The Near Witch
#8093.64 adjusted 3.65 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2011 Reading commitment Low V.E. Schwab Last reviewed 2026-08-30
Overview
The Near Witch is V.E. Schwab's 2011 debut novel, a standalone YA fairy-tale-inflected fantasy set in a small, isolated town on the moor, Near, where the wind itself is said to have a memory and children begin to vanish, reviving old suspicions about a nearby witch and the folk tale that gives the story its title. Confirmed a separate, unrelated universe from Schwab's other admitted work, Shades of Magic, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, and Gallant: no shared characters, setting, or continuity. Originally published by Disney-Hyperion, the novel went out of print within two years before being substantially revised and reissued by Titan Books in 2019.
Dark fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Near Witch V.E. Schwab
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Near Witch | 2011 | 1 | core | 3.64 (50,362 ratings) |
V.E. Schwab's debut novel, a standalone YA fairy-tale-inflected fantasy; confirmed a separate, unrelated universe from her other admitted work, Shades of Magic, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, and Gallant.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Near Witch? The Near Witch's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Near Witch finished? Complete (2011).
- How much reading does The Near Witch take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~284 pages).
- How is The Near Witch ranked? #809 in this site's official ranking, based on 50,362 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #809?
Ranked #809 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.64 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (50,362 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #808, The Ballad of Perilous Graves (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 1 book · Complete · 50k ratings · Ranks #809 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what The Near Witch and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Plain Kate Dark fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.76
- Gallant Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.70
- Sea Hearts Fairy-tale retelling / Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.69
- The Owl Service Mythic fantasy / Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.66
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.64 across 50,362 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Near Witch (V.E. Schwab) accepted 2026-08-30
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-30
Rule: Core Canon is the single standalone novel.