The Near Witch

By: V. E. Schwab

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

"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.

Awful narration

Nice story but the narrator was so monotonous that Most of the book was white noise

Excellent story, poor narration

The book was fantastic. I loved the characters and the plot. The pacing was perfect and the setting immersive. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the narrator. Her delivery was oddly flat, emotionless. I did rather like her accent, which was lovely, but did not enjoy the robotic way in which she spoke.

I loved how dark and eerie this managed to be

I loved how dark and eerie this managed to be for a YA Fantasy. I promise it’s not (IMO) too much. The world-building and characters were really good. Nothing overly descriptive, but still interesting. I loved Lexi. I loved the Brothers Grimm vibes. I love most witchy books that I read and I love everything I’ve read from VE Schwab.

This isn’t a heavy read. It could definitely be a knock-it-out-in-one-sitting situation. I’d recommend it to YA readers for sure.

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!!

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.

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

Terrible narration ruins good story.

Imagine Emily Blunt doing a William Shatner impression for any entire book. V.E. Schwab is great but this was a struggle to finish, because of the narrator. I will have to read this one when I want to revisit it. It was a good story.

Beautifully written, but terrible narrator.

I love everything that VE Schwab has written and this book was no exception. Wonderful story, but the narrator almost ruined it. Her tone is flat and her cadence is so repetitive that it was annoying and distracting.

Great story! Annoying narration.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great story line and plot with interesting and well developed characters. I nearly gave up on it because of the bad narration but stuck it out because the story was so good. The narrator had this weird habit or manner of over expressing every 4th or 5th word, or at the end of the sentence. It was very disturbing.

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.