The Witch Hunter, Book 1
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Grey doesn’t look dangerous. A tiny, blonde, wisp of a girl shouldn’t know how to poison a wizard and make it look like an accident. Or take out ten necromancers with a single sword and a bag of salt. Or kill a man using only her thumb. But things are not always as they appear. Elizabeth is one of the best witch hunters in Anglia and a member of the king’s elite guard, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and bringing those who practice it to justice. And in Anglia, the price of justice is high: death by burning.
When Elizabeth is accused of being a witch herself, she’s arrested and thrown in prison. The king declares her a traitor and her life is all but forfeit. With just hours before she’s to die at the stake, Elizabeth gets a visitor – Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful wizard in Anglia. He offers her a deal: he will free her from prison and save her from execution if she will track down the wizard who laid a deadly curse on him.
As Elizabeth uncovers the horrifying facts about Nicholas’s curse and the unwitting role she played in its creation, she is forced to redefine the differences between right and wrong, friends and enemies, love and hate… and life and death.
Review: I am always attracted to themes featuring witches and I confess that I was even more intrigued when I saw that the novel was approaching witch hunters. It is not necessarily what is most emphasized in books and I was curious to see how the author would do that.
Elizabeth is a very good hunter and she remains loyal to her king and his decisions. Since the death of her parents, due to a magical plague, the girl hates anything related to magic and remains convinced of the validity of her actions, or at least until she is find with some herbs in her pockets one evening and is therefore accused of witchcraft. Sent to prison to be executed, she is rescued in extremis by the last person she thought she could meet, Nicholas Perevil, the sorcerer’s most wanted in Anglia, who is believed to have launched this plague and killed the former king. But then, while accompanying Nicholas, Elizabeth will discover that appearances can be deceptive and the truth could completely change her beliefs, her world and her loyalty.
I loved the novel, we are quickly carried away by the story and the characters. I struggled to put the book down and not to chain all the chapters the ones after the others. Regardless, it is true that this is not necessarily a very original theme but the author perfectly managed to captivate us throughout the history. I enjoyed discovering Elizabeth, this is a young woman who is very strong and yet very vulnerable too. Her world is turned completely upside down in a short time and yet she rises to confront her demons. Fortunately for her, she will be joined by some other characters we also appreciate very quickly and despite some a priori, they will always be there for her when she needs it. We discover George, a boy who became a very good friend of the girl, or John, the healer with a sad past or even Fifer, the teenage Witch of the great Nicholas. But that is not everything and I confess that I loved to discover more about each of them. And it’s also true that we also have Caleb, the childhood friend of our heroine, but also another witch hunter who seems more interested in his ambition than the rest.
Yes, many events take place here and it is true that I was surprised by some twists. I think I can say that it was a very good first novel, a good introduction and I confess that I am now very curious to read more and find out what the author will present us later.
blodeuedd
Always with the witch huntings
kindlemom1
So many people are liking or loving this. I’m so glad you did as well. I;m going to have to break my ban on buying books and get this!
Melliane
yes it was a nice one for me
Suzi Q, The Book Dame
I won a copy and will be reading it for the Coyer Scavenger Hunt. I love witchy books and look forward to reading it. It is nice seeing an alternative cover, BTW. Great review.
Melliane
Oh I hope you’ll like it too
Tracy Terry
Intrigued by a character that knows how to poison a wizard and make it look like an accident or kill a man using only her thumb, I’m also fascinated by the whole witch trial/burning of witches so this sounds like an ideal read for me. I’m away to add it to my wish list now.
Melliane
lol right?
Paula M. @ Her Book Thoughts!
Yay! I’m so glad you loved this one too. I so agree with every points you have said in here. Great review Melliane! I can’t wait to post my review as well 🙂
Melliane
thaniks, I’m glad you feel the same
Jenny @ Supernatural Snark
YAY! I’m so glad you loved this one too Melliane, I thought it was fantastic. Like you, I can’t wait to see where things go for Elizabeth and the really outstanding cast of secondary characters:)
Melliane
yes, so curious!
Ramona
I can’t wait to read this one. All the reviews I read of it were complimentary 🙂 That’s usually a very good sign! Happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Melliane
yes that’s true
Heidi
I am glad that you enjoyed this one. I too am drawn to witch books, and I have a copy of this.
Melliane
oh nice!
Kirsty-Marie
Same, I love witch books because there is so much you can do with it, and I was so hoping this was would be the case that there was something completely different, didn’t go down that way for me. 🙁 I was bored for most of it and couldn’t really connect to the characters, but I didn’t hate hate it, you know? So glad you had more positive thoughts on it!
Melliane
sorry lady… difficult sometimes. Yes I can understand that.
Lily
I haven’t read many witch books lately but I love books that deal with the topic. I’m so happy this turned out to be an enjoyable read for you Melliane!
Melliane
thanks
Carole Rae
This sounds really good! Adding to my TBR pile!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
I am very interested in this book! I’m usually quite unsure of YA with a lot of hype though so I prefer to wait to see what people think. Well, looks like I’ll have to get my hands on a copy. 🙂
Melliane
this one was nice, or I thought so
kimbacaffeinate
I am so glad to see this was strong and that you enjoyed it. I love witchy books but 8 of 10 times I am disappointed by YA books in this genre. I will add this one to my list. 🙂
Melliane
yeah it’s usually complicated. It’s more mature
Jennifer Bielman @ Bad Bird Reads
Witch books are so hard for me to get into. Happy you liked this one though.
kara-karina
Glad you enjoyed it_ D. I couldn’t forgive it its anachronistic modern language so I stopped reading right in the beginning 🙂
Aurian
I just can’t believe a 16 year old girl can do all that. So that would spoil the story for me, but I am glad you enjoyed it.