How Witch It Is Audiobook By Amanda M. Lee cover art

How Witch It Is

Wicked Witches of the Midwest, Books 1-3

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How Witch It Is

By: Amanda M. Lee
Narrated by: Aris
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Welcome to Hemlock Cove, where the town is magically rebranded - but real witches aren't necessarily welcome.

That makes things hard for the Winchester witches - including local newspaper reporter Bay. She's got a persnickety family - wait until you met Aunt Tillie - and a penchant for stumbling across trouble.

Thankfully for Bay, she's got loyal cousins and the ability to talk to ghosts as she tries to solve mysteries and put souls to rest.

Follow Bay as she meets a man who is more than he seems and tries to hide a history that is centuries in the making.

This is the first three books in the Wicked Witches of the Midwest cozy mystery series. It includes: Any Witch Way You Can, Every Witch Way But Wicked, and Witching You Were Here.

©2012 Amanda M. Lee (P)2015 Amanda M. Lee Magic Users Cozy Mystery Paranormal Witchcraft Fantasy Magic Funny Witty Fiction Supernatural Feel-Good Thriller & Suspense Scary Classics
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Fun Mysteries • Humorous Elements • Excellent Character Portrayal • Interesting Concept • Entertaining Storylines

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It's sort of hard to judge the writing, which - aside from needing some serious editing - seems pretty good.

The narration is another story. Read at break-neck speed, with little differentiation between the main characters (I know it's got to be hard, three cousins and their three mothers, but still, that's your job). Some line readings are just so off it's painful - and worse, certain words are constantly mispronounced (vehemently is not read as vee-HEM-ently, e.g.). Also, the three cousins are supposed to be in their twenties but come off sounding like 16yo Valley girls.

Can't totally blame the narrator: what were the director or producer doing?

Mixed bag

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Fantastic box set that l loved so much l rushed to get the next box set in series to binge listen to. Great value that will have you chortling away at the antics of this family of witches. Beautifully narrated.
RECOMMENDED

Fantastic box set

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Love, love this series listened to all books in the series over and over again. Wish there were more books in the series.

Love the series of book.

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Because this is a cozy mystery set, I had some expectations and went in knowing not everything would be reality based- and I'm not talking about the witchy stuff. Most CMs that I've read are kind of loose on research and thats ok. I don't mind. I didn't expect a great and deep love story or historical accuracy. I expected some shallower characters and a cute mystery. Just a nice easy read.
That said, there was a lot that gave me pause here. To fully disclose myself, I stopped part of the way through book 3 and I'll explain why in a few.
One of the head scratchers was when the FBI guy was going on about permits for guns. I let that inaccuracy go because I figured that could have been a world building aspect since there are witches and such. Obviously it isn't exactly like real life so maybe Lee changed some laws to suit her. So I plowed on. (And no. You don't need a permit to own a gun. You need one in some states to carry concealed. You also need one for specific antiques or listed guns. A revolver though? pass a background check and pay for it and you can carry it home.)
Then, when we got to book 3, along came a head scratcher that I couldn't ignore. Suddenly, the town drunk became a business man and ghosts who had disappeared suddenly maybe did, maybe didn't disappear. Continuity errors bother me to no end, especially when those errors contradict the last paragraphs of the previous book. 2 min read would have kept that error from happening.
Another big thing that bothered me was Bay's fainting spells. Lee has never fainted nor known anyone who has. If she did, she wouldn't be so blithely putting her MC into comas and giving her brain damage scenarios. If someone you know faints and you can carry them home, then wait hours for them to wake, please please call an ambulance. They have serious brain problems and need medical attention asap. A fainting spell lasts seconds, not hours. Poor Bay has major brain damage now.
There were other issues but those were the most bothersome to me.
Now, on to the characters. The moms are pretty stereotypical and that's fine. The aunt is pretty funny but also what youd expect. The cousins are fine. Thistle is mean, though. Always so cranky and sometimes downright hateful. But that's fine for a story. I don't have to hang out with her irl.
Bay and Landon, though....whew. Sometimes I forgot they were in their 30s. They snip like children. One expects the other to divulge their deepest darkest secrets and they haven't even been on a proper date yet. They play silly games avoiding each other and expect the other to be ok with that. They argue about silly stuff instead of dealing with the gun wielding kidnapper. I mean, is he really FBI? Cause my teenager has more control of himself and more sense in a dangerous situation. Landon flips between popular guy in HS to mean guy in HS and back again. Bay acts like theyve been married for 50 years and he's left her instead of knowing each other for a week or so. I know, I know. It's a CM. Still.
Finally, another thing that bothered me was the plethora of adverbs. They did everything goofily, irritatingly, wildly, quietly, and so on. They couldn't just say something. It had to be said mysteriously or angrily. They had to walk quietly or clumsily. When they glared, it was irritatingly or explosively. Adverbs aren't bad but when I'm hearing a -ly every fourth word, it's very noticeable.
The stories, plot wise, are nice. The second one was interesting and I liked the inclusion of the ghosts in the first one. Not sure about the third because I just had to quit after Bay slammed her boss's door and stomped out of his office after meeting with a cousin's dad and having a silly argument with both. Who rounds on their boss and asks them 'why would you do this to me' because the boss asked you to meet with an advertiser? Even stomping was included and I just couldn't play along with the 5yo tantrums any longer. I know CMs can be OOT but sheesh.
So, bottom line is that this wasn't my cup of tea or tequila or scotch. It could have been. The mysteries were clear and fun enough but I couldn't get over the characters' tantrums. It might well be your thing though so consider giving it a try or checking out the sample.

hmmm

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Would you listen to How Witch It Is again? Why?

I love the stories of the Wicket Witches of the Midwest, but this is one of the worst narrators I've every had to suffer through.

What did you like best about this story?

Stories are slightly predictable, but characters are amusing and will quickly captivate you.

What didn’t you like about Aris’s performance?

Aris's performance was horrible. One phrase into the first book, she was mispronouncing basic words - distracting from the story. There is little to no distinction in performance or voice for Clove, Thistle and Bay - and she makes them all sound like constipated valley girls. Unsure if it is just her performance, or production as well, but there are awkward pauses and stops mid sentence that make it hard for you to really get into the stories. It is a shame that she was chosen to be the voice of these stories, as they deserve a much richer and more competent narration. At the very least, someone who knows how to pronounce "vehemently".

Great stories- but HORRIBLE performance

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