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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Good to learn more about Cole
Threw alot of characters- hard to keep track & many felt unnecessary for a short story
Good backstory to set up the near witch
Threw alot of characters- hard to keep track & many felt unnecessary for a short story
Good backstory to set up the near witch
Well that was an interesting back story to read.
I am disliking how powerless the main characters of Schwab's books behave in normal situations (taking parental punishment), yet are supposedly quite powerful in others (when they sneak out, the end of this etc).
I am disliking how powerless the main characters of Schwab's books behave in normal situations (taking parental punishment), yet are supposedly quite powerful in others (when they sneak out, the end of this etc).
This was such a lovely little prequel for [b:The Near Witch|6931344|The Near Witch (The Near Witch, #1)|Victoria Schwab|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1299080471s/6931344.jpg|7162375], and a nice way to entertain myself with some Schwab until my pre-ordered copy of Our Dark Duet gets delivered to me tomorrow!
It was a nice short story, good addition to the Near Witch, about Cole's past (someone help this poor boy he deserves better) as always the rythme and the magic in Schwab's writing do the job perfectly
I wasn’t sure Cole needed a deeper backstory, but it’s tragically beautiful.
This. THIS was the voice I wanted in The Near Witch. The magic. The momentum. The origins. Absolutely spectacular.
5 stars.
5 stars.
The Ash-Born Boy is a short story in the same world of VE Schwab's debut book. It is a vaguely fantastical world with witches and magic and a lot of moors, set vaguely somewhere in the past. It is the story of William Dale, heir apparent to the throne of Dale, and witch to the bone. For this, he is disliked Heavily so. He is resented, shamed, berated, punished. There are attempts on his life. Is he a monster? A god? A witch? A prince? Everyone seems to be in agreement on one thing - he should repress his powers. Forget who is is. Assimilate. Cast off his "true" identity.
I see what you did there, Victoria. It's a good story - engaging, interesting, emotionally triggering. You can't help get involved - angry at the townsfolk, hateful at smug Philip or the bigot Richard Dale, frustrated at his mum for her soft, unhelpfully optimistic ways, sorry for poor, beaten, lonely William.
But it's also a story with a clear agenda, something that can really annoy me if not done well. While I accept that writing about the world's problem is what writing is all about, I read to escape to new worlds, and therefore want the author to focus more on the story and less on their agenda. I think that this book narrowly manages to balance each out.
But even with that, it's a good story - one that I actually enjoyed more than that of the The Near Witch. It's more gritty, visceral, and desperate, and benefits from the author's continued experience. The events here proceed those of the Near Witch, and relate the story of one of the characters introduced in her debut novel. Even though it's a 'prequel,' makes more sense to read it after The Near Witch, though it could be a stand-alone too.
I see what you did there, Victoria. It's a good story - engaging, interesting, emotionally triggering. You can't help get involved - angry at the townsfolk, hateful at smug Philip or the bigot Richard Dale, frustrated at his mum for her soft, unhelpfully optimistic ways, sorry for poor, beaten, lonely William.
But it's also a story with a clear agenda, something that can really annoy me if not done well. While I accept that writing about the world's problem is what writing is all about, I read to escape to new worlds, and therefore want the author to focus more on the story and less on their agenda. I think that this book narrowly manages to balance each out.
But even with that, it's a good story - one that I actually enjoyed more than that of the The Near Witch. It's more gritty, visceral, and desperate, and benefits from the author's continued experience. The events here proceed those of the Near Witch, and relate the story of one of the characters introduced in her debut novel. Even though it's a 'prequel,' makes more sense to read it after The Near Witch, though it could be a stand-alone too.