Author: Victoria Schwab
Published: May 15, 2012
Publisher: Hyperion
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Before he came to Near... Before he met Lexi...
Before they faced the witch...
Who was the boy named Cole?
Follow us to Dale, a city on a hill, where in a matter of days fire will devour everything. Meet the Lord and Lady, and their son, the boy destined to inherit all...until everything turns to ash. Before they faced the witch... Who was the boy named Cole?
Follow us to Dale, a city on a hill, where in a matter of days fire will devour everything. Meet the Lord and Lady, and their son, the boy destined to inherit all...until everything turns to ash.
It's time to learn the truth behind the stranger's story.
Dear Victoria Schwab,
I must confess, before reading TABB (hehe) I had no idea who you were. I might have seen the cover for The Archived floating around the blogosphere, but it never occurred to me to actually click on the book and read it. I blame this on my younger, immature self.
Since reading TABB, I've reformed and seen the error of my ways. Your lyrical, fairy tale-like prose was magical, the amount of characterization you crammed into 61 pages was phenomenal, and the ending had me like
Tell me, how'd you do it? I usually don't like reading novellas because they're too short, but TABB left me feeling all sorts of satisfied.
After I was done reading, I suddenly found myself on your Goodreads profile, adding all of your books to my TBR pile. I stalked your blog posts and fangirled about the sneak peeks of A Darker Shade of Magic. Then I lurked on your twitter to figure out if you were the real deal or a figment of my imagination.
It was only after I marked February 2015 as the Holy Month that I realized I hadn't written a review for TABB, which brings us back to the present.
Seriously though, TABB was a pretty good read. The relationship between Will, Robert, and his mom was well done. When we're first introduced to Robert I thought, "Not another cliche evil dad." I was sincerely wrong. Robert has more layers to him than a lot of MC's, with his cruelty to Will, but genuine love for Will's mom. The mom was complex too. I couldn't figure out if she actually loved Robert or if she was just using her weird powers to manipulate him.
This novella has gotten me interested in The Near Witch, a book I probably wouldn't have checked out because I'm not a fan of the cover (I'm shallow). I want more of Will/Cole, though I suppose reading this novella spoiled some of his smokey mysteriousness, but I think I'll live.
I guess this isn't really a review, but an unabashed love letter.
Sincerely,
Anah
Verdict
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