-
The Near Witch
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $18.16
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Gallant
- By: V.E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways. Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them.
-
-
amazing
- By Melissa Crocco on 03-06-22
By: V.E. Schwab
-
City of Ghosts
- By: Victoria Schwab
- Narrated by: Reba Buhr
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since Cass almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn't like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead...and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost. So things are already pretty strange. But they're about to get much stranger. When Cass's parents start hosting a TV show about the world's most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Here, graveyards, castles, and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms. And then Cass meets a girl who shares her "gift"....
-
-
Beautiful YA offering from Victoria Schwab
- By R. Havens on 10-07-18
By: Victoria Schwab
-
The Archived
- Archived, Book 1
- By: Victoria Schwab
- Narrated by: Piper Goodeve
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Archive, an otherworldly library, contains the bodies of everyone who has ever died. But when the Archive is compromised from within, 16-year-old Mackenzie Bishop must use her skills as a Keeper to identify the traitor and prevent violent Histories from escaping into our world.
-
-
eh...
- By Cheri on 06-20-20
By: Victoria Schwab
-
A Darker Shade of Magic
- A Darker Shade of Magic, Book 1
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kell is one of the last Travelers - magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes. As such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. There's White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now.
-
-
Don't do that, male narrators
- By Sara on 03-12-19
By: V. E. Schwab
-
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
France, 1714: In a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever - and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
-
-
Prose style not to my liking
- By C.V. Cox on 10-18-20
By: V. E. Schwab
-
Vicious
- Villains, Book 1
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
-
-
captivating
- By Anonymous User on 03-17-22
By: V. E. Schwab
-
Gallant
- By: V.E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways. Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them.
-
-
amazing
- By Melissa Crocco on 03-06-22
By: V.E. Schwab
-
City of Ghosts
- By: Victoria Schwab
- Narrated by: Reba Buhr
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since Cass almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn't like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead...and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost. So things are already pretty strange. But they're about to get much stranger. When Cass's parents start hosting a TV show about the world's most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Here, graveyards, castles, and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms. And then Cass meets a girl who shares her "gift"....
-
-
Beautiful YA offering from Victoria Schwab
- By R. Havens on 10-07-18
By: Victoria Schwab
-
The Archived
- Archived, Book 1
- By: Victoria Schwab
- Narrated by: Piper Goodeve
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Archive, an otherworldly library, contains the bodies of everyone who has ever died. But when the Archive is compromised from within, 16-year-old Mackenzie Bishop must use her skills as a Keeper to identify the traitor and prevent violent Histories from escaping into our world.
-
-
eh...
- By Cheri on 06-20-20
By: Victoria Schwab
-
A Darker Shade of Magic
- A Darker Shade of Magic, Book 1
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kell is one of the last Travelers - magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes. As such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. There's White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now.
-
-
Don't do that, male narrators
- By Sara on 03-12-19
By: V. E. Schwab
-
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
France, 1714: In a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever - and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
-
-
Prose style not to my liking
- By C.V. Cox on 10-18-20
By: V. E. Schwab
-
Vicious
- Villains, Book 1
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
-
-
captivating
- By Anonymous User on 03-17-22
By: V. E. Schwab
-
Our Dark Duet
- By: Victoria Schwab
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nearly six months after Kate and August were first thrown together, the war between the monsters and the humans is a terrifying reality. In Verity, August has become the leader he never wished to be, and in Prosperity, Kate has become the ruthless hunter she knew she could be. When a new monster emerges from the shadows—one who feeds on chaos and brings out its victim’s inner demons—it lures Kate home, where she finds more than she bargained for. She’ll face a monster she thought she killed, a boy she thought she knew, and a demon all her own.
-
-
Why Kate!
- By Kay on 09-01-17
By: Victoria Schwab
-
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter
- By: Theodora Goss
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents' deaths, is curious about the secrets of her father's mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father's former friend and a murderer, may be nearby, and there is a reward for information leading to his capture...a reward that would solve all of her immediate financial woes. But her hunt leads her to Hyde's daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns.
-
-
Probably better as a physical book
- By Melissa L on 05-21-18
By: Theodora Goss
-
Georgana’s Secret
- By: Arlem Hawks
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a young girl, Georgana Woodall dreamed of beautiful dresses, fancy balls, and falling in love. However, when her mother dies, she cannot face a future under the guardianship of her abusive grandmother and instead chooses to join her father on his ship disguised as his cabin boy, “George”. Lieutenant Dominic Peyton has no time in his life for love, not with his dedication to His Majesty’s Royal Navy claiming his full attention. When he sees the captain’s cabin boy being harassed by the crew, he immediately puts a stop to it and takes the “boy” under his wing.
