Howdy readers! Happy Sunday and welcome to another fun filled review! This time on the chopping block is
Witch Hunter Olivia by T.A. Kunz.
Witch Hunter Olivia comes to me highly recommended by three of my favorite authors and people ever: Liz Long, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Cora Carmack. How could I argue with them!? Here's a bit about the book and out author before we get to my thoughts!
Here's what New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors are saying about Witch Hunter Olivia by T.A. Kunz:
"Witch hunters and sexy tattoo artists? This New Adult Paranormal is EVERYTHING fans of romance and action are looking for."
- #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout
"A fun, action-packed, enjoyable read!"
- New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cora Carmack
"The perfect blend of New Adult and Paranormal. It's absolutely fantastic!"
- New York Times bestselling author Nichole Chase
~ ~ ~
Reviewers are calling
Witch Hunter Olivia "amazing, fun, well-written, and entertaining." You don't want to miss the hottest New Adult paranormal romance of the summer!
In the town of Piedmont Pointe, where paranormal is the norm, a girl can
easily get herself in over her head with a single wrong move.
Unfortunately for Olivia Adams, she's about to make several.
Starting over is never easy, but it seemed like the only option to
Olivia. The decision to turn her back on the Guild of Witch Hunters, the
very group she devoted her entire life to, was one of the hardest
things she ever did. It meant leaving her family, her friends, and her
old identity behind forever. Coming to terms with what caused her to
abandon her duties in the first place was even harder.
While trying to lay low and stay off the Guild's radar, Olivia finds
herself thrust back into her old ways after unknowingly interrupting an
assassination hit on a powerful witch. What follows is the last thing
she ever thought she'd agree to do--protect the very thing she was
groomed to hunt.
To complicate things even further, Olivia begins to develop feelings for
a tattoo artist who also happens to be half warlock, and no matter how
hard she tries to fight it, she can't resist her inescapable draw to
him. Olivia's forbidden relationship isn't her only issue though,
because once the mystery behind the assassination attempt starts to
unravel, she's forced to choose sides when the loyalties still tied to
her past life are tested again.
So much for the idea of a fresh start.
T.A. Kunz*
Author T.A. Kunz has always had a fondness for reading thrilling
mysteries and action-packed urban fantasies. So, it was no surprise when
T.A. decided to write stories that they'd fall into one of those two
genres. T.A. lives in Central Florida with two fur babies and a
mechanical engineer who also happens to be quite the culinary badass,
which there are no complaints about. Being a self-diagnosed caffeine
addict, many joke that T.A.'s addiction to Starbucks coffee will likely
be their downfall later in life.
Find T.A. Kunz
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My Thoughts:
Let me start by saying that I am so glad I picked this book to read after Horns, it was the perfect book to take me down off of that 'creepy horror book vibe' and put me back down in the land where I feel so much more comfortable: paranormal. Horns was paranormal, but if you've read Horns, you'll understand what I mean. Witch Hunter Olivia came to me recommended by authors, friends, and readers so I was very excited to see what Kunz could offer in the New Adult Paranormal department. I was not disappointed.
Allow me to say a few words about New Adult Paranormal before I get into this read specifically. Right now there is a huge push for new books in the "New Adult Paranormal Romance" genre. I don't completely understand the logic in this thinking, because, in my opinion there are plenty of "New Adult" paranormal series/stories out there, they just aren't being branded as such. Also, can we just take a minute to recognize some of the other amazing New Adult Paranormal authors out there? Two off the top of my head are Nazarea Andrews and Liz Long, two of my favorite authors and proof that paranormal stories and romances can exist without the need to brand a novel as such. After reading Witch Hunter Olivia, I am placing TA Kunz on my list alongside them. I think this current line of thinking from the literary world is complete and totally BS. I am a plain, black and white kind of guy who seriously doesn't understand why we need all these titles on our reads. This will become the topic of a rant post sometime very soon, but let me just say this: I don't believe there is any need in labeling a novel as Paranormal Romance if only to appeal to the romance genre lovers. I don't like romance. I LOVE paranormal. Reason would stand that I would be "meh" on a paranormal romance. That is, if, it were a true romance. That probably didn't make much sense to anybody but me so let me just say this, Witch Hunter Olivia, in my honest opinion as a reader, was a New Adult Paranormal novel. Not a romance. I'm not sure where the "romance" part of the branding came for this novel, but I disagree fervently. This is by no fault of Kunz, but the publicists and publishers. Again, that's for another rant, but I digress.
