The Near Witch

By: V. E. Schwab

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

"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.

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.

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.

This new edition of The Near Witch also included the in-universe short story "The Ash-Born Boy" and a never-before-seen introduction from V. E. Schwab.

©2019 V. E. Schwab (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

VE Schwab is an expert story teller

This is technically VE's debut book that was removed from shelves after publication years ago. They re-released it and I enjoyed every minute of it. Especially the ending!!

If Neil Gaiman had reimagined The Witch of Blackbird Pond...

If Neil Gaiman had reimagined The Witch of Blackbird Pond, it might look something like this. A simple but dark fairytale gorgeously written, with the usual fare of a spunky heroine, a mysterious stranger, small minded villagers, a sweet love story, etc, but all of that is wrapped in the gorgeous and atmospheric moorland that surrounds the village. The moor, like the wind and other elements here, is a character as well as a setting, and the source of the heroine’s strength and the village’s folklore. It’s also what really sets this story apart and the reason I’ll be going back to read it again.
The narrator had a gorgeous voice and accent but a strangely repetitive cadence to her reading that was grating and annoying. I thought about returning the audiobook for that reason but have decided to keep it. When you listen to larger swathes of the story, you can to an extent tune out the strange rhythm of her reading.

Hard to Get Involved

The story seemes long and drawn out. it didnt pick up until chapters in the 20's. Stuck with it but wouldn't read it again. I loved this author's other books, but not so much this one.

Good story

1st book of VE Scwab and looking forward to more. The only, downside of this was the narrator methods of reading. It felt more like reading rather than others who add a bit more story telling. The book/story was a good story!

Narrator is terrible. I could not finish

I love ve Schwab. Bough this book without sampling based on her storytelling alone. But the narrator is annoying and terrible. I couldn't even get through chapter 1.

I rated the story and overall neutral (3 stars) because I don't know enough to say one way or the other. Rates the narration performance 1 star.

Horrible narration.

At the risk of being redundant, I tried but couldn’t stand to listen to this narrator. Please remake this one with a narrator who doesn’t sound like she’s reciting a list of grievances.

Love the Story

The story was very well written . Schwab knows how to spin a tale with the use of figurative language. My only complaint would be the narrator’s use of inflection.

Narration is robot like and very distracting

I just can’t get past chapter 6, the narrator is awful, sorry dear but it sounds like a strange robot

Wonderful story.

A intriguing story like " The Giver" by Lois Lowry.
If you are looking for a novel all about romance you will be disappointed but
if you would enjoy a witchy story, then I recommend it.

Halting narration makes the story hard to listen to.

I’m not actually sure how good the story is because I couldn’t get past the halting, oddly rhythmic, narration. Schwab is an excellent storyteller. This story deserved better.