The Near Witch Audiobook By V. E. Schwab cover art

The Near Witch

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The Near Witch

By: V. E. Schwab
Narrated by: Heather Wilds
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About this listen

"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.
Fantasy Historical Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Young Adult Fiction Magic Users Witchcraft
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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!!

VE Schwab is an expert story teller

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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.

Excellent story, poor narration

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

Awful narration

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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.

I loved how dark and eerie this managed to be

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the story was entertaining! I looked the book but the narrator ruined the listening experience and made it difficult to want to complete. She speaks each sentence with the same voice inflection. That took away from the emotion from the characters. Either find another narrator or just read the physical book.

Terrible narration

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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.

If Neil Gaiman had reimagined The Witch of Blackbird Pond...

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The story seemes long and drawn out. it didnt pick up until chapters in the 20's. Stuck with it but wouldn't read it again. I loved this author's other books, but not so much this one.

Hard to Get Involved

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1st book of VE Scwab and looking forward to more. The only, downside of this was the narrator methods of reading. It felt more like reading rather than others who add a bit more story telling. The book/story was a good story!

Good story

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I love ve Schwab. Bough this book without sampling based on her storytelling alone. But the narrator is annoying and terrible. I couldn't even get through chapter 1.

I rated the story and overall neutral (3 stars) because I don't know enough to say one way or the other. Rates the narration performance 1 star.

Narrator is terrible. I could not finish

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At the risk of being redundant, I tried but couldn’t stand to listen to this narrator. Please remake this one with a narrator who doesn’t sound like she’s reciting a list of grievances.

Horrible narration.

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