Rants N Scribbles: [Review] Of Wicked Blood by Olivia Wildenstein and Katie Hayoz

Title: Of Wicked Blood
Series: The Quatrefoil Chronicles, #1
Author: Olivia Wildenstein and Katie Hayoz
Genre: YA, fantasy, magic, paranormal
Format: audiobook
Publication Date: January 11 2021
Published By: Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks Source: NetGalley

Synopsis from Publisher

No rest for the wicked... or the cursed.

SLATE
I didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt.
Scratch that, I did mean to steal it.
Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.
If any of us fail, I’m dead.
I’ve never been a glass half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now.
The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.

CADENCE
I was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft.
Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right?
Wrong.
The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster.
But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me.
Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without.
Something I will fight for, no matter the cost.

*Warning: profuse cursing (and not just the magical kind). (less)

About Olivia Wildenstein

USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Wildenstein grew up in New York City and earned her bachelor’s in comparative literature from Brown University. After designing jewelry for a few years, Wildenstein traded in her tools for the writing life, which made more sense considering her college degree.

When she’s not sitting at her computer, she’s psychoanalyzing everyone she meets (Yes. Everyone), eavesdropping on conversations to gather material for her next book, and attempting not to forget one of her kids in school.

She has a slight obsession with romance, which might be the reason why she writes it.

About Katie Hayoz

Katie grew up in Racine, Wisconsin where she acquired an irreversible nasal twang and an addiction for books with a slightly dark edge. She now lives in Geneva, Switzerland with her husband, two daughters, and a very fuzzy cat. She has been an avid reader of YA fiction for years. While she has a penchant for the paranormal, she devours a range of books -- along with popcorn and black licorice. She consumes all three in large quantities. Luckily, the books don't stay on her hips.

My Thoughts:
Our story takes place in the cozy village of Brume, where their history is rooted in magic, but of course that's not really true...or is it? Of Wicked Blood takes place in the middle of winter, which I find adds to the magical setting. I just love how everyone is always bundled up in sweaters, jackets, hats, scarves, and mitts. It adds the touches of realism needed in such a magical story.

Magic used to be a large part of Brume's history, but the majority of the residents just think the magic is a kind of fairytale, until Slate comes to Brume and puts on the cursed ring that starts the magical wheels in motion again. Now Slate, and three others, must work together to find their specific magical pieces to bring back magic as a whole to Brume.

The writing is very well done, and smooth, which is hard to achieve when working with two separate authors, but Olivia and Katie make an amazing team. I have since joined their Facebook page, The O.K. Crew, and it's great watching them interact live with each other. Everything is very descriptive. I was sucked in almost immediately. It's easy to imagine everything like a fantastic little movie playing in my head. I was completely immersed in the story almost 100% of the time. I just found the many French words and phrases inserted throughout off-putting.

The conversations were fantastic, humourous, and realistic! No stuffy and stiff dialogue in this book. The internal dialogues were often even better than the normal dialogue, especially with Slate. I found myself laughing out loud often when he was internally speaking. Needless to say, Slate was my favourite character. It was hard to like him at first, but he grew with the novel, and I grew to love him along with it.

I was very happy with the development of the romance in this book. I often get frustrated because everything seems to happen so fast, but in this novel, even though it technically only happens over a matter of days, it feels slower, and more natural. I also really liked that when they had an issue with one another, THEY TALKED IT OVER! Not always right away of course, because you have to drag out the drama a little, but they did approach each other and discuss what was bothering them. They didn't just let things fester between them for the whole book and then blow up at each other and fix it just in time for the ending...which is pretty typical.

I struggled with the audiobook version for many reasons. First off, as much as I enjoyed listening to Thomas Locklear's deep, smooth, and sexy voice, I just didn't feel like it fit the college level character of Slate. Funnily enough my first though was he should be narrating adult romance or erotica novels, and low and behold, when I looked him up on Audible, that is primarily what he does narrate. I might have to pick one of those up! Holly Fielding on the other hand had a very pleasant voice that fit her character well, however she didn't do voices of the other characters very well and I often found it painful as she voiced Slate, her father, etc. Another irritating factor was the fact that the sound levels often changed even in the middle of the same conversation and it felt kind of oddly pieced together at times. This saddened me because the story is really really good!

There was one character that really got under my skin, the creepy Mayor. Usually when there is a creepy character there is a reason he is included, some part of the story he is meant to draw out, but I just found his creepiness unnecessary at the time, like being creepy just for the sake of being creepy, which really bothers me. I hope book #2 proves me wrong and there is a reason for this character, otherwise I think his specific creepy nature could have been reworked not to be so disturbing. I often found myself asking, "What is the point of this character?"

The end left me befuddled. What just happened? Argh! I can't say too much, because SPOILERS, but I don't get what happened. There are just too many unanswered questions. I need book #2 now!

The Pros: