The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab is a standalone book. The lonely town of Near is quietly isolated by an endless moor. There are no strangers in this town of neighbors and families, just a howling wind that sweeps through homes in the night and legends of powerful witches passed down through nursery rhymes and lullabies. One dark, windy night, a mysterious stranger arrives in the town, but is never seen by the locals. The very next night, the children of Near begin to vanish. One by one, night by night, a child is drawn from their bed and disappears into the darkness. The local watch searches relentlessly for the missing children, but each time they turn up empty handed. As a result, one girl takes it upon herself to hunt down the kidnapper and locate the missing children.
Lexi is another strong female protagonist with no notable personality. She is determined, headstrong, and rebellious, but has little else defining her or distinguishing her from any other type of YA protagonist. The only thing that seems to masquerade as personality is her determination to follow in the footsteps of her father, a gifted tracker whose abilities bordered on magical. However, in her attempts to track down the children or partake in “unladylike” tasks, she often finds her in conflict with the men of her village. Unfortunately, as she has no other notable personality, there is nothing for the story to develop. She undergoes no character development over the course of the book.
The Near Witch is a great debut novel by the talented V.E. Schwab. From chapter one, the book draws readers in with its haunting yet enchanting setting that is quickly interrupted with the arrival of a mysterious figure lit only by moonlight. From there, a slow, alluring plot begins to unfold, as unexplainable events start occurring in Near. Every answer only brings more questions and a mounting sense of danger.
The slow, yet building pacing is complimented by a relatively low stakes plot that only builds over time. Although children are disappearing in the night, Lexi does not express any notable concern over their safety. She is only worried about the safety of her immediate family and of the allusive stranger. However, as children keep disappearing and the town becomes more and more desperate to find any explanation for the vanishing children, a sense of urgency and danger starts to creep in.
While the plot and pacing are well done, it is truly the setting that makes this book magical. V. E. Schwab expertly crafts a beautiful, quiet village in the middle of a moor where wind howls against window panes and where magic is always just a bit out of reach. Nothing beyond the town is described, enhancing the town’s feeling of isolation. The writing has a lyrical, fairytale-like style only enhancing the quietly creepy nature of the book.
In addition to the excellent setting, many of the characters are also surprisingly well written. Although many lack depth, the more central characters have multifaceted personalities with individualized motivations. The mysterious stranger, Lexi’s mom, and Lexi’s uncle all have very distinct personalities that have arisen from events in their past. While a cursory glance at the characters can easily cause a reader to shove them into stereotypical boxes, a closer look reveals more depth to each one of them. All other background characters have very simple motivations and only a few of them receive anything resembling a personality.
Where the writing starts to fall short is in the romance. The romance seems extremely rushed and forced as two characters who have only known each other for a week, begin to risk their lives for one another. There is also no noticeable chemistry between the two romantic leads, making the romance even less believable. The relationship depicted in the story is much more fitting of a platonic friendship than an actual romance and it is clear why many of V.E. Schwab’s later works forgo romance, in favor of some form of platonic relationship.
Overall, this book was surprisingly good for a debut novel, but not nearly as impressive as V.E. Schwab’s later works. The story adopts a slow pacing, but lacks the complex characters or compelling plot to make the pacing work when compared to Vicious and A Darker Shade of Magic. However, the book does make a decent read and reveals a notable pattern connecting all of V. E. Schwab’s future works.