5 stars for The Witch Collector by Charissa Weaks! Thank you to NetGalley and City Owl Press for the ebook ARC of this fantastic book!
Synopsis:
Every harvest moon, the Witch Collector rides into our valley and leads one of us to the home of the immortal Frost King, to remain forever.
Today is that day—Collecting Day.
But he will not come for me. I, Raina Bloodgood, have lived in this village for twenty-four years, and for all that time he has passed me by.
His mistake.
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?
When I receive ARCs, whether physical or ebooks, from a new or unknown to me author, it always feels like kind of a gamble. I've read a few recently that were such a disappointment. That was not the case, however, with The Witch Collector. I consider The Witch Collector to have been a huge triumph! I loved this book and I cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of the series.
I think deaf, especially mute, characters are very and far between and extremely underrepresented throughout the publishing world. The fact that Raina cannot speak (and has never been able to speak) and speaks through signing is huge. I absolutely adored Raina's character. The author in no way made there be anything "less than" about Raina because she was unable to communicate in the traditional sense. Raina is fierce and brave. She's protective and loving. She's hot-tempered and rash (personally my two favorite things about her). Raina has immense magical power and it is not hindered by her signing or lack of voice. It is extremely important that she was represented this way and I think the author did a really good job with it.
The enemies-to-lovers trope is always my favorite. Normally I would have considered the switch from enemies-to-lovers to have happened a little too quickly in this book, but considering the harrowing situations, Raina and Alexus find themselves in basically right away and the fact that Raina was operating on a very incomplete picture of who Alexus was, I think this quick progression works. Their chemistry paired with an outstanding array of side characters, lots of magic, and one truly nefarious villain, made The Witch Collector hard to put down and a joy to read.
At the beginning of the book, Raina and her mother, along with the rest of the village are getting ready for the harvest supper and the arrival of the Witch Collector. Raina's mother arrives home with a bushel of apples that need to be pealed and prepared for the harvest supper. The harvest supper is where the action of the story truly begins and so I thought I would peel a couple of apples of my own and honor the beginning of this incredible new fantasy series by making some cinnamon streusel apple muffins. With the days becoming shorter and shorter and the weather becoming colder and colder, snuggling up with a good book, a cup of tea, and a warm, fresh from the oven muffin is exactly what I want. I used a recipe I found from the blog Fork Knife Swoon (https://www.forkknifeswoon.com/cinnamon-streusel-apple-muffins/ Instagram: @forkknifeswoon) and they are truly delicious and perfect for the season. Unfortunately nothing this delightful awaited Raina, but I have high hopes that by the end of the trilogy she'll find some sort of a happy ending.
Thanks for stopping by!
-Kim
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