Monday, July 11, 2011

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab


My summary:

Lexi lives in Near with her mother and younger sister. Her father has been dead for three years. He was a tracker and he taught Lexi to be one too. He taught her to chop wood, to listen to the moor, and to pay attention to her gut. He told her stories that are now written in a book so she can always remember them. Most of things that her Dad taught her are frowned upon by the villagers including her uncle. Lexi is a girl and should be home tending her sister and helping her mother, or so her uncle believes. She should be getting along better with Tyler, who would like her to be his. Lexi sees things differently. She chops the wood when it needs to be done, goes looking for the stranger that’s new in town and tries to track the children that keep going missing. Her uncle doesn’t like it. When the villagers believe the stranger is the cause of the missing children, Lexi doesn’t believe it. It can’t be him. Dark, quiet and beautiful, he tries to help Lexi find the children. But something is calling in the wind on the moors and Lexi has to put things right before her sister joins the missing children. It can’t be him, can it?

My thoughts:

5 stars- a must read

One thing that always tells me how much I like a book is how attached I get to the characters. If I’m yelling and stressing about bad things happening to them, then I know the author as captured my heart. Victoria does that with The Near Witch. She creates a world where a small village lives a simple life. There is a deep and rich history for this little village of Near, one that allows a marvelous story to be woven.

Lexi is a strong girl who was raised by a father who didn’t expect her to only cook, clean and watch the children. As a result, she is willing to do the hard work necessary to try and help the village even when the men of the village won’t hear anything about it. Her father now gone, Lexi hears his counsel in her head as she faces difficult challenges.

The mysterious stranger never gives his name but Lexi names him anyway. She grows trust him and he her. I enjoyed the dynamics of their relationship. He was not a hero with all the answers sweeping in to rescue Lexi, but together they worked to figure out what was happening to Near. I liked that.

The plot was fast moving and mysterious. The book was the perfect length to enjoy that mystery. There is no need of a sequel with no glaring cliffhanger waiting on the last page. No this book told an awesome story of family, friendship, responsibility, and love. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes paranormal with a little bit of a love story. Enjoy the read.


I have declared for the Net Galley July challenge and this book is part of that.  Thanks to Net Galley for access to this book. Check out the challenge here.

3 comments:

  1. Ahh!! I'm SO insanely excited to read this book! :D A friend sent me a copy and I'm just itching to get these review books taken care of so that I can finally get to it! And your review isn't helping the excitement! :p Love! :)

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  2. This book sounds so intriguing. I love that Lexi gives the stranger a name. It's been a while since I read a stand alone book not in a series but I'd love to give this one a go :)

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  3. Great review! Ooh, I can't wait to read this- I've heard so many good things about it! ;D

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