The story alternates points of view between Fritzi and Otto. Fritzi is the daughter of a powerful witch, but she doubts her own power because of a mysterious voice in her head she’s been taught not to trust. Otto also doubts the authorities in his life. First, because his father was cruel and then because he doesn’t even believe witches exist. He is sure the people the soldiers burn are innocent. And he’s determined to save as many as he can.

I really enjoyed the way the story is anchored both in history and folklore. It felt very immersive. I also liked that Otto separated his trust in the church from his own personal faith. It allowed the story to explore ideas about faith as something separate from an institution. I really liked how the narrative explored that theme with both Fritzi and Otto.

Something about the story reminded me a lot of the duology that starts with GIVE THE DARK MY LOVE by Beth Revis. Plotwise, the two have very little in common. The fact that both stories contain a strong, magic-oriented heroine alongside a politically strong/savvy hero might be why I kept making that connection.

The story is also a bit dark– delving pretty unflinchingly into the history of the witch trials in Europe. It’s got a pretty fiery romance in it, too, so it’s not all grim.

In any case, I think fans of that duology or of European history in the late 1500s will find this an engrossing story. I am really glad I read it, and I think if there’s a follow-up book, I’ll be sure to read that, too.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

I really enjoyed this book! And I’m kinda mad that who knows how long until the next one 😅 But first up, some of my “in the moment” thoughts and reactions.

•Loving all the history sprinkled throughout
•The forbidden attraction/romance is everything
•The actual gasp when I figured out what was going on with hexenjägers
•Why do all the good things just get chased away by the bad??

I loved the historical element to this story! I didn’t know much about the Trier witch trials and it was interesting to learn a little about them!

Fritzi was a fun character and I really enjoyed following her! It was kinda weird because at the beginning it seemed like she was pretty young but then it kinda shifted to her being more of an adult. Kinda cool but kinda confusing. But she was strong and resilient and passionate about what she believed in.

Otto was a sweetie and I loved him! I loved his character and I loved that he wasn’t biased or thrown off about the fact that she was an actual witch. He was brave and stalwart and willing to fight for what’s right.

I’m really interested to see how the story progresses and especially with the Three Goddesses and wild magic. Overall, really enjoyed the book!

Spice level:
Would say there’s enough detail in the one scene that I wouldn’t consider it YA. But there isn’t too much described outright, mostly implied. However it is at the end of a chapter and easily skipped if you want.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

Night of the Witch is a book I had to read. Historical fiction wrapped in fantasy is like a siren song to me. Add the fact that Sara Raasch and Beth Revis penned the novel, and Night of the Witch was one of the novels I was most excited to read this fall.

Maybe my hopes were too high, but I did not love Night of the Witch as much as I wanted. My main issue with the story is that the writing is too simplistic for my taste. Simple sentences and short, stilted dialogue made me believe the book was geared toward middle grades rather than the young adult category as advertised.

Adding to my general dislike is that the authors interspersed German words into the story with no rhyme or reason. I majored in German and love seeing the language in books. Even so, I could find no pattern for when or why Ms. Raash and Ms. Revis would exchange a word in English for one in German. The replacements were too random and did nothing to enhance the story. From what I could tell, the German words did nothing but remind you that the story takes place in Germany.

My other concern about Night of the Witch is that I struggled to buy into the insta-love between Fritzi and Otto. There is almost no development for either character, and their attraction to each other, especially Fritzi towards Otto, makes no sense. That's a lot of fear and hatred to overcome, and Otto's actions towards Fritzi upon first meeting do nothing to endear him to her.

Lastly, the German major in me wanted more world-building. I wanted to learn more about the hows and whys behind the creation of the Hexenjaegers. Plus, I know the layout of German medieval towns versus villages, but most of the readers of Night of the Witch will not. This geography plays a vital role in the politics behind the story, and readers need to understand all of it.

