(ARC) YA Book Review: Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

Release Date: 30 August 2011
Publisher: Atheneum
Source: S&S Galley Grab

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Goodreads description:

High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.

It’s all a fake.

At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes—one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?

But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned—

Are about him.

My Thoughts...

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. It is probably the first real fantasy novel that I've read that I've truly enjoyed and I'm still trying to figure out why that is.  I've tried other fantasy books before and I've found the worlds cumbersome and difficult to immerse myself in.  This was not at all the case with Witchlanders. Lena Coakley's descriptions of the world, including its people and its history, flowed from the pages and completely drew me in.  The beginning was a bit of a slow burn and I admit that I almost gave up. Thankfully, I gave the book at least 100 pages to draw me in.  Once it did, I never looked back--I can't believe I almost gave up on reading this book!

Now, first off, don't let the pretty girl on the cover fool you. This story is fabulous and one of the elements that drew me to this book in the first place was the presence of not one, but two, male POVs.  The YA novels that I read tend to be inundated with female MCs, many of whom tend to suffer from the swoon-prone klutzy girl syndrome (although I'll concede that I have read a lot of kick-butt girls lately). It was a fabulous change of pace to read from male POVs and I must say that Coakley pulled it off well. I always wonder how easy it can be to get into the head of a character of the opposite sex.  Obviously, for Lena Coakley, not problem whatsoever as she has done a brilliant job.

Both of the MCs drew me in with their stories.  Each must deal with the loss of a loved one, whether well in the past or more recently, and each seems to be a on significant journey of self-discovery. Coakley uses brilliant foreshadowing to hint at the boys' connection but watching them discover it for themselves is quite an experience. Their views of each other and the pre-conceptions that they must overcome throughout their journey seem like a constant uphill battle with no end in sight.  Each must make decisions that will sacrifice the other and the reader is in constant conflict as to which side is right and which will prevail in the end. The characters also quickly become people that you can relate to. Their heartache is intense and each clearly has strong loyalties to family.

The ending leaves a lot for the reader to ponder and I know that I was particularly mystified. I honestly kept trying to turn the page on my Nook only to look up and discover that I had come to the end! I need to know if there will be more Witchlanders because I'm ready to read more!

(ARC) YA Book Review: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Release Date: 2 August 2011
Publisher: Hyperion
Source: Disney-Hyperion via NetGalley

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Goodreads description:

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.

And 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. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

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.

My Thoughts...

When I began reading The Near Witch, I wasn't sure that this was a book that I was going to enjoy or even be able to get through.  It sounded intriguing enough, but I was quite wary.  I loved being proved wrong every minute of reading this. The Near Witch is an enchanting tale of magic, family, and first love set against a small-town backdrop of suspicion and fear.

Enter the town of Near--an undefined, historical town settled in the moors, where the wind sings through the windows and the people live in fear of those things unknown.  When a stranger arrives in the town, there is an immediate panic, which escalates as children begin disappearing from the beds in the dead of night.  Could this stranger be to blame? For most of the villagers, he is the obvious person--and the easiest--to blame.  But Lexi believes otherwise; she will go to great lengths to prove this stranger's innocence.

Lexi was a character that I liked from the very beginning. Her tomboyish nature and clear, unwavering love for her mother and sister (and deceased father) combine to create a lovable, real main character.  I especially connected with her profound desire to protect her sister--a natural response between close sisters. Lexi is the type of character who knows what she wants/believes and doesn't waver from those things.  She proves this over and over again during the hunt for the children--never wavering in her belief that it wasn't the stranger, never giving up searching despite set-backs.  She was strong and courageous, even in those moments when the reader was allowed a glimpse of her loving nature and true despair at her father's death.

The stranger, whom Lexi names Cole, is intriguing throughout and I never quite knew what to make of him.  Don't take that the wrong way--I thought he was perfectly done.  The "strangeness" of him complemented the town of Near and it's fear of the outside.  His friendship with Lexi stood to complement the situation more and more as she struck out on her own to find the children, even when the people of Near didn't believe her. Now, I will say that the romance between the two seemed to pop up out of nowhere.  I saw it coming in a sense, but I thought that it progressed at an interesting, slightly too sudden tempo.  I liked them together, but they didn't have enough to get to know each other before that first kiss pops up.

Overall, Ms. Schwab has written a truly stunning novel, one that I can't wait to buy for myself and read over and over again (and maybe pass along to kids someday).