The Near Witch
Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Hyperion Books CH
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Pages: 288
Source: Publisher

Rating: 5 stars

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

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.

The Near Witch was a phenomenal read. It was an epic tale filled with a marvelous cast of characters. I found The Near Witch to exceed all expectations I had for it, and become an instant favorite.

I was not expecting it to be a historical, fairy tale type read. I was expecting something modern, then I cracked it open and was so pleasantly surprised and it made me love the book 10 times more. The plot was so original. While I found the actions of certain characters to be fairly predictable, I loved seeing how the plot would unfold and figure out the mystery of who was behind everything.

The writing was absolutely beautiful and simply enchanting. This was probably about my favorite thing about the book. I would credit The Near Witch with being one of the more gorgeously written books I have ever read.

I loved the moor. I felt like it almost felt like a character of its own. The beautiful descriptions and the tales about it made me feel like the moor was right outside. The other characters were quite fabulous as well. I really liked Lexi. I loved that she was this kick-ass  awesome, strong girl who wasn’t just going to let guys boss her around.  Cole was also quite wonderful and what a hunk! Though, probably one of my sole complaints for the book was that I wish I had learned his real name.

The book was filled with so many little rhymes and songs that were from the town of Near that were part of the book that were very catchy and those were a lot of fun. They kept playing through my head over and over, on a sort of repeat as I read the book.

This book was one of the best debuts I have read in quite a while. I found it enchanting from page one to the last and the characters were just marvelous. After a book like this one, I am highly anticipating future works from Victoria Schwab.