Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Near Witch

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Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

sn8man's review

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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carina_dreamer's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I wanted to start my dive into V. E. Schwab's works with her first book so the experience keeps being positive as her writing improves.
This edition has both "The Near Witch" main work and the short story prequel to it, "The Ash-Born Boy".
The main story reminds me of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, since the children of Near disappear at night from their beds, lured by an entity that didn't leave a clue behind.
The feeling of this book being both a classic and a contemporary work kept following me through the pages. I didn't dislike it.
The story was good and had a strong showcase of mass hysteria from the villagers against what's different.
The romance is a sub-plot and feels insta-love. They kiss a lot too 😂
I liked the short story best, the characters left a bigger impression and showcased stronger personalities that the main story didn't as it felt repetitive and shallow.
I give it ⭐⭐⭐.5 overall, without the short story I would say it's a basic 3⭐.

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saracat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

It is no surprise to me that I loved and adored this book. So far everything I've read by Schwab I have adored. Sometimes when I read books that authors wrote much earlier in their career, I can sense that they are still coming into their own. But in this book, she already feels to have an understanding of her craft and I would not have guessed this was written so early in her career without the forward saying so.

As with some of the other books I have read by her, I adore, love, and root for the main characters with everything in me and feel intense dislike and disgust at those who seem to give no effort to hear and understand what is being said to them.

This audiobook version includes at the end the story of Cole and it was painful to hear the full extent of what led to his coming to Near.

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gssll_lpz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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chris_reads's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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voilajean's review against another edition

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2.5

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tkatt20's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I loved this book. Its a really quick read if you're looking for something with a relatively simple magic system and high tension. I thought the pacing was wonderful for it being a standalone (accompanied by a short story) partially because it had such an interesting writing style and I felt like I could really connect emotionally to the characters which kept me reading. It also didn't feel like too much of an info dump which I run into sometimes with standalones and all the characters had depth and personality outside of the main character. My only complaint was the romance seemed to be very insta love which I'm not a huge fan of but considering that isn't the main plot, this book was great. Gave me major salem witch trial vibes too which I loved!

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rini's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The story really just didn't grab me.

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andromeda_1998's review

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The near witch is an other one of V.E. Schwab amazing books. It’s right in my ally. It has magic, amazing characters and together it forms a dark fairytale everyone should read. The near witch is lesser known then some of her other books and I think that it has something to do with the fact that it’s a young adult book instead of adult or middle grade.

The story:
The story focuses on Lexi who lives in the town of Near. She has never left her home town and she doesn’t particularly feels the need ago. She wants to stay in the house overlooking the moor.

In this little town a couple of things are sure:
1. There are no strangers in Near
2. The near witch is nothing more than an old wives tale
3. Don’t listen to the wind since the wind always looks for company.

These are the rules Lexi lives by and they have been told to her all her live. But everything changes when one day a stranger is seen around the village. The very next day children start to disappear in the night and the stranger falls under suspicion.

Lexi needs to find out the truth about the missing children, the time is ticking, since she has a little sister to protect.

My opinions (spoiler free)
I really liked this amazing story. The stakes are high and the story is a bit dark. I like these kinds of darker magical fairytales. The story his been written in a faster pace and the storytelling is amazingly done. V.E. Schwab has an amazing way of writing a story and she always delivers with her beautiful writing-style. Like always I cannot wait to read more from her.

V.E. Schwab knows her character building. She has again made some complex characters. The thing I liked less though is that you really need the short story “The Ash-born boy” to understand Cole’s character fully. I wouldn’t mind that so much if the short was included in all the different editions of this book but it isn’t. For as far as I know you really need the red edition by titan books to get the short included. (ISBN:9781789091144)

The worldbuilding has been done well but it only includes one little village and the moors around it. Something that isn’t bad but I would love to know more about the world she has created and I would love it if she would go back to write more story’s in this world 😂.

Favorite quotes:
“If the moor wind ever sings, you mustn’t listen, not with all of your ears. Use only the edges. Listen the way you would look out the corners of your eyes. The wind is lonely, love, and always looking for company

Other books you should read if you loved the near witch or if you loved these books the near witch is something you would like:
- Uprooted or Spinning silver by Naomi Novik
- The winternight trilogy by Kathrine Arden.
- Into the heartless woods by Joanna Ruth Meyer
- The enchantment of Ravens or Sorcery of thorns by Margret Rodgerson
- The bone houses by Emily loyd-Jones

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