-
-
Good story
- By Its.vron on 03-06-21
By: Arlem Hawks
-
The Library of the Unwritten
- A Novel from Hell's Library, Book 1
- By: A. J. Hackwith
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing - a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.
-
-
Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover
- By Terry on 01-21-20
By: A. J. Hackwith
-
King of Scars
- King of Scars Duology, Book 1
- By: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war - and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built.
-
-
She did it again!
- By Alyson on 02-10-19
By: Leigh Bardugo
-
Gideon the Ninth
- By: Tamsyn Muir
- Narrated by: Moira Quirk
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap out of the audio, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy. Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse.
-
-
Fun. Not art, very gory, but 100% fun.
- By Sarah K. on 10-27-19
By: Tamsyn Muir
-
Uprooted
- By: Naomi Novik
- Narrated by: Julia Emelin
- Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for 10 years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
-
-
this may be the worst performance by a reader ever
- By Alex on 08-08-17
By: Naomi Novik
-
The Kingdom of Gods
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Casaundra Freeman
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 2,000 years, the Arameri family has ruled the world by enslaving the very gods that created mortalkind. Now, the gods are free, and the Arameri's ruthless grip is slipping. Yet they are all that stands between peace and world-spanning, unending war. Shahar, last scion of the family, must choose her loyalties. She yearns to trust Sieh, the godling she loves. Yet her duty as Arameri heir is to uphold the family's interests, even if that means using and destroying everyone she cares for.
-
-
Frustrating Inconsistencies
- By AmazonCustomer on 05-07-19
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
The Giver
- By: Lois Lowry
- Narrated by: Ron Rifkin
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
December is the time of the annual Ceremony at which each twelve-year-old receives a life assignment determined by the Elders. Jonas watches his friend Fiona named Caretaker of the Old and his cheerful pal Asher labeled the Assistant Director of Recreation. But Jonas has been chosen for something special. When his selection leads him to an unnamed man, the man called only the Giver, he begins to sense the dark secrets that underlie the fragile perfection of his world.
-
-
Music. ugggg
- By adam jensen on 01-02-19
By: Lois Lowry
-
The Fifth Doll
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Matrona lives in an isolated village, where her life is centered on pleasing her parents. She's diligent in her chores and has agreed to marry a man of their choosing. But a visit to Slava, the local tradesman, threatens to upend her entire life. Entering his empty house, Matrona discovers a strange collection of painted nesting dolls - one for every villager.
-
-
Unique and Unexpected
- By B.A. Wilson on 12-30-17
-
Spellbreaker
- Spellbreaker, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden, Joel Froomkin
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The orphaned Elsie Camden learned as a girl that there were two kinds of wizards in the world: those who pay for the power to cast spells and those, like her, born with the ability to break them. But as an unlicensed magic user, her gift is a crime. Commissioned by an underground group known as the Cowls, Elsie uses her spellbreaking to push back against the aristocrats and help the common man. Elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey is one elusive spell away from his mastership when he catches Elsie breaking an enchantment. To protect her secret, Elsie strikes a bargain.
-
-
Interesting read/listen
- By Roderica Ruddle on 12-21-20
-
Girl, Serpent, Thorn
- By: Melissa Bashardoust
- Narrated by: Nikki Massoud
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it's not just a story. As the day of her twin brother's wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she's willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom.
-
-
It’s gay and it slaps
- By Em on 01-21-21
Publisher's Summary
"The Near Witch" is only an old story told to frighten children.
If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely and always looking for company.
There are no strangers in the town of Near.
These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion.
As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.
Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab's debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won't soon forget.
This new edition of The Near Witch also included the in-universe short story "The Ash-Born Boy" and a never-before-seen introduction from V. E. Schwab.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Near Witch
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tara
- 03-19-19
Unlistenable
I really like V.E. Schwab, and I really wanted to like this book. The narration makes that almost impossible.
Heather Wilds speaks with such an odd cadence that I found it completely distracting. She ends every phrase with an upward lilt, and accents words that don’t really require any extra emphasis. She can effectively turn a single sentence into three or four different ones. If I find the time I may try to actually read this.
39 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amanda
- 11-08-19
Unable to get beyond the first few minutes
Sing songy narration that has a slight pause every third or fourth word making the sentences feel disjointed. I felt a bit sea sick from the rhythmic ebb and flow of misplaced pauses and odd inflections.
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pam
- 09-14-19
Bad narrator
I really thought I would like this one, and I will probably try just reading the print book, but the narrator is horrible! She barely changes her tone and it is just hard to find the story when you’re trying to understand what she even said. I tried changing speeds and just can’t do it. I bailed after ch. 2.
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Asgard Oakenshield
- 04-10-19
Disappointing narrator, she’s reading like a constant wave in a lake.
Narrator reads it like it’s not a novel but a response on a church service. Notice she makes this “cadence” when reading the whole story. It ruined the whole novel.
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Nora
- 03-21-19
poor narrator
struggled to finish... narrator read with a rythm hard to follow. Accent is a turn off.
please sample before purchase
I want my credit back
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jo Sherling
- 10-16-19
poor narration, good story
The quality of the story is the only reason I was able to make it through this book. The pacing and inflection used by the narrator constantly pulled me out of the story and grated on my nerves. Ms Wilds puts emphasis on the last word of a phrase in a very odd manner that reminds me of a poetry reading but is not good for the flow of the tale. Her character voices and inflection during the character dialog portions was quite good if only she could stop that odd and jarring emphasis.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- TheHappyHouseWife
- 09-30-19
The hardest listen yet.
The story could be amazing, but thanks to the narrator I won’t know. It is horrible!! Her sentences run on with this upward sounding tone and the end of them. It’s like commas and periods don’t exist.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adilene Sanchez
- 05-13-19
Worst narrator
What in the world. The narrator reads one sentence then paused. One sentence then pauses. One sentence then pauses. Definitely needs another narrator. It’s kinda monotones. Definitely listen to the sample first! I definitely didn’t even get past the first chapter before returning it.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maria Dominguez
- 12-24-19
Great Story. Really bad narrator. ☹️
This narrator was really bad. I almost stopped listening to the story because of how bad the reading was.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dee
- 04-01-19
Victoria Always Had It!
Beautiful. Definitely a story worth reading if you aren't too interested in the overly intense.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance

- Amazon Customer
- 08-08-20
could not listen through
I'm sure the book is good (I wanted to buy it for a while) but unfortunately the narration was so weirdly rhythmic that I could not listen to more than half an hour before giving up.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- lucy g
- 08-27-19
Narrators voice ruins the book
I think I could have enjoyed this book but the narrator's voice is highly irritating. the recieved pronunciation accent, the upward tone at the end of every sentence or comma is so distracting and irritating I couldn't concentrate on the story. her voice is constant too, not an easy listen. I wish I had listened to the reviews as they nearly all say the same. I couldn't get past the first chapter.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 07-05-21
Jarring narration, distracting and drowns story .
Impossible to finish!! Didn't realise how much narration would influence my experience until now. Love the author so disappointed.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jenny
- 10-28-20
Horrible narrator
The absolute worst narrator I’ve ever listened to. I barely even made it through one chapter before I couldn’t listen anymore and refunded the book.
The way she speaks and the tone she uses makes it hard to even understand what‘s being said. Then there’s weird pauses where there shouldn’t be, meaning a single sentence is broken up into disjointed chunks that don’t make sense. There’s emphasis on words that don’t need it.
I’ve never been this unimpressed by a narrator before. Awful.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 01-29-21
Couldn’t listen to the voice
I am sorry I haven’t even gotten through the first chapter. I will have to get it on my kindle. I couldn’t stand the way the reader had a raised cadence at the end of each sentence. Chalk on blackboard was easier to listen to. When the orator used speaking voices for the characters I could hear the richness of her voice bur her passive voice was anything but.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jess Ryan-White
- 03-30-22
Cool story, bad narration
The story is probably great, but I’m going to get a physical copy of the book as the narration was too distracting. She speaks in a very rhythmic way with no variation, and it made it hard to listen to.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Linda Wilson
- 03-21-22
Story great - narration terrible.
I think I would have really enjoyed this book however I couldn’t get past chapter two. Unfortunately the narrator read each block of 4-5 sentences using exactly the same intonation and expression… on repeat, regardless of what was being said. A real shame as I have loved other of this Authors stories.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kate
- 02-15-22
disconnect
There was a complete disconnect between the narrator and what was being said. every sentence was said as if it was a fact you were reading to a class, very unnatural.
while the narrator was reading dialogue she sounded fine so I'm not sure why she's gone with short sharp rising sentences for the rest of the book.
I think I'll just go by the physical book and read this one.