Review: WITCH HUNTER BY VIRGINIA BOEKER

Witch Hunter By Virginia Boeker 

Synopsis: 

The witch hunter

Elizabeth Grey may look harmless, but don't let that fool you. She can take out five necromancers with a single sword and slay a wizard at fifty paces.

Accused of witchcraft

But when she's found carrying witch's herbs, she's thrown into jail with no chance of escape. Only magic which she's fought against all her life, can save her...

Rescued by the enemy

Now, with Elizabeth's chances of survival in the very hands of those she has been trained to fight, she faces an impossible choice:

Magic or Murder?

Review: I genuinely can't remember the last time I loved a book so much I want to read the next one straight away. It was probably the first book I loved all those year ago when I was 13 that got me interested in books. Thanks to Virginia Boecker I now have a new love. 

I'm really glad to see a book about magic in the 16th century doing so well, as at the moment the thing seems to be dystopian worlds. Which I love but magical books have always been more me. 

The Witch Hunter has a classic plot, maybe Elizabeth has been fighting on the side of the wrong people her whole life. I really enjoyed watching the character realise and understand the people she's being fighting against. She even grows to love them. The story's a lovely moral (even though it's not designed to) of there being two sides to every story, and you should really get all the facts before taking a side.

The only problem I found with the book is that toward the end I found it a little bit hard to follow and had to read it twice. That might have been because I was reading it on the bus home from work though! I'm not going to go into to much detail about it because I don't want to spoil the ending for you.

I was delighted to find out that the second novel The King Slayer comes out June 2016! Safe to say that's on pre-order! 

Review: A MOSTER CALLS BY PATRICK NESS

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

From an original idea by Siobhan Dowd

Illustration by Jim Kay

Synopsis: The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth

Review:  Read before the film comes out! This is simply one of the best books I have read in a long time, I have nothing but praise for it. It is however one of the saddest I have read. If you plan on reading this make sure you have a few boxes of tissues with you!

 SPOILER ALERT! 

Although I love this book so very much, it does deal with what it is like to watch someone battle cancer. If this is a subject close to you it might be best to give this one a miss. To make this story even sadder Siobhan Dowd who had the original idea for this book died of cancer herself. Aged just 47. A Monster Calls is a perfect tribute to Siobhan Dowds. Her work lives on.

I really enjoyed the Monster character. It's very much a love/hate feeling towards him. His relationship with Coner is so perfectly written by Patrick Ness/Siobhan Dowds, you can't help but read on to find out where their story will take you. I can't wait to see how they portray the Monster in the up coming film.

Jim Kay (who many people will know from his work on the illustrated Harry Potter) was involved with this book. He is clearly a very talented man! Making this another beautiful read.

Having nothing but love this A Monster Calls of course I'm going to tell you to go and read it. Just don't read it in the staff room like I almost did! You'll need a box of tissues and a cuddly cat to cheer you up afterwards.