Friday, 18 October 2013

A Witch Alone [Winter Trilogy #3] by Ruth Warburton **Review**


A Witch Alone by Ruth Warburton
Series: Winter #3
Pages: 422
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Release date: 7th February 2013
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Waterstones

Book one review | Book two review
Add to Goodreads
Thank you to the publishers for my review copy of the book.

Goodreads synopsis:
This is the final book in the Winter trilogy. If you haven't read the first two books, this synopsis and review will contain spoilers.


Where do you go when your heart has been ripped out?

For Anna there is only one answer; into her past, where the truth about her mother, her power, and her real identity lie hidden.

But as Anna delves deeper into her history, she begins to fear that the truth about what set her mother running may be darker than she ever suspected. With the witches of the world on the brink of war, Seth gone, and her friend Abe wanting more from her than she can possibly give, Anna is in crisis.

As the clouds around her gather, Anna is torn between friends, family and rival tribes of witches and – at the last – between love and magic.
Wow. Wow. Wow. Just when I thought the Winter trilogy could not possibly get any more exciting, I read the final instalment... and it blew me away!
The beginning of the novel drops us straight back in where A Witch in Love left off. Anna is with her Grandmother, Elizabeth, who just happens to be one of the five chairs of the Ealdwitan, the British witches' equivalent of parliament. Since Seth in the second book, Anna has been working on her witchcraft, learning to control her powers properly, and then how to put them to good use. She's also working on the riddle of her mother's disappearance, trying to find out why her mother wanted her hidden, and what is so special about her that other witches seem to be willing to do anything to find her.

I loved the mystery that was spread throughout the novel, and of course, the discoveries that these brought along with them. When I read the first book in this trilogy, I had not expected anything like this to be happening in the final book, so it was a really pleasant surprise to be so drawn in. I enjoyed this book even more than book two, because the mysteries went even deeper than before, but there was at least some kind of resolution to the puzzles that Anna faced, and they were not at all what I was expecting.
I also loved the amount of action in this final instalment. There was a fair amount in A Witch in Love, but this book just blew my mind with how fast-paced and exciting it was, especially towards the end with the final struggle that Anna and her friends had to face. Even though the book is not particularly short (topping 400 pages), I read two thirds of it in one sitting, because it was so gripping that I literally did not want to put it down. If I did, even for a moment, I was thinking about what had just happened and what Anna might do next! While I was reading it, the story utterly consumed me.

Then of course, we have the romantic element to the story. If you've read the second book, A Witch in Love, then you may be surprised when I say that I really liked the romantic side of this book. No, it's not a particularly prominent part of the book (the mystery surrounding Anna's mother and her powers is most prominent for the majority), but I was intrigued to see what was going to happen. Part of me was cheering for Seth, praying he would come back, and part of me wanted the other love interest to take over - I could not decide who I wanted to win Anna's affection. In the end, I was happy with how it turned out (how could I not be?), and I was satisfied with how the book ended. There's even a little hint of mystery left at the end to keep me wandering what is going to happen to Anna past the pages of the novel. I know I'm going to be imagining her story, despite the trilogy having ended.

When I read A Witch in Winter last year, I enjoyed it, but in all honesty, I didn't think I'd end up rating it as a trilogy that would stick in my mind as others have. But now, having read the final two books back-to-back, I think I'm going to have to change my mind. This trilogy will definitely stay with me for a while - Anna will stay with me for a while - and I can't wait to see what Ruth Warburton will come up with next! She has definitely won me over!

The Winter trilogy is perfect for fans of Young Adult fantasy, magic, mystery, huge battles and romances that defy all odds. It's definitely a trilogy I recommend!

4.5 stars


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