"A Witch in Winter" by Ruth Warburton

Title: A Witch in Winter

Author: Ruth Warburton

 

Series: Winter Trilogy #1

My rating: 4.5 of 5

(Book re-read from my own copy from March 2nd to March 4th, 2013)

Summary:

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. 

 

When love is tangled up in magic, how can you be sure what's real?

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

Ok, since this was a re-read for me, I read it last year, but never got around to writing a review, and I still remember what I thought about it then, I guess I'll include my thoughts then & my thoughts now.

So,  when I saw A Witch in Winter last year, I knew I had to have it, because it sounded really interesting, and I do love witchy books, and you gotta love that cover - it's even more gorgeous IRL. Anyway, I pre-ordered it, read it & loved it, but as I said I never got around to reviewing it, although it was one of my fav debuts in 2012.   

What I loved about A Witch in Winter? Well, first, I have to admit the writing. It was lovely, a little bit magical, with some really lovely descriptions in this 1st book of the Winter Trilogy. And you could really feel that you're actually there, and I love it when the writing does that to me. Also, the story was really fun & interesting & sweet. Anna doesn't know she's actually a witch, so when joking around with friends trying to do some magic from a grimoire they found, she's in for quite the surprise when she realises that she's actually cast a love spell & now Seth Waters is obsessively in love with her, so she tries to reverse it, and lots of stuff start to happen around. There are some quite amazing, yet terrifying magic when it comes to the weather ;) Anyway, she actually manages to reverse the love spell, and although Seth's not obsessive anymore, he's still in love with her. It's not actually a love at first sight story, but Seth doesn't give up, so Anna falls in love with him, too. Now, that's not all to the story, but anything more would be full of spoilers, but there are some other witches that try to hurt Anna & her new friends & it was really interesting learning about the witch world. As for the characters, I really liked all of them, both Anna & Seth, as well as all the secondary characters, especially Abe & Emmaline. I remember while reading this last year thinking how much I love Abe as a character, he's just so fun, but also mysterious, and he has some amazing magic, and I was thinking that it's great there's not actually a love triangle. To be honest, near the end of the book Abe did something I didn't expect that I thought I might be wrong, but I didn't really mind it, it was just something on the spur of the moment, and after I re-read this book, I still like him quite a lot as a character. As for Seth & Anna, I thought that their romance is sweet & really honest, and they really do love each other, and I liked them a lot as a couple.

 

The ending was pretty great, with lots of action, some heartbreak, and it will leave you eager to pick up the next book, although there isn't a cliffhanger.   

Do I recommend A Witch in Winter? Yes! If you love YA fantasy books full with magic, witches and romance, then I recommend this one!

Challenges:

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge