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A review by ladytiara
The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker
4.0
The Witch Hunter is a fast-paced fun YA debut. Witches as a YA topic have always been around, but I feel like they never became the next big thing like dystopia, vampires, or cancer, so they don't feel too played out. This one has a lot going for it: an alternate history 16th century England where magic is real, a heroine caught between two factions, and plenty of action. Elizabeth is an orphan who's risen from working in the palace kitchen to being one of the King of Anglia's best witch hunters. Along with her old friend Caleb, for whom she has more than friendly feelings, she hunts down witches for the king and his inquisitor Lord Blackwell. Blackwell is ruthless in rooting out the supposed evil of witches and Elizabeth is more than willing to do his bidding. Then one day, she's caught with some herbs, accused of being a witch, and sentenced to death in the course of about an hour (Lord Blackwell does not mess around). She's in prison, awaiting execution and near death from a horrible fever, when she's rescued by Anglia's most notorious wizard, Nicholas Perevil. He's been told by a prophecy that Elizabeth is the one who can break a curse that is slowly killing him. Facing certain death from the fever or the stake, Elizabeth reluctantly flees with him.
She wakes in Perevil's house, no longer dying thanks to the ministrations of a handsome young healer named John. Elizabeth is prepared to hate Perevil and his motley band of witches, which includes a pirate, the healer, the king's fool, and a young woman who doesn't trust her at all, but as she gets to know them better, she begins to question everything she believes in. A big part of the books involves Elizabeth trying to deal with the fact that witches and witchcraft may be very different than she's been taught. She's s a great character, and her conflict makes a lot of sense. She's been fiercely loyal to the witch hunters and Blackwell (and to her best friend Caleb), and even after she's abandoned by them and sentenced to death, it's hard for her to change her allegiance. The identity of the big bad isn't all that hard to figure out, but it's the how and the why that end being more important.
The Witch Hunter is a very entertaining, quick read with a likable heroine and a good plot, which, although it has a number of the usual YA fantasy tropes, never feels too derivative. I recommend it highly, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.
She wakes in Perevil's house, no longer dying thanks to the ministrations of a handsome young healer named John. Elizabeth is prepared to hate Perevil and his motley band of witches, which includes a pirate, the healer, the king's fool, and a young woman who doesn't trust her at all, but as she gets to know them better, she begins to question everything she believes in. A big part of the books involves Elizabeth trying to deal with the fact that witches and witchcraft may be very different than she's been taught. She's s a great character, and her conflict makes a lot of sense. She's been fiercely loyal to the witch hunters and Blackwell (and to her best friend Caleb), and even after she's abandoned by them and sentenced to death, it's hard for her to change her allegiance. The identity of the big bad isn't all that hard to figure out, but it's the how and the why that end being more important.
The Witch Hunter is a very entertaining, quick read with a likable heroine and a good plot, which, although it has a number of the usual YA fantasy tropes, never feels too derivative. I recommend it highly, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.