Narrated by Katherine Kellgren
Dark Witch is the first in The Cousins O’Dwyer trilogy. That clued me in straight away that there would be three romantic pairings but one over-arching storyline. It’s a good vs. evil story, with the power of the first Dark Witch, Sorcha, handed down over hundreds of years to three relations – Iona (who is the main character of this story), Branna, and her brother Connor. Each of the three has an animal guide/talisman – Iona has the horse, Connor the hawk, and Branna the hound. Their task is to defeat the evil Cabhan, a task Sorcha was unable to do completely.
Iona has sold up all her belongings and burned all her bridges, to go and live and work in Ireland. Her plan is to connect with Branna and Connor and understand more about her heritage. Her grandmother has told her the stories of the first Dark Witch, but more than that, she’s searching for a place to call home, to belong, for family. Apart from her grandmother, Iona is not close to her US family and has felt basically unloved her whole life.
Branna hooks Iona up for a job at the local stables, run by Boyle McGrath and Finbar Burke. Branna’s good friend, Meara, works there as well. Savvy romance readers know that this equals three men and three women and three romances over three books. You do the math. I admit a prejudice in this area. There is something in me, which dislikes this kind of setup. It seems to diminish the later books somehow because there is no sense of discovery for me. Or something.
Anyway, Iona pretty much falls for Boyle straight away and there’s history between Branna and Fin. Unfortunately, Fin is a descendant of Cabhan (even though Fin is a good guy) and this is the big block for them. All six work together to try and defeat Cabhan once and for all.
There is a lot of setup and much time is spent on the mythology and world building of the paranormal aspects leaving the romance a bit short changed. Boyle and Iona quickly fall into a relationship but it is that very speed which threatens it later on. Boyle (who reminded me a little of an Irish Simon from The Search) is a man who comes to decisions slowly and is not at all impetuous. I actually liked that conflict here because I thought it was all a bit fast myself and it did give an opportunity for some relational focus, which I was hungering for.
Iona seemed very young to me and I found it difficult to warm to her (she sounded about 21 whereas Branna sounded more like 40 – I don’t think either of those numbers are correct). She spends much of the earlier scenes babbling and apologising for babbling and it wore on me a little. I would have liked more about Boyle – even though there was some romance focus in the latter half of the book, it wasn’t quite enough for me.
I first heard Katherine Kellgren’s narration when I listened to Susanna Kearsley’s The Firebird
There are some audio listeners who prefer a straight “reading” of the text without characterisation while others love a narrative performance that differentiates the various characters and gives life and mood and emotion to the text (that would be me). I had two problems with the narration here. The first was in the vocal differentiation. I always knew Iona’s voice because she spoke with an American accent and it sounded lighter and more girlish (most of the time). But at times, it was very difficult to distinguish between Branna, Meara, Connor, Fin, and Boyle. Where there weren’t dialogue tags (and this happened regularly), I had to put it together from context.
The other issue is that I thought the dramatics were overdone. There’s no doubt that listeners will disagree on this – what is “overdone” to me may well be “just right” to another listener. I felt the text was sufficiently dramatic and unreal (as in supernatural) so a toned down reading would have suited me better. I did pick up a little of this in The Firebird but there was vastly more opportunity for it in Dark Witch and was therefore, more obvious to me.
I think it is easier to pick faults in the narration when the text isn’t engaging the listener as much as one wishes and no doubt that’s the case here too. It may be that I am merely suffering a little from “audiobook hangover” because my last listen was stellar.
I’ve given the narration a B because it wasn’t by any means, bad. It just wasn’t entirely what I’d hoped for and I really would have preferred to hear the characters better distinguished vocally. That said, I’d definitely listen to a Kellgren narration again.
I’d recommend this one for fans of Nora Robert’s trilogies who don’t mind the romance being only one thread in a busy story.
Kaetrin
Narration: B
Book Content: B-
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in (but fairly tame for all that)
Violence: Fighting
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Dark Witch was provided to AudioGals for review by Brilliance Audio.
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I’ve been trying to figure out whether I really want to read this book. Your review has helped me decide that it’s worth a listen.
Her trilogies trouble me a little. There’s the whole set-up thing you mentioned, and within the set-up, there’s a couple that have a history together. I would prefer a little less formula in these trilogies, but all of them have been like this.
Thanks for a really helpful review.
I do get annoyed by the formula of some trilogies (not just Nora Roberts ones either). I just don’t think it’s realistic that if you put 3 guys and 3 girls in a room together they will all pair off for life. One of the reasons I like the Kowalksi series (Shannon Stacey) so much is that some of them are already married and it’s not always *obvious* who the MCs for the next book will be (especially the case in the first series, less so now I admit).
I know just what you mean – sometimes NR hits the nail on the head, and sometimes there’s just some pounding and pounding, especially the trilogies. One is the good girl, one is the bad girl, one went wheee wheee wheee – sorry, little piggies. Often I find I like one of the three better than the others, and often it isn’t the first one! I think I need to give this one a listen – it is Nora, after all, and you found some good things in the narration. For audiobook fan(atic)s that is usually enough. Thanks! (However, I admit my southern US brain goggles over the names – which are the heroes and which the heroines???)
I think even an “average” Nora is pretty good so I think most people will like it well enough if they like Nora Roberts. :) And Kellgren is a very good narrator I think.
Oh, I should have added:
Boys: Boyle, Fin and Connor
Girls: Iona, Branna and Meara
:D
I agree about the narration, I felt it was very overly dramatic and so loud in places I had to turn down the volume. In fact I couldn’t finish the audiobook and returned it to Audible, the first time I’ve done so because of the narration. I’ve since bought the book but haven’t started to read as yet.
I like characterisation in a reading but just couldn’t relate to this one. MacLeod Andrews did such a great job on the Boonsboro Inn trilogy and, in the main, I do prefer male narrators but that’s just a personal preference.
I can’t say that I really have a preference for the gender of the narrators – it’s more about whether they can do believable and accurate to text characterisations for me I think. You’re right about the volume sometimes – I didn’t have to turn it down but the really dramatic parts came with added oomph that’s for sure!
No doubt there will be some people who love the dramatic flair Kellgren uses. It was too much for me and for those who prefer a more understated reading, I think it would have them heading for the hills. I wouldn’t mind if she’d toned it down a notch or two but I did enjoy it, overall.