Look, I need to talk about the fact that this book has Norse gods living in the Hamptons and nobody in-universe seems to think that's weird enough. Like, Freya - yes, THAT Freya - is engaged to a guy named Killian Gardiner while mixing cocktails at a bar called the North Inn, and everyone's just... fine with it? The Beauchamp family are literally Norse deities stripped of their powers and dumped into suburban New York, and Melissa de la Cruz plays this setup with the energy of a CW show pilot. Which, honestly? Kind of works. But also kind of drove me nuts.
I was deep into a late-night board game reorganization - finally alphabetizing the shelf after months of chaos - when I started this one, and the vibe matched pretty well. Low stakes sorting, low stakes fantasy. Serpent's Kiss is book two in the Witches of East End series, picking up after Joanna and her daughters Ingrid and Freya get their magic privileges back. The big shake-up here is Freddie, Freya's twin brother, busting out of Limbo (actual cosmic Limbo, not the party game) and immediately pointing fingers at Killian for being the one who trapped him there. Family Thanksgiving dinner goes sideways in a big way.
The Magic System Is... Present, I Guess
Okay so here's the thing - and this is where the Sanderson brain in me struggles. De la Cruz's magic operates on vibes. The Beauchamps can do magic again, and the rules are basically "they can do stuff." Ingrid's got her knot magic, Freya's got her potions and love spells, Joanna can raise the dead. But there's no real cost structure, no Sanderson-style thermodynamic balance. If your enjoyment of fantasy hinges on a tight magic system, this is going to feel like playing D&D with a DM who just says "sure, roll for it" every time. Which can be fun! But it's a different kind of fun than I usually chase.
What de la Cruz actually cares about is the family drama layered over the mythology, and that's where the book earns its keep. The revelation of who actually put Freddie in Limbo has a genuine twist to it, and the way the Thanksgiving family reunion spirals into magical chaos felt like something my D&D group would accidentally trigger by rolling three nat 1s in a row. The Norse mythology remix - weaving Loki, the Bifrost, the whole nine realms cosmology into a modern romance framework - is actually pretty creative even if it's not given the deep worldbuilding treatment I'd normally want.
Katie Schorr and the One-Voice Problem
So here's where I'm conflicted. Katie Schorr has this raspy, youthful voice that honestly fits Freya and the younger Beauchamp characters really well. When she's in Freya's headspace - flirty, impulsive, a little reckless - it clicks. The emotional beats land. But the second you need her to differentiate between, say, Joanna (a mother who's literally thousands of years old) and Ingrid (bookish, cautious) and Freya (chaos incarnate), the lines blur. There's not enough tonal shift between characters, so multi-person dialogue scenes kind of flatten out into one voice having a conversation with itself.
And the pacing. Schorr takes her time - maybe too much time for a book that's already not exactly breakneck. There were stretches during the middle third where I found myself reaching for the speed controls, which I almost never do for fantasy. At 1.25x the narration feels more natural, honestly. Not a knock on Schorr's ability - she's clearly comfortable with the material - but the deliberate pacing combined with the limited voice differentiation creates this slightly monotone quality that had me drifting during quieter exposition scenes.
It's not bad narration. I want to be clear about that. It's just... adequate? Like getting a B on a thesis chapter. (Not that I would know what that feels like, Dr. Patel.)
Who's Casting Detect Magic on This One
This is for the paranormal romance crowd who want their mythology remixed with relationship drama and don't need hard magic rules. The coastal small-town atmosphere and relationship-first storytelling in Nantucket Neighbors scratches a similar itch if you want something in that same genre neighborhood. If you loved the first Witches of East End book, Schorr's consistent performance carries over and you'll feel right at home. If you're a fantasy-first reader who wants detailed worldbuilding and systematic magic - look, I read this instead of writing my thesis and I'm not sure it was the best trade. It's popcorn fantasy. Good popcorn! But popcorn.
Skip if: you need distinct character voices in your audiobooks or tight pacing. The monotone issue is real and it compounds over ten hours.
Roll for Initiative (It's a 12)
Serpent's Kiss is a perfectly fine urban fantasy romance that doesn't quite justify the audio format over reading it yourself. The Norse-gods-in-the-Hamptons concept is genuinely fun, the Freddie-Killian conflict adds real tension to this installment, and the Thanksgiving blowup scene is a highlight. But Schorr's narration - solid in isolation, limited in range - means you're getting maybe 70% of what this story could deliver in audio. Bump the speed to 1.25x, keep expectations calibrated, and you'll have a decent time. Just don't expect Sanderson-level anything.
