Did someone say ENEMIES TO LOVERS.... YES PLEASE!! Thank you NETGALLEY AND THE PUBLISHER for the gifted e-ARC. BINGE WORTHY READ!!

I love a good, solid enemies-to-lovers.

The second I laid eyes on Night Of The Witch, I knew I needed to be an ARC reviewer for it! A romance between a witch and a witch hunter who has secrets of his own sounded absolutely perfect for me, and I desperately needed to learn more!

That being said, this book was a struggle for me in the beginning. Books need a strong opening in order to hook readers and get them to continue reading, but this book introduced a lot of confusion and felt hastily put together in the beginning. There isn’t a lot of description into the characters’ thoughts and why they are doing certain things, so it was hard for me to follow as Fritzi watches her entire village get destroyed and then immediately sets out to save a random girl who had been taken.

(The further we get in, the more we learn about these characters and why this “random girl” is important to Fritzi. While I understand the reasoning behind leaving a few plot-important details out of the beginning, I also don’t think it’s necessary. The book would probably have more emotional impact if we knew the character dynamics from the beginning.)

Throughout this book, I was surprised to find that despite the fact that I was enjoying the story and interested in what would happen next, the reading experience felt like a chore. I often found myself wanting to simultaneously read more and also put the book down for a while, which was definitely a strange feeling to have!

But one thing I was surprised to enjoy in this book was the discussion on religion. The hexenjägers use their religion as a cover to kill these witches, but our main male character, Otto, truly believes in their god. It was interesting to read a story that had religion at the forefront of the villains’ story, but didn’t vilify religion itself!

I also really enjoyed how this book blended fantasy and history. While the book is, ultimately, a fictional story, the plot itself is rooted in the real life history of German witch hunts, and makes sure to include a bit about it in the historical note at the back of the book! I’m not typically one to enjoy history, but I really enjoyed seeing the historical significance of this story throughout this book!

And while I won’t share any spoilers, let me at least devote a paragraph to the ending! So many books rely on “everything will be okay for the main characters because they’re the main characters!” (or plot armor, if you like my ability to speak fluent TV Tropes) that I really enjoyed seeing this book play with the concept. Will everything work out okay for these characters because they’re the main characters? Should we place our hope in this crazy plan? Or is everything going to go terribly wrong because that’s what common sense dictates?

Despite the rocky beginning, I ended up really liking this book by the end of it! Night Of The Witch is definitely an interesting story, and I recommend picking it up to see the way it plays out!

It is being marketed as a Young Adult fantasy romance. For most of the book, I would agree it reads YA. Then there is that one chapter. While I don't think there is anything wrong with some romantic aspects of YA this seemed a little much for the age group. It did do a fade to black, kind of, but there was quite a bit of full-blown romance-level stuff until then. The only thing it didn't do was actually name the body parts. I'll move on from that into the story though.

Night of the Witch follows two main characters. We are first introduced to Friederike, Fritzi, just after her 18th birthday. She starts off in a traumatic place and will spend a very long time-fighting feelings of guilt for what happens to her coven. Fritzi is a witch skilled with planets and potion-making. Several times she shows how much of a survivor she is as well. Next, we meet Otto Ernst, a captain of the hexenjagers. From the beginning, you see that he does not believe the same as the zealots of the group. Otto is a planner who thinks things through a lot. He is also compassionate and wants to make the world better than it is.

The book starts Fritzi out in the midst of her coven being attacked. Due to her mother's protection spell, Fritzi is spared and only able to escape her basement some hours or a day later. By then she has lost all but her young cousin. Fritzi then sets off toward the city of Trier where the hexenjagers are. On the way, she meets Otto. After a misunderstanding, Otto must take her into custody so as to not blow his cover. This does make convincing Frizi that he is not evil and she should help him much harder. But after seeing her powers Otto has no choice even if he is terrified of her.

The book moves along at a fastish pace. Most of it takes place in the span of two days. Then we have a traveling time skip section. The last part of the book though is the showdown with a twist that was unexpected. This does serve to set it up for the conclusion to the duology but without the epilogue, one would assume this could be a standalone still.

Overall the book was a decent story. I liked the elements of historical time expanded and added on to make the witch hunters. Also, the level of magic and the Black Forest was a good touch. There were issues with characters but that is just from personal taste. The way the characters were acting seems accurate to their ages and experiences. I do question how she couldn't have known one key detail especially after we saw that memory of the kitten. Since this is going to be a duology I will be reading the next one though. If it was a full series probably not.

A new approach to the Witch Trials, this story take a "wait, prosecuting people is wrong?" approach. I didn't feel the chemistry between the two protagonists at times and I wanted them to remain platonic so that we could see more of the story. The world building was interesting and I highly enjoyed the lore, but the romance plot took away from what would have been a great story!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

I was immediately intrigued from the start of the story, as this book was set during the European witch trials. The world-building was fascinating and the main characters were interesting. I was initially intrigued by the romance between Fritzi (a witch) and Otto (a witch hunter), as enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes. However, I found their romance to be rushed without the anticipated tension that I love in romances.

