It is amazing I finished a book this month at all. Thank you Netgalley for putting your faith in me to finish this book on time. That being said, this is an honest review and after finishing the book I can safely say it wasn't for me but there is definitely an audience out there for this book. Those that are die hard SJM fans and enthusiasts of young adult fantasy in general will most likely enjoy this book because it has all the piece to make it a successful TikTok book. There is a quest with a badass woman MC (who happens to me mute and communicate with sign language) and a book boyfriend that fulfills the enemies to lovers troupe everyone loses their minds over.

Why didn't it appeal to me? Honestly, I think I am growing out of the genre. There wasn't a lot of depth to this book and honestly I feel most YA fantasy is copy + paste nowadays. Hope that helped anyone looking to read. Pick it up iif you love YA fantasy, don't if you need something new.

Unfortunately, I was approved for this book 3 days before it was archived and I didn't catch that so I was unable to download it in time to read & review. A bummer because I was looking forward to reading it.

The cover is absolutely beautiful though!

Rainas sister was taken by the witch collector. This time when he comes Raina will be ready. She will kill the witch collector and rescue her sister.

The first couple of pages grabbed my attention. I thought it would be great. And then it fizzled immediately.
I understand the enemies to lovers concept, it is a guilty pleasure of mine. But it doesn’t work the same if they go from …
“I’m going to kill you” to “*sigh* swoon”, too quickly. So that aspect was kind of ruined for me.

The story is interesting and has lots of layers, but it just wasn’t as amazing and this cover made me think it would be.

3.5/5 ⭐


So, after reading the description of this book I was immediately excited and wanted to read it. When I got the arc I was happy and started reading, but unfortunately in the end I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Don't get me wrong it was really good but from the reviews I'd read I expected more and ending up being kinda underwhelmed.


“I form the words with my hands, drawing from the torch fire around us, channeling all my power into lighting these little pricks up like fireflies.”



- Our main character, Raina, is mute and uses sign language to communicate, which is not something we usually see, so this was nice.
- The story was interesting plot-wise and the world building was good, even though I was a bit confused at some parts.
- There were quite a few battle scenes and a lot of action.
- What I didn't particularly like was the romance. For some reason, I couldn't connect with the characters and the fact that they were able to sacrifice themselves for each other even though they just met didn't sit right with me.


All things considered, this book was okay. Definitely not bad but also not something I'm going to be thinking about for a long time. I might give the second book a chance because this ended in a cliffhanger, so we'll see.

This was an awesome read! I loved the world that the author created, as well as our main characters, Raina and Alexus. It had a “Game of Thrones” feel to it, and it was the perfect beginning to a series! Cannot wait for the next one!!

The premise of The Witch Collector sounded interesting enough and since I am dying to find a new fantasy series to start reading I thought to myself why not!

I love diving into a new world and meet new characters and a plot that drives the story forward. The book certainly had all those things, but... it felt like it could have been shortened down considering how very few days the whole story takes place over. Or at least shortened down and then added a more depth to it all. 'Cause it was hard getting a grasp of the main characters when it was infodump after infodump and then *poof* story over!

So yeah, that pretty much sums it all up. I have added the second book to my tbr, because (unfortunately in some cases) I can't leave a series unfinished without at least giving it an effort first. And I hope that the story gets more structure and characters get more depth in the next one, The Witch Collector definitely has the potential there.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I rate it a solid 4.5☆
I have recommended it to many friends and I will continue to do so.
World building- ✔
Humor- ✔
Strong MC- ✔
Romance but not Smutty-✔
Well written-✔
Plot twists- ✔
Excited for next book-✔✔✔✔✔

This is the best slow burn romance I e read in a long time, especially as it’s part enemy to lovers too ! The world-building is thorough and detailed, with strong well developed characters. The only criticism I’d give is that Ariana was a strong independent character and I didn’t think she needed ‘rescuing’ as often as she was, definitely could rescue herself so that bugged me, but on the whole I loved this. I was really hooked from beginning to end and can’t wait for more. I will definitely be buying the next.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

The Witch Collector is a fantasy romance with a well-constructed fantasy world that takes place in a wintery set.

