Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Witches Steeped in Gold

Takes a while to get going but picks up once you get familiar with the world. I was worried that I wouldn't be as into this one as I thought because I'm not that interested in rebellion stories these days, but it wasn't what I was expecting at all. Really excited to see where this series goes!

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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challenging tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I know they say not to judge a book by its cover .. but WHAT a cover!

This was a complex (& dense) high fantasy read. I would strongly recommend taking it easy and reading small chunks at a time to slowly become immersed and gain a better understanding of the world.

There was a lot of richness here (and I don't think I've read a Jamaican-based fantasy before – so, very cool!), but it was very slow and often overwritten.

Here's what I enjoyed:

• The worldbuilding and lore was new and fresh and rich
• I also really liked the magic system and how the viewpoints of different characters physically changed the way they were able to utilize magic
• Both POVs played with power & victimhood in interesting ways, leading to a unique and complicated setup of good vs. evil and general villainy
• The premise is awesome! Two rival witches ... an examination of revenge and leadership and sacrifice

Here's what didn't quite work for me:
• The book needed some editing (it was unnecessarily long & some word choices were peculiar) and the pacing was off; the first 75% was incredibly slow with most action happening offscreen but then everything came together in an overwhelming way
• I'm speaking for myself but I think other readers can probably relate: I desperately needed a glossary for the amount of names/positions and terminology
• While the POVs were theoretically very different, their voices blended together for me and it wasn’t obvious who was speaking - this was especially frustrating because it was told in first person

• Some of the plot points converged a little too conveniently at the end

• The introduction to the romance wasn’t strong in my eyes. I’m curious how this will play out in book 2

CW: violence, blood, death, murder, child death, death of parent, war, torture, confinement, body horror, vomit, bullying, sexual assault (mentioned), suicide (mentioned)

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kshertz's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I definitely went into this book thinking that it was gonna be like children of blood and bone and akata warrior and it does have a lot of those aspects! Unfortunately I think those books are just so amazing that this one can’t live up to that level of hype but it is still super interesting. It’s a really big book with a lot of background and it’s kind of slow on the plot so for me that was hard to get through but if you enjoy a lot of world building, you’d love it! It’s still a good read and I’m still glad I read it.

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reader_in_the_meadow's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Okay everyone, this book is quite something! I picked this up at the bookstore because the premise sounded good. And then it stood on my TBR shelf for a good three and a half months before I actually read it. However had I known how good this would be I would have read it sooner.
This book had it in it. Although I found it a bit sluggish at first and taking me a while to get into, it started getting more fast paced later on.
Th plot in itself was so intriguing and took so many sharp turns that I was gobfaced multiple times while reading this. I loved how everything was just put together in such a good way and how everything concluded at the end.

The real diamonds of this novel however, are the characters! The cast was so diverse! The whole cast were POC and I loved to see that. Each and every character had their own personality which really shone through. I loved many of them and hated others with all the passion I have in me.
And don't get me started on the influence Jamaican folklore and mythology had on this book. I had only little knowledge about it when I started this book. Thankfully, a lot was explained throughout the story and introduced within the very intricate worldbuilding.
I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel as soon as it comes out the see the culmination of all the questions I have right now!

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spinesinaline's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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