Book Review: A Witch in Winter

A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Hodder Children's Books (January 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1444904698
• ISBN-13: 978-1444904697

Anna Winterson doesn't know she's a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that's controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.

Although a perfect fit for the paranormal romance genre, A WITCH IN WINTER avoids fangs, excessive body hair and submissive female leads, and tells the heart-wrenching story of a couple meant to be together, but being forced apart. Seth is utterly irresistible and Anna is an empowered, proactive young woman with unimaginable magic inside her. This is fast-paced, sensuous writing with believable incantations inspired by Warburton's research into witchcraft legend and old English.

Cover: Oooh, I so much love the cover. It was the first thing that caught my eyes, and just seeing it, makes me say, this is definitely YA Paranormal. My copy comes with the cover of the second book- A Witch in Love at the inner side of the front cover. And oh my, it was even more beautiful. Although, I don’t think they have the same model as the first one, on that issue, I prefer the girl on the first book.

The plot of the story was cute and interesting, especially the whole witch clan war. Hmmph, that’s pretty scary! The witch thing was well-researched, especially the use of old English in spells.

Even if the book talks about magic, everything else in it was genuine. I love how the author deals with teenage issues or should I say, teens usually do, like drinking for example. Warburton really stated it as if she was a teen herself,..lol

Although this is the first book I read from Ms. Warburton, her writing style was easy to understand. It was fast-paced, spiced with humor and there was suspense lurking in every corner. I can’t believe this is her debut novel , the book was really good.

I myself, was hoping magic exist, like witches, spells, potions. And I love the way the author reveals Anna’s true identity. It’s a situation where you really say, “that’s possible and unique”!

Anna is a character I instantly like. She was real. I mean, she acts, says, thinks what any normal teen would do. It’s easy to instantly love and relate to her. Her character developed a lot throughout the book.

The other characters were also strong in different ways, friends or fiends, each of them has his own predefined role. Although of course not everyone are in the limelight, I hope to see more of them in the next book.

As for the love story, just like the synopsis said it wasn’t anything like vampire/werewolves or girls who willingly submit to boys’ charms, in this one, Anna has the charm. Their love story was different in every way. It made me think that how could you really be sure that a boy loves you when you unintentionally and unbelievingly put a love spell on him?

As for Seth, he was such a good guy even though he was tag as the bad boy, so I’m not that a big fan, I prefer the bad boys maybe in love stories..lol.. I like Abe even better..;D

A Witch in Winter comes with high school dramas, love spells gone awry, spells, witches’ wars, near-death experiences, and of course lot of action. What more could you want?

Highly Recommended! I can't wait for the next in the series A Witch in Love and know what happens to Anna and Seth!


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