Format: E-Galley, 439 pages
Release Date: November 2, 2021
Publisher: City Owl Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy
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?
The Witch Collector is the first installment in author Charissa Weaks' The Witch Walker Trilogy. Every Collecting Day, a man known as the Witch Collector rides into the valley of Silver Hollow and leads someone to Winterhold; home of the Frost King where they train to be witch walkers. 8 years ago, 24-year old Raina Bloodgood lost her older sister Nephele to the Witch Collector. The Witch Collector has chosen not to take Raina which allowed her to simmer with anger, and rage, and vowing revenge against him.
But the Witch Collector isn't Raina's only target. She wants revenge on the Frost King who was responsible for taking her sister from her. Removing both from the world would ensure that no more women are taken and ensure that her family is finally reunited. And, thanks to her father, she holds a weapon known as the God Knife which can kill anything. Why should we care about Raina's anger you ask? Raina is a witch without a voice. She communicates with a unique style of American Sign Language which only a few people understand and communicate with her.
But what Raina doesn't understand, is that Alexus Thibault aka Witch Collector, and Colden Moeshka aka the Frost King, want to get Raina to safety since she may hold the key to saving the Kingdom from a very powerful Prince of the East who has broken a long held peace agreement. But before Alexus arrives her Raina's village, he is met by the Prince's hoards, and action ensues. Raina goes from the only witch in the village without a voice, to going on the run and trying to stay ahead of a wild, action packed, life or death run for their lives to stay one step ahead of the Prince, and to hopefully meet with Nephele who is a powerful witch walker.
This story does alternate between Raina and Alexus which makes this book even better because you, as the reader, can get a sense of what is happening and what has happened leading up to Collecting Day. The more time that Raina spends with Alexus, she learns who he really is, and pretty much puts her life in his hands so that he can try to keep her from falling into the powerful Prince's hands which would be a catastrophe. It's not coincidence that I chose to read this around Halloween. The story is action packed with lots of scenes fighting, slow burn enemies to lovers, witches & magic, and villains which scare the crap out of you. As the story unfolds, the expanse of the world is revealed and the politics between the Gods became much clearer which is going to be expanded with the next installment.
No comments:
Post a Comment