The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker

Synopsis from the Back of the ARC:

Elizabeth Grey is one of the king’s best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. When she’s accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to die at the stake. Salvation comes from a man she thought was her enemy. Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful wizard in the kingdom, offers her a deal: he will save her from execution if she can break the deadly curse that’s been laid upon him.

As she’s thrust into the world of witches, ghosts, pirates, and all-too-handsome healers, Elizabeth is forced to redefine her ideas of right and wrong, of friends and enemies and of love and hate.

Review:

Elizabeth Grey has been trained as a witch hunter since she was a little girl. One fateful day, after arresting a group of necromancers, after getting drunk, she is accused of being a witch. She is arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Nicholas Perevil, the most infamous wizard in the kingdom, rescues her … actually, she didn’t consider it a rescue for a long time. She is prophesied to be the one who can break the deadly curse placed upon him — the main reason he saved her. Now she has to journey, on a deadline, with her new magical and pirate comrades to break this curse. Can she break it while maintaining her witch hunter identity?

I received this Advanced Readers Copy from Little, Brown & Company through Goodreads First Reads, in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Virginia Boecker’s The Witch Hunter, even after having to set it down for a week. It’s easy to follow along, and there are some unexpected happenings with the people she cares about. The novel ends on a different note. Boecker leaves herself room to decide whether this will be a standalone or a series.

Only a couple of the characters really changed, and it was a disappointment. I did like one meeting between Elizabeth and Caleb where she has to make one of the toughest decisions of her life. One the subject of them, I generally dislike love triangles, but it worked pretty well in this book.

The world is built much like medieval or Dark Ages England, but I can’t tell if it actually is set in a specific period of our history. The explanation of magic was explained pretty well. It was a little too much for me to have witches, pirates, ghosts and more magical beings all thrown into one book.

One theme in this book is that one must decide for one’s self what is right and wrong and then must revise that when presented with contradictory evidence.

The Witch Hunter is a good YA fantasy that tastes like historical fiction but without a definite period. I recommend this if you want to read something new in the genre of witches.

Genres: Fantasy YA, Romance

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars