Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a wonderful start to a new series and I look forward to the next book. This story was intriguing with quite. Abit of witchy vibes.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

The Witch's Lens was a mix of witchcraft magical realism in WWII period. Was that a good combination? Well, I am still quite unsure about it even now that the last page has been long past read. Do I love to read witchcraft, the answer is yes and if asked if WWII era the best historical fiction to indulged? Again, the answer is YES.
Petra Kulkova was a young witch that was married to a soldier sent fighting in the fronts. She has fled and hidden her talents from the people she is with today but in reality, she has the great talent of capturing the spirits of the dead by feeling their presence and manifesting in the photos she took. One night, she was approached by a certain Josef Svovoda and convinced her to join the forces in fighting the war using her art. Desperate for a place to live, a purpose in life and belongingness in general, Petra accepted the offer on hand and embarked in on a journey and adventure that she has never imagined to encounter in her life.
I rated this book three stars. Luanne Smith has a good skill of writing about witchcraft that takes me a step up to feeling extra magical. Paired with the action, grimness and thrill of the heartbreaking events of WWII, this plot makes a good historical fiction. I enjoyed the ride reading this book but I must admit that it did not captivate me like I expected it would. It was all worth of the time I dedicated to its every page but I feel like Luanne has not poured the secret potion to take this story to its full greatness.
Special Thank You to Netgalley and Amazon First Reads for the advance e-copy in exchage of my honest review.

The Witch's Lens immediately intrigued me upon reading the synopsis as I am a big fan of all things witchy and historical fiction. It definitely sounded unique and like it was up my alley.

I settled on 4 stars for this one because I did enjoy it, but there were times where I felt my interest straying a bit. I loved Smith's writing style, with her vivid imagery and descriptions. However, I did feel as though parts of the story moved a little slow, especially in the beginning, and wish there would have been some more context with various parts of the story that seemed to be a little too vague.

Overall, I did really like this book and would definitely pick up the sequel.

A unique and haunting read and a great start to a new series. The plot is mysterious with talk of magic and the undead. I want to learn more about Petra and look forward to the next installment.
Many thanks to 47North and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book and thought that the pace was good on this book. It blended historical/ romance/ fantasy so well. This was so good to read! I can't wait for the next book. So good!!
I just reviewed The Witch's Lens by Luanne G. Smith. #TheWitchsLens #NetGalley
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This was my very first historical fantasy and I am here for it. I love both genres already but putting them together just makes for a unique story.

It was kinda slow to get into, but it did pick up. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.

Any fans of historical fiction, witches, magic, this is the book for you

Thanks to NetGalley & 47North for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I dropped it at 20% of the way through.

It had a really cool concept, witches vs WW2 zombies but it was written in the most tedious way--even though the concept is fascinating--the writing was moving at a slow, monotonous pace.

Such a great book! Most of my historical fiction books are based on the War against Napoleon or WWII, so having read a WWI was exciting... specially if it envolves magic. Petra is amazing. Sometimes, I wanted to kill her but she is a very interesting character. Josef is the grumpy one but after all he has gone through, I can understand it. Keep writing like this!

Luanne G. Smith starts a tale of witches on the Eastern side of the Great War. Petra Kurková has been hiding her witchery while hoping her husband has survived volunteering for war. Her camera acts as The Witch's Lens (paper from 47North) to photograph ghosts. Unfortunately her country’s troops are under attack by Zombies, and Petra finds herself drafted by Josef Svoboda who has put together a small group of witches that somehow had managed to avoid the draft. Behind the scenes there are powerful magicians, one of whom is responsible for the zombies and the huge storms affecting the Imperial troops. Petra,who is very powerful, has been hiding her abilities and now must reveal herself to save her team. Lots of fun and I look forward to the sequel.

Petra is a witch who is called to action with other fellow magical folks to try and change the course of a war. People are dying at the hands of supernatural creatures; Petra and her team are there to figure out the who’s and the why’s. Secrets are unearthed as they attempt to stop more lives from being lost.

I’ll be honest, there could have been so much more to this story. I like the concept, my interest varied throughout the book but a lot of times but I really needed more depth. The ending definitely captured my attention more than the first half, it’s the reason I ended up giving the book a higher rating.

I think more could have gone into this book, I wouldn’t have minded a longer book just to get some more background and details thrown it. I feel like this is always over looked in series, they keep hold of things for the next story BUT the first story has to be good enough for me to want to read the next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review this story.

Unfortunately, this was just not for me. I enjoyed the concept for the most part. Anything witch related and historical fiction always gets my attention. I just couldn't find myself following along and staying focused.

This book was slightly confusing at the beginning, but I ended up really liking it. It was an interesting blend of fantasy and historical fiction. I really enjoyed the characterization of Petra. She was a very strong woman who was able to put her mission ahead of her emotions and was able to carry on even though she went through many hardships. I enjoy with the heroine of the story is like that. I would highly recommend this book the anyone that enjoys magic realism and historical fiction being blended together.

I loved this! Slightly slow at first but the stor th is wonderful. I can't wait to read the rest of the series

I loved this book. Very intriguing concept. The book drew me in with its atmospheric descriptions and caught my attention after the first few chapters. Loved the backdrop and the story and loved her style of writing. If you like atmospheric supernatural settings, this is the book for you. I hope to read more of her books as I love her writing.
I felt like I was in the story.

Witchy book!

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc copy of this book.

Spooky season had me seeking something witchy and this was an interesting one at that.

Set in WWI, the story follows Petra, her husband gone to fight in the war, so she delves into the world around her with a camera in hand. What could possibly go wrong..

Petra Kurková’s life of quiet desperation is a little different from the usual kind, as Luanne G. Smith’s engrossing novel The Witch’s Lens opens. That her husband is off fighting for the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the disastrous First World War is ordinary enough. Her method of making money is rather different: she tells fortunes to make rent and keep herself fed. Even more unusually, she roams the streets of Prague late at night, photographing the city’s ghosts. Things get even weirder—and more dangerous—when Josef Svoboda badgers her into accepting a commission on the Empire’s behalf.

Smith’s version of our world is full of witches and magical monsters. Although witchcraft is entirely above ground, Petra has been hiding herself for years. There are hints that she’s not like other witches. (Thankfully, Smith doesn’t leave us hanging too much. All secrets are revealed by the end of the book.) But Josef’s insistence that she join a ragtag group of clearly passed-over magic makers for an important mission is too strong to ignore; there’s also the fact that Petra is evicted shortly after the man bludgeons his way into her life. With nothing else for her in Prague, Petra packs up her photography gear and her husband’s clothes and follows Josef into the mountains to hunt down terrifying creatures that don’t want to stay dead.

What really hooked me to this story was Smith’s use of Slavic folklore and witchcraft. World War I is transformed by an entire layer of magical warfare. While men fight in the trenches on the eastern and western fronts, witches and sorcerors do battle with each other with hexes and conjured creatures. Petra seems like small fry, at least until she starts to realize that the plan to get her out of the city and into the mountains was a ruse. There’s an even bigger plot—and a lot more skullduggery—than she knew.

There were some clumsy moments in The Witch’s Lens. A romantic subplot is telegraphed from a mile away. I didn’t mind so much, since I liked the characters involved. But there’s enough originality and folklore here to make up for a few clangers. I’m curious to see where this series goes.

The Witch's Lens by Luanne G Smith is a unique World War 1 story with a paranormal twist. Petra Kurkova is a witch, something that she has tried desperately to keep a secret despite numerous calls for those with magical gifts to come forward so that they can provide aid to the Empire. It is not that she does not want to help, in fact her husband is serving on the Eastern front, and this might be her only way of finding him and making sure he is safe. The problem is that her powers are unique, and she has been in serious trouble before because of them. There are numerous people who would be only to happy to have access to her and her skills, so staying under the radar is paramount for her. When she meets the enigmatic Josef Svboda on one of her night time walks through the city looking for the ghosts that magically appear in the photographs that she takes, she is reluctant to join his rag tag team of recruits , but when she learns that a plague of undead is being unleashed through magical means and it could be enough to not just turn the tide of the war but change the world as she knows it if they get out of control, she knows that she must do her part.
This was a book with a really interesting premise and a great main character that was let down a little by the pacing and sometimes confusing plotting, which is a shame. The first half of the book is very slow to get off the ground and if I had not been intrigued by the character of Petra and her unique talents I might not have continued reading. I also thought that readers without some sense of the history of the first world war would struggle to pin down the setting as it felt quite confusing at times. There was a nice little tinge of horror , particularly in the second half of the book, and I liked that the author was not afraid to lean into the darker side of the story, I enjoyed it enough that I would read more of the series.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher , all opinions are my own.

This book was vedy captivating I can’t lie about this, but i also feel like I needed more than I actually got in the end

This book was good, very ok.
There was so much going for it though. A troop of witches helping fight secret zombies at the war front? That sounds awesome. The FMC Petra, a war wife who takes pictures and can see ghosts, but also has a huge secret that she is keeping hidden about her magic that she keeps on a short leash. She seems promising. A potential werewolf who is turning into a romance interest. Yes.
But in the end, it was a lot of promising elements, and a bit of a boring execution. I found myself wandering while reading, and getting confused on what part of the secrets we were at. And then all of a sudden, you learn this "huge secret" that Petra has been keeping for years, and I don't think it was that big of a deal. She has great power to turn any object into anything else. Pure alchemy. But there is still so much that wasn't explained. Her dad was a big deal, but we don't learn that until the end. Her stepdad was a monster and supposed to have been dead, but really ended up in prison with wicked people. It was a bit unbelievable with the timelines.
And then the zombies. This was a cool idea, the blood of the fallen soldiers had infected the land and it helped a wicked sorcerer create this army of zombie like people to attack and this is what brought the band of witches together to take them out. They each have great talents to help kill the monsters and their mission was very good, but so minimal of the story. Their creation and purpose are still a little hazy to me, but still just fine.
The last 1/4 of of the book was very exciting, but not enough to make up for the confusing and slow parts the rest of the book.