Winning first place in the Paranormal Category of the 2017 Pages from the Heart Contest, “The Witch of the Hills” was presold to me even before I received the ARC. Plus, J.M. Fraser is a new author; it is always a pleasure to see a new name on the limelight.

With Kirkus Reviews describing it as “an often jaunty and thoroughly entertaining story of young love,” I asked myself, will the book live up to its hype. Fortunately, it did! A laugh out loud funny YA fantasy book, “The Witch of the Hills” has an engaging plot, which quite frankly, I am glad to say that I have never encountered anything similar before.

A time travel book wherein the past and the present crosses path, our young protagonists, Brian Danahey and Rebecca are both 16 years old. They are separated by time and space! Long distance relationship is hard even for adults. So, Brian and Rebecca have distance against them – he lives in Sidney, Nebraska, she lives in Salem, Massachusetts.

Then we have to consider that Brian is from 21st century while Rebecca is from the 17th century. Taking that into account, even the current laws of physics are taking their young love to task!

“The Witch of the Hills” has so many twists and turns that there are times when I get lost. But I still enjoyed it. There are things I could not explain but I just put them in the category of artistic license.

If you’re an adult and like fast-paced stories, you might find this book a challenge to finish. But if you want to laugh and be entertained with an original plot, then this book is for you.

“The Witch of the Hills” is Rated T for Teens.

This fantasy book a was a giggling delight and reprieve from the harsh realities of life at the moment with an undercurrent of the darkness we need to fight regardless of name at all times regardless of paths moreso at the time than any before this. It starts with the concerns of a somewhat clueless young male on a road trip heading to college that gets lost and meets an unusual girl. You get sucked into his story with his hysterical way of looking at things and the continued spiraling into a realm he is little equipped to deal with he has to let go of previously conceived belief systems of life and reality and how he will act and react. I really relished reading this. Things are not what they seem or end the way you think but the growth in the journey is worth it as the personal growth can bring a whole new level of awareness.

This was an enjoyable book, though I tended to get caught up in trying to figure out the plot as I went through the book instead of enjoying the mystery surrounding Brian & Rebecca’s task at hand. I thought that the mixture of the Salem Witch Trials and that time period versus the current time in the Sandhills of western Nebraska and up to the southern Wisconsin area was a neat twist. The first thing the grabbed my interest was the fact that a big part of the plot centered around the Sidney, Nebraska area which is an area near to where I live. The author wrote a complicated story but, overall, it was a fun book and I liked the way he developed his characters. I have purchased this book and will definitely re-read it and enjoy it again as I love a good time-travel story.
I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book has one of the most unique plots I've come across in ages. It's pleasantly fast past and I felt quickly connected to the main characters. Not to spoil anything, but the end had me questioning the motives of a particular character quite a bit, but I'll get over it.

I tried but ultimately found the book to absurd to finish. I kept reading long after I wanted to stop, DNF at 38%.

I really liked the plot of this book - very original, with a lot of interesting elements. I did find it a little difficult to follow some of the motives of the main characters, which left me reading with a furrowed brow at times. But overall I really enjoyed this book.

This is a very engaging young adult novel with a paranormal edge that is enjoyable and not overdone. The charcters are almost likable and it has a fun interesting magical theme. I recommend this for all young adult readers who enjoy reading science fiction and the paranormal. . This is more for teen readers then adults but was a fun foray into this interesting theme.

Absolutely stunning book with brilliant historical detail and a need to know atmosphere as it guides you through the interlocking tale of the witch and her spellbound lover.
I really enjoyed the quality with which the characters were crafted, as I totally immersed myself in this tale and the people came to life and jumped off the page for me.
I found this book to be a real page turner and could not put it down until I had finished-I especially needed to know if Rebecca and Brian would overcome all obstacles and be together even though they were from different time periods.
High praise for the author as they have created a magnificent, enthralling piece of literature that I would positively recommend.

"The Witch of the Hills" eBook was published in 2018 (March, the original paper edition was published in 2018) and was written by J. M. Fraser (https://jmfraser.com/). Mr. Fraser has published four novels. 

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘G’. The story is set the contemporary US in the northern midwest. The primary character is sixteen-year-old Brian Danahey. 

There is nothing special about Danahey other than he is starting college at sixteen. While driving home from a wedding he accidentally meets a beautiful redhead named Rebecca Church who is about his age. He only is able to spend a few hours with her before she disappears. 

He goes on to college, but he cannot get Rebecca out of his head. As he does what he can fo find her, he hears about the legendary Witch of the Hills. While a wild idea, the 'witch' is supposed to live near where he met Rebecca. As Danahey follows his quest to find Rebecca he finds himself traveling through time. 

Rebecca is following a prophecy that predicts that she will meet up with a boy named Brian. She is desperate to see the prophecy come true as she has deep feelings for Brian even before she meets him. She will also need his help to stop an imminent threat to the world. 

I found nearly 9 hours I spent reading this 346-page Young adult romance. This book was written well enough, but I had a hard time getting engaged with the story. It seems to me that the plot is targetted at pre-teens or maybe very young teen girls. The cover art is OK. I give this novel a 3 out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Sadly I didn't like this book. While some ideas are really interesting and I liked Brian, I didn't like the writing and it took me twice the time to read it.

I am that kind of person that I can't pass a book with "witch" or "paranormal" in the title.
This was the same case.
After reading this book in 72 hours I have to say, it was a good read and I just wish the book did not end.
Another author that should be appreciated and loved for sure!

I really enjoyed this story. The characters are well written. The world in the Witch of the Hills is enthralling and relatable. The pace was well written. There were a few parts when it seemed repetitive. I also enjoyed the cover.

Entertaining, but a little too tame for me compared to other YA fantasies. A fun read, some romance and very appropriate for the YA genre.

The Witch of the Hills will have you questioning your every waking moment. In a world where witches dream walk and imps plays tricks, Rebecca and Brian must find each other and save the world from a growing darkness that threatens the very existence of dreams. Although awkwardly worded at times, and full of enigmatic scenes, this story will appeal to fans of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

Dream world stories always interest me. This one involved a Salem witch and time travel. It's a good read with solid characters.

A fast paced fantasy that has an ancient witch recruiting a boy to help her save the fantasy world we all engage in in our dreams.
Fast paced, fun.

This is one of very few books that I could not finish. I appreciate the review copy and looked forward to the book because the summary looked great. I just found it really hard to read and I often felt confused about what was happening.

Brian is drawn to Rebecca Church when they seem to meet by accident in Nebraska; it turns out that she is a witch living in Salem. She is at the center of an ancient prophecy and believes he is as well and seeks to court him in the witches' way: through poetry, mystery, and dreams. He has to follow the clues she leaves him to figure out her story, as well as his role in the prophecy, and help fulfill it.

This is a very fascinating read, as it involves magic, time travel (of a sort) and the boundary between dreaming and waking. While it seems like a lot of characters to keep track of at first, it's really Brian's and Rebecca's story. His family members as well as hers hang around the periphery and help them along the way as much as possible given the strict rules of the witches' way. This means we feel much of Brian's frustration as well because it isn't initially clear what's going on. Because we see Rebecca's point of view, we do know more than Brian does. The clues given throughout the novel are rather vague, so it's certainly easy to see why he gets so confused!

Because Brian and Rebecca are both sixteen in the story, I would place this as a young adult or new adult novel. There are still references to college, since Brian skipped grades early on, as well as the conflict with balancing home life and relationships. The big bad of the novel is also not a usual one, but a Void that would seek to destroy the realm of dreams. This is on par with other conceptual antagonists from novels geared for older readers, especially since some of the characters have more facets than they initially appear to. I really enjoyed this book, and how the ending was neatly (maybe too neatly?) tied off. It felt like the literary equivalent of a big red bow at the end, which is always nice. After all the work that the characters put in, there is hope for the future.

It took a little bit for me to get interested in the story, but once it got going I was hooked. The storyline is good, with decent worldbuilding and not too many confusing characters. A couple gripes: the main character is a little bland. I don’t understand why these girls were falling over themselves for him. In addition, the love story was a little childish. She loves him because of a prophecy? He loves her because she’s beautiful and has red hair? My last gripe is there was this great buildup to an epic ending, but then the final battle seemed a little rushed and then fell flat. I asked, “That’s it?” Overall, the writing was good, it was an interesting story if you love fantasy, but some weak points.

Book Talk…12/28/18 The Witch of the Hills Author Unknown
Traci Kenworth

The Witch of the Hills by J.M. Fraser. March 18, 2018. My copy on Netgalley said the author was unknown but on Amazon, it says J. M. Fraser.

Amazon blurb: Ancient prophecy compels a young Salem witch to travel forward through the time-bending dimension we all visit when we sleep. Rebecca Church must recruit a modern-day boy to save this interactive fantasy world from imminent disaster, but her task won’t be easy. She may use no more than poetry, illusions, and dreams to convince the chosen one of his destiny, and she can visit him only nine brief times.

When Brian Danahey meets Rebecca at the side of a desolate road, he recognizes her from a recurring nightmare about a girl in great danger. Brian falls in love with her, she disappears, and he comes to believe she’s the legendary Witch of the Hills, a colonial maiden exiled to haunt the western prairies for centuries. The quest to free Rebecca takes him through mirrors and time from the sand hills of contemporary Nebraska to the seventeenth-century witch haven she once called home.

But Rebecca doesn’t need saving, and certainly not three-hundred-plus-years ago. The magical dimension that nourishes our souls is on the brink of apocalypse. Today.

My review: Brian finds himself following weird warnings to a cabin in the hills and a witch named Rebecca who he falls for. The trouble is, the next day she’s gone and he reluctantly leaves for college. Once there, he meets a girl with a roommate that says she knows him. Brian is instantly alert to the roommate being trouble when he recognizes her as one of the warnings on the road where he met Rebecca. Later, he tries to leave for the hills of Nebraska again only to find all four tires slashed on his truck. A few nights later, he dreams of Rebecca again and then finds a poem she wrote on his computer. His spirits are lifted only to learn that Rebecca is a witch. He doesn’t believe it until he sees a flyer to meet Rebecca in a place out of nowhere. She tells him that she can only communicate with him through her book and the poems in it. She has to follow a code. As he searches to figure out what she’s trying to tell him, he learns he is the chosen one and must help her end the void.

This was a little hard to figure out from the beginning. I didn’t understand why she needed a code to court Brian. As the story progresses though it becomes a fair read. If you like puzzles and figuring out why things are done a certain way, this is for you.