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emleemay's review against another edition
3.0
"I will kill you," he went on.
"No." The girl's eyes thinned; she pushed herself further upright and the moon streamed over her. "I d-d-d..." She coughed. Then wiped her mouth. "I don't think you will."
Ah, this book. I went back and forth on the rating and I do want to say this: unlike the other highly anticipated January novel - [b:Passenger|20983362|Passenger (Passenger, #1)|Alexandra Bracken|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1446749751s/20983362.jpg|40360384] - [b:Truthwitch|21414439|Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1)|Susan Dennard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428675822s/21414439.jpg|40715259] is a fast-paced, enjoyable adventure. However, I know picky fantasy readers will see right through this book.
If you are looking for a light fantasy read with descriptions of dresses, balls, dancing, and an inevitable romance, look no further. Sometimes that's all I want too. There's no denying that this book has a base, addictive pull from the opening holdup-gone-wrong to every dramatic twist, turn and action scene after. But if you're looking for something stronger, more fleshed-out and complex, I think [b:Truthwitch|21414439|Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1)|Susan Dennard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428675822s/21414439.jpg|40715259] could cause you some eye rolls.
I'll break it down.
Characters. There are two central female characters - Safi and Iseult - and only the latter is particularly interesting. Safi suffers from a "specialness" because she is a truthwitch. Though whether the other characters know this or not does not affect their tendency to faint, fall over themselves or otherwise become obsessed with her whenever she enters the room.
And, quite frankly, for the most part she seems to act stupidly, putting herself and Iseult in danger because of her reckless and dumb plans. Like that time she runs away from the people helping her because... who the hell knows? Literally her only real talents seem to be making poor decisions and attracting the attention of various princes.
Iseult, however, is a badass. I liked it when the novel's focus moved to her. I thought she was more interesting, less trope-y than the "special" Safi. I will also note that I like the emphasis put on female friendship before everything else; I was a little disappointed that we didn't get a Safi/Iseult LGBT romance, but I'll settle for the next best thing.
The only other interesting character is the villain - a blood monk called Aeduan. He is probably the greatest reason I am looking forward to the sequel, because fascinating, multilayered (maybe not quite so evil?) villains are one of my favourite things. I hope we get lots of him in the next book.
World-building. This should be a short section because there is none. I've heard early critics praising the unique world, but I am confused. There are some vague mentions of emperors and place names, but very little information is given about these people, their history, culture, politics or anything else. The only thing we know is that a 20-year peace treaty is soon coming to an end.
Also, these witches all live in a world made up of various lands and the collective name of these lands is... "Witchlands". Now, I don't want to get all nitpicky over little language/name things, but come on, "witches from the Witchlands". Fantastic, that's given me a great idea for a book! It's about vampires who live in "Vampireville".
Instalove.
“Something had happened between Safi and Merik during their dance. Something as powerful as the wind and the music that had gusted around them. A shift in the air that preceded a storm.”
Oh, hell, make it stop. Possibly the most eye roll-worthy thing of this book is the budding romance between Safi and Merik. They dance at a ball and it's obsession at first twirl.
I believe you can experience lust from dancing with a hot guy or girl, I even believe a crush can form from dancing with a hot guy or girl, but forgive me if I raise a skeptical eyebrow at "something as powerful as the wind". LOL, get over yourselves already. Also, Merik has no personality beyond his concerns for the wonderful Safi.
Just to conclude... It seems like a lot of negative, but I honestly did enjoy the fast pacing and surprises. I, for one, will be reading the sequel. Though I advise you to maybe think twice about this if you like your fantasy with more substance than mindless entertainment.
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the_bookliopile's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
readerrayna's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5 stars
This book was really awesome from the characters to the relationships to the world, I highly enjoyed this book.
I thought that the world-building was good, but clunky in some places. I can understand why a lot of people were confused at the beginning, but I thought that it was detailed and well thought-out.
I enjoyed the magic system in the world - or the witchery - and how there's so many different types in the world. This was definitely one of my favorite parts. I also think that not having every person have witchery is a key thing, though we see mostly people who have it in this book - I think that's just the nature of the beast, so to speak. But I loved the different types: Tidewitch, Truthwitch, Threadwitch, Bloodwitch, and so many more. I hope we get a glossary in the next book to keep track of who is who.
I absolutely loved the relationships in this book, particularly the strong female friendship between Safiya and Iseult. They have such a strong bond and rely heavily on each other, which I think really brings out a lot of qualities that one or the other might not possess at a time. Merik and Kullen's friendship, too, was super strong and I loved how far Merik was willing to go to help his Threadbrother.
The romance is kind of a slow burn, and yes, there is a pretty hot, fast connection between the two, but I wonder if that's how threads work in this world - if you become connected instantly once the thread knows that that's who it's supposed to be? Just a theory. But I did enjoy the romance - and it did get a little hot and heavy later on, but not too much.
The action scenes were packed in here but not so much that it was too overwhelming. It definitely made for a fast paced story and one that had me constantly turning the page. There were a lot of twists and turns and so many ways that it could have changed or gone wrong or right.
I have so many feels for the end of this book and so many questions that I want to ask, and so I am definitely excited for the next book and I'm so sad that I have to wait another year to read the next installment.
This book was really awesome from the characters to the relationships to the world, I highly enjoyed this book.
I thought that the world-building was good, but clunky in some places. I can understand why a lot of people were confused at the beginning, but I thought that it was detailed and well thought-out.
