Green Witch

great stuff

Even though Green is better off than right after the great disaster and destruction of her world, she still has so much to despair about. She is still alone, without her family and the boy she loves. In order to find out who she really is, Green heads out to a world she believed she could never before face for the chance to find all the love, answers, freedom, and retribution she has been searching for. On her journey, Green learns to fight for love no matter how impossible it may seem - and, of course, conquer the fears that stop her from succeeding. Like the plants in her garden, Hoffman's Green has grown and blossomed into a timeless character that rises from the ashes of despair, never to return. Green is no longer held down but, instead, rises to a heart-clenching victory of love and peace of mind after questioning the world's belief in love, loss, and revival. In GREEN WITCH, Hoffman once again succeeds in portraying a gravity-defying character who proves she has the strength of millions. I love, love, love this book, which is just as startling as GREEN ANGEL and that surely will bring tears of joy to the eyes for no reason and every reason. The reader learns that love is life; it keeps us alive whether we are aware of it or not. It doesn't stop anything or anyone from reaching aspirations, but brings us toward them faster than light. Reviewed by: AdrienneBe

Bought because I'd enjoyed the first one. This was also an engaging read, however I wanted it to be a little longer. Unsure what age this was aimed at.

It's a not-so-futuristic world where civilization has crumbled and books have been destroyed, and one girl is changing everything in her own quiet way. "Green Witch" is a sequel to Alice Hoffman's novella "Green Angel," and it's written in the same quietly poetic style, filled with leaves, stones, doves ashes and glimmering lights. The only downside:a totally implausible clash with the Horde. After losing her family, Green has devoted herself to two things -- growing plants in her magically flourishing garden, and making paper tinged with celery, spices, ashes, roses and other things. With that paper, she makes books to replace the ones the Horde has burned, and fills them with people's memories and knowledge. And Green travels to the women called the Enchanted, who are labelled witches by other people -- she wants to learn of their histories and immortalize their stories in her books. But her own story is unfinished, ever since the boy she fell in love with, Diamond, left to find his family. And when she sees a photograph of Diamond riding with the horde, she sets out to learn if he has joined their enemies, or is a prisoner of them. "Green Witch" is a haiku of a novella -- a delicate prose poem that's saturated in dreamlike imagery and magical realism. Hoffman devotes this brief story to wrapping up Green's personal story, and showing how the world is coping after "that day" -- the story is left open-ended, but it's obvious that Hoffman is tying off all the subplots. And her writing, while technically prose, drips with poetry from every page. Her prose full of moonlight, paper, leaves, roses and spices, and the story drifts along in a way that makes the months of Green's life feel almost like a dream. The story itself is rather simple and straightforward, but it's tangled up in musings about the power of stories and love, and the hints of what is ahead for humanity as it recovers from "that day." The one problem? The whole clash between Green and the Horde -- and especially the pat result of it -- stretches plausibility to the point of snapping. So the entire army conveniently groups in one place? Green's story was left unfinished in "Green Angel," and here she's grown into a full-grown, self-sufficient woman who occupies her own niche in her community. She's also still in love with Diamond, although her doubts about whether he's joined the Horde never really feel convincing. And Hoffman sprinkles the story with other brief, glimmering characters -- Diamond, a trio of tragic "witches," the Finder, and Green's little village. "Green Witch" is a crystalline little sequel to "Green Angel," and while the climax is pretty unbelievable, its beauty is enough to sweep you away.