Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Near Witch

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

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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bambiann's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I recommend reading the book and NOT listening to the audiobook. The story idea seemed good, but the terrible narrator, Heather Wilds, ruined it. Wilds was expressionless and robotic. AI might have done a better job.
The audiobook includes the short story, The Ash Born Boy. Be sure to listen to this, it is the life story of the Mysterious stranger Cole. Same annoying narrator, but if you made it this far then you might as well listen to his story too. I liked the closure, but HATED that 'cutting' was used as a form of punishment/behavior control.

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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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tales_of_1001_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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eve_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

Overall Thoughts:
⁕ The strongest aspects of this book were its lyrical writing style and gloomy atmosphere. I got major Grimm’s Fairytale vibes; this is definitely a good fall-time read!

⁕ There are some big YA tropes in here: a dark and mysterious love interest, the death of parent, and a rebellious main character. All of them were well-written!

⁕ I didn’t fall in love the characters as I have with Schwab’s other books. That’s not to say they aren’t believable, I just didn’t get as invested.

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