Some of my issues with Night of the Witch are due to the fact that I am familiar enough with German and German history to want more of it. I believe there is a lack of world-building to explain the story. Also, I found it difficult to buy into Fritzi and Otto's all-consuming insta-love. Are any of my concerns enough to prevent me from reading the sequel next year? Of course not! Where Night of the Witch excels is with the fantasy element, and I need to know how the battle between Dieter and Fritzi will ensue. Still, I will approach the sequel with much lower expectations.

I absolutely LOVED The Night of the Witch! Fritzi was probably my favorite character, but I really enjoyed having Otto’s perspective as well. The stakes and motivations were really strong for all of the characters, and I definitely can’t wait for the sequel!

A witch and a hunter. Vengeance is their mission. Love is their destiny.-
_
This starts with the witches and witch hunters. Pretty wild battle between the two start it off.
Really enjoyed the enemies to lovers between the witch and the witch hunter who was attempting to fight from within. They ended up being a really good team and had great chemistry.
This was a interesting take on the witch trials and I loved it. Loved the relationships between some of the characters.
The Kommandant was a creep and don't trust those that enjoy massacres and blindly follow orders.
That epilogue setup for the next book. I'm biting my nails.


Thank you sourcebooksfire for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

3/5 Stars

I really loved the idea behind this book. I'm a sucker for the witch and the hunter trope. Unfortunately, this wasn't a total hit for me. While I did enjoy some of the magic and world in this book, I was very bored. I found that I wasn't at all invested in the characters or the story. I will say this has more to do with the writing for me. I just don't think this is the author for me as I've read other books by this author and felt very similar. Overall, it was an okay read but it just wasn't a hit for me.

great book and loved the mystery through out the book. I loved the characters and how they grew through all of their adventures. I enjoyed this book and this author and will check them out again add them to my reading pile.

This was a BLAST to read! Such a fun and unique plot line. There are so many fantasy novels out there, and at times they can get repetitive in their story telling. I thought this one felt original and kept you on your toes. It’s had the perfect amount of romance, horror vibes, family ties and character growth. The ending gave me goose bumps and am excited to see where the author takes us in the next book! WOW. I honestly have no negative feedback!

I plan on posting a Review in a couple days, will come back and add a link to it! Thank you for the advanced copy!

Night of the Witch by Sarah Raasch and Beth Revis
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
🌶️/4

*Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!!*

I was apprehensive going into this book because some of the reviews are harsh. Imagine my surprise when I found myself really enjoying this book and disagreeing with the negative reviews! I thought this book was fast paced, exciting, and unique. I love that it was based off of true historical events and had a German background. I felt like Fritzi and Otto were both fairly likeable and the romance was sweet and didn't feel forced. I really enjoyed this story and I'm definitely excited to pick up book 2 when it comes out!

This is one of those books where I was sold on the description but it just fell flat.
Fritzi is a real witch, unlike the average folks being accused of witchcraft across the land.
Otto is the witch hunter that arrests her after a chance encounter.
Fritzi is sweet but my goodness is she naïve. And at points she’s suddenly brazenly bold in her sexual advances, which I normally have no problem with but it seemed so out of character and it is a YA book so it was strange.
The pacing wasn’t consistent to me. A lot of nothing happens, and then a bunch of stuff happens all at once and then things slow back down. One day will be really long and dragged out, then it’s days later and things skip ahead but nothing happens, then another day drags out and has a ton packed into it. There’s also a lotttt of real life history that’s packed into the book. While it is interesting, it really dragged the pace down. Since there is an additional history section in the back I wish more of the history would have been added there.
The romance was also paced weird. I read other reviews that said it was instalove and I was getting close to the 50% point and nothing happened so how could it be instalove? Nope. It is. Again, the pacing is strange so 50% in and it’s still really the first day we see them alone together.

The plot with the main protagonist could have been developed a lot more. There’s a lot of history but it wasn’t explored in a way that was satisfying.

It’s also written in first person present POV, which is not my preference at all. I know plenty of people don’t mind it though.

The plot was interesting and the future books could be interesting but it’s just not for me.

Check the CW and take the animal abuse serious if that is a problem for you.

Sadly this book just didn’t grab as much as I hoped it would. I put it down and picked it up multiple times but I just couldn’t connect with it. Super bummed.

Night of the Witch by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis is a fantasy romance between a witch and a witch hunter that drew me in with a stunning cover and kept me hooked with a rapidly paced plot.
What I Loved
-Good Dialogue
-High stakes
-Excellent Character work
-rapid pace kept me turning pages
What didn't work for me as well
-I longed for more fleshi9ng out of the world at large and the history behind or witch vs hunter conflict. ( With this being a book one it is my hope we will see more of that later in the series.)

Who I would recommend this book for

Fans of the serpent and Dove series or the book Give the Dark My Love will find themselves right at home in this story .

The first book in the Witch and Hunter series, "Night of the Witch" tells the story of Fritzi and Otto. One a witch and the other a hexenjäger, the men tasked with finding and burning witches. After Fritzi's entire village is destroyed and her family murdered, she must escape and elude the hexenjäger. When she is captured by Otto and his group of witch hunters, she has no trust for any of the men. Except Otto is more than he appears and he has a plan to topple the hexenjägers. The book is giving forbidden romance mixed with Salem Witch trials. I did really enjoy that the book focuses on witches from other areas of the world. So many witchy fantasies have been set around New England or in an alternative world. This felt like something a bit different and that was refreshing.

Side note:
Not going to lie, I originally only picked up this book because I had heard of the drama surrounding the pre-order campaign. As a teen librarian I try to read through as many "controversial" books as possible before they make it to the shelves. All that being said, I think the "spicy" pre-order print is a bit misleading to how much mature content is actually in the book. The plot does heavily rotate between the witch vs hexenjäger and the romance between the two, but this is not an adult or new adult romance. The single sex scene is not 100% fade to black, but if is not nearly watch you would expect based on how things have been hyped up.

A super fun start to a series, and I am VERY excited to continue it! The characters were really well thought out and written, and there seemed to be a lot of attention to detail for the witch trials, they seemed to have done their homework to keep historical events accurate. I LOVED this one! For a YA especially, it was hard to put down.

I jumped into this story with high hopes, intrigued by the promise of a thrilling witch-hunter fantasy. However, the story left me wanting more. While the action started swiftly and the characters, Fritzi and Otto, were engaging, the world-building felt lacking. The rushed pacing led to a shallow plot exploration, and the romance between the protagonists seemed forced and rushed. I anticipated a slow burn, but it felt more like instant love, and the characters' developments lacked depth. The historical context of witch trials and the villain, Dieter, offered intriguing elements, but they weren't fully realized. Overall, the book had potential but failed to fully immerse me, leaving the story feeling underdeveloped and hesitant about continuing the series.

Fritzi is the lone survivor of a brutal attack on her coven, leaving her determined to find her remaining family. She also wants to bring the witch hunters known as hexenjägers to justice by bringing down their leader, Kommandant Dieter Kirch. Otto keeps his cover as a hexenjäger, but is plotting revenge for the murder of his innocent mother. Fritzi and Otto are thrown together and don't trust each other, but forge a truce to take down their common enemy. Uncovering dangerous truths about the hexenjäger attacks, they grow ever closer not just to the Kommandant, but to each other.

This is set during the German witch trials. Witches are real here, whether they use herbs like Fritzi, work with elements or animals. They draw helpful power from a Well of magic, and wild magic has no rules or constraints as Well magic does. Fritzi fears the wild magic as much as the hexenjäger teams, and we eventually find out why, as well as Otto's reason for mistrusting the archbishop and Dieter. Rescuing trapped witches, most of whom are innocent people accused to get them out of the way or because they were Protestant instead of Catholic, is just the beginning. The second half is all about the nature of magic and the fight to protect it, Dieter determined to get his way. He's a chilling and amoral villain, and he's easy to hate. The conclusion makes me hope for a sequel, with magic warriors fighting against the continued hunt for witches.

