Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Book Review: Witch Finder by Ruth Warburton

Witch Finder
Author:  Ruth Warburton
Publisher:  Hodder Children's Books
Publication Date:  January 2, 2014
*Received ARC from publisher via NetGalley

From Goodreads:
London. 1880. In the slums of Spitalfields apprentice blacksmith Luke is facing initiation into the Malleus Maleficorum, the fearsome brotherhood dedicated to hunting and killing witches.

Luke’s final test is to pick a name at random from the Book of Witches, a name he must track down and kill within a month, or face death himself. Luke knows that tonight will change his life forever. But when he picks out sixteen-year-old Rosa Greenwood, Luke has no idea that his task will be harder than he could ever imagine.


Review:
I enjoyed this book, it was a fun, fast-paced read about a guy whose mother and father were killed by a witch and so he hates witches and has vowed revenge.  The book starts off with Luke being initiated into a group that kills witches and his last test is to kill Rosa, a sixteen-year-old witch.  He becomes a stable hand where Rosa lives and then struggles with how nice and normal Rosa seems to be compared to what he has always believed about witches.  He still keeps trying to kill her, though, which was unexpected.  

There are definitely some evil witches in this book, and Rosa's family is just awful.  I really felt for her situation.  Even though she's fairly powerful as a witch (although we never see that power, which was disappointing) her choices are very limited as far as what she can do.  Basically, she needs to marry for money because after her father died her family is running out of money.  And of course the guy who her family is pushing her into marrying is evil (although he does have some complexity to him, showing a softer side occasionally).

I liked the historical aspect of it and the different issues that were brought up (women's rights, child labor, physical abuse, etc.).  I liked learning about the different groups (the witches and the witch hunters) but I wish we would have learned a bit more.  I also liked the differences between Luke and Rosa.  Different stations, which would be difficult enough to overcome, and then on top of that, you have Rosa being a witch and Luke being a normal guy (although there is definitely more to him and I'm interested to see how his talent plays out in future books along with the why of what happened to his parents).  Luke does fall for Rosa pretty fast, which was not necessary because it would have worked with him realizing that the world is not so black and white when it comes to witches and that Rosa is just a good person.  But it didn't bother me that much.  The ending was rather abrupt, but I like that it was not a cliffhanger.  There is still a lot of story to tell, and I'll definitely be reading the next one.

Posted by:  Pam

10 comments:

  1. I didn't realize this was part of a series. The witch hunter/witch aspect reminds me of this season of American Horror Story. Do you watch that? So good. I'll definitely be on the lookout for this one if it comes out in the US. I love that gorgeous cover. Great review!

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    1. I've heard great things about American Horror Story, but I haven't seen it yet. Maybe I should check it out! ~Pam

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  2. I have an arc of this and was totally unaware that it was going to be a series. I like the sound of it but I am scared about having another series to read if I end up loving this. I love the sound of this one though, I will definitely be reading this soon. Love your review :)

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    1. It's hard to find books that aren't series these days. I didn't realize it either when I first got it, but the way it ends...there's definitely a lot of story left to tell and then when I looked it up on Goodreads it had Witch Finder #1 next to it. Oh well! I need to write up a list of all of the books I'm reading that are series, but I may start to feel overwhelmed! ~Pam

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  3. I have this from NetGalley and really need to read it. I love the historical setting. Thanks for the review, Pam!

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    1. I did enjoy the historical setting, it definitely added to the story. Hope you enjoy it too! ~Pam

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  4. I've heard great things about this one. I almost requested it from NetGalley, but I was already full for review books for January. :( I will definitely be checking it out. I saw that you mentioned that you liked the historical aspect dealing with different issues like women's rights. I just finished reading A Mad Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Walter. It takes place during the women's suffrage movement in London and I really really liked it. If you like that kind of stuff you would probably like it. :)

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    1. I'll have to check that one out...can't wait to read your review! ~Pam

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  5. I hadn't heard of this one but your review has me wanting to read it! Sounds like there are some cliche parts but it still seems interesting. The cover is beautiful too.

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    1. Yeah, the whole "love" part was fast and unnecessary, but it seems par for the course these days. ~Pam

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