29 August 2015

Witch Hunter (ARC Review)

The Witch Hunter: Witch Hunter | Virginia Boecker
Published by: Hodder & StoughtonSeptember 1st 2015
Genre: YA, Historical (sorta), Fantasy, Witches
Pages: 409
Format: Ebook
Source: Hodder & Stoughton, via Netgalley

Witches, watch out... Half Bad meets Kill Bill in this incredible new supernatural series.

Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Grey doesn't look dangerous. A tiny, blonde, wisp of a girl shouldn't know how to poison a wizard and make it look like an accident. Or take out ten necromancers with a single sword and a bag of salt. Or kill a man using only her thumb. But things are not always as they appear. Elizabeth is one of the best witch hunters in Anglia and a member of the king's elite guard, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and bringing those who practice it to justice. And in Anglia, the price of justice is high: death by burning.

When Elizabeth is accused of being a witch herself, she's arrested and thrown in prison. The king declares her a traitor and her life is all but forfeit. With just hours before she's to die at the stake, Elizabeth gets a visitor - Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful wizard in Anglia. He offers her a deal: he will free her from prison and save her from execution if she will track down the wizard who laid a deadly curse on him.

As Elizabeth uncovers the horrifying facts about Nicholas's curse and the unwitting role she played in its creation, she is forced to redefine the differences between right and wrong, friends and enemies, love and hate... and life and death.

The first book in an incredible new series set in a fantastical medieval world.


This book has been compared to Graceling, Game of Thrones, Kill Bill, Half Bad, and the novels of both Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black. Basically, the comparisons need to chill. I understand the usefulness of them, and have found many a great book because of a comparison, but SIX for one book?

This book is awesome and can stand apart from (and above most of) the comparisons. Set in a fantasy version of England, Witch Hunter introduces us to a world where witches are persecuted and witch hunters work for the Inquisitor, a real nasty weasel called Blackwell - who has his own agenda for wanting wizards killed (and a serious plot twist that is!) I loved the world of Witch Hunter instantly. I've read a lot of witch books and none of them really caught my interest as much as this, and once I was fully absorbed in the story I was flying through the pages and unable to stop reading.

The unique world forms the basis of this story, but the characters really carry it. I ended up loving Elizabeth way more than I first expected, and I fell head over heels for John. Another thing this book does is it introduces a female as the bitchy, jealous rival and then COMPLETELY CHANGES THAT by throwing them together and making them friends. Thank you, Witch Hunter, for this female friendship. And don't even get me started on the romance between John and Elizabeth, the slowest of slow burns that had me wanting to push their faces together and shout JUST KISS.

I loved literally everything about this book - the gradual romance, the stand out characters, the vivid world and its dark secrets. I need the next book immediately.

Characters 
Setting/world-building 
Writing 

3 comments:

  1. This sounds super interesting! If only my TBR list wasn't already a mile long...

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  2. Hey the UK cover for this one is AWESOME! Way better than the US cover. I'm so happy you enjoyed this one! I started the audiobook of this one and really enjoyed the snark and sass, but then my attention waned and I put it down. I'm not too sure why though.

    I hear amazing things about John though!

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