The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter, #1) by Virginia Boecker
Genres: Fantasy (YA)
Pages: 368
Goodreads

The magic and suspense of Graceling meet the political intrigue and unrest of Game of Thrones in this riveting fantasy debut.
Your greatest enemy isn't what you fight, but what you fear.
Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she's accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to burn at the stake.
Salvation comes from a man she thought was her enemy. Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful and dangerous 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.
But Nicholas and his followers know nothing of Elizabeth's witch hunting past--if they find out, the stake will be the least of her worries. And as she's thrust into the magical world of witches, ghosts, pirates, and one all-too-handsome healer, Elizabeth is forced to redefine her ideas of right and wrong, of friends and enemies, and of love and hate.
Virginia Boecker weaves a riveting tale of magic, betrayal, and sacrifice in this unforgettable fantasy debut.

This book is AMAZING. It was everything I wanted and more. The story is gripping, it has you hooked from page one forgetting the outside world. Seriously. There is action, romance, witches, wizards, pirates and a badass female protagonist. It’s easily one of my favorite reads of 2015.

The plot isn’t very different from so many YA books out there, but what I think made this one stand out for me was the main character, how the romance wasn’t too prominent, and the world building was fantastic.

The love story was cute, I wasn’t too captured by it. It was just an afterthought for me, I kind of went “oh yeah, he’s still there” when the romance would show up. It also kind of reminded me of the Katniss-Peeta-Gale love triangle a bit. That’s not to say there weren’t some swoon-worthy moments and I did root for it to end successfully – it just wasn’t a focal point for me.

Her characters are all great in their own way. Each of them has a unique role to play where their personalities stand out. Elizabeth, the main character, is a kick-your-ass kind of chick, but is still a regular girl with real emotions. Her struggle between loyalty to her family and loyalty to her new-found allies felt honest and real. Her character didn’t lack any depth and she was a great character to read.

A secondary character that I really enjoyed was Fifer. She’s one of the witches in the group that rescues Elizabeth. At first I thought I was going to hate her – just another female secondary character that is the typical mean girl who does nothing but make the main character feel uncomfortable. She turned out to be so much more. She’s a kick ass chick that ends up doing a lot for the group and their problems (I don’t want to spoil it too much for anyone), but at the same time she’s a regular girl who gossips and has crushes (the party scene was the best). Fifer isn’t the only character I enjoyed, many of them were perfect additions to the story making it a great read for them alone.

This story a really wonderful blend of 16th century England and magical elements. Boecker does a fantastic job at world building and explaining necessary details without going overboard with info-dumps. It’s convincing, not confusing. The opening chapter alone was perfection, it had me laughing and intrigued in the story – let’s just say it involves ale and is a pretty funny scene.

Overall, this book left me with a hangover. I enjoyed the story, it was action packed but also made you laugh and had some romance. The world building, dialogue, and overall writing were done very well. It kept me interested and I am so excited to find out there is a sequel set to come out next year! It definitely ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, so that’s great news.

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Rating Report
Plot
Characters
Writing
World Building
Romance
Overall:	5 / 5