This book was amazing. It was funny, but not goofy, knew when to be serious, what to keep ambiguous and what to show openly. I loved the characters and the world.

I will still write a proper review, once all my exams are done :)

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC audiobook to listen to in exchange for a review!
This was a fun book. A little heavy on the schtick but that might have been further exaggerated by the audiobook voice actor, who did a very character-y Laszlo voice. It was exciting, kept me engaged, had interesting if somewhat typical characters, and had plenty of magic and adventure and action and no actual sex (although sensitive readers should be warned there is an attempted sexual assault scene that I believe went further than it needed to go to prove the point) and no super gory violence. It does have Good Omens vibes to it, so if you’re a fan I would recommend giving this a try. The demon who’s actually not all bad and hell being a bunch of bureaucracy things are present in this book. I just love the concept of demons being so intrigued by and won over by humans because of our love and strength and determination and ingenuity and loyalty and everything that makes humanity wonderful. I’m not sure if it would actually work that way, lol, but books like these are kind of a love letter to humans, which I am all for, because we all need reminders of how magnificent we are, even if we consume them in the form of books about demons being won over by humans😉 I would read more books by this author.

Rating 4.5/5 rounded up to 5

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks for allowing me a copy of this audio book in return for an honest review.

Laszlo the demon has spent the last 100 years of his 800-year existence avoiding his job as Curse Keeper to the Drakeford Curse. To the extent that the family no longer realises that the monstrosities all Drakefords grow into are a curse. With a new overseer breathing down his neck, Laszlo has just six days to remedy the situation or he will be destroyed. Thankfully, he has a plan—one that includes dragging the Drakeford kids, 19-year-old Maggie and 12-year-old Lump, along for the ride.

Ramiz Monsef performed wonderfully as the narrator; his sense of comedic timing was spot on. Some of the accents were a bit off, but as this was only evident with minor characters, it wasn’t a problem. The main characters were easy to differentiate between, which was much more important.

What I liked: This was such a well-woven tale, with plenty of heart and comedy. The main characters were all likeable, so much so that I had to keep my fingers crossed that they all came out on top. The plot twisted enough times that even though I had my suspicions on how it would work out, there were still plenty of surprises to keep me interested and nervous that I was wrong. The demon and creature mythology was well-crafted and believable.

What didn’t work for me: Only a small critique—likely due to my impatience to find out what was going on—some of the in-between portions (where little action occurred) could have been cut down to move the story along.

Final Thoughts: A thoroughly enjoyable urban fantasy, with witty dialogue and a glorious cast of characters.

Who would enjoy this book: Fans of comedic fantasy, unwitting collaborations tropes, adult/kid team-up tropes, good vs evil, demons with jobs, and family curses.

The Witchstone is a wonderfully witty and heartfelt modern fantasy novel following brave Maggie Drakeford, her heroic little brother, and a suspiciously charming demon as they set out to break a family curse in just six days. The Drakeford family curse has been turning Drakefords into monsters for decades, to the point where none of them have bothered trying to break the curse in way too long. As their Curse Keeper, third level demon Laszlo has been happy to let the curse continue to do its thing while he enjoys the spoils earth has to offer. But then management in hell changes hands and suddenly Laszlo has one hell week to cause some serious human misery or get pulped. Thus, he presents himself to Maggie Drakeford as her savior and guide to breaking the curse that’s destroying her father and creeping up on her. Maggie might not trust Laszlo, but she really wants more than life in a small town that hates her family. So she takes him up on his offer, and they head into the world to find magical items, dodge assassins, and defeat all manner of forces acting against them.

Maggie, her little brother (Lump), and Laszlo are such a fun trio. Laszlo has a serious complex about his demon powers, or lack-there-of, but acts with all the poise of a rich playboy. Maggie is tough as nails after dealing with her horrible neighbors her whole life, but she also wants a chance explore the world without having everything resting on her shoulders. And Lump, he is honestly just all the best parts of an eleven year old first time adventurer - he’s just having a great time. Their dynamic is so funny and perfect. I could read their banter forever.

This novel fills me with the sort of joy that comes from delving deep into another world with characters who feel real and make all the ups and downs of their stories worth reading. I didn’t want it to end, and would be thrilled if there were more books staring these characters. This book gives me The Library of the Unwritten mixed with Ink & Sigil vibes, two of my favorite modern fantasy series out there.

This was book was hilarious!!!

Laszlo, eight-hundred-year-old demon and lazy AF. He cannot be bother to do his job and why should he have to? His daddy is the biggest baddie ever!

He ends up having to go an help a family break their curse or he will be out of a job. The stuff they get up to! He ends up taking Maggie and her little brother to find the items needed to break the curse while a group from hell that want him to fail are hot on their tails.

I did not expect such a well written satire fantasy book but it is what was delivered. I loved the narration! My husband heard me laughing and listened to it after I did and we had a great time chatting about it.

4.5 stars

*may container slight spoilers*

I genuinely ADORED this book. I wasn't sure that I would, but I did! It was brilliantly written and so well done. If you like Gaiman and Prachett's "Good Omens" or are a fan of the "Red Dwarf" series, you'll definitely appreciate it.

It's humorous and comical but has a ton of heart. I'll admit the ending is slightly predictable, but honestly, there was a moment there when I thought I had been wrong, and it wasn't going to play out like I had expected.

The characters in this book are entirely lovable and just so much plain fun. Even the side characters are amusingly awesome. Haha.

I don't want to go too much into plot because A. the book's description does that and B. anything else could spoil the fun.

But suffice it to say this is a real winner. I loved every second of and can't wait for the next book to come out. As for narration, it, too, was fine. No obvious errors or bad editing. I listened on 2x speed, so the original was obviously a bit slow for me, but that's nothing new. I listen to most books on 2x speed.

If you love a little fantasy with your humor, this is the book for you.

This book and audiobook was so fun. I loved the storyline and how everything played out. Laszlo was such a fun and interesting character to follow along on this journey. It was smart, twisty, dark, hopeful and unexpected. The writing was great woth so many funny and interesting things that happen.

This is a pretty entertaining and comical fantasy story. The beginning took a while to get going, but the end went very quick.

I was a little nervous when I realized the length of this book and the beginning was pretty slow, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I will say, this book could shed a bunch of pages and that would help the story progress a lot better.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator definitely kept me entertained with his different voices and his delivery. I would definitely listen to him again.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher to the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

It is getting hot, and as the temperatures rise, so does my snark. Fortunately, THE WITCHSTONE by Henry H Neff gave me some company, for which I am grateful.

Expertly narrated by Ramiz Monsef, I was swept into the demon, Laszlo's quest to keep himself from the crucible. His goal of creating despair instead of resignation from a cursed family brings about a series of events he didn't foresee. Maggie and her little brother, "Lump," are part of the curse bearers and join Laszlo to try and end this for their family providing heart and childhood innocence to offset the demon's darker sides.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit! I could see where this story might go, but that didn't impede my delight in the journey. In fact, it made me want to cheer them all on even more. The narration was an added aspect for me, giving a very theatrical demon!

Thank you to @blackstonepublishing & @netgalley
for sharing this fun story that broke me out of my grumpy mood! This did publish June 18th, so grab it now if you need a witty tale full of heart to pull you out of any summer doldrums.

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"For a moment, Lazlo almost felt guilty about what he was going to do to them...The moment passed."

"A little misdirection goes a long way."

What a fun time I had listening to the uproariously quick witted satirical urban fantasy quest, The Witchstone, by smart comedic genius author Henry H. Neff.

Lazlo is a low level 800 year old curse keeper demon. He's part charming con man, sleazy salesman, snarky showoff and maybe more human than he cares to admit. When hell gets a new swarmy manager Lazlo has 6 days to prove his worth or lose it all.

His notorious plan is to give the current sufferers of the Drakeford Curse false hope and then rip it from them, "It's the act of losing hope that generates despair." Despair is the goal of curse keepers.

He tells 19 year old Maggie Drakeford, who is starting to painfully suffer from the curse, he can break the curse placed on her ancestors who killed a vengeful witch. They need to find various items, like a self making porridge pot, crowned jewels and more; then bring it all to the magic Witchstone in 6 days or the curse will stay. Lazlo has no intention of removing the curse.

Through the masterful world building of a Hell run like Good Omens on steroids, quests equal to any favorite video game, and original exciting side characters like loyal frantic Clarence, fierce Signora Bellascura, and innocent Father Angelo, voice actor Ramiz Monsef brings to life the author's vivid imagination with impeccable comedic timing, fiery fury, and tender tones of revelations.

