REVIEW: The Near Witch - V. E. Schwab

Title: The Near Witch
Author: V. E. Schwab
Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Heather Wilds
Time: 9HRS 28 MINS
Rating: ⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger-a boy who seems to fade like smoke-appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Thoughts

I picked this up as I do like V. E. Schwab as an author (and she seems to be an auto-buy author for me at the moment).
This book is Schwab's first novel that was put back into print, I decided to grab it as an audiobook to see what it was like.

I did enjoy this book, and as this is Schwab's first novel you can tell, I've already read some her previous books, and you can see how much her writing style has evolved since this book was first released.

I liked the premise of the book regarding The Near Witch, and how the new arrival when children were going missing created a lot of accusations against the new arrival.

I liked Lexi as a character, she didn't seem to follow the rest of Near with blaming Cole (the new arrival), for the children's disappearance, she endeavours to find out what is going on and who is behind it.

I did find that the writing didn't flow as well as I hoped, but again this was the first novel that she wrote and Schwab's writing has evolved a lot since then. I did enjoy the story but it didn't make me have an OMG moment.

Overall, a good book and worth a listen, especially if you are a fan of Schwab's writing.