A review by sarah_cameron
The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab, V.E. Schwab

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

This was such a well-written debut novel!

Schwab is truly a genius when it comes to lyrical writing, and it was so fun to read a ‘true’ fairytale story by them - so well suited to her writing style!

Schwab’s writing has definitely flourished and improved since this novel, but the story really is timeless and fun - I’m reading Stardust right now, and if you enjoy that kind of story you’d definitely enjoy this!

A whimsical, mystical, and easy read, it is a great between-series book hangover cure that I’d definitely recommend picking up!

Bonus: this version includes a short prequel story, ‘The Ash-Born Baby’ which was a fun inclusion! This was really well written and provides an impressive amount of context and background for such a short tale. 4 stars for this story! CW for SH and abuse though, so skip this if you need to.