Jaime's Review of The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget. Excerpt from Goodreads.

Jaime’s review…

To start I’m going to say wow this book was one of the most imaginative original stories I have read in a long time! Victoria’s words flow like a song through the entire book and there’s never a dull moment.

I rarely find a story where I have absolutely nothing to compare it to all I can say about this one was it reminded me of a ghost story told around a campfire to scare the children to stay in their tents.

I immediately found myself attached to Lexi’s character and also the stranger’s. I felt the up and down emotions of love and loss, smelled the moss on the moor, felt the wind in my hair, and shared their fear. I also really like some of the secondary characters the sisters Magda and Dreska reminded me of my own two grandmothers minus the magic. The Near Witch is scary as all get out and let me tell you I don’t scare very easy but I felt goose bumps the first time I actually met her.

I wanted to post one of my favorite parts to show how Victoria’s words float off the page.

“The music continues, clearer than ever, and it’s hard to listen with only the edges of my ears, because I never noticed how beautiful it is. It’s still on the wind, made by the wind itself, but its wafting toward us like the scent of my mother’s bread, oddly filling.”

I absolutely loved this book! It made me cry and almost jump out of my seat I could not put it down.  So if you’re looking for something new and exciting to read go buy The Near Witch when it comes out in August I highly recommend it.!

Thank you Disney-Hyperion for a galley from Netgalley and thank you Victoria Schwab for sending Hallie Patterson at Disney my information for an ARC you all are amazing!