Expected pub: 8/2/2011 by Hyperion Books CH
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.
Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.
What I thought:
Do you remember the movie Hocus Pocus? You know? With Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker… Sarah Sanderson sings to the children and they all come to her??? The Near Witch reminded me of Hocus Pocus – which is wicked fabulous because it remains to be one of my fav movies ever to this day!
In the town of Near a mysterious stranger shows up and then children start disappearing in the middle of the night… Lexi has to find out who is responsible for taking the kids,
before her sister become one of the missing and prove Cole innocent before her Uncle shoots him for no other crime than being an outsider (therefore he must be blamed.)
Now “Cole” as Lexi has named him has quite the tragic history… NO. I will not tell you what it is, you must read the book, but you should probably have a few tissues handy. Just saying.
The people of Near are ready, willing and able to blame Cole for the children’s disappearance. Lexi, however thinks it is the Near Witch calling the children from their beds each night… The only problem with her theory is that the witch has been dead for a loooong time.
You can’t believe how this turns out!!! I am literally DYING to put spoilers all over this review!!! Just *ugh* because I can’t say anything or I will give everything away!
Victoria Schwab has written a completely entrancing, romantic and suspenseful read in The Near Witch. Absolutely amazing! Never a dull moment in this utterly enchanting tale- I couldn’t put it down! This is a MUST READ of 2011!
****I received this book from NetGalley****
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