This was a witch story that I simply had to read. It looks stunning and sounds amazing as well. And I may have been a fan of Beth for years and years now. So of course I would read this as well. I was lucky enough to trade for an ARC of this and I had to start it right away. Giving this one four stars. I enjoyed it a whole bunch.
My words are currently failing me, though. As I'm not sure how to write about this book at all. Will do my best. But oh, my mind is a little messy at the moment. I just enjoyed this story. I did not fully love this book, but it was still so good and I am happy that I read it. I cannot wait to get my gorgeous hardcover later this autumn.
I think I shall begin with mentioning the writing. Which I liked very much, for most of the time. I did find it a little bit cheesy at certain times. But it was still good and I felt like I connected to this story and the characters. This book begins with the burning of witches. With the burning of all of Fritzi's family and friends. It was such a strong beginning and I very much liked this. Okay, it was sad, but so good and exciting too. Not many details, as Fritzi was locked in a basement. But enough heartbreak from her. We slowly learn more about why her coven was found and attacked. How Fritzi was involved in that. Which was both sad and exciting to read about. I liked the little twists. I do wish, though, that we had gotten to know her family more. Her mother seemed great. But at least there was one other survivor, little Liesel, whom I so adored.
This book tells the story of Fritzi and Otto. We get both point of views, which I liked. And I enjoyed getting to know both of them. Fritzi the witch, Otto the witch hunter. Fritzi just watched her town burn. Her mother dead, her friends dead. But her little cousin, Liesel, was taken alive. She has to find her, save her. Fritzi bumps into Otto while he is arresting his sister for being a witch. Fritzi saves her; sending her away with magic. Which then ruined Otto's plans to save captured witches, which he needed his sister to get done.
And so Otto has to arrest Fritzi instead. She is so scared of him. Which I thought was written so well, ha. She does not know that he does not actually want to hurt her or anyone else. He wants revenge for his dead stepmother. By taking down the witch hunters from the inside. At least he is trying to do so. I liked reading about Otto and getting to know him. He was trying his best. He was sort of like a gentle giant. I adored him. And reading about him and Fritzi together was all kinds of fun. A little hate, then a lot of love.
I'm not going to say too much about the plot of this story, just mentioning some of what happens. Fritzi and Otto has to work together to free a hundred witches that are about to be burned. All of them probably innocent regular humans. This world was brutal. I loved it. But yeah. It was so not a kind world to live in. They have to work together. It starts out bad, with her hating him and being afraid. But still so fierce and brave and full of fire. But they do work together. And free those about to be burned. And must now run.
And so this book is mostly about Otto and Fritzi and Liesel being on the run from the villain, Dieter. We get to see a little bit of happiness, though they are mostly just scared. I did feel a bit that too little were happening in this book. Then suddenly everything was happening at once, when they finally made it to the black forest and the only other witches alive. The story is about them trying to figure out how to take down Dieter, before he ruins the world. It is a story about magic and wild magic, which I liked the most.
Will say a little bit about the romance as well. I think it is supposed to be enemies to lovers. Considering she is a witch and he a witch hunter. But, well. He wasn't truly a witch hunter, he was rebelling in secret. And they were only angry with each other for hours during their first day together. So, no. Not enemies. The romance was a little fast, how they started caring so soon. But I did not mind this. As I adored their small banter. And I liked Fritzi and Otto together. A little cheesy most of the time, ha, but sweet even so.
I am not sure what to say about the villain of this story. He was a man called Dieter. He was the leader of the hexenjägers, the witch hunters. He is supposed to be this most horrible person. I feel like that was not shown enough. I did not feel like he was all that bad; I was not scared of him. And yet they spend almost all the book running from him. Yes, he burned witches. But what else was there? I wish he had been even more evil, ha. But Dieter did become more evil towards the end. There was torture. I loved it. I hated him.
This book is full of details, all of them exciting. It is a book set in the past. Some of it true history, some of it made up. I liked that. This book takes place in Germany and I loved how there were German words and customs included, which made me like the book more. I did like this book a whole lot. But I was a tiny bit disappointed too, if I can say that. I wanted there to be even more. More magic. More witches, more evil. But I liked this book too. I liked the black forest and what was in there. I liked the small displays of magic.
Night of the Witch was a pretty fantastic story. I enjoyed it so very much. A little magical, a little fantasy. A whole lot of romance and family relationships. A stunning world created as well. While I did not fully love this book, I still liked it so very much. And I cannot wait to read the next one, eee. As that ending was just too cruel. Ugh. I fear the second one will hurt more. How rude. But I still cannot wait. It took me a while to read this book, as I was too exhausted, but I think it's a quick and easy read. So you should read this too.
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