Review: The Vatra Witch: Book One The Lost Souls of Eraphon Series

Book: The Vatra Witch: Book One The Lost Souls of Eraphon Series by G.V. Hext

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5

๐Ÿ…ฝ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…พ๏ธŽ ๐Ÿ†‚๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…พ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ธ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ป๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ด๏ธŽ๐Ÿ†๏ธŽ๐Ÿ†‚๏ธŽ
๐”ป๐•–๐•ฅ๐•’๐•š๐•๐•–๐•• ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•–๐•จ ๐• ๐•—- THE VATRA WITCH by G.V Hext
Thank you BookSirens and G.V Hext for the arc, please know that Iโ€™m a strict reviewer so here is my honest opinions and thoughts.

โ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•ค-
๐Ÿ—ฃ(out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)
๐Ÿ“š ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5 / 5
๐ŸŒก๏ธ ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ / 5
โ™Ÿ๏ธ๐——๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น- >>>โš”๏ธ<<<
๐ŸŽƒ: ๐ถ๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐ŸŒ‘: ๐‘€๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฆ โš”๏ธ: แต’แต’แต’สฐสฐสฐ หขแต—แตƒแต‡แต‡สธ แต–แต‰แต’แต–หกแต‰โ€ขโ€ขโ€ข ๐Ÿ’€: ๐‘…๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ MฬถEฬถNฬถUฬถ ๐Ÿ˜ณ -๐‘– ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘‡๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘”๐‘”๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Š๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘ !! โ˜ ๏ธ: PอŸIอŸTอŸCอŸHอŸ FอŸCอŸuอŸKอŸIอŸNอŸGอŸ BอŸLอŸAอŸCอŸKอŸ!

๐•‚๐•–๐•ช ๐•€๐•Ÿ๐•—๐• :
โ€ข๐Ÿ“–# 521 ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜€
โ€ข๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜? 3 days
โ€ข# MULTI ๐—ฃ๐—ข๐—ฉ
โ€ข๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ-15 February 2026
โ€ข๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ or ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ driven? CHARACTER
โ€ข๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ & ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ-THE LOST SOULS OF ERAPHON book1
โ€ข๐—”๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ on ๐—ž๐—จ?
โ€ข๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ- medium and steady
โ€ข๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ?โœ…
โ€ข๐— ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€; ๐‘บ๐’•๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž๐’š, ๐‘ฌ๐’Ž๐’๐’•๐‘–๐’๐’๐’‚๐’, ๐‘พ๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’š, ๐‘ด๐’‚๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’„๐’‚๐’, ๐‘ด๐’š๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’–๐’”, ๐‘ช๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ, ๐‘ฏ๐’‚๐’–๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ, ๐‘ญ๐’๐’“๐’†๐’ƒ๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ

โ—๐•‹โ„๐•†โ„™๐”ผ๐•Š
๐Ÿ˜ˆ๐•Š๐•–๐•”๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ค & ๐”น๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ฃ๐•’๐•ช๐•’๐•๐•ค
๐Ÿ”ฎ๐”“๐”ฏ๐”ฌ๐”ญ๐”ฅ๐”ข๐” ๐”ฆ๐”ข๐”ฐ ๐”ž๐”ซ๐”ก ๐”๐”ถ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ข๐”ฏ๐”ฆ๐”ข๐”ฐ
๐Ÿงญโ„š๐•ฆ๐•–๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•ค
๐ŸชงPแดสŸษชแด›ษชแด„แด€สŸ Iษดแด›ส€ษชษขแดœแด‡
โ˜ฏ๏ธโ„๐•–๐•๐•š๐•˜๐•š๐• ๐•Ÿ/๐”ป๐•–๐•š๐•ฅ๐•š๐•–๐•ค
๐ŸคฉEpic Side Characters
๐Ÿ”บ ๐ฟ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘”๐‘™๐‘’
๐Ÿ”ฅ๐’๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง
๐ŸŒก๐•๐•–๐•’๐•ฃ๐•Ÿ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜, ๐”ธ๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•ค๐•ฅ, ๐•‹๐•–๐•Ÿ๐•ค๐•š๐• ๐•Ÿ
๐Ÿ’ˆ แ—ทแ—ฉแ‘ŽTแ—ดแ–‡
๐Ÿ’€๐”‰๐”ฌ๐”ฏ๐”Ÿ๐”ฆ๐”ก๐”ก๐”ข๐”ซ ๐”ฏ๐”ฌ๐”ช๐”ž๐”ซ๐” ๐”ข
๐Ÿ—ก ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ข๐™ž๐™š๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™‡๐™ค๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ
๐Ÿงจ๐•Š๐•’๐•ค๐•ค๐•ช ๐”ฝ๐•„โ„‚
๐Ÿง™โ€โ™€๏ธ๐”š๐”ฆ๐”ฑ๐” ๐”ฅ๐”ข๐”ฐ
๐Ÿ‘น๐–‰๐–Š๐–’๐–”๐–“๐–˜

๐ŸŒ ๐•Ž๐• ๐•ฃ๐•๐•• ๐•“๐•ฆ๐•š๐•๐••๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜, ๐•จ๐•ฃ๐•š๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•’๐•Ÿ๐•• ๐•ก๐•’๐•”๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜:

G.V. Hextโ€™s debut novel (really? Debutโ€ฆ. Hmmmm, no way can this be a debut!)

Multiple POV
The multi POV of Seraphina and her gay BFF, Dominick, really helped pace the story while still providing background and context to keep you informed and hooked for more. For once, the perspectives aren't just the dual sides of the same coin between the main characters! Dominick, Seraphina's sassy, man whรถre, gay best friend-who I adored! is an epic side character that we spend a good amount of time getting to know. His perspective was so important to understanding not just the plot, but it gave us a more rounded view of the political climate and how it impacts individuals, families, and the different classes. The representation here was perfectly written and genuinely meaningful.
The multi pov from the main and side characters gave a much deeper look into the world as a whole and It allowed us to understand the trauma all the characters experience and the choices they're forced to make in the wake of this war-torn coven. = all authors take notes!!

Atmosphere
This book gave off gothic, haunting vibes. it was brooding and immersive.
What I loved the most about this was that the book questions whether darkness is inherently evil - offering us the opinion that darkness can be beautiful or even... a mercy.
Sera is so desperate to be accepted, loved, and seen as more than her dark magic. watching Sera learn that harness dark magic and find her worth was powerful to me.

I truly love any romantasy that can make me really think and feel!

Worldbuilding
The World-building was filled with origin stories, and the emotional weight of war permeates every page. The variety of characters and their class/ status shows what war does to people. The trauma representation is exceptionally well written. This story shows us the cost of survival, the emotional damage that living through a war entails, and the things that all people, no matter how nice/loyal/kind they are, are willing to do when they have no other choice.

The love triangle finally felt like an actual tough choice which is very rare compared to almost every other triangle trope out there. Sera has a connection to both of the love interests and different reasons for how she feels about each of them. I feel they both did things right and both did things wrong, it was leaning one way more than the other which annoyed me (youโ€™ll understand when you read it) and a little more open communication could have levelled the playing field and made it even more delectable!

๐Ÿงโ€โ™‚๏ธ โ„‚๐•™๐•’๐•ฃ๐•’๐•”๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ฃ๐•ค:
From the complicated family relationships to the relationship with oneself, learning the dynamics and politics of life in the coven was haunting. Everyone had depth and motivation that felt deeply human and palpable, like you could live this story yourself.

At first, I was a little underwhelmed by the FMC, Seraphina, but after finishing the book, itโ€™s clear that it was absolutely done on purpose. She was a very compelling character- weak, underestimated and felt powerless and almost worthless, especially compared to her sister and mother. The constant voice in the her head as she struggles with her place n the world created an eerie, foreboding and unsettling feeling that permeates the narrative. as the story develops she learns so much and is haunted by truths revealed throughout the plot. This journey from meek lower class witch to heroine gave her room to grow and plenty of reasons for some justified feminine rage, my favorite.

Vasso was cheeky and sneaky and gorgeous. I feel like Sera was pretty quick to trust him with very little worry, even her inner monologue didnโ€™t ask the right questions.

Her mother was mean and COLD to Sera, and I know there is more to her involvement in not only the coven but the demons also. I just know it. I don't trust her one bit, he is written as a good villain now I look back but at the time, I didnโ€™t notice her enoughโ€ฆ she was hiding right there in plain sight and I feel no, I may be ok late for us all!

I love that Snik isn't plot centred but he is soooo needed, helpful, adorable and perfect for sera to show her nurturing side.

๐Ÿ˜ฅ ๐•Ž๐•™๐•ช ๐•Ÿ๐•  ๐•—๐•š๐•ง๐•– ๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•’๐•ฃ๐•ค?
I feel like some things should have been said /thrown back at the male love interests and some questions should have been asked that just felt obvious to me. Having none of that made me feel disappointed and made the relationships a little unbelievable.

Eg:
Seraphina had all this development with Alistair just to forget about him when she met Vasso? And after he gave all of that taunting and teasing at the start to just flip and become jealous like he had the damn right really annoyed me! That should have been a deeply layered argument, developing their relationship and deepening their history and friendship!
Then we finally learned more about Alistair but in a way that made it seem like we were meant to immediately dislike him and swap to liking Vasso.
Something wasn't clicking for me with Sera and Vasso's relationship, he was giving mixed signals and again she didnโ€™t pull him up on it! There was a line where he pulled way with regret- my god that boiled my blood! That should most definitely have been twisted and thrown in his face what with how he was making her feel about not only himself but Alistair too.

โณ ๐•Ž๐• ๐•ฆ๐•๐•• ๐•š ๐•ฃ๐•–-๐•ฃ๐•–๐•’๐•• ๐• ๐•ฃ ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•”๐• ๐•ž๐•ž๐•–๐•Ÿ๐••?
Yes, yes, yes! I Wholeheartedly recommend this book, it had me completely enthralled!

๐Ÿชง๐”ฝ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•’๐• ๐•ฅ๐•™๐• ๐•ฆ๐•˜๐•™๐•ฅ๐•ค:
This is not your typical good versus evil story, and will have you questioning which side you align yourself with. Things are not as they seem at first glance, and I throughly enjoyed the layers that you get to work through as truths are revealed and you journey through the story.
Be warned, this is a book that will keep you up late, telling yourself just one more chapter. A very refreshing and addictive addition to the romantasy genre.

๐น๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘”๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ;

๐•‹๐•š๐•œ๐•‹๐• ๐•œ
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*

๐•„๐•ช โ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•Š๐•ช๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ž๐•ค:
โญ๏ธ DNF

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!

๐Ÿ”ฅโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ๐Ÿ”ฅ
This is my God level tier. The book must be perfectly memorable. Even after reading 50+ more books, I will remember character names and emotions along with the plot. If there is a special edition, then I need to own it! If there is a conversation on books- I'm talking about this!

SPICE SCALE:
๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ segsual language and a little on-page action

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more dark / taboo fantasies and realities.

Read full review on ARC Library