College of Witchcraft, Books 4-6

I’ll admit, I side-eyed the 67-hour runtime at first, but *College of Witchcraft* Books 4-6 justify every minute—though not without a few stumbles. The narration is the star here: Candace Joice *is* Nadine, her voice dripping with the kind of exhausted defiance you’d expect from someone who’s spent years outmaneuvering priestesses. When she delivers lines like, *“They don’t want witches—they want puppets,”* it’s less dialogue and more a manifesto. Logan Young’s performance as the antagonists is equally compelling, his tone a smooth veneer over something rotten. The real surprise? Jonathan M. Matthews’ romantic lead, who avoids the usual ‘brooding alpha’ trap by sounding genuinely *amused* by Nadine’s stubbornness—it’s a refreshing dynamic in a genre often bogged down by angst. That said, the middle act drags. Rades’ strength is in political intrigue, but there are stretches where the council meetings and propaganda schemes start to blur. I found myself craving more *magic*—the spells here are treated almost like bureaucratic tools, which is interesting but occasionally leaves the fantasy feeling anemic. And while the multi-narrator approach is brilliant for dialogue, the transitions between POVs can feel abrupt in audio format; a smidge more production polish (a subtle sound cue, perhaps?) would’ve helped. Still, the final act delivers a rebellion that’s as much about *ideas* as it is about fireballs, and that’s rare. If you love stories where the real battle is for hearts and minds—not just thrones—this is your next obsession. Just maybe listen at 1.25x speed during the council scenes.