The Witch Collector (Witch Walker, #1) (2024)

I mean, I kinda liked it. And you might too if...

You like the rough and tumble nature of this guy...

But you also like the tenderness and honor in this guy...

Because if they had a baby it would be this guy...

AKA THE WITCH COLLECTOR.

He might have the hots for a certain heroine who's like...

And also a little...

So if you like all of that and don't mind some...

And maybe a tiny bit of...

And a healthy smattering of...

And...

And really cold places...

And last but not least...

Then this book might be your cup o' tea!

I hope you enjoy :)

this is a GOOD 3 star iykyk haha

I really enjoyed the first half and then everything that happened in the second half was just a LOT but overall interesting. I think the biggest reason I’m giving this three stars is because I’m not the biggest instalove person. Everything went down over the span of two weeks and now the two main characters would die for each other…..HA OK

"That's what you want?" He leans in, his breath warm against my mouth. "To know what it is to be mine?"

I dare you say there's anything weak about Charissa Weaks.
Pun totally intended 💅

🐺

You can't, because she's great and this book of hers, is even better.

If there's someone who's weak, that's 100% me, and if you stick around, I'm gonna tell you exactly why that is.

LOOK AT THIS.
Look it. Breath it. Feel it.
That picture up there is the reason I was shamelessly fanart-baited into this book by the super talented @castleintheskky, who kindly gave me permission to add their art to my review.
I should probably say I was initially very Cassian-baited, -because let's admit it, dude looks like my perfect Cassian- but that'd be way too specific, wouldn't it?
I mean, only half the world population knows how obsessed I am with the Lord of Bloodshed, but the point is another.
What you guys need to know is that I went into this thinking I'd have fun, and ended up having LOTS.
The Witch Collector is almost everything I look for in a book, these days. Older main characters (MMC is 300 years old. Basically my typa man), a gifted author who doesn't hold back on the violence and the romance, a cool magic system, a rich prose properly scattered with lore and atmospheric settings, enemies to lovers romance, and so much action I found myself holding in my breath more times than I'd like to admit.
There is very little I didn't like about this, and even the things I didn't fully love are so small and insignificant, there basically weren't any, technicalities aside.
If I had to list them, though, I'd go with: I wish the villain had a little more space in the story, there's thanfully no info-dumping, but the lore's explanations don't appear until 20% of the book so you have to put your mind at work to unravel things (I suggest writing names and places down), and the enemies-to-lovers progression was a tad too swift, but it worked anyway.

I was really impressed with Raina and Alexus, as main characters. Their characterization is very well defined, and I appreciate that they were able to talk out their problems most of the time.
God only knows if there's something that really puts me off a romance is th emiscommunication trope.
I found totally entertaining that, while Alexus was a skilled and powerful warrior, it was Raina who saved his ass most of the time and sometimes the opposite. Yep, we do love equality in our murderous main couples.
It was also impressively refreshing to have a mute character who spoke her own special sign language and have her make of this "weakness" her strongest trait. I loved how brave, stubborn and strong she is.
The secondary characters we encounter through the story are equally as interesting as the main ones. I can't wait to see more of Colden, Helena, Nephele and Rhonin.

Overall, this was really pretty awesome and I feel like those who enjoyed the Drowned Empire books and Rise of the Dawnbringer would agree with me, at least a little.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

"That man would burn down the world for Raina Bloodgood, and he’s known her barely two weeks."

That says a lot, doesn't it?

The cover had sold me and the description sounded like it could be a decent story, but looks can be deceiving sometimes. This was just one of the same, but also slightly worse.

I will start from the good points:
1) The magic was interesting, but unexplored. How it works is that the more runes you have on your body, the stronger you are, but it is never really explained well how those runes work. There are colors mentioned once or twice that probably belong to elements/powers, but not much attention is given to that. Either way, interesting concept with the body runes and of course, everyone can have an inherent inclination to something specific.

2) The lore behind the world was also very interesting, despite the fact that it comes up after the middle of the book. I think the whole gods and curses and betrayal was more interesting than the usual revenge story of a naive village woman. Even their names, Colden Moeshka and Fia Drumera, sound cooler than Raina Bloodgood. I would have loved more story about that. Also, I would have loved to have more details about how it works with gods and godlings. I appreciated the mention that the world is much larger than where they are and for now story is contained, but I want more information as to what are they, where they came from and how many more were there in the story, apart from, like, 3 main gods that were story related.

3) The king was a fun character. He needed a lot less swearing, cause it was that tryhard approach that he has to be sarcastic only by being predictably insulting. However, he had a great presence in the VERY few pages he appeared in.

As for the bad ones... it is everything else. Almost all of the characters are... boring. Raina is such a token character who is supposedly nice, but oh no, she has a rebel's heart and no real plan to actually go through with her revenge to end the Frost King and of course is hiding some great power. I honestly would not have minded, because it is a cliche (albeit a tiring one), but then she has the development of one of those girls in harlequins; aka romance everywhere. There isn't ANY instance in the book that she has not been thinking of the Witch Collector in some kind of way (90% sexually) from the first time she sees him without his hood. If I had a penny for every time she thought to herself how she's feeling things she shouldn't or how she wants to ravish him... I would have a fairly decent allowance.

