Author: Virginia Boecker
Series: The Witch Hunter #1
Publisher: Orchard Books
Release Date: June 4th 2015
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
The magic and suspense of Graceling meet the political intrigue and unrest of Game of Thrones in this riveting fantasy debut.
Your greatest enemy isn't what you fight, but what you fear.
Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she's accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to burn at the stake.
Salvation comes from a man she thought was her enemy. Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful and dangerous wizard in the kingdom, offers her a deal: he will save her from execution if she can break the deadly curse that's been laid upon him.
But Nicholas and his followers know nothing of Elizabeth's witch hunting past--if they find out, the stake will be the least of her worries. And as she's thrust into the magical world of witches, ghosts, pirates, and one all-too-handsome healer, Elizabeth is forced to redefine her ideas of right and wrong, of friends and enemies, and of love and hate.
Virginia Boecker weaves a riveting tale of magic, betrayal, and sacrifice in this unforgettable fantasy debut.
*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this novel from Netgalley and Orchard Books in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book so much! I want to thank Meredith from Pandora's Books for recommending it to me.
I usually have a hard time reading about witches, probably because of my love for one very famous wizard and his friends. But I am so, so happy I was told to give this book a try. It was a very interesting story, but what I loved even more than the story were the characters.
I loved Elizabeth. She was fun to read about. There's a moment in the book where she's being completely honest with herself about why she chose to be a witch hunter and I loved that moment. I also liked the fact that she admitted to herself what was right and wrong, that she had the ability to say "yes, this is bad". I also felt sorry for her at some point, especially when I found out her backstory. She was obviously in search of a family and I'm so happy that eventually she finds it.
Caleb pissed me off. I can't say I liked him all that much in the beginning of the book, but by the end of it I wanted to physically hurt him. How could he be so blind to what was going on with Elizabeth and how she was feeling? UGH! A lot of other things made me angry at him, but they're too spoilery for me to talk about. I'll just say this: he needed to be in a lot of pain.
I adored some of the secondary characters that Elizabeth met at Nicholas' house. Some of them were so, so hilarious. I can't wait for the next book, to read more about them. Peter was hilarious. I'm just sorry there weren't more scenes with him.
The story was good. I enjoyed the descriptions a lot. And some of the scenes, especially with the punishments handed out to those accused of witchcraft were so well written. I also enjoyed some of the descriptions. So vivid, so colorful. At some point, some events were predictable. It was obvious that some of those things were going to happen, but either way, I enjoyed the way they were put together and how they were told. Some things that happened, however, were unexpected to me. I thought for sure the villain was a different character. It makes sense that it's who it turned out to be, but for me it was shocking.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I cannot wait for the sequel to come out and see how the story ends. Or how it continues, in case there are going to be more books besides the second one.
About Jennifer L. Armentrout:
# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA.
She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.
