's one thing to have a romantic subplot in a book where the main story and primary character interactions are something other than exclusively romantic; it's something else entirely when the #2 character spends every scene he's in angsting over how he's attracted to the protagonist. The primary plot here is the romance.
The second issue is how much "telling not showing" is done. This book should have been at least twice as long as it is. …
The setting has promise. The writing, however, needs a considerable amount of work.
The first issue is that this is not a fantasy novel. A setting containing magical elements does not make something a fantasy novel. I direct you to the "romance" section of your local bookstore where you will find any number of romance novels that read like The Lord of the Rings: In the Bedroom. This book is a romance novel. It's one thing to have a romantic subplot in a book where the main story and primary character interactions are something other than exclusively romantic; it's something else entirely when the #2 character spends every scene he's in angsting over how he's attracted to the protagonist. The primary plot here is the romance.
The second issue is how much "telling not showing" is done. This book should have been at least twice as long as it is. More time should have been spent fleshing out not only the main romantic plot, but definitely considerably more of the other stuff as well. More time spent describing things in ways that lead the reader to the conclusion rather than telling it outright.
The third issue is the sheer amount of cliches. Having a book that's hilariously predictable is fine when it's a Harlequin romance novel and labeled as such. It gets more annoying when it's marketed as a fantasy novel and in a way that makes it seem like it's original and different. It was pretty blatantly obvious who the big villain was about halfway through the book. The twist ending doesn't mediate that - in fact it is, in itself, another cliche.
That said, the setting is interesting. The type of magic employed was interesting and of a specific variety I don't recall ever seeing before. That's original, at least. I would like to see the world more fleshed out with more detail and better writing. I can only hope that the author can find a mentor or two to help and not just run everything through friends/family who can rarely be trusted to give really honest criticism.
