The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Near Witch:
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.

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.

I loved this book so much, it was one of those incredible, all-consuming reads and I’m having trouble writing this review, trying to figure out how to say just what it is I want to say. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab is a haunting, magical tale about fears and legends coming to life. Victoria’s prose flows so lyrically, that once I started, I found I could not put this book down. I could feel the scenery coming to life around me just as I could almost smell the earthy scents described throughout the story. It has romance and tension, danger and mystery; a little bit of everything for anyone that enjoys fairy tales of the Grimm variety.

Lexi lives in the small village of Near, where strangers never appear and the town is ruled by fear. Cole is a stranger travelling in hopes of escaping his past, but when he crosses into Near, he realizes that something is very wrong and he cannot simply pass through. Suspicions are raised as children begin to disappear, only Near’s outcast Thorne sisters know the truth: the Near Witch has returned. Together Lexi and Cole must find a way to break the old witch’s spell and save the children, before the people of Near let their fear consume them and make a terrible mistake beyond repair and the cost will be more than one life.