Titles The Witch Hunter and The King Slayer
Author Virginia Boecker
Description from Amazon (The Witch Hunter)
Your greatest enemy isn’t what you fight, but what you fear.
Elizabeth Grey is one of the king’s best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she’s accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to burn at the stake.
Salvation comes from a man she thought was her enemy. Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful and dangerous wizard in the kingdom, offers her a deal: he will save her from execution if she can break the deadly curse that’s been laid upon him.
But Nicholas and his followers know nothing of Elizabeth’s witch hunting past–if they find out, burning at the stake will be the least of her worries. And as she’s thrust into the magical world of witches, ghosts, pirates, and one all-too-handsome healer, Elizabeth is forced to redefine her ideas of right and wrong, of friends and enemies, and of love and hate.
Initial Thoughts
One of my favorite time periods / historical subjects is witches and witch hunting so I was really excited to read this book.
Cover Design
I think the cover of The Witch Hunter is really unique. I don’t have many books with this much orange or fire on the cover so I thought it was different. The pattern of the alternating shapes is also interesting as it looks like an aerial view of a witch or ritual set up. Lastly, given that it is basically the mascot of alchemy, I thought the Oroborus was cool feature.
Favorite Part
I enjoyed the fact that Nicholas Perevil is not Elizabeth’s love interest. This story doesn’t use the traditional structure of a YA novel where there’s a girl with a secret power, a boy who saves her, they fall in love, and they both end up being extremely special in some semi-unbelievable way.
Elizabeth absolutely has a love story within these books, and they are both great characters, but I like that we get to see that develop slowly and more realistically.
Final Thoughts
I loved The Witch Hunter so much that I had to pay for one day shipping from Amazon just to be able to finish The King Slayer the next day. If that isn’t high praise, I don’t know what is.
Witches, romance, two book series (perfect for a weekend read).
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Recommendations for Further Reading
- The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker – this is a no-brainer recommendation, it’s the second and only other book in the series. Also, check out The Healer and The Chase also by Virigina Boecker – these are novellas that go along with both books.
- Fawkes by Nadine Brandes – this is historical fiction novel about Guy Fawkes’s son, Thomas. There’s also magic, romance, and all the usual goodness associated with historical fiction.
- Frostblood, Fireblood, and Nightblood by Elly Blake – this is another series where magic (or certain types of magic) are prohibited and users of magic are hunted and killed.
Links
Books Over Everything 
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