The book does a great job presenting the Witch Collector world, with the snow, their gods, the magic system, and some interesting main figures, like the King, the Fire Queen, the witches and, of course, the Witch Collector. And, indeed, everything was magical and truly fitting for the winter season. The choice of having a mute main character was excellent as well, and she was handled with care.

However, the book failed to engage me right from the start. The beginning finds our main character, Raina, angry and on her way to take revenge for her sister's 'abduction' by the Witch Collector. And she truly is obsessed with it, even though everyone seems to be okay with the system that was enforced (I guess) on them. However, her fire dies out pretty easily when she agrees to follow the Witch Collector, who, as it happens, falls from her at first sight. And hence start the game of anticipation whether they will or not, umm, hook up. That play of letting things linger a little too long is obvious at the first kissing scene, which takes pages to happen. Also, the fact that Raina was lusting over Alexus, aka the witch collector, when she has lost her whole world as she knew it was not believable and made it hard to connect with her.

Nevertheless, and romance aside, the book offered many small adventures and interesting character. I especially enjoyed Helena and her soldier friend, and I do believe there is a nice subplot for them to follow in a future book. Yet, the magick system needed more explanation and maybe a better presentation.

So, overall, The Witch Collector offers a fantastic world, but the romance drags it down.

This is one of the most epic Witch fantasy Romance stories I have ever read. I was utterly captivated by this from the first chapter. It Follows two perspectives, one is Raina. Eight years ago, her sister was taken by the witch collector because of her strong abilities with magic and taken to the frost king, to help protect the kingdom. But this year Raina is determined to be reunited with her sister, even if it means threatening the witch collector with death. Alexus (aka the witch collector) has secrets of his own, but he must complete his task of collecting Raina Bloodgood, who might be the only hope of giving the Frost king the advantage he needs to help fight the invading witches from the east. But it might be too late, for when he arrives at the village, it is under attack. They must team up and make the journey to help save the king and her sister.
This story has everything that you could want! Enemies to lovers' troupe, so much sexual tension, self-discovery and a battle or two. I can’t say enough great things about this book. I love the character, Raina; she was strong and resourceful. She never pities herself or thought she was less because of her voice. She accepted when she made a mistake and discovered amazing things about herself and her magic. Alexus was sweet but fierce when the time came. Raina and Alexus were magic together and their dynamic cannot be beat. The magic system was interesting especially from Riana point of view since she had to discover her own way of wielding it. The writing and plot flowed so well, and I was so engrossed with the story that it only took me two days to finish. The antagonist in this story, pure evil and the things he does in the story and the secrets “gasp.” The only reason why this was not a full five stars for me was because there were a couple of discrepancies in the timeline and story. I highly recommend this book. Please go read it.
Trigger warnings: blood, death, battle scene and loss of family
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

Really loved this story. It was unique and one of a kind. But not only that, the author gave such amazing detail that you could honestly feel like it was playing out in front of you. I loved the concept and delving into this world left me breathless and wanting more. There is honestly so much going on through out this story that it just begs to be read. I could say so much more but I just am blown away!

I really enjoyed The Witch Collector. The world building is wonderful. If you like a good slow-burn romantic fantasy, this book is perfect for you.
Raina is a mute witch. She is determined to kill the Witch Collector. As events unfold, she finds herself fighting alongside him to save both her sister and the Frost King.
The only downside to this book? I wish I knew more about sign language so that I could more accurately picture the conservations. I’m looking forward to the (hopefully!) second book in the series!

Many thanks to Net Galley, the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are my own honest opinion.

I knew going into this book that i would really like it. It had everything I love in a fantasy romance and that's why I requested it in the first place.

things i loved:
- the hate to love trope: my intention was to kill you but you are not who I thought you were
- our heroine is mute in a world were practicing magic requires spoken word and chants and she has a slightly harder time signing spells but that doesn't stop her from being a very gifted and powerful witch walker
- alexius was amazing.. no really I love him
- the romance obviously
- the backstory of alexius and the frost king
- the, in my opinion, stunning visuals and world building

Honestly, I can't think of anything I hated and I am really looking forward to the second book in this series.