IT'S JUST 2 WEEKS!

That's the entirety of the book. 2 weeks. But their romance is the strongest one ever! /rolling eyes

Alexus, aka Witch Collector, isn't any different. Dude has lived for a fairly long time, but would die for Raina maybe from even before he officially meets her. He has so much lore behind him and all his role was to be Raina's love interest. And I know that he is supposed to be an ideal man, especially from the author's notes, but perfect is boring. You need flaws to appreciate the perfection of it. And Alexus has very surface level flaws.

The rest of the cast? Was there really any other important? One could argue yes, but I couldn't care less for them. Even Raina's sister for whom all this endeavor was, is barely seen throughout /shrug

As for the story, I am not sure how to explain it, but basically it's a continuous narration and the only thing you see mostly is Raina and Alexus traveling to a place and the obstacles in that trip. I cannot say how it could be better, but most of this just felt very flat to me the way it was set up from the start. Maybe because for like 95% of the book we only see 2 places? I don't know. It kind of felt like an obstacle course where characters had to jump over the hurdles on the same road. It is hard to really explain it well, because theoretically, it works.

I do not think I'll read the second one, despite the fact that it will focus on more places and lore. I just cannot care for Raina and Alexus.

plot: 343 pages of riding through a forest.

this put me in a reading slump.

the frost king’s name is colden…COLDen

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley (thank you City Owl Press). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

✅ Magic
✅ Characters (✅ Mute MC)
✅ Plot
✅ Romance (hate to love)
✅ Sexual tension (but not much smut)
✅ Love interest 😍
✅ Two POVs
✅ Atmosphere
✅🆗 Pace
❗️❗️ Trigger warnings: deaths

I just need to kidnap the Frost King’s right-hand man first, force him to guide me through the forbidden Frostwater Wood, ambush the kingdom’s guarded castle at Winterhold, kill my enemies, and take back my sister.

Eight years ago, the Witch Collector came and took Raina’s sister with him. Every year he comes and takes the most powerful witches to bring them back to Winterhold so they can help defend the kingdom against the neighboring country threatening to wage war against them. Raina vowed that this year, she would kill the Witch Collector when he comes and finally get her revenge because he took her sister away from her. But things are not as simple as they seem, and there is much more at stake than Raina’s hurt feelings and her desire for revenge. She ends up being forced to travel and even worse, to cooperate with the Witch Collector, who turns out to be a very handsome and sexy young man and not nearly as bad as she thought he was.

It’s been eight long years since the Witch Collector took my sister. Every harvest moon, he rides into our valley, black cloak whipping in the wind, and leads one of us to Winterhold, home of the immortal Frost King, to remain forever.

The world-building is well done and everything is well explained as the story goes, it’s not an info dump at the beginning of the book. Raina and Alexus spend a lot of time in a magical forest and the descriptions were great. I could feel the dark, mysterious, and cold vibe of the woods, this would be a great winter read. There are also politics and lore that are explained as the book progresses, and overall it was easy to understand what was happening, without it being too simplistic.

Gold for life magick, red for healing magick, silver for common magick—like the protective magick we build at the wood’s boundary. The violet must be for Sight.

A part of the world-building that I particularly liked, but that sadly was not that important in the book, is the tattoos the witches get. Tattoos appear on the witches' bodies according to their specific set of skills and how powerful they are. It is explained at the beginning of the book, but I am still very curious about that and I just love that concept. It's similar to the marks the magic users get in Cast in Firelight.

Some women long for a husband. A home. Children. Others desire feverish kisses in the shadows, whispers of seduction against their skin. Me? I want my family. Together and free. I also want the Frost King and his Witch Collector. Dead. And today I make my wish come true.

Raina is mute, and it was my first time ever reading a book with a mute main character. She learned a special sign language that allows her to communicate with her close friends and family. Thankfully, Alexus, the Witch Collector, also learned this language during the 8 years he spent with Raina’s sister, so he can communicate with Raina too. I loved this unique trait she has, and I love even more how efficient and strong, and courageous she is despite the extra effort she needs to put in to do magic since she can't sing the incantations. She is not weaker because of the fact that she is mute, she turns it into a strength, and people do not treat her as if she is less powerful either. She is a great main character, and I love how the author developed her during the story and how she changed as she spent time with Alexus and learned more about the war threatening her country. She goes from being more self-centered and wanting her revenge at all costs to being willing to risk her life to help the Frost King and Alexus to win the war and save the people of her kingdom.

Such a mystery, this man, though he also feels like an open book. Perhaps there are pages and lines I simply haven’t had the time to read yet, chapters to lose myself inside. And perhaps I shouldn’t want to. But gods, I do.

Alexus is real book boyfriend material. He is strong, loyal, caring, selfless, sweet, and sexy... AND HE HAS DIMPLES! There is also a lot of sexual tension between Raina and him, and it was a delight to read! Alexus has a mysterious past so it did add some unexpected revelations (that were not all that unexpected, but it still counts) to the plot and some mystery to him. You will fall in love with him for sure, and I for one cannot wait until more people know about this book so I can see more fanarts of him and Raina.

Strange how everything has changed. How my hatred of the Frost King has been the last thing on my mind for a while. How I’m now smiling at the man that I wanted to kidnap a handful of mornings ago and aching for the death of another man I’ve only just met. Now, when I try to decipher who my real enemies are in this game, I’m no longer so sure.

The hate-to-love romance has always been a favorite trope of mine, and even though Alexus did not hate Raina at first (I would even say that he was intrigued by her), she hated him enough for the two of them! But how could she resist his charm, his caring and sweet side, and his sexiness (and his dimples!)? I fell in love with him too and while I'm giving the book 4 stars as a whole, I'm giving Alexus 5 stars without hesitation. He also has his own chapters which I ADORED, and it allowed us to really get a good insight into his thoughts and motivations and it just made me love him even more.

I fear war is coming, the likes of which Northlanders have never seen. The Prince of the East has indeed walked inside the Shadow World. He also has power he should not have, a living amalgam of all the things people claim: shadows, souls, and sin.

The evil Prince of the East is also a great character. He’s ruthless, cruel and full of a mysterious darkness that I can’t wait to know more about. The story does not end with a cliffhanger, but we just know that there is more action, battles, and darkness coming, and I really hope to see more of the Prince of the East in the next book... I feel that there is more to him than just a greedy prince thirsty for more power. I also would love to see more of the Frostking because he has the potential to be an awesome character. We didn't see much of him in this book, but the little we saw was very intriguing.

I suppose it isn’t awful to have a man like Alexus Thibault indebted to me, but I want nothing more from him than his aid in reaching my sister. I certainly don’t want this closeness or the way his nearness makes my heart beat harder. I don’t want to act like a stupid little girl from the vale caught up in a beautiful man’s presence, sucked in by his absorbing gaze. I’m a grown woman who can think around such nonsense.

I definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a fantasy story full of travel in magical and dangerous woods, adventure, and magic, with sexual tension, light romance, a strong main character, and a very dashing love interest with jade-green eyes and cute dimples. 😉

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I had to DNF at 100 pages, this was just.. bad.
Everyone she’s ever known and loved has just been slaughtered and she barley bats an eye.. she’s more focused on how hot her kidnapper is? Like what

•✿•➳4✫

𝓓𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓯𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓭 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓭.

Every harvest moon, the witch collector will collect a witch and bring them to the home of Frost King, where they will be there forever.

Raina Bloodgood has felt much hatred towards the witch collector since he took her sister. She meant to kill the witch collector during collecting day, but instead that night something more terrible happened that changed everything.

𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙣, 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙍𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮. 𝙄𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚, 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙. 𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙙.
𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.
𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚. 𝘽𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.

Raina is a mute witch with very rare powers. She's the most badass, strong, and stubborn. I was so awestruck by her.

𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩, 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙥 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨. 𝙃𝙚’𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙬𝙖𝙮. 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣.

Alexus is a very powerful strong skilled character yet so freaking sweet and considerate i love him your honour.

“𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤,” 𝙄 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣. “𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨.”

Their relationship—my god, I love everything about it. I love how they always communicate things with each other. Miscommunication trope? don't know her.
This book contains so many things: magic, politics, friendship, family, and relationships. The world building was so well done; there was no unnecessary information dumping. I will be continuing the series for sure!
Highly recommend🫶

𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚. 𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚. 𝙏𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙟𝙤𝙮. 𝙏𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙏𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙞𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡. 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚—𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨.

-----------
i mean her name is Raina Bloodgood so its betterbegood 😶

HUZZAH. I have found a Holy Grail series.

I have this *thing* where I’m trying to find book series that hit the four corners of the rim of the Holy Grail cup - thus making them a member of “ Professor Lili’s Holy Grail Book Club”

The corners are as follows:

1. high fantasy with a well rounded and in-depth Magic system and World building. I wanna know that the author has really thought about everything and knows the world.

2. Foreshadowing. Leave me CRUMBS.

3.) spice. - I want a full romance that doesn’t take away from the world or plot. I want BOTH. give me war and Or- *cough cough* moving on…

4. Plot. I want a fully rounded and detailed story.

The Witch Collector HITS ALL OF THESE FOR ME.

Thus - 5⭐️
It’s has SPICE. And the second one is. 🫠😩 hotter and I’m only 100 pages in.

- witches with a COOL magic system
-non speaking FMC
-GODS
-I thought we were enemies but really I need your help
-duel POV
-GIRL POWER
-character with more names and identities that keeps EVERYONE on their toes - and we love them for it.

I can’t stop thinking about this series. Full on obsession. Bought all the books currently out before I hit page 150 of the first book kinda in love.

I want everyone to read it and SCREAM with me.

This is not a review it’s a RAVE.

DNF at 15%

This is a case of a story that started out strong. Raina the main character is mute and uses sign language. Not something you read often, so that was well done.
The characters are also older than our usual ya story, Raina is twenty four and talks about a previous romantic/sexual relationship. So I guess this is NA?
That should've given me pause...
The revenge plot, started out interesting; it even gave me a little Hunger Games vibe in the fact that once a year, someone from the village is taken. In this case her sister was taken, so she plots vengeance against the hand that does the taking. Namely the witch collector.
But then the other POV begins and the author's need to interwoven all those characters felt off to me.
Then there's quite a few battle scene pages, and since I still hadn't connected with the characters, I really couldn't care less about those. There's even people cut in half. o_O
*Me, wow, that blade must be really, REALLY sharp*
Then there's the MOMENT
The moment in which the main characters see each other for the first time:
So you have a medieval village setting, it's not as if you have ELECTRICAL LIGHTING, YOU KNOW!
But the characters are able to check themselves out. Perfectly! And I'm like, "WHO FREAKING CARES; PEOPLE ARE DYING ALL AROUND, FOCUS, YOU IDIOTS!"
-__-

The guy: Green eyes, piercing look, "He wears a short, neat beard and his face is all dangerous edges and sharp lines. He's handsome in a wicked, dark way. Beautiful even."
The guy that she wanted to kill up until a second ago. Right. LMAO
Her "That long hair and blue dress. Those sapphire eyes."
Nope, don't care, also the "magic" seems really dumb.
I'm out.

“𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩.”

The Witch Collector follows Raina Bloodgood, a mute witch who uses sign language to communicate. In Rainas world, a man dubbed “The Witch Collector” comes once a year to pluck a witch from her village in order to join the army of The Frost King. When Rainas sister is chosen and ripped away from their home, Raina vows that she will take revenge on the Witch Collector and The Frost King. It isn’t until enemies from the East invade that Raina is forced to reevaluated everything she has ever know and face feelings she never expected to experience.

God, I absolutely LOVED this book. It was such an addicting read. There truthfully wasn’t a moment while I was reading this book that I felt bored or that my mind even wandered off. I just wanted to keep reading.

The world building doesn’t come into play until about 20% into the book so you do have to pay close attention to locations and information that will come into play later in the story. I loved that everything had meaning and/or a connection to something by the end of the book.

The characters were written incredibly well and could stand on their own without one another. Not to mention that the characters chemistry was off the charts, and I was rooting for them since their first meeting. The spice was 😮‍💨 without taking up too much time in the story or making it the main “plot” of the book.

My only hope is that the villain of the book gets more “air time” and is fleshed out a bit more.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨
⚔️ Enemies to lovers
⚔️ Forced proximity
⚔️ Touch her and die

I’m still slumping hardcore but this seems like the perfect witchy vibe for October 🧙‍♀️🎃

3.75✨

𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘸. “𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.”
𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴. “𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩?”
𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬. “𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡.”

Ahhhh I finally finished this. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 follows Raina, a mute witch in a small village, and Alexus, the witch collector tasked with bringing witches to the king. On the day Alexus is meant to collect another witch, the rival kingdom of Eastlanders attack Raina’s village. Thrown into a game of cat and mouse, Alexus and Raina must travel together to save their king. And shit does not go according to plan.

I really really enjoyed this. Raina had plans to kill Alexus, but they are forced to work together in an unlikely alliance. Raina is so bad ass, and Alexus is everything. I loved their slow burn tension and the way he was ready to give everything to save her. The magic system and world building are really immersive and well done.

I did find myself getting bored at points because I’m not a huge fan of travel plots. But there was enough action spread throughout the book that it made up for it.

All of the characters are really dynamic, from the villains and side characters. The action scenes kept me on the edge of my seat!

Read if you like
✨ enemies to lovers
✨ forced to work together
✨ feisty and strong fmc
✨ powerful and broody mmc
✨ intricate and unique magic system
✨ dual pov
✨ well written battle scenes and action

3.5 Virago Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️/5

It's sometimes really difficult to read a book my friends swear by and love. I know I'll feel bad if I don't feel the same way and it makes it super difficult to review the book. BUT I am going to stand true to what I feel and believe irrespective of what my friends feel because I know what works for one person will not always work for another person.

There are a few things that I look for when I am reviewing and book but ultimately I REVIEW FOR ME... My level of enjoyment and what I take out of the book. I'm not going to let other people sway my opinion or influence how I feel about something just because we happen to not align.

Now I'll step off my soap box

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
I really battled to get into this. It was a struggle. I almost had to force myself to pick it up because there was something in the story that was just not gripping me. It follows a mute girl, Raina, who has this goal to kidnap and kill The Witch Collector; who, eight years ago, stole her sister for The Frost King. Every year a witch with great power is chosen and fetched by The Witch Collector and they are never seen again. Unknown to her there is a war breaking out between kingdoms, with The Prince of the East trying to overthrow the Frost King of the North. Soon a horrific battle occurs on her doorstep and in that battle, our little mute girl doesn't end up killing The Witch Collector; she saves his life. Now the two find themselves on a quest to protect the Frost King and her sister.

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
One of the biggest problems with this is that despite it being an amazing enemy-to-lovers transition and despite me loving "journey-type" books, the world-building is VERY COMPLICATED and with the introduction and initial explanation of how things worked was VERY convoluted and almost bordering on info-dumpy.

I didn't grasp it right at the beginning. I wasn't sure what was going on; I wasn't sure what was current lore versus old lore and what was just historical fact. Whilst it does get easier to understand the more and more you read, and luckily in the end it makes sense, in the beginning, I felt a little confused and no book should make you hope if I go with the flow it will get better.

I have to give it to Charissa Weaks, the magic system is REALLY cool. I loved how the "Witches" were more traditional sorcerers than what you would call witches, the way each person's magic ability works was unique and refreshing!

I did like Raina. She didn't let her disability stop her, and while she knows she is traditionally disadvantaged compared to the other witches and has constantly been overlooked because she seemingly has "no power". This has been her greatest strength and her greatest weapon because she is invisible, and doesn't have a voice, people don't see the powerhouse and threat she can be and how she is not somebody who can be trifled with. She stands up for what she believes in, she is strong, she is determined and she is a fighter.

The representation and implementation of how her disability was handled were done really well. It was super clear when people were talking, it was clear when people were signing and that aspect of the book did not seem like a struggle to read. It was natural to read which I think is a perfect metaphor for how it should be, no ease at all no matter the differences in communication.

Alexus, my god, jeez, he goes through a lot of shit. The amount of times he nearly dies and is injured or is in pain IS ASTOUNDING. He must have a pain threshold five times the amount of a normal person because he is stabbed multiple times, and while he is healed... he doesn't let the stabbing or any injury inconvenience or dissuade him. It's just ridiculous, this poor man!

The relationship between Alexus and Raina is kind of strange because if you put the exact relationship on a timeline they go from mortal enemies to lovers within 12 days. But in terms of the pacing of the book, everything they go through together and how they slowly connect it's still a "slow burn". There is the right amount of sexual tension and waiting before the real romance happens. I also loved that he was able to communicate with her in Sign and it being one of the main reasons she started to trust him. It was just cute how the two grew a bond of love in the constant dangers they kept being forced into.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Dual POV
▶ Broody MMC and Badass and Feisty FMC
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ Slow Burn
▶ Intricate Magic System
▶ Burn the World for You
▶ Touch Her/Him You Die
▶ Knife to the Throat (FMC to MMC)
▶ Age Gap
▶ Mute/Sign Langauge Representation
▶ One Bed and One Horse

All in all, I'm pretty interested in continuing the story. The ending with the cliffhanger was pretty cool, and it was a very compelling start to a decent fantasy series. As much as I had a few problems with the slow uptake in understanding the world-building, by the end of it I was thoroughly invested.

This book could have been so much more but was just poorly executed.

I can't explain how bored I was reading this book. Everything was bland, particularly the characters. It got to the point I couldn't really tell anyone apart because they all sounded the same. The world-building was non-existent and I felt like I didn't understand Raina's motivations because I didn't understand the world we were in.

I physically cringed when the author introduced the MMC by having him throw a young boy he didn't know into the air, to show us that he's 'a good man' despite everyone hating him.

I'm sad that I disliked it so much since it's been sitting on my TBR for a long time (clearly for a good reason).

As much as I would generally consider this an alright read, I still think the plot was pretty cool!

I didn’t find it too predictable since I started the story with specific predictions based on the character’s intentions but ended up on a different route than we started. There were a lot of reveals about the characters that made me want to keep reading and find out more! The world-building was good, but I found that most of the plot was centered in the same “area, " which made it a little boring.

Also maybe romance is a big part of the plot but since I don't really care for it I’m just not going to talk much about it.

This was such a fun & exciting read! Beautifully written fantasy romance full of action packed fighting, slow burn enemies to lovers, witches & magic. The amazing heroine Riana, is out for vengeance against the Frost King and his Witch Collector for taking her beloved sister away from her family 8 years prior… Little does she know, nothing is as it seems. Chaos ensues and she must go on an intense journey with Alexus the (extremely handsome) Witch Hunter to find her sister.
Fantastic world building, great plot, and tons of sexual tension & chemistry made this one of my favorite fantasy romance reads this year! Absolutely can’t wait for the rest of this trilogy!

Thank you to Charissa Weaks and the publisher City Owl Press for the opportunity to read this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Really liked the concept of this, and the magic was really unique and interesting. The heroine was a bit flat and this was far too much insta love for my taste.