This book already has a scandal due to a print for the book being advertised and it was much more salacious than it probably should have been for a book categorized as YA.

If it was supposed to be New Adult, I don’t feel it succeeded. It reads aggressively YA so to all the sudden dip into a sex scene, it felt very out of place. After the sex scene, it ramps up with torture and more adult content but it tonally jars with the first half of the novel.

At first the Otto chapters made me want to stop reading then it switched and the Fritzi ones were boring. At least I was always invested in one of the perspectives, until the midway point.

The world building is definitely sparse. It is set in a historic german setting based in actual history but the details seem all over the place and the end result is world building that feels murky and underdeveloped.

There is one or two chapters of Antagonism between the pair but it desolves into comradery very quickly. It also felt like it was just picking and using tropes that are very popular right now. Some better employed than others.

The villain is very over the top, caricature of a villain and doesn’t really seem to have a reason for doing what he is doing other than “he’s pure evil”. Plus the logic of the goddesses and what they can and can’t do made absolutely no sense.

It slowed after the midpoint. Once the plot came off I found it hard to care about the continuing storyline. I feel like, despite what the authors tried to weave in, there isn’t enough to sustain more of the story so I’m not sure how it will continue into a series. Or if it should. I can’t see myself picking up the next book.

I read Night of the Witch as an ARC provided by Source Books and Netgalley and I am flabbergasted at how outstanding and lucky I was to be an early reader for this book.
I do not know how co-writing works, but this story was captivating, action-packed, humorous, and courageous. For a book to be considered YA, my attention was held at full mast and did not drop at any moment. The characters were bold, detailed, and strong. The polt aligned symphonically with wonderful twists. There was even romance, something I often avoid, but it was done so that it warmed me like a hot toddy.

Generally, we lear about the Salem Witch Trials, but a look into another culture was a broadening and peaked my interest. Through out the book, the POV did change by chapter, but it was done so smoothly it was like being hit by the chorus of your favorite song; not a beat or angle was missed.

This is my first time reading anything by Sarah Raasch & Beth Revis and I am star-strikingly amazed. The world created in this book was reminiscent and so detailed that I haven’t felt I’ve been in the realm of a character since I was in Hogsmeade while reading Harry Potter.

Absolutely 5 stars. I want all the autographs, All the books, All the witch hats. Can’t wait for book two. Conjuring for it to appear in my email.

*chef's kiss* That is genuinely the best way I can think to describe this book. The characters and setting in this book were absolutely outstanding. I adored Otto so much, but all of the characters were well-rounded and mostly likable. I also loved that the author clearly did some research into the witch trials in 1600s Germany. A high-speed, enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to book two!

Night of the Witch is a young adult historical fantasy novel about a German witch and a hexenjäger (witch hunter) stuck in the middle of sweeping witch hunts and burnings.

Fritzi and her cousin are the only survivors of a hexenjäger raid on their village of witches. Otto is a hexenjäger who is operating as a double agent and assisting the witches however he can. But when Fritzi sees Otto arresting his own sister for witchcraft she immediately assumes the worst and uses a spell to send her to safety. With his sister whisked off somewhere Otto will need a new witch for his plan to destroy the hexenjäger from the inside and Fritzi is his only hope. Fritzi needs Otto to get her into the hunter’s stronghold to save her cousin. The two will navigate underground tunnels, prison and the Black Forest in their efforts to end the witch burnings.

Night of the Witch is both romance and fantasy set against the backdrop of the witch burnings in 1600’s Germany. Fritzi is a tough and smart main character that is easy to root for. Otto has a huge heart and his ambition to bring down the hexenjäger order makes him a worthy match to Fritzi and they have a ton of chemistry. The authors did a great job of showing the insanity of the time and how so many people lost their lives needlessly. This book is the first in a series and look forward to reading more!

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️