Review – The Witch Collector (Witch Walker, Book 1) by Charissa Weaks (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 439 pages
Publisher: City Owl Press
Release Date: November 2, 2021
ASIN: B09H6894GR
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Witch Walker series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
“Raina Bloodgood has one desire: kill the Frost King and the Witch Collector who stole her sister. On Collecting Day, she means to exact murderous revenge, but a more sinister threat sets fire to her world. Rising from the ashes is the Collector, Alexus Thibault, the man she vowed to slay and the only person who can help save her sister.
Thrust into an age-old story of ice, fire, and ancient gods, Raina must abandon vengeance and aid the Witch Collector or let their empire—and her sister—fall into enemy hands. But the lines between good and evil blur, and Raina has more to lose than she imagined. What is she to do when the Witch Collector is no longer the villain who stole her sister, but the hero who’s stealing her heart?”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Witch Walker trilogy. I got an eGalley of this book to review through NetGalley.
Thoughts: I am torn on this one and was going between 3 and 4 stars; it was okay but not great. It just reminds me way too much of other adult fantasies like this (think “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah Maas). There is some faerie tone to it and also an “enemies to lovers” premise. The world felt a bit thin to me and the story moved slowly for what actually happened.
I do like the premise. The Kingdom of the Winter King is being invaded by a shadowy and evil Prince of the East. Our main protagonist, Raina, just wants to get back at the Witch Collector (the man who collects potential witches for the Winter King) for taking her sister years earlier but instead ends up in flight with the Witch Collector after her village is attacked by the Prince of the East.
There’s some solid world building but it feels a bit too simplistic. There was some adventure but it felt really meandering. The magic is interesting but a bit inconsistent. There isn’t enough humor and the book takes itself way too seriously. I also thought too much time was spent listening to the characters think about each other in their own heads; this really drew the length of the book out and you could skip paragraphs without really missing anything important.
This is the kind of story I would normally love but it just felt a bit off and a bit flat for the above reasons. The story is incredibly predictable as well, no intriguing twists and turns at all. I found myself struggling to stay interested. I kept putting the book down (even mid-chapter) because I just didn’t care much.
I can’t help but compare this book to “The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea” by Katherine Quinn. They are both published by City Owl Press and both very similar theme-wise. I thought “The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea” was a million times better than this book. That book just had a lot of fun and adventure and the romance was amazing; that one I had trouble putting down and it practically read itself. This book not so much.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this book was kind of weak for me. It felt like a pale retelling of Maas’s “A Court of Thorns and Roses”. I didn’t like any aspect of it all that much. It was okay but not great; everything felt a bit off to me. I don’t plan on continuing this series because I just couldn’t stay engaged in this book at all; something about Weaks writing style just doesn’t agree with me.