This had great potential but fell short in a lot of ways, but I am going to continue the series at some point.

There was a reason why I had decided to wait for the entire series to be readily available before I begin reading it. Patience has never been my forte and after having struggled with waiting for Harry Potter books, I had made my decision and stuck to it, but lately, with Net Galley and the alluring cover images, my decision has gone for a toss and here I am in turmoil having begun another trilogy for which I cannot wait another single day for the next book.

Charissa Weaks’s The Witch Collector is a world beyond imagination. Having a protagonist unable to speak but whose magic is waiting to burst is sure to leave you enthralled. There are many characters in the fantasy tale each with their own background story that is waiting to be explored. But The Prince of the East is one of those antagonists that is gonna stay with you for a long time. His mere presence and the entire spectrum of evil shadows oozing out of him gave me goosebumps.

I was totally smitten by Alexus, his morally greyish shade adding an extra appeal to his gentle and caring love towards Raina. But Raina is a protagonist that I absolutely loved, the sign language that counter her muteness, her courage in dealing with the truths that open up in front of her eyes, the loyalty towards her sister and showing mettle every time a crisis looms forth and finding ways to escape the dangers without any help, each segment of the story was entirely captivating. The enemies to lovers romance is always a favorite trope of mine and this story had that in abundance. The mystery elements especially the past that unfolds about Alexus keep the reader glued to the pages.

Charissa Weaks creates stunning imagery, the word building so beautiful that traveling thru the magick enclosed woods felt like eons with the biting icy cold. In fact, the parts in the Winter road and Winterhold enclose the reader in a bubble of enchantment. The story doesn’t end in a cliffhanger, the crux of the plot is cleared up but a major plot development about Alexus is kept in the dark, and therein lies my problem about waiting to grab the next one in the series.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Victory NetGalley Co-Op and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

This review is published in my blog Rain'n'Books, ##Goodreads, ##Amazon India, ##Book Bub, ##Medium.com, ##Facebook, ##Twitter.

I'll give my right tit if the Prince of the East has a redemption arc because my dude was giving HEAVY sexual tension. (Besides the whole rotting face thing. We're gonna ignore that.)

I'd like to say that I enjoyed this but EVERY TIME Alexus went off on his own I had a running bet on how long it would take him to get seriously injured. This man almost died like 5 times in this book. And each time, I found it harder and harder to excuse it. Especially when I learned that he was 300 plus years old 😐 Really? Some evil lackies and side characters are gonna trip you up??? I've been with OP male leads for to long to take this shit.

The world in this seemed flat as well and the vomit of information at around the 70% mark from Alexus made me want to grab a pillow and scream until my lunges exploded. It was a chapter of dialogue giving the history of Colden as well as the gods that govern this world.

Tiktok definitely plays a role in my scathing review since I saw so much hype for the romance and magic system.

The truth is that Alexus and Raina's relationship developed over a 2 week time frame that was exhilarated due to harsh travel conditions and isolation. I couldn't like them together because I had no clue how they played off each other in a group. This story felt so confined because of the fact that we were traveling with only the two main characters for about 70%. I DESPISED every single godforsaken second of it.

This was a DNF at 40%. I really wanted to like this book, but the premise was idiotic, Raina was too stupid to live, and the plot relied too much on her stupid decisions to tolerate it any longer. She was supposed to be an adult (she talks about her sex-life, at least) yet she behaves like a teenage YA heroine. She doesn’t listen to anyone and sticks to her notion that killing the Witch Collector will somehow change their lives when the rest of the village doesn’t want a change—as if it would happen that way anyway—and is preparing a feast for his arrival.

Idiotic decision follows another: what does she think she can do, heading to the king’s castle ahead of a conquering army? And she wanted to go there alone. Yet when she’s forced to accept Alexus’s help, she’s suddenly lusting after him. She doesn’t give a single thought for the devastating loss and tragedy she’s just experienced. Insta-lust has its places, but not here.

I have many thoughts about the internal logic of the magical system, which it lacks (magic needs to be sung, yet it recognises sign language too? And suddenly mere thought is enough?) And why did Raina have to be mute when it doesn’t affect the plot or her behaviour in any way. It only becomes a gimmick.

I liked Alexus, but not enough that I would’ve finished the book. Poor man deserved better than Raina, and since the only way for me to keep the illusion that he doesn’t end up with her was to stop reading, that’s what I did.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 ⭐️ Ok I did actually really enjoy this and would recommend but I think I preferred the 1st half of the book to the 2nd half? Unsure. Will be reading on but not immediately…

I devoured this book.
You know when you read a book and it's timing is perfect? Well that's what happened with The Witch Collector. .

