Wednesday 12 February 2014

Review - Witch Finder (Witch Finder, #1) by Ruth Warburton



Title: Witch Finder (Witch Finder, #1)
Author: Ruth Warburton
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Release date: 2nd January 2014
Pages: 384

Blurb from Goodreads:

London, 1880, and eighteen-year-old Luke Lexton is about to endure his initiation into the Malleus Maleficorum - the secretive brotherhood devoted to hunting witches, and the organisation that will help Luke take revenge on the witch who murdered his parents. His final test is to pick a name at random from the Book of Witches, a name he must track down and kill within a month, or face death himself.

Luke picks out sixteen-year-old Rosa Greenwood, a witch-girl living in rapidly fading grandeur on the west side of town. She's the last bargaining chip in her family's struggle to avoid bankruptcy and is about to be married off to the handsome, cruel, grotesquely rich Sebastian Knyvet - a powerful member of the Ealdwitan.

As Rosa and Luke get to know each other, Luke realises it will be impossible for him to kill Rosa, just as Rosa knows she will bring disgrace on her family if she does not marry Knyvet. But Knyvet is hiding dark secrets - including the key which will unlock the mystery of Luke's murdered parents. Torn between appeasing their elders and their love for each other, Rosa and Luke must each make their choice between life and death.






My Review:

*I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hachette Children's Books and Ruth Warburton*


3.5/5 stars

An orphan as the result of his parents being murdered by a witch, Luke Lexton joins a brotherhood of witch hunters - the Malleus Maleficorum. 
The final test of his initiation is to choose a name in a book of witches and kill that witch within a month. 
The witch he chooses is Rosa Greenwood, a young girl who is being forced to marry Sebastian Knyvet, a cruel and rich young man, in order to save her familiy from bankruptcy. 
As Luke poses as a stable boy in order to kill Rosa, he realises that murdering a witch won't be as easy as he thought.

Witch Finder is set in 1880's London and I enjoyed the setting. 
The plot was rather predictable but despite this I found the book enjoyable and liked the author's writing style.
 


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