Overall, if you're a fan of historical, supernatural romances, then this book is for you!

This book certainly kicks off with a bang, plunging readers into the heart of medieval witch trials in Germany. The book showcases a promising blend of history and fantasy, all framed within engaging world-building.

The story of Fritzi, a witch, and Otto, a witch hunter with a secret agenda, has potential. However, their insta-love romance feels hurried and lacks depth, detracting from the overall narrative.

The pacing and character development are inconsistent. At times the story grips you, especially during suspense-filled confrontations, but there are stretches where it drags. Also, the characters, while intriguing, don’t quite make a lasting impression.

Overall, "Night of the Witch" is a decent read with an interesting fusion of history and fantasy.

Thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Fire, and the authors for the advance review copy!

I loved this book! The first chapter drops you straight into the action. The world-building and pacing of this story were great. It was an excellent blend of fantasy and history, with familial bonds and romance. I enjoyed how this story wrapped up and the epilogue sets the stage for the next book - which I will be impatiently waiting for!

3.5 stars.

Night of the Witch is about some medieval German witch trials, where like in Salem, most of those burned were innocent.

Fritzi is an actual witch, who saw her coven killed and burned. She’s trying to find her cousin and help her escape when she gets captured by Otto, a witch hunter. But there’s more to Otto—he actually infiltrated the witch hunters in order to bring them down, so he and Fritzi fall into instalove and start working together.

The romance felt very out of place, very quick with no real relationship progression. But the storyline was interesting, I was hooked on the suspense of the fight between the witches and the evil witch hunter leader. It did feel as if some things were just bypassed and left unexplained, but regardless, I was interested in how it ends.

I enjoyed Night of the Witch, but not sure if the cliffhanger hooked me enough to continue with the series.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for the review copy.

This one is OK... The premise is interesting but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

It's supposed to be an enemies to lovers but they fell in love in less than two days! Also, it was very slow, with fantasy books, a good portion of the books are spent world building, and making sure that we have an understanding of what is happening, but here it just dragged, and then all the action was at the very end.

I did hate the evil guy, which speaks to the quality of writing of the book, but the other characters just felt meh to me. The historical background was extremely well done, and I felt bad for the witches, so again, amazing writing. Maybe I wasn't in the right head space for this one, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNFed at 35%

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting and I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately, I couldn't really connect with the characters for a few reasons.

First, we are thrown into the story during an attack on Fritzi's village and everyone but her and her cousin are killed during the battle. Her cousin is taken by the witch hunters, so her goal is to get her cousin back. However, because we aren't given any time with the coven before the attack, all we have is Fritzi's thoughts about the other characters. So while it makes sense that Fritzi would want to get her cousin back, we're never shown how close she is to her cousin, only told. There are moments here and there with memories, but they are usually just short lived thoughts on things that happened.

Both Fritzi and Otto are also very vague about things. We're in first person point of view, so them not saying what they are fully thinking just feels annoying rather then mysterious. For example, Otto is very vague until 20% in where he tells the reader he is working to undermine the with hunters, a twist that is in the summary of the book. With Fritzi, we know that she feels guilt about something that happened, but it's just mentioned and never elaborated on. Obviously we would find out later in the book, but I just got more and more annoyed every time some other vagueness was mentioned without explination.

Finally, where I was in the book, Otto and Fritzi were beginning to notice how each other looked in a way that felt like it was going to dovetail into instalove. Otto has known Fritzi for maybe two days and already threatening anyone who hurts her in his head. He was literally just about to send his sister into similar circumstances.

I was so hyped for this book. And I was equally hyped to have gotten the arc from netgalley....but unfortunately I found most of the book dreadfully boring. I had to really push myself to finish it. The story just didn't flow well for me. I do enjoy slow paced books but this just dragged. And I couldn't muster enough interest in any character, or the plot or any of the world building, no matter how hard I tried. Tbh if this wasn't a netgalley read I wouldn't have finished it.

Thank you, NetGalley and SourceFire for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I devoured this in two days.

The story was fantasy meets historical events with an Enemies to Lovers romance.

Loved:

*Dual-Povs and both MCs. Fritzi's backstory and personality won me over more than Otto's but I really loved that the Witchhunter fell hard first.

*The historical worldbuilding was spot on. The author effortlessly blended witch trials with the coven magic.

*The romance. The shared trauma of the MCs.

Why four?

*The romance was quite quick and I think the yearning/tension could've been prolonged.

*I wanted to know more about the different types of magic but we only really saw Fritzi's and her sister's - hopefully in the sequel!

Overall I loved this witchy romantasy and cannot wait to get the sequel.

Title: Night of the Witch
Author: Sara Raasch; Beth Revis
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5

A witch and a hunter. Vengeance is their mission. Love is their destiny.

Fritzi is a witch. A survivor of a brutal attack on her coven, she's determined to find her only surviving family member and bring the hexenjägers—zealot witch hunters—to justice for the lives they ended. To do this, she will need to take down their leader—Kommandant Dieter Kirch.

