The Near Witch Online Blog Tour - A Review of The Ash-Born Boy & a Giveaway!

by Victoria Schwab
publisher: Disney-Hyperion
date of publication: May 15, 2012
format: pdf
pages: 61
source: free download (find it HERE)
read it in: an afternoon

From Goodreads:

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.

It's time to learn the truth behind the stranger's story.

At long last the answers to some of the most pressing questions about Cole have been answered!  In The Ash-Born Boy, the tragic truth to Cole's past is revealed, along with his true name.  In this 61 page whirlwind, Victoria Schwab has provided a glimpse into the ruthless, cruel world of court life, as well as its impact upon Cole.  Just how did Cole discover the true extent of his powers?  You'll find out the answer to that question and more right here.

When I first read The Near Witch last year, I was so very intrigued by Cole.  The air of mystery surrounding him was just as thick at the end of the book as it was when he was first introduced.  I despaired of ever finding out more about him until the day that Victoria posted about this story.  This deeper glimpse into Cole's past and his personality were very insightful and breathed even more life into him as a character.  Now that I've read The Ash-Born Boy, I really want to read The Near Witch all over again just so I can see what nuances I pick up. 


The setting for The Ash-Born Boy is the town of Dale, where we find the boy now known as Cole in a somewhat unexpected position.  The plot that is at work in this story is tragic, ominous, and anger-inducing as the atrocities that Cole faces comes to the forefront.  The characters surrounding him manage to evoke a wide arrange of emotions in amazingly high amounts considering the brevity of the story.  

Schwab does her work very well, and it shows in this story.  If she can draw me in this firmly with only 61 pages, imagine what she could do with an entire book about Cole.  At the very least, The Ash-Born Boy served as a reminder of everything I loved about The Near Witch.  It is well worth the time it takes to read it and you'll definitely want to pair it with a reading of The Near Witch as soon as you possibly can.

And now, it's time for a giveaway.  This one is open to ALL of my readers ages 13 and older.  That's right, folks, this is an international giveaway!  Thanks goes to Victoria for this truly awesome prize.  At this point, I'll bet you're wondering what the prize is.  Well, you will have the chance to win a copy of the new paperback release of The Near Witch, which contains an excerpt from Victoria's next book, The Archived.  But wait!  It gets even better.  This copy will be SIGNED, people!  I want to wish you all the best of luck with this one.  Now, enough of my yammering.  Hop to it!

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