The Near Witch

By: V. E. Schwab

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

"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.

VE Schwab is an expert story teller

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!!

Great Story. Really bad narrator. ☹️

This narrator was really bad. I almost stopped listening to the story because of how bad the reading was.

worst possible narrator

I had to borrow it from my library in ebook form because the narrator is so bad I couldn't enjoy this at all. The story is worth reading but I couldn't do it this way.

Worst performance ever

I wish I would have read the reviews first. The story could be could. I won’t know because I couldn’t handle the narrators cadence. It just flows in mind numbing waves and I’m too distracted and annoyed to keep listening. Sad. Really ruined what is probably a good book.

DNF

Unable to finish the story due to the narrator. She’s very robotic and Carrie’s the same tone throughout.

read the reviews

nope. no.neveragin. nerp. ugh. sigh. hard to enjoy. painful. seriously just read the book.aeful narration

Excellent story, poor narration

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.

Awful narration

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

I loved how dark and eerie this managed to be

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.

Terrible narration

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.