It held my attention from the very start, I mean how could it not. Our MC was born without the ability to speak, she is also a Witch. She sings her spells with sign language. That is brilliant. She has so much talent but believes she has none due to having no Witch markings. She has gotten overlooked by the Witch Collector each year on Collecting Day. This year she plans on being noticed, because this year she plans on kidnapping him and forcing him to take her to the Frost King. Murdering them both to get her sister who was taken 8 years prior.

There is so much that happens in such a short time, we learn so much of the back story of how things in this world came about. It fascinating, the gods and the land wars. The death of gods and the wanting to bring them back. This book is just the beginning. I seriously can not wait for the second installment. I would be reading right now if I had my hands on it. In fact, I will purchasing this book to have in my collection because it was that good and I know I will want to reread it.

For a fantasy romance, there is more story then romance and how it blends together for me was chefs kiss. As you can see I loved the story, the magic system, the battles, the characters. This book deserves the 5 stars I gave it and I can not wait for August 9th to get my hands on a copy of book 2 City of Ruin.

After the loss of both my Step mom and only 4 weeks ago today my grandmother finding a book to keep hooked to the point I was with this one was very hard to do. For this I am so grateful to the author, Charissa Weaks. Thank you.

Originally posted on I Can Has Books

We have a saying in Arabic
صمت، صمت وفطرت على بصلة
Translation: I fasted and fasted then broke my fast on an onion
(Means: all this effort for nothing)

If you want a fantasy book that would confuse the shit out of you, then this is the book for you.

The premise of the story was so catchy
But the execution was 👎👎👎

First: the blurb of the book is only like, what?, the first 5 chapters!
She wants to kill him or capture him or I don't know, to lead her to her sister

Then: they get lost in this enchanted place where a bunch of many things happen that you don't understand how

The story of the gods wars was so childish I was rolling my eyes🙄🙄😒😒 it's was like watching a rerun of Dynasty!

And then we have a God who is "if the Witcher and Carden had a baby" who sacrifices everything for his first love but because he becomes immortal, falls in love with Raina's sister or something!!

And then there is Alexus who is a walking talking well of secrets. The dude was "I have to tell you something" and " there is something I forget to tell you" every other page!

And Raina was so bland! She is supposed to be this cunning witch who can't talk. I love disability representation in books but it was like it was there to be there!
Everything was handed to her
She is this all powerful witch that can do all kinda powers out of no where
You don't know why

And the story was a cluster of "something terrible is about to happen, then puffff its done"

It feels like some parts were rushed, others were stretched, and some were just there
See, I told you! 😕 confusing!

Example: there are two animals with the name Tuck, one is a horse one is a dog. I figured that on chapter 44 when all this time I kept wondering "how is she riding a dog?"

But you know what? I bought the whole series because I'm one of those booknerds who buys the whole damn thing before reading the first book and I'll read book 2 to see how it will fare.

"The Witch Collector" casts an enchanting spell with its intricate world-building, captivating main characters, and a unique focus on a compelling main villain.

The magical elements seamlessly integrate into the world, creating an atmosphere that feels both fantastical and grounded in its own rules.

The main characters are the heart and soul of the story. Their growth, challenges, and interactions are make them easy to connect with and invest in. I really liked them. Raina and Alexus story was sweet. The only issue I had was, where Alexus does his "like" for Raina came from, it mentions that there's always been something about her for him....what?! That was the only hole I saw.

One standout aspect is the main villain, a character whose complexity and depth are particularly engaging. I am not going to lie there were moments I was more invested in the villain than I was in the hero. There goes my love for the bad-boys again... I really want a redemption arc of his character.

"The Witch Collector" is a captivating read that masterfully blends intricate world-building, relatable main character. The author's enchanting storytelling draws readers into a world with magic and witches resulting in a a really enjoyable read.

Sexual Content: heavy
Language: moderate/heavy
Drugs/Alcohol: mild
Violence: moderate
LGBTQ: I think so? I can't remember

“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆.”

3.5🌟 - Rounding up because I did enjoy much of the book, though some parts felt a bit flat.

I loved the concept of introducing a witch seeking vengeance, only to be stuck with the very person she wants to kill but needs at the same time. It��s a classic enemies-to-lovers story where they travel together, gradually blurring the lines between hate and love.

As a reader, I realized I'm not a big fan of books that focus heavily on the journey, which is why I struggled a bit. BUT I absolutely loved the representation of sign language—Rainer uses it to communicate with the Witch Collector, who understands it too, and that just melted my heart.

One thing that stood out to me was that the Witch Collector (Alexis) is portrayed as a strong, imposing figure, but at times, he didn’t quite live up to that image. Just a minor observation, but overall, I enjoyed the read and am looking forward to giving the second book a chance.

Tropes
❄️enemies to lovers
❄️forced proximity
❄️he falls first-ish

⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱: have it on my kindle and the audiobook so it was screaming at me to start 🫣🤣

Preface

It was a mess.

Insta-love, dragging and traveling through the woods; lots of telling not showing plus this is supposed to be a fantasy romance yet everyone is involved with everyone else (which is not romantic, it was just flippant).

