Review: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

I finished this weeks ago and hadn't quite gotten around to writing a review, so doing that now. 

I read this book over a couple of days where it was regularly 100 degrees outside, but the atmosphere in this book is so excellent I would shiver as the moors were described. Schwab's debut, often self-described as a "quiet little novel," really packed quite a punch for me. As someone who has read most of her work, I deeply enjoyed reading this one. 

Seeing how she interfaces with personalities, tropes, and themes that would also show up in her later works was fascinating. This completely added an extra layer of the story for me. While I was loving Lexi's spirit and determination I was seeing little hints of Delilah Bard, while Cole was explaining his backstory I was seeing a hint of August, when Near would give me the creeps I would see a similar mastery of setting and tone that would give me the same chills in City of Ghosts. I am not suggesting that Schwab mined her debut for these items, just that, for fans of Schwab's work while reading you will see little bits that almost feel like Easter Egg's but are the seeds of future thought. 

Schwab does get better as her career progresses, but I do think she started strong.

I still need to read 7 of her 15 total novels currently published, reading The Near Witch convinced me that I should get a move on doing this.