THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab

Today I get to talk about THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab. I got my hands on this book several months ago, before ARCs were really out. I couldn't have been happier with what I read.

THE NEAR WITCH combines several of my favorite things: mystery, romance, and magic. I think that's like the trifecta of awesome for me.

Mystery: There's a new boy in town in THE NEAR WITCH, and that's not a good thing. And when children start going missing? Yeah, that's bad news. Lexi, the MC, has to figure out what's going on with the mysterious guy, and find the children.

I love a good mystery, and THE NEAR WITCH has one.

Romance: So the new boy in the town of Near is Cole, and he's mysterious and see-through (yes! See-through!) and kind and my favorite part: broken. I don't know, maybe I just really like broken characters (I do, there's no maybe about it. I like to feel when reading) that have something to lose or that have lost. And Cole does.

Lexi starts out suspicious of him, and then as she realizes that he's trying to solve the mystery too, their relationship grows. And the romance is incredibly well-done. Not too fast, not too slow. And achingly real.

Magic: Okay, so it's not magic like unicorn-haired wands and stuff. But there's often talk of a witch, and there are some spells and some fairy tales/legends that are told. It all weaves together to feel magical, and I really like magic.

And the way it's written is fab. Very sort of wispy and lyrical, while being utterly fast-paced. Here's what I mean: The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

I LOVE the line, "The wind is lonely, and always looking for company." It possesses magic. Yeah. Magic.

If you haven't read THE NEAR WITCH yet, get your hands on a copy! And if you're lucky enough to live in the south, you might be able to meet Victoria over the next couple of weeks. She's on tour as part of the Ash 2 Nash book tour with Beth Revis and Myra McEntire.

What book has been magical for you?

Check out what the other Bookanistas are up to this week at the Reading Room.

Or on their blogs:

• LiLa Roecker sings out about Where She Went
• Scott Tracey find wonder in The Near Witch
• Veronica Rossi is wild about Wildefire
• Stasia Ward Kehoe marvels at My Life, the Theater & Other Tragedies
• Corrine Jackson delights in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
• Christine Fonseca adores A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie

Giveaway Week, Day Whatever-It-Is

Up first: The winner of the subscription to Danyelle Leafty's serialized novel, THE FAIRY GODMOTHER DILEMMA is: Natalie Aguirre!!

Congrats! Please email me at elanajohnson(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address and I'll get your information to Danyelle.

And if this week hasn't been awesome enough, I present you with...

Today, I give you an ARC of THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab. I loved this book, and I'll be featuring it during Bookanista Thursday very soon. Just believe me when I say you want it. Badly.

Here's a bit about it, since you might not know, since it's not out yet: The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

To enter:
1. Leave a comment here by 10 PM Mountain time. (1 entry) Yes, it's that easy.*
2. Blog about this contest TODAY. (I am not doing twitter or facebook or Google+ or anything else. A blog post. You will get 1 entry for the blog post.)

That's all. I'm not doing a Google form or anything. Winners will be drawn from the comments of this post, and if you blogged about it, say so(!) so I can count you for 2 entries, okay?

Okay. The winner will be announced on Monday.

And since the title is THE NEAR WITCH, I have a "magic" related question: Have you seen Harry Potter yet?? Because holy Firebolts, Batman. You should get on that.

*All followers, old and new, will get an additional entry, but it is NOT required to follow my blog to win. Of course, I hope you do, because sometimes I say funny things, and give stuff away, and talk about books and bacon and any number of Adam Lambert hairstyles... So yeah.

Wednesday WOW

Okay, so there's many great things going on out there! I hope you guys don't mind me sharing a bit.

1. WriteOnCon is having another live event! This time, we're bringing you literary agent Sara Megibow from the Nelson Literary Agency. She'll be chatting with us--and all of you!--on Monday, October 25 at 9 PM EDT. Suh-weet! (And, uh, wow.) Check out the WOC site for more details.

2. I, Elana Johnson aka Query Ninja, am doing a live chat on Thursday, October 28. I know, shocking, right? I'm going to be discussing all things query letter related (and giving away query crits and ebooks!), and you can find out all the details at Operation Awesome. (Double Wow.)

3. Victoria Schwab's COVER! *faints* Dude, you guys, there is nothing more exciting that seeing/stroking/tasting a book. I love them all, not just my own. And Victoria is one of the nicest people you'll ever "meet." And she's got her ARC's--with the fantabulous cover, and she's letting me share it with you. So enjoy/drool/scream/whatever! Holy Triple Decker WOW!



A bit more about THE NEAR WITCH: The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.
If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.
There are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

Ooh, I have chills. I can't wait for this book! You can preorder it here. Go check out Victoria's blog too, okay? Okay.

What do you have on your WOW list today? Lay it on me, we're going for the bestest Wednesday ever!