Since I have already brought up the romance thing, I will speak about it first. Witch Hunter Olivia was a great novel, but I wouldn't label it as a romance. Sure there is a romance, but what book these days doesn't have a romance of some sort. The romance in this novel does not drive the plot in any way, shape, or form. It does make for good writing and character development, but the relationship could have been strictly platonic and still have had the same effects on the novel. This is why I don't believe the labeling of "romance" is necessary. Kunz did an amazing job with his characters and their relationships. They are realistic and relate-able in many aspects. I enjoyed the read thoroughly. Even though readers of the New Adult genre are inclined to believe that we can expect to read numerous explicit sex scenes, Kunz proved me wrong. Witch Hunter Olivia offers one, one, sex scene and get this. It appears on page 160 of a 200 page novel. That close to the end. I love that. I loved that the story had a story to be told without relying on numerous unnecessary sex scenes to keep the readers attention. On that note, I applaud Kunz!
Back to the characters, I really enjoyed them for the most part. First can say I was so excited to read that the main characters in this novel were not white. I know that is pretty strange to say, but I oftentimes picture book characters as different races and I am so glad Kunz made this distinction in the beginning. Thank you for that! I do wonder, however, why Olivia, our FMC isn't on the cover of a book titled Witch Hunter Olivia? I really hope that was not in effort to gain romance readers by placing a half naked male on the cover... Again, my biggest issues with this novel were in the branding. It was obvious to me the entire time who this novel was marketed towards and unfortunately it was not me, the MALE paranormal lover. Thankfully, though, it was not enough to prevent me from enjoying this read. Olivia was a cool character, but I will say that she left me wanting more. We are given very little backstory to the lives and world of any of these characters and that left me confused at times, almost as though we were expected to know things that were unwritten. Heath, the MMC was a great character, but I am left with the same questions. WHO is Heath? Unfortunately I think the character development on the individual level was lacking in parts here. Heath is a tattoo artist who is also a warlock, but can only perform spells in the form of tattoos? I think? It's a little difficult and unlike anything I have every heard before. Tara (Olivia's best friend) flat out got on my nerves. She plays a very important role in the story but I rolled my eyes every time she opened her mouth. She never took anything very seriously until it was too late and I hated that! Rebecca was the character that gave me the most to think about though. I'm not going to go into details and on a personal tirade here, but I hate all things Greek-life. I am sorry if we have a differing opinion on this but I am very animate about this and don't see my views changing anytime soon so I was little angered to see that so much of this novel revolves around sorority girls or frat guys and partying, but then I realized that it was all one big tongue-in-cheek joke about the Greek system. Olivia is clearly not a fan of Greek life although both Tara and Heath are. It was interesting to see how their views effected the storyline. Also, although going to class was mentioned a handful of times in the novel, you really had no idea these characters were in college because they never go! I guess that's just one of the unrealistic aspects of writing about a college setting. Nobody wants to read about boring lecture halls. Overall I thought the characters were alright, they definitely left me thinking.
In a book with Witch in the title, we see very little magic and witchcraft. Almost none. In fact, most of the magic comes from a genie. There was also a scene where we see werewolves but overall there was very little magic. I was excited to see how Olivia hunted witches (see title), however we didn't see Olivia fight a single witch. It's actually kind of confusing. Well... ugh. Spoilers people.... Read the book and then come to me for an explanation on this front.
The plot of this novel is pretty... hard to explain. A lot happens, but then again a whole lot doesn't happen. This is a short read, clocking in at 200 pages on my Nook, but most of them were not action filled. There was a lot of building to the action and then a bunch of action all at once. I like that sometimes, but in a book this sort I would have liked to see a little more action scenes. I think the story is great and definitely leaves the option for sequels and spinoffs (I have acted Kunz about this via Twitter and will embed the Tweet here if I get a response on the subject)! I will definitely be reading them if there are more to come! The novel does have a few emotional moments and ultimately ends on a happy, yet bittersweet note that definitely made me feel like the plot was resolved. I really like that in a novel.
This probably sounds like a big jumble of confusion to anyone who has stayed with me, but to anyone who is still here, congrats, you made it to the end! All-in-all I really did enjoy Witch Hunter Olivia in the end and for that I am granting it a 4-Star rating. Kunz definitely weaved an interesting story with a unique twist that I found refreshing. Usually my issues with the branding would have changed my thoughts on the rating, but in this instance, I don't believe it was anyone's fault and it really didn't distract from my reading experience. To anyone looking for a relatively easy quick read and is a fan of all things paranormal (such as myself), check it out and be sure to let me know what you thought!
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Alright everyone, thanks so much for stopping by to check out my review Witch Hunter Olivia by TA Kunz! It was an interesting read and after having so many people recommend it to me, I am so glad I checked it out. It's only $2.99 right now at the links above so head over, grab yourself a copy, and get lost in the witch hunting world for a few hours! Be sure to let me know your thoughts on the book after you've finished! Until next time, happy reading!
-Ethan
