The Witch Collector

Amazing!!!

3.25 stars

I had the pleasure of meeting the author, Charissa Weaks, several years ago at a convention and I interact with her on IG on a semi-regular basis. She is such a nice person and very open with her fans, that I was a little anxious to read what I believe is her first full-length novel. Not that I didn't think she was fully capable of writing a kick-ass book! But, I have met authors in the past who were equally great people, but maybe their writing just wasn't for me or their books just weren't for me. But, I am happy to say that isn't the case for me with The Witch Collector. It isn't a perfect book (I mean, what book is?), but I so enjoyed my time in the world and with the characters. Charissa Weaks has crafted a multi-layered story that grabs you from the first moment and she has built a rich world that I have a feeling is just going to get better and better the more books she writes in this series. The reason for the 4-stars and not 5 is that I don't think she made us suffer enough! Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite genres of books and there is a bit of that here, however it doesn't last very long. You could say there was a bit of insta-love with the main romantic leads (I say main b/c I feel some other romances brewing on the horizon and I can't say I am sad about that) and the main character even mentions that only 12 days have passed between the beginning and the end of the story, however, the love that grew felt very organic. A lot of time insta-love feels very forced and I didn't feel this way at all in this story. I still feel like she should have tortured us a bit more though! She has also crafted us a kick-ass main heroine so definitely not sad about that. Suffice it to say I will definitely be waiting as patiently as possible for the 2nd book in the series but I honestly can't wait to see where she is going with some of the threads she is weaving!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher & the author for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! The Witch Collector visits Raina’s village once a year and takes a Witch Walker to join the guard of the Frost King - never to be seen again. Eight year after Raina’s sister was taken, she devises a plan to take revenge on both the King and the Witch Collector. We soon learn that the Frost King is not the biggest threat, and Raina must work alongside the Witch Collector to find her way to her sister and stop their lands falling into enemy hands. This is going to be a book that I rave about and recommend to everyone moving forward - chock full of all my favourite tropes! Enemies to lovers? Check. Magic? Check. Ancient Gods & immortals? Check. Female MC who wants to save her people? Check. The last time I was this excited about the first book in a new series was From Blood and Ash, which quickly became one of my all-time favourite book worlds.