I enjoyed the magic system in the world - or the witchery - and how there's so many different types in the world. This was definitely one of my favorite parts. I also think that not having every person have witchery is a key thing, though we see mostly people who have it in this book - I think that's just the nature of the beast, so to speak. But I loved the different types: Tidewitch, Truthwitch, Threadwitch, Bloodwitch, and so many more. I hope we get a glossary in the next book to keep track of who is who.
I absolutely loved the relationships in this book, particularly the strong female friendship between Safiya and Iseult. They have such a strong bond and rely heavily on each other, which I think really brings out a lot of qualities that one or the other might not possess at a time. Merik and Kullen's friendship, too, was super strong and I loved how far Merik was willing to go to help his Threadbrother.
The romance is kind of a slow burn, and yes, there is a pretty hot, fast connection between the two, but I wonder if that's how threads work in this world - if you become connected instantly once the thread knows that that's who it's supposed to be? Just a theory. But I did enjoy the romance - and it did get a little hot and heavy later on, but not too much.
The action scenes were packed in here but not so much that it was too overwhelming. It definitely made for a fast paced story and one that had me constantly turning the page. There were a lot of twists and turns and so many ways that it could have changed or gone wrong or right.
I have so many feels for the end of this book and so many questions that I want to ask, and so I am definitely excited for the next book and I'm so sad that I have to wait another year to read the next installment.
blujay42's review against another edition
The plot twists weren't grounded, other reviews confirmed the story doesn't end satisfactory
stories_swimming_in_my_head's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
This book had so much potential; the world building was great, the plot was great, and the romance was pretty well written. But. The characters just didn't appeal to me. Despite all the good things about this book, I don't care enough about the characters to bother reading the next one. There was one scene where Safiya reflects on all her mistakes, and I was excited to see some development, but the in the end she decides she's perfect and doesn't need to change, like, umm what??? So anyway, it was an ok book and I liked the author's writing style, but the characters fell flat. You decide if it's worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content
danaisreading's review against another edition
2.0
I suppose if I had never read a fantasy novel (or any kind of novel) before, I might have liked this.
Zero world-building or explanation. People are just Pizzawitches or Whateverwitches with very little boundaries. There is a mythical duo some people are waiting for, but who they are or what they're supposed to do or why anyone should care is left to the imagination. Countries are at war, but on a 20-year truce with the option to stay longer on a truce. No idea why or what the war was even for.
The reader is just thrown into the book and kept on the run as the main characters are. That's really the entire plot - the MCs are being hunted for reasons that are never clear other than their own stupid decision-making at times, and they are somehow important enough to keep up this chase across multiple countries and 350 pages.
If you're going to string all of those words together, even the wrong ones (elicit ≠ illicit, by the way), they should be put together in a way to make it worth reading.
Zero world-building or explanation. People are just Pizzawitches or Whateverwitches with very little boundaries. There is a mythical duo some people are waiting for, but who they are or what they're supposed to do or why anyone should care is left to the imagination. Countries are at war, but on a 20-year truce with the option to stay longer on a truce. No idea why or what the war was even for.
The reader is just thrown into the book and kept on the run as the main characters are. That's really the entire plot - the MCs are being hunted for reasons that are never clear other than their own stupid decision-making at times, and they are somehow important enough to keep up this chase across multiple countries and 350 pages.
If you're going to string all of those words together, even the wrong ones (elicit ≠ illicit, by the way), they should be put together in a way to make it worth reading.
naharobed's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely not one of the best fantasy books I've read, but overall was enjoyable.
The characters are independent, strong, and likeable, albeit frustrating at times. The magical elements of this book are really unique so it was fun to see how it influenced the characters and the events that transpired.
However, the story lacks development. The plot is action-packed but the motivations behind what drives the plot aren't thoroughly developed. The politics and history of the world/setting also aren't explained in much detail. The looming threat is that a 20-year peace treaty is about to expire, which would mean imminent war. But we never find out why/who/how the peace treaty came to be and what's really at stake if war does happen. We're just told a lot of things, but not provided with explanations.
I am curious about what will happen next though! So there's that.
The characters are independent, strong, and likeable, albeit frustrating at times. The magical elements of this book are really unique so it was fun to see how it influenced the characters and the events that transpired.
However, the story lacks development. The plot is action-packed but the motivations behind what drives the plot aren't thoroughly developed. The politics and history of the world/setting also aren't explained in much detail. The looming threat is that a 20-year peace treaty is about to expire, which would mean imminent war. But we never find out why/who/how the peace treaty came to be and what's really at stake if war does happen. We're just told a lot of things, but not provided with explanations.
I am curious about what will happen next though! So there's that.
leannecroft's review against another edition
4.0
a wonderful fantasy story of a woman on the run with her thread sister. a wonderful concept beautifully written.
redcupbookclub's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't sure that I would like this book when I started it, but the story and the characters really grew on me. There were a couple of moments where the impulsive, unreasonable and general angsty-ness of the Safiya, made me want to throw the whole thing away, but once the action resumed, I got over it real quick. I like that there are a few social and political themes that come up and they are handled in a way that make sense to the story. And I LOVE the the romantic story line is handled with a fairly light hand...fairly. I don't have a firm handle on the magic system (meaning I am NOT sure how many types of witches there are and what they can do), but I am interested in continuing the series.