Review: Night of the Witch by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

Night of the Witch by Sara Raasch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, however I did listen to the final published version of the audiobook.  As always all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this!  I've had a been interested in witch trials since visiting Salem as a teen, so I love a good non-fiction or historical fiction about that time period.  I believe this is set in historical Germany during the time of the European witch hunts.  Fritzi is an actual witch and is the sole survivor of her coven being slaughtered at the hands of the hexenjägers a group of religious soldiers whose purpose is to hunt witches.  Many of those caught by the hexenjägers are innocent people with no powers, however Fritzi and her young cousin Liesel are both powerful witches and the Kommandant has plans for them both.   Otto is a hexenjäger, and he and his group of soldiers capture Fritzi, but Otto unexpectedly turns out to be a friend instead of a foe to the witches.  Otto and Fritzi form a fragile truce to protect the remaining members of their family and fight against the crazed Kommandant.

This was action packed with plenty of twists and turns to keep you engaged.  There is alot going on but I think the authors did a good job brining things together in the end.  I am looking forward to seeing what they have instore for us in the next book.  This end on a small cliffhanger, but you kind of expect it so I don't think it was that big of a shock.    I really enjoyed the bits of lore woven in among the historical aspects of the witch trials and the magical aspects of plot.  This book isn't going to be for everyone.  There is a romance aspect, some brutal and violent scenes, magic and paranormal aspects, action, and more.  I thought the authors did a good job weaving all of those elements together, but some may find it not to their liking.  

This book is classified as YA, but I would say this falls more into into the New Adult/Adult age range.  There are some pretty brutal torture scenes and several other violent scenes when it comes to the battles.  There are a few intimate scenes, but they are fairly tame and not very descriptive but they are there.  The characters and some of the plotlines read more YA though, so I think this will appeal the more mature YA reader as well as a broad range of adults who enjoy fantasy and historical fiction.  Keep in mind that from a historical aspect, those who were tried and found guilty of witchcraft were tortured and maimed in the most horrific ways.  I think from that perspective the authors did a good job keeping in line with the historical nature of how the men and women who were accused were treated during the actual witch trials in Europe and the US.

Overall, i really enjoyed this, and I am very much looking forward to the next book in the duology.  

View all my reviews