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Witch Walker trilogy. I got an eGalley of this book to review through NetGalley.

Thoughts: I am torn on this one and was going between 3 and 4 stars; it was okay but not great. It just reminds me way too much of other adult fantasies like this (think "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah Maas). There is some faerie tone to it and also an "enemies to lovers" premise. The world felt a bit thin to me and the story moved slowly for what actually happened.

I do like the premise. The Kingdom of the Winter King is being invaded by a shadowy and evil Prince of the East. Our main protagonist, Raina, just wants to get back at the Witch Collector (the man who collects potential witches for the Winter King) for taking her sister years earlier but instead ends up in flight with the Witch Collector after her village is attacked by the Prince of the East.

There's some solid world building but it feels a bit too simplistic. There was some adventure but it felt really meandering. The magic is interesting but a bit inconsistent. There isn't enough humor and the book takes itself way too seriously. I also thought too much time was spent listening to the characters think about each other in their own heads; this really drew the length of the book out and you could skip paragraphs without really missing anything important.

This is the kind of story I would normally love but it just felt a bit off and a bit flat for the above reasons. The story is incredibly predictable as well, no intriguing twists and turns at all. I found myself struggling to stay interested. I kept putting the book down (even mid-chapter) because I just didn't care much.

I can't help but compare this book to "The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea" by Katherine Quinn. They are both published by City Owl Press and both very similar theme-wise. I thought "The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea" was a million times better than this book. That book just had a lot of fun and adventure and the romance was amazing; that one I had trouble putting down and it practically read itself. This book not so much.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this book was kind of weak for me. It felt like a pale retelling of Maas’s “A Court of Thorns and Roses”. I didn’t like any aspect of it all that much. It was okay but not great; everything felt a bit off to me. I don't plan on continuing this series because I just couldn't stay engaged in this book at all; something about Weaks writing style just doesn't agree with me.

This book took me longer to read than expected. The beginning was filled with information, and I had to take my time reading it to make sure I got everything. I found myself wanting to skip forward to see what happened. Towards the middle and end of the book, it kind of just dragged on. I took several days break in between reading because I just couldn't get into some parts, or it seemed to be repeats. I will still be reading the second one. I just hope it resembles the writing in the beginning of this book and not the writing towards the end. This book is filled with magic, gods, romance, and twist and turns. The series has real potential to be an amazing top reads series.

I really, really enjoyed this book. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I love having a strong fearless female MC and I love when there's a good love story but it doesn't take over the plot or overshadow the MC. The plot was fantastic, I can't wait to see what's in store next. The only thing I don't understand is why some characters sign, as they don't seem to actually be deaf. I don't think this was explained, or if it was it wasn't something I remembered. I'd like to learn more about that.

I haven’t read much historical fantasy but this book might change that! By the end, I felt like I knew these characters intimately and I’m ready to see what happens for them in the next book.

The author does a fantastic job with pacing and giving such vivid detail that I felt like I was watching a movie playing in my mind’s eye the entire book.

This was a thrilling ride of a book and I highly recommend

This isn't a bad book. It just wasn't a book for me. I felt no connection with the characters or story. I found it to be dull and boring.

<i>*This book was given to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review*</i>

Honestly, sometimes I regret reading a book because I can't read it again. Now I also regret reading it so early for all the time I'll wait for the next one. This book was so much fun and heartbreaking, and steamy. Well-developed world-building and interesting magic system. I loved that the main character is deaf, having been a librarian at a school for deaf/blind students, I know how little there is out there, so bravo for that choice!

Weaks is a spectacular world builder! I was so absorbed into her world I would lose track of time. Her characters have great depth and are so well-rounded. This was the first book I read where sign language played a huge role in the story and I think Weaks did a beautiful job with it. This was just such a nuanced story and world. I am really going to have a hard time waiting for the next installment!