Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by kimberlea
Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker
3.0
This review also appears on my blog, What Kim Read Next.
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2015, and I pretty much spent the first half of the year eagerly awaiting June so I could get my hands on this book. Unfortunately, I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would - it had so much potential! Witches! Black magic! Political intrigue! Cute healer boy! - but there were a few things that didn't really work for me. Nevertheless, things really picked up in the second half of the book.
Witch Hunter wasn't what I expected in that it was very... light? Given the plot synopsis, I was expecting something quite heavy and dark, but what I was given was a light-hearted adventure with a few fun characters, a light, sweet romance and a dash of humour. I'm not complaining, really - it was a fun ride of a read, but it also had a lot of unused potential. I expected a more complicated plot, a book that was darker in tone.
Elizabeth and I... we didn't get along. I found Elizabeth to be incredibly naive and it was incredibly difficult for me to sympathise with her. She rarely thought for herself - her job is capturing witches and wizards and letting them burn at the stake. It's a brutal way to die, and she never questions whether or not these people are truly guilty. She never questions why Blackwell won't let her kill the witches and wizards - if magic is truly bad, why let them live? Even after she is rescued from prison by Anglia's most wanted wizard, her only thought is returning to the people who imprisoned her and handing over innocent people to them. It was incredibly frustrating to read Elizabeth's bigotry.
Fortunately she is backed by an amazing supporting cast - the swoon-worthy John, who is a gentle and patient healer (and also the main love interest), was a standout. Another favourite was Fifer, who was brash and fierce and unapologetic. It was odd, having a character so full of personality next to one who lacked any discernible personality whatsoever, but Elizabeth was actually at her best when she was with the supporting cast and not left to any internal reflections. Fifer's sort-of love interest Shuyler was also amusing, and had some wonderful scenes with Elizabeth. While these characters all worked well as a group and each brought something different to the table, I don't think that they were developed enough for me to fully appreciate them as individuals. I could sense where Boecker was going with characterisation, and there were some traits that I wanted to be fleshed out a little more because they weren't quite there. That said, Boecker is a talented writer - she really draws you into the action scenes, which are cinematic and near flawless.
Though Witch Hunter didn't live up to my expectations, I'll definitely be keeping the next book on my radar. The second half was quite enjoyable, and the big reveal at the end made me keen to find out what happens!
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2015, and I pretty much spent the first half of the year eagerly awaiting June so I could get my hands on this book. Unfortunately, I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would - it had so much potential! Witches! Black magic! Political intrigue! Cute healer boy! - but there were a few things that didn't really work for me. Nevertheless, things really picked up in the second half of the book.
Witch Hunter wasn't what I expected in that it was very... light? Given the plot synopsis, I was expecting something quite heavy and dark, but what I was given was a light-hearted adventure with a few fun characters, a light, sweet romance and a dash of humour. I'm not complaining, really - it was a fun ride of a read, but it also had a lot of unused potential. I expected a more complicated plot, a book that was darker in tone.
Elizabeth and I... we didn't get along. I found Elizabeth to be incredibly naive and it was incredibly difficult for me to sympathise with her. She rarely thought for herself - her job is capturing witches and wizards and letting them burn at the stake. It's a brutal way to die, and she never questions whether or not these people are truly guilty. She never questions why Blackwell won't let her kill the witches and wizards - if magic is truly bad, why let them live? Even after she is rescued from prison by Anglia's most wanted wizard, her only thought is returning to the people who imprisoned her and handing over innocent people to them. It was incredibly frustrating to read Elizabeth's bigotry.
Fortunately she is backed by an amazing supporting cast - the swoon-worthy John, who is a gentle and patient healer (and also the main love interest), was a standout. Another favourite was Fifer, who was brash and fierce and unapologetic. It was odd, having a character so full of personality next to one who lacked any discernible personality whatsoever, but Elizabeth was actually at her best when she was with the supporting cast and not left to any internal reflections. Fifer's sort-of love interest Shuyler was also amusing, and had some wonderful scenes with Elizabeth. While these characters all worked well as a group and each brought something different to the table, I don't think that they were developed enough for me to fully appreciate them as individuals. I could sense where Boecker was going with characterisation, and there were some traits that I wanted to be fleshed out a little more because they weren't quite there. That said, Boecker is a talented writer - she really draws you into the action scenes, which are cinematic and near flawless.
Though Witch Hunter didn't live up to my expectations, I'll definitely be keeping the next book on my radar. The second half was quite enjoyable, and the big reveal at the end made me keen to find out what happens!