28 Sept 2011

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab



TITLE: The Near Witch

AUTHOR: Victoria Schwab

SERIES: None

PULISHER: Hyperion Books (Disney)

PAGES: 288 (Hardcover)

           SYNOPSIS









The Near witch is nothing short of an amazing debut. Ms . Schwab’s writing is poetic and beautifully descriptive, a style that perfectly matches the mysterious and fantastical setting of her story. She skilfully spins a fairy tale with a sinister twist, keeping me reading well past my bedtime.

Lexi, as a main character, was perfect for the story. She’s determined but not too single minded, and the level of devotion she shows to protecting her family, and her village, is astounding. Her narration was delightfully unique, she turned anything and everything into it’s own amazing story and her level of description gave you a full five sense blast of the setting.

She doesn’t pretend to be weak, she’s strong and independent, and even does things when others don’t want her to just because she’s of the feminine gender. I loved that even when she fell in love, she didn’t change or become a swoony, dumbstruck person, if anything, she became even more amazing. Her feelings for Cole made her fearless and brave, and ultimately helped her kick the Near Witch’s ass.

The plot is a whirlwind of mystery, action, and romance. Though it reads like a fairy tale it is easy to become caught up in Ms. Schwab’s masterful web, and I felt everything right along with Lexi as she went on her adventure. Although the town of Near seems like a sleepy little town in the country side, as soon as the children started disappearing it became panicked and restless, adding to the over all feel of everything being distinctly real.
The world Schwab has created is as confusing as it is mesmerising, if anything, Near is the entire world. It has no unique time period, no geographical place on Earth, in fact, it could even be in a completely different reality. But this is what’s so good about it, by creating a completely unique world Victoria Schwab can do whatever she wants and it still makes sense.

Overall, I can tell you that The Near Witch will absolutely knock your socks off. It’s a beautiful love story wrapped up in an exquisite fairy tale, with gorgeous words that you will snatch up and hold onto for days afterwards. I fell head over heels for Lexi, Cole, and the town of Near, and I am waiting impatiently to see what Ms. Schwab comes up with in The Archived.

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