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silkcaramel 's review for:
The Witch Hunter
by Virginia Boecker
After Netgalley provided me with a copy of the second novel of this series, I just had to start it. In this first novel, we meet Elizabeth Grey, an orphan who grew up in this medieval kingdom where magic is outlawed after a plague started by the king's former adviser, trained by the most powerful man in the kingdom as part of his elite guard - the Witch Hunters. One day, though, she is accused of being a witch herself and sentenced to death by the same man who took her in and trained her. She is saved by the man she considers her worst enemy, the same sorcerer who allegedly started the plague and got magic to be banished, the powerful Nicholas Perevil, and his supporters, because he thinks she is the girl from the prophecy destined to save his life. Except - Nicholas doesn't know she's a Witch Hunter. Now, she'll have to work with the very people she hunts to stay alive. Through the novel, Elizabeth realizes that not everything she thought she knew was the truth and that maybe her worst enemies are not the people she thought they were.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I actually flied through it, and before I knew it, I was finished. The world building was very well done, although not overly complex or super elaborated. It was simple to understand the rules of this world and to get into it fast. The writing had a nice flow and managed to get me engaged - thanks mostly to how amusing our main character is. I loved Elizabeth. She's sarcastic, badass, clever and one of the things that made me like her even more- she was willing to listen and to open her mind to new information. Once she realized that what she thought she knew wasn't exactly what was happening, that the sorcerers were telling her the truth, she gave them a chance and started to really pay attention, despite being trained all of her life to hunt and kill them. She had the mind to see through the blind obedience of her training and hear the other side, weight with what she knew already and what she actually saw and decide for herself. She didn't just switched sides at the get go - she actually remained mistrustful at first and even after some events, she still acted cautiously and her trust was earned through the book. She was a very real and believable character.
As for the main romance, I though it was well developed and well built. Not insta-love, but it wasn't a slow burn either. I think I would have liked to see more of the consequences of John finding out about Elizabeth being a Witch Hunter - I though he was too accepting and too cool with it, after everything his family went through. I expected at least some explosion, a fight between them, him giving her the cold shoulder for a while before they made up or something. It was almost too easy. And John, while cute, sweet and caring, also lacked a but of fire for me. I liked him, but there were more interesting male characters in the book. Maybe after reading his novella I can understand him a bit better, or see what he does in the next book.
This book was overall very fast paced, with almost never a slow moment. It also got points by showing Elizabeth's struggle with her situation and everything that was going on, and still managing to maintain the book's flow. There were some plot twists along the way that got me by surprised, others I saw coming, but it mostly intrigued me and even the ending got me excited to pick up the next book. There were some things left to explain that I hope will be broached in book 2. I also want more background on some of the characters, or generally more on some characters. I would also like to see some more magic, spells and prophecies. For a book about witches, wizards and magic, the magic part was kind of lacking sometimes.
A 4 stars book for me!
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I actually flied through it, and before I knew it, I was finished. The world building was very well done, although not overly complex or super elaborated. It was simple to understand the rules of this world and to get into it fast. The writing had a nice flow and managed to get me engaged - thanks mostly to how amusing our main character is. I loved Elizabeth. She's sarcastic, badass, clever and one of the things that made me like her even more- she was willing to listen and to open her mind to new information. Once she realized that what she thought she knew wasn't exactly what was happening, that the sorcerers were telling her the truth, she gave them a chance and started to really pay attention, despite being trained all of her life to hunt and kill them. She had the mind to see through the blind obedience of her training and hear the other side, weight with what she knew already and what she actually saw and decide for herself. She didn't just switched sides at the get go - she actually remained mistrustful at first and even after some events, she still acted cautiously and her trust was earned through the book. She was a very real and believable character.
As for the main romance, I though it was well developed and well built. Not insta-love, but it wasn't a slow burn either. I think I would have liked to see more of the consequences of John finding out about Elizabeth being a Witch Hunter - I though he was too accepting and too cool with it, after everything his family went through. I expected at least some explosion, a fight between them, him giving her the cold shoulder for a while before they made up or something. It was almost too easy. And John, while cute, sweet and caring, also lacked a but of fire for me. I liked him, but there were more interesting male characters in the book. Maybe after reading his novella I can understand him a bit better, or see what he does in the next book.
This book was overall very fast paced, with almost never a slow moment. It also got points by showing Elizabeth's struggle with her situation and everything that was going on, and still managing to maintain the book's flow. There were some plot twists along the way that got me by surprised, others I saw coming, but it mostly intrigued me and even the ending got me excited to pick up the next book. There were some things left to explain that I hope will be broached in book 2. I also want more background on some of the characters, or generally more on some characters. I would also like to see some more magic, spells and prophecies. For a book about witches, wizards and magic, the magic part was kind of lacking sometimes.
A 4 stars book for me!