Sara Raasch

Unfortunately, this is just another young adult. Nothing bad with YA as such, but unfortunately it is breeding ground for generic bland fantasy books that don't go much beyond checking off the required content.
Chosen not-like-the-other-girls heroine - check
Succeeding where other failed because she is the MC - check
Love triangle - check

The plot twist was so obvious I hope it wasn't meant to be a plot twist. Heroine being self-centred then supposedly learning from mistakes and ops does another self-centred thing again. Insta love, but let's be honest, the guy is so perfect he almost convinced me to continue the series, so I don't blame her. Luckily the end closed this part of the story, so I don't feel any need to continue.

Redeeming points:
Theron aka the perfect YA love interest
Season based kingdoms turned out to be quite interesting, unfortunately I am not sure how it really works, like there is really no explanation how they produce any food in places where there is one season all the time.… (más)

Night of the Witch is a book I had to read. Historical fiction wrapped in fantasy is like a siren song to me. Add the fact that Sara Raasch and Beth Revis penned the novel, and Night of the Witch was one of the novels I was most excited to read this fall.

Maybe my hopes were too high, but I did not love Night of the Witch as much as I wanted. My main issue with the story is that the writing is too simplistic for my taste. Simple sentences and short, stilted dialogue made me believe the book was geared toward middle grades rather than the young adult category as advertised.

Adding to my general dislike is that the authors interspersed German words into the story with no rhyme or reason. I majored in German and love seeing the language in books. Even so, I could find no pattern for when or why Ms. Raash and Ms. Revis would exchange a word in English for one in German. The replacements were too random and did nothing to enhance the story. From what I could tell, the German words did nothing but remind you that the story takes place in Germany.

My other concern about Night of the Witch is that I struggled to buy into the insta-love between Fritzi and Otto. There is almost no development for either character, and their attraction to each other, especially Fritzi towards Otto, makes no sense. That's a lot of fear and hatred to overcome, and Otto's actions towards Fritzi upon first meeting do nothing to endear him to her.

Lastly, the German major in me wanted more world-building. I wanted to learn more about the hows and whys behind the creation of the Hexenjaegers. Plus, I know the layout of German medieval towns versus villages, but most of the readers of Night of the Witch will not. This geography plays a vital role in the politics behind the story, and readers need to understand all of it.

Some of my issues with Night of the Witch are due to the fact that I am familiar enough with German and German history to want more of it. I believe there is a lack of world-building to explain the story. Also, I found it difficult to buy into Fritzi and Otto's all-consuming insta-love. Are any of my concerns enough to prevent me from reading the sequel next year? Of course not! Where Night of the Witch excels is with the fantasy element, and I need to know how the battle between Dieter and Fritzi will ensue. Still, I will approach the sequel with much lower expectations.… (más)