Otto is a hexenjäger and a captain, the second in command to Dieter Kirch—but that's just his cover. Years ago, the hexenjagers burned his innocent mother alive and since then, he has been planning a move against the witch hunters that tore his family apart. And now the time has come for them to pay for what they've done.

When Fritzi and Otto are unexpectedly thrown together, neither is sure they can trust the other, despite their common enemy. But all they have is one another, and they both crave revenge. As truths come to light and trust shifts, Fritzi and Otto uncover a far more horrifying plot at the center of the hexenjäger attacks . . . but their own growing feelings for each other may be the most powerful magic of all.

This started off a little bit slow to me and I got bogged down while Fritzi was on the run, but it picked up when she and Otto met. The historical background was horrifying, although I’d never read anything in this time period/space. I was engrossed by the end, and would be happy to read more of this setting and these characters.

Sara Raasch is a bestselling author. Beth Revis lives in North Carolina. Night of the Witch is their newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.)

I was so excited to read this book after all of the hype, but I really struggled to get into it. The pacing felt off for me, and I could not get invested in the characters. Perhaps it's just not my type of story, but I'm so happy to see the many positive reviews. I must say, the writing is beautiful, and I hope others will find more enjoyment from this one than I did.

2.75 / 5

I loved the synopsis! A witch and a witch hunter are thrust together to fight a common enemy. It sounded very much like "Serpent and Dove" to me, and I adored that trilogy.

Unfortunately, the book did not live up to my expectations. The witch history was interesting but underdeveloped. The relationships and the story itself felt rushed to me, almost like the entire story was insta-everything. I don't usually enjoy insta-love unless it's done well, and I really expected this to be an actual enemies to lovers. Especially that one is the hunter and the other the hunted.

I had a difficult time connecting with the characters. The pacing was a bit messy, not only between Otto and Fritzi but also in the story as a whole. I didn't feel the love between the two main characters, nor did I really care about them getting together. It's unfortunate because I had high hopes for this book. I must admit I compared it a lot to "Serpent and Dove," and as mentioned above, I adored that series. So not standing out in contrast hurt the experience for me.

It wasn't a bad story, but I definitely had to skim through and jump to the dialogue to take me to the end.

💚 Fritzi is a witch. When brutal hexenjägers ransack her coven and kill her family, she wants nothing but justice. To avenge her family and save what's left of magic, she will have to take down the evil Kommandant Dieter Kirch.
Otto is Kaptain of the hexenjägers and second in command to Dieter Kirch-but that's just his cover. Since his innocent mother was burned as a witch, he has been carefully planning the fall of this so-called religious army.
Together, they will be the fall of it all.

💚 The story follows Fritzi and Otto through the two events that turned them upside down; thanks to their two points of view, we understand the trauma they experienced but also what motivates them in their current quest. Both see Dieter Kirch as the common enemy who took everything from them👿

💚 Witch and Hunter find common ground to bring down this religious government co-led by Kommandant Kirch. Although it may seem that everyone blindly follows the dogma imposed, the authors show us that the regime established reigns through fear and that there are many who despise the witch-hunt 🧹

💚 They've also managed to give substance to the secondary characters, particularly Kirch, who horrified and surprised me with many of his actions and choices. We realise that this icy man, who frightens even his own men, is truly caught up in a killing spree. In short, we totally believe in the character 👌

💚 We feel the horror of the witch-hunt, but also the fear of being considered a witch, a partisan or simply an opponent of the regime in power. A reflection on faith, whatever it may be, its strength and the intentions we may attribute to it, is also introduced. But there's also plenty of room for magic and its natural force, with a strong emphasis on Nature 🌳

This book is absolutely perfect. It isn't often I find a perfect book, but this one truly is. The world building, character development, pacing, romance, suspense, and ending are so well done. The epilogue has me itching for the next book...which will be a bit of a wait since this one hasn't even been released yet!

Inside you'll find magic, witches, forest folk, soft enemies-to-lovers, family bonds, and some societal collapse. If you love a good fantasy book with a quest, definitely pick up this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A witch and witch hunter make the perfect enemies to lovers trope for me. Sara and Beth did an amazing job with this book. There was a lot of world building in this story but it was very relevant to the story line. Fritzi and Otto are out on the earth to hate each other and what each other stands for. But they each have their own secrets they hide from their worlds. Brought together after Fritzis coven is dismantled by the witch hunters, Otto begins a slow burn for Fritizi. They become friends and more through out the story. I love how this all played out. I gave it a four because some parts dragged for me a bit. Spice: I give this a 1.5.

Unfortunately I found this story boring at best. The premise was interesting but nothing was really catching my attention. The relationship between Otto and Fritzi felt forced, they had no chemistry that I could find, it felt like a trope was just dropped in and we were supposed to go along with it. Also I think this book would be better suited for Adult than YA.

I can see why there is a lot of hype behind this book. The story was quite slow for me to get into but overall, I enjoyed the premise and the clashing between the two characters.