Night of the Witch by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis
Publication Date: October 3, 2023
Summary from NetGalley:
A witch and a hunter. Vengeance is their mission. Love is their destiny.
Fritzi is a witch. A survivor of a brutal attack on her coven, she’s determined to find her only surviving family member and bring the hexenjägers—zealot witch hunters—to justice for the lives they ended. To do this, she will need to take down their leader—Kommandant Dieter Kirch.
Otto is a hexenjäger and a captain, the second in command to Dieter Kirch—but that’s just his cover. Years ago, the hexenjägers burned his innocent mother alive and since then, he has been planning a move against the witch hunters that tore his family apart. And now the time has come for them to pay for what they’ve done.
When Fritzi and Otto are unexpectedly thrown together, neither is sure they can trust the other, despite their common enemy. But all they have is one another, and they both crave revenge. As truths come to light and trust shifts, Fritzi and Otto uncover a far more horrifying plot at the center of the hexenjäger attacks . . . but their own growing feelings for each other may be the most powerful magic of all.
ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley for an honest review.
Confession:
Night of the Witch is the first book in a new young adult series set during the German witch trials in the 1500s. It is a dark and horrific time period that the authors treat with respect, but it can be a haunting read at times.
I really enjoyed the two main characters, Fritzi and Otto. Fritzi is a young woman who has a lot of responsibility thrust upon her by the loss of her coven. She is on a mission to save the one other witch who survived, her cousin Liesel, and then to flee to the Black Forest. She meets Otto, a witch hunter, and things just spiral from there. Fritzi does a lot of growing in this book, from a scared teenager to a young woman who will help those who need it most despite the odds of failure. Otto is a young man who became a witch hunter only to burn their tyranny to the ground, and to try to save some innocent lives. He is brave and kind, and pretty smart. I loved his reaction to learning that magic is real, but maybe he accepted it a bit too quickly. I liked the relationship that evolved throughout the book between him and Fritzi, but I would have liked it to maybe move a bit more slowly.
There is one secondary character that I want to mention: Liesel. She is a charming little witch with a lot of power. She plays an important role in the story, and because of this, she seems a bit more mature than a 10-year-old at times. But then there are instances of her just being a little girl, and those moments are simply priceless. I hope she continues to bring these little rays of sunshine in the next book.
The plot of the story is well done, with good pacing and excellent banter between Otto and Fritzi, along with some nice little twists. The magical system is interesting, with two different kinds and the involvement of goddesses. Each witch also has her own affinity for certain types of magic, which makes for some intriguing scenes. The historical content is well executed, with vivid descriptions of the cities and people. There are some difficult scenes of torture, burning people alive, and animal cruelty, which, while hard to read, are important to the time period and the witch hunts in particular.
I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in this series with its believable characters and historical setting. I am eagerly looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how that surprising ending unfolds.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 