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A Bruxa De Near (2013)

by Victoria Schwab(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Planeta

series

The Near Witch

review 1: The lyrical prose and lush descriptions instantly captivated me, drew me in, and I found myself happily lost within Schwab's Near. The Near Witch is part grim fable, part whimsical fairytale, and I felt these elements were blended beautifully. Writers play to their strengths, which I've found lie either in gripping narrative and dialog, or with description and evoking the senses. Though rich and rampant with provoking imagery, there was absolutely a story here. In fact, there were several scenes during which I could not help but slow down, reread, and savor, devouring what were inarguably vivid thoughts, emotions, and descriptions.And that said, I must mention that all books of this genre are juxtaposed to Peter S. Beagle's, The Last Unicorn, which ranks among my top 5 lit... moreerary reads; it is paramount, the flawless and quintessential paradigm to which fantasy writers strive. To it I am betrothed.I liked Lexi, though I didn't feel a particularly strong connection to her, beyond rooting for her and Cole the entire time. I did want them to succeed, and it was important to me their romance prosper. I will not say whether or not the end up together, as this book behaves a little like a who-dun-it? novel, but say only that I had strong feelings. The climax came to a head a little too abruptly for my liking. There was danger of epic proportions, and then there was not. However, it must said that I have a bias toward the drawn out novel, the thorough backstory, journey, climax, and resolution, so this critique is purely subjective. If I was to find a complaint, it would be this (and I'll steal the words of another reviewer): "The rather slim volume turned out to contain a lot of repetitive scenes (looking for clues in the village, listening to the wind, trying to steal out of the house etc., etc.)" Yes, that is true, however they are lovely, lovely scenes, and I didn't begrudge Schwab for subjecting me to them over and over again.
review 2: This is a sweet and fairly simple book, beautifully written, and has clearly had a lot of love put into it. I really enjoyed the creepy atmosphere of the moor and the tiny village where everyone knows each other, the idea of witches who can control the wind and are a part of the moor itself, and the main character, Lexi. However, I feel that the mystery of who is taking the children is fairly obvious from the name of the book, which sadly takes away from the first half where tensions are rising as the village folk hear rumours of their first stranger in many years. I was also a little unsure of Cole - I felt that he was a little shady to be honest. We never even learn his true name, Lexi simple begins to call him Cole for lack of any other name and he never corrects her. This may be part of his mysterious nature, but I didn't completely buy it. I also felt that some of the other characters could have been developed more, as we saw the beginnings of some great character - including Lexi's uncle Otto, the witch sisters Magda and Dreska, and her grieving mother - but there wasn't enough focus on them. I felt that there was a lot of potential with Otto. He starts as the stereotypic sexist older male who not only doesn't understand Lexi but seems not willing to try, but we get these glimpses of his humanity: his struggle to protect and control a teenage girl who refuses to even consider his point of view, and trying to fill his deceased brother's shoes and care for a grieving family whilst dealing with his own grief. Also, what the hell was with Tyler? He was first introduced as a friend of Lexi's but quickly becomes a creep who seems almost abusive of her at points, and doesn't understand what 'no' means. His scenes were the most unsettling part of this book. less

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