There is death of a bunch of loved ones but no reaction or reckoning, just a passing sadness and equivalent of:

“Aww. My caterpillar never turned into a butterfly"
"That's a cheeto."
*eats the freaking Cheeto*

Now, if we remove all of there there is some fantastic world building. So why two stars? It is not used! It’s just in the background. An amazing tales of Gods, vengeance, curses and we get a walk in the woods where the super powerful guy and the heroine die almost every second because of stupid decisions or the cold.

*Yells into pillow*

Bad stories will be bad stories, sometimes they can be fun because you know they are bad and there was virtually nothing else that they could be. This story though? It falls into what I consider the highest sin of literature.

Wasted potential.

The author clearly knows how to write, she might need to work a bit on developing emotions and realistic reactions to certain life events that at least match the characters personalities, but the back story and the magic system she underused in this book is a tragedy. This could have been such a good fantastic tale. Instead I got low stakes and nothing virtually happening until the last second to a bunch of people I didn’t care about.

————————————————————————————

Plot : 2 📚📚 Some.

World Building(Immersion): 2.5 🌎🌎💫 Only the head still out even with the current dragging me down.

Angst : ❎ No angst.

Funniness: ❎ No funny moments.

Scariness: ❎ Not scary.

Romance: 2.5 💖💖💫It was there but it was underwhelming.

Spice: 2.5 🌶🌶💫 Between poetic and Explicit.

Goriness: 2 🫀🫀 Somewhat descriptive violence.

Sadness: ❎ No sadness.

Overall star rating : 2 ⭐️⭐️ Nothing is okay.

————————————————————————————
🚨🚨🚨MILD SPOILERS 🚨🚨🚨

The Good Place:
▫️Un Drallag is such a cool name.
▫️World building was incredibly fun (even if was a show not tell scenario and useless in the long run).
▫️I enjoyed that the main character was able to do magic even if she was mute. That didn’t stop her from being a good apprentice- doesn’t matter that the magic is said/sung, she would try.
▫️the love interest learned sign language from her sister.

The Bad Place:
▪️the sister of the main character is involved with a guy who still “in love” with his immortal lover! What a punch in the gut for that lover. Plus, 300 years for a love that ignited a curse and a killing of gods is too long to wait? How am I even supposed to be invested? It’s stupid!
▪️Also the main hero was married but somehow his love for the heroine became stronger than the woman he married- and went to the undying lands for- all in about two weeks? Where virtually nothing happened to strengthen such a bond?
What the heck!
▪️Plot was slow.
▪️Colden (the Frost King) sacrifices himself; I could not muster a single ounce of caring. He was there for 5 seconds, he was only mentioned a few times in a way that made him seem more of a caricature. I didn’t feel the friendship between him and the hero. 🤷🏼‍♀️
▪️After their king and only chance to win the war there is barely any reckoning. He was the Witch collector’s best friend for 300 years and they guy barely mourns him. He just carries Raina (the heroine) and mentions how beautiful she is. I get it he has the hots for her- I don’t particularly think is love- even for insta-love/lust standards it lacks.

————————————————————————————
🚨🚨🚨🚨 SPOILERS 🚨🚨🚨🚨

📌“Because it doesn’t. It hasn’t. I don’t know how I’ll ever explain to Finn what I feel for Alexus or how it happened in such a short time. It’s only been twelve days since Collecting Day, and yet everything in my world has changed.”

I was here for the ride and even I don’t understand it!

“If my life is cut short, I will die happy because I had this time with you.”

this is a light and entertaining story of witches, magic, romance, and friendship. the witch must abandon vengeance and forge a tentative alliance with the witch collector.

all the characters are really well written. the fmc raina was born without the ability to speak, but she communicates and conjures magic through a special sign language. i also love her confidence and how brave and courageous she is throughout the story. alexus is a strong and caring morally grey character with dimples!! their romance is somewhat slow burn and i'm in awe with how they protect each other without fear 🥹

“In another life, I would’ve tried to know her. I would’ve admired her and read her poems written by my own hand. I would’ve walked with her through fields of stardrops, danced with her in the stream.”

i recommend this book if you're looking for a romantic fantasy with an interesting lore and a perilous journey.

REREAD COMPLETE. AUDIOBOOK SLAPS. MEG AND TIM NAILED IT!

If you didn’t know, this is my favourite series of all time. This book has so many little nuggets of foreshadowing for what is to come in book two which is still the most incredible plot twist in the history of the world.

The magic system is unique with gods, witches and threads of life, fire, healing etc.
The world and past wars are so interesting.
Raina the FMC is non speaking which is so refreshing and beautiful.
The FMC and MMC chemistry was out of this world HOT. The MMC is so fucking thoughtful I could die.

Some have reviewed this as being unrealistic. Because how could two people/characters to fall in love after two weeks together? Sometimes you just know. And sometimes, you also don’t know the full story.

JUST TRUST ME ❤️‍🔥😮‍💨