The ending was everything I wanted and I need this to be a series, books and TV. I need more Lazlo Prime Video! The Witchstone is laugh out loud magic.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Blackstone Publishing via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Witchstone by Henry H Neff (@henryhneff) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ of 5

Thanks to @Netgalley and @blackstonepublishing for giving me this audiobook ARC. It’s a good one!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It’s a little bit like Good Omens meets Supernatural. It centers around a demon named Lazlo who would rather enjoy fancy drinks in new york city rooftop bars than check in on the centuries old family curse he’s supposed to be managing.
Maggie Drakeford, the latest of her family to inherit the terrible curse that is slowly turning her into a hideous eldritch creature, just wants to escape the horrible village she and her family are trapped in.
When a threat of being melted down into ooze forces Lazlo to get out and do some curse keeping he finds himself teaming up with Maggie to try to help her break the curse. But what starts out as a simple adventure to gather spell components turns out to be so much more. As demonic assassins chase them and Lazlo weighs his options he realizes his situation is so much more complex than anyone ever thought and it might just threaten to overturn Hell itself.

Favorite Parts - OMG, Maggie’s little brother Lump is adorable, loved him, Lazlo doing the absolute bare minimum that he has to do whenever possible, but then actually doing helpful things, Maggie taking absolutely no shit from anyone!

Read This If You - Love a curse breaking adventure, lazy entitled bisexual demons who might not be so bad as they pretend to be, Adventure Siblings, Determined Young woman protagonist who might not know everything but DAMNIT is getting this shit done!

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#arc #netgalley #BlackstonePublishing #HenryHNeff

The Witchstone by Henry H. Neff and narrated by Ramiz Monsef is nigh on 18 hours of literary and performance excellence! Before I even begin the review, the narrator Ramiz Monsef is an exceptional talent, easily shifting from humour to drama, character to character and narrating with a smooth cadence that I can listen to all day and by eckers, at a glorious 18 hours, what a treat!

Secondly, the dialogue, the writing, the character development, storylines, perfection! I was hooked, stayed hooked, and while it took me a few sessions to get through it; A. I looked forward to each and every session. B. I was entertained at every turn. c. Kept listening right to the end of the acknowledgements and authors note. That is just how good this book was!

Author and narrator are defo two talents to keep an eye on as they are outstanding

So, the story. In the synopsis, The Witchstone is described as blending the "merciless humor of The Good Place with the spellbinding fantasy of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods" but oho, it is this and so very much more! (I am a huge fan of Gaiman so do not say that lightly). Let's look at Lazlo Baal, our anti-hero. He is Archer meets Bojack Horseman, and one of the many children of the Archduke of Hell (misnamed Beelzebub, an irksome error that Lazlo cannot abide)

Lazlo is a Curse Keeper, a level 3 demon. He's pulled up in front of his boss under fear of being crucibled into ooze for failing in his duties, but due to his father, is given a weeks respite, to ensure that the Drakefords, the accursed, lose all hope.

Maggie Drakeford is 19 and a sin-eater. (Imagine Kickass meets Wednesday Addams, with a twist) Her family is the accursed, doomed to live within spitting distance of "the Witchstone". Maggie is bitter. Her father is already succombing to the curse, his body becoming something inhuman, unable to walk or talk. The family has suffered at the hands of their local community, treated like pariahs, even by the local priest who uses Maggie for Sin Eating. Now Maggie has found a mark on her arm, is she going to to suffer the same fate? How will she escape?

A special nod to Lump (Maggies little brother and part-time genius), Clarence, the Goblin Shark (I was HOWLING at the voice), Dmitri and the cast in Rome

I absolutely loved this rollicking good adventure from the deepest darkest annuls of Heck, to the Catskills and across Europe. Not just for the unlikely friendship that develops between the Drakefords and their curse-keeper, but the supporting cast, even the pursuers!

Humour that will have your sides AND face aching, drama and pursuit that will draw you in and keep you rapt, brilliant research, lovable heroes and anti-heroes, and by eckers, the action scenes! You will uttely adore this audiobook and likely listen to it/ read it more than once. Well worth it and I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Perfect for fans of Gaiman, Kevin Smith even Tom Holt and Terry Pratchett. This book deserves to appeal to and be seen by all genres!

Thank you to Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks, the author Henry H Neff and narrator Ramiz Monsef for this incredible ALC! My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

This was SO much fun!! The pacing was good, the silly dialogue, the horror- I think it couldn’t been shorter as it started to drag a little towards the end but such a fun read :)

This was a fun and quirky story that was a quick read. My only complaint is that the characters lacked depth at times and I found myself missing an element of character development.

A modern "Good Omens'-esque read!

The 'Society', a hellish corporation that capitalizes off of human suffering has demons paper-pushing in cubicles in modern time. Laszlo, a curse keeper, a play-boy and lover of all things debauchery is jolted from his cushy post when an overseer barges in and demands to see results-- more human misery. To avoid the chopping block Laszlo sets out on meeting his curse bearers, the Drakefords, and the wild adventure ensues.


"The Witchstone" is a fun story, filled with comedy, mishaps, monsters, and demons with day jobs. They're just like us!

I highly recommend this story to adult readers who are fans of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, and who are looking for a 'fun' read. The plot moves itself from one adventure to the next so there is no dull point of the book.

Thank you for the great story Henry H. Neff, and thank you NetGalley and thank you to Blackstone for providing this title to us listeners/readers!

This was a great read. Emotional ups and downs. Characters which are complex and simple at the same time. Some mythical, some fantasy, some mundane every day stuff.

I really really enjoyed this, it was a lot of fun to listen to. It’s a blend of humour and fantasy, fast paced with high stakes, I had a hard time putting it down. The world building was really good, blending fantasy elements within a contemporary setting. All of the characters were well developed and I was invested in almost all of them. I think there could have been a bit more about the Drakeford family in the beginning but I think that’s just my personal preference. The narrator did a really great job setting the tone of the story. Overall a really interesting read with a unique plot.

Thanks to NetGalley, Henry H Neff and Blackstone Publishing Audio for this ALC

Maggie Drakeford is the newest Curse Bearer in the 400 year old Drakeford Curse. Every Drakeford bears the burden of becoming a pain-wracked deformed monster.

Lazlo is an 800 year old lazy, indulgent demon tasked with being the Drakeford’s Curse Keeper. But Lazlo has a new boss, and 6 days to get improve his numbers and earn his keep.

This is a madcap buddy novel, a horror fantasy, a coming of age novel, an epic caper, and a study of friendship and redemption with a fantastic cast of characters.

Lazlo, Maggie and Maggie’s little brother Lump, travel the world in their haste to break the spell and free the Drakeford family.

This book had a smattering of National Treasure, a dash of Lord of the Rings and a sprinkle of Blacktongue Thief.

A fun summer read, fast-paced, exciting, well-written with laughs and tears. Skillfully narrated, with charm and depth and snarky wit.

Thank you @NetGalley and @blackstonepublishing for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This was a great book. Modern-era fantasy, with a lot of humour woven into a pretty serious plot. Trigger warning for sexual assault. I feel like the female lead's character development seemed to stall and then short forward and regress... which is fine because it's life as a nineteen-year-old. The male lead didn't really have a character arc until the last moment and it felt like an afterthought. Honestly, the ending of the book wouldn't have changed all that much if he'd remained an arsehole.

The ending was great, tied up all the loose ends making to this a great stand-alone fantasy, with an opening for a sequel that isn't a cliffhanger.

This is a straight-up fantasy adventure and not hidden, cliche romance which I loved because is purely written for older teens and adults. There was a detail at the end that felt a little too much like "And they all lived happily ever after" that cost it a star. I would have liked to see a little of the grit we had through the novel. The fantasy/humour genre is flooded with love stories and I really liked that this book broke that mould and focused on the plot.

A audiobook with brilliant character development and an epic storyline. I really enjoy fantasy that is quick-paced, silly, and well-written, and this book met all of those requirements. The narrator did a good job and added to the GOOD experience. I particularly loved the character development of Laslo and Maggie and how they evolved throughout the story. My only critique is that I found the ending a bit rushed, and I think there was too much explanation about the family curse. However, overall, it's a fantastic debut novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to netgalley, editors, audiobook productions for let me access to this audiobook.