The Near Witch

by V. E. Schwab

𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩,

𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥.

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙪𝙨,

𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙤

𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣.

SYNOPSIS

There are no strangers in the village of Near, just as no one there is a stranger to the Near Witch—an old tale told to frighten young children. However, when a mysterious boy appears out of nowhere, fading like smoke into the depth of night, followed by abrupt disappearances of the town children, the council immediately places the blame on the stranger—who else could possibly be there to blame?

With suspicion & fear lurking at every corner, Lexi must race against time to uncover the truth, following the trace of clues that only she is able to see, the voices in the wind, beyond the rolling hills & deep into the dark past of the village.

REVIEW

As a rerelease of Victoria Schwab’s debut novel, The Near Witch completely caught me off guard, I was definitely not expecting so much. As my favorite author, I have read ALL her books under the name V. E. Schwab, but comparably less under Victoria Schwab. It was thus refreshing & enlightening to read The Near Witch.

Though the writing style is considerably different from her later works—where she has again & again proven her brilliance at world-building & the creation/development of relatable/morally grey characters—there is a deeper layer of suspense, which remains consistent throughout the whole story, creating such a quiet & eerie tale that still had me hanging onto every sentence.

I loved how even in her debut novel, she has created such vivid female characters with strength & resilience, who even under oppression in the name of tradition by dominating men who think they know better, through grief doubt & pain, are continuously able to make their own choices & uncover the truth even when it threatens all that they’ve known.

In conclusion, a truly captivating debut novel, which I could say, is the perfect book to read if your looking for something dark & atmospheric.