Review: The Last Witch

The Last Witch by Debbie Dee

Published: September 12th 2012
Publisher: Dolce Books

Page Count: 248

Synopsis: For generations the Incenaga Witches have been forced to use their power to fulfill the wishes of others until they are drained of their magic and left to die. Desperate to protect his infant daughter - the last surviving witch - Emmeline's father escapes with her to the forests where he vows to keep her hidden from the world and from the truth.

Sixteen years later, Emmeline is discovered and finds herself in the grip of a traitor who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means abusing her power until she dies. She is taken to a distant country and told she must marry the Crown Prince or her own country will be overtaken, its people slaughtered. But what sort of prince would marry a witch? And why would she be the difference between war and peace? As she fights to regain her freedom, she is faced with a choice between a prince who offers a lifetime of security and a common gamekeeper who has no idea of her power, but offers his heart. But who do you trust when your power can be used against you?

Review: 

3 / 5 stars

I was lucky enough to see a post on Facebook about this being on the Amazon Kindle Lending Library and the day I saw it was the last day it was available too. I'm really happy I did because I had yet to decide what to borrow.

I wanted to love this book from page one, it had a great concept behind it and as Emmeline didn't know about her heritage or powers we found out about them along with her, whilst it was frustrating that everyone wanted to keep her in the dark - quite literally too as her power comes from fire - it was fine to deal with because of how the story developed. My actual issue was that for me the rest of the story was a little too predictable for my likings, it wasn't one hundred percent oh yes this is definitely going to happen for most of the story but it was still pretty obvious. I wouldn't let that put you off picking up the book though because this is something I deal with for most books and movies, I just have a natural talent for taking guessing with what's about to happen and more often than not, it does. I really need to stop doing that and to suspend my thoughts whilst trying to enjoy myself but that is easier said than done too - the only thing that I felt was very obvious was the Gamekeeper and his background, to me it was just too impossible that there wasn't more to him.

So I've pointed out why I didn't rate this book higher than three stars considering I really liked Emmeline's character development and I want to point out what else I liked too because it was a great read, just my brain lacks the ability to shut off. I believe one of my favourite things about this book is that we get to see how Emmeline's powers can be controlled by others, we get to see her at her weakest as well as her strongest, how she has no choice but to do others willings at times but also how she has to depend on another to control her if only for a brief moment to make guarantee their safety. Basically, I like how just because she's the main character with all this power behind her doesn't mean she always has to be strong and kicking butt. Also I think its set the scene well for the second book which I think will be a lot better and I'm looking forward to be able to read it.

GR
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