Title: Witch Finder (Witch Finder #1)My Thoughts:
Author: Ruth Warburton
Genre/s: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Romance
Released Date: January 2, 2014
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Synopsis:
London. 1880. In the slums of Spitalfields apprentice blacksmith Luke is facing initiation into the Malleus Maleficorum, the fearsome brotherhood dedicated to hunting and killing witches.Luke’s final test is to pick a name at random from the Book of Witches, a name he must track down and kill within a month, or face death himself. Luke knows that tonight will change his life forever. But when he picks out sixteen-year-old Rosa Greenwood, Luke has no idea that his task will be harder than he could ever imagine.
Luke’s parents were killed by a witch when he was young but the worse thing about it was that, he saw how it happened and who killed them. Luke wanted revenge and now that he is of age, he can now join the brotherhood that will help him get what he wants, The Malleus Maleficorum. He already passed two of the three tests to become a member; all he needed now is to kill a witch. It should have been an easy job if he hadn’t picked Rosa Greenwood.
Aside from the gorgeous cover of Witch Finder, its summary also caught my attention especially the last line “Luke has no idea that his task will be harder than he could ever imagine.” I expected Luke to try all the possible ways to kill Rosa from that line and I expected Rosa to be clever and avoid all his plans. But that’s not what I got. It's not even close what happened.
Luke, at first, looks tough and determined to be part of Malleus Maleficorum. All he can think about was how he can kill the Black Witch and avenge his parents. But when he was finally a step away from his dream to be in the brotherhood, that’s when his resolve staggers. Rosa, on the other hand, was a normal underrated Victorian witch-girl who was forced to marry a rich witch-guy to save her family’s financial and status problem. Her duty to her family was morally degrading and I pity her.
I really thought Rosa was “almost impossible to kill” but she wasn’t. It actually only took two tries to kill her if Luke didn’t change his mind and save her. I know Luke is not a killer, he’s too kind-hearted to do the job and I can understand that. But I’m still disappointed because of the lack of excitement in the book. I also didn’t believe the attraction between Luke and Rosa because they hardly talk or interact. The characters dragged the plot down and made it lackluster.
Overall, Witch Finder is not a good read for me and I will not recommend it.
My Rating
*A review copy was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Thanks, Hachette UK!)
