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strawberrry's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
5.0
natiesreads99's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5 stars!! Fantastic book, it's a fantastic start to a new high fantasy series. I definitely recommend this book if you are into High Fantasy reads like Throne Of Glass, Fallen Kingdoms and, Six Of Crows.
Truthwitch is the first book to The Witchlands series which consists of a very diverse magical world. Throughout this world that Dennard created you will come across all type of witches that contain powers you at least once wish you had or dreamed about. With a powerful female duo being the center of this series along with characters that you quickly develop certain judgement about, Dennard is on her way of creating an amazing world I know I will love.
The world does take time to fully understand and get used to, since it is a bit complex and grand but Dennard does a great job at patiently writing it out. The second half of the book certainly is faster once you understand the way it works and I cannot wait for the sequel. My only 'complaint' or something they should add, is a glossary for every type of witch and 'odd' word being used in this book since you can get lost in it all.
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The world
The world as I said previously was amazing! I do however have so many questions that I am sure will be answered in the rest of the series but once I finally got accustomed to the world I loved it so much. It is so diverse and complex with lots of potential hints to the future books. The way the magic system works and how there is a type of witch for mostly everything is amazing. I truly want more background on the world and I'm excited what else this world has in store.
Safiya
Safiya is a character that you will love for her fiery passion and love she has for the ones closest to her, usually that is Iseult her Threadsister. I really loved how bold she was and how she would go out of her way to protect Iseult but at the same time when it came down to it Safiya owed up to her mistakes. I also really enjoyed the glimpses we saw of her "insecure" side and how at those moments she seemed so down to earth, which is very important when you are reading about this amazing witch because it's those moments you can really connect with the character.
Iseult
Iseult is definitely the calm one of the two, the "underdog" and the one everyone is about unsure about but I absolutely loved Iseult's character. I really love Iseult's powers.This book was centered around Safiya's powers, Truthwitch, but I did enjoy Iseult's more. I want to learn more about Iseult's past as well because I am very intrigued by the glimpses we got in this book. I also really loved the intense moments between Iseult and Aeduan and I sorta see something between them happening in the future.
Aeduan
Aeduan the Bloodwitch never failed to capture my curiosity throughout this book. I loved how complex and mysterious his character was in this book. I did not think that I would end up liking him because in the beginning he was portrayed as the antagonist, which in a way he still currently is but we, the readers, have definitely seen much more of his personality and thoughts to create another image of the Bloodwitch. I truly want to see more of his past and his family and especially more of the history he had with Everane.
Merik
I really loved his character as well. He was strict yet we saw that he was battling with himself against those ways constantly through this book. I really want to know more about his family as well and the connection he had with his best friend which felt similar to Iseult and Safiya. Him being a Windwitch was very interesting and I would like to know why exactly they are separate from Airwitches or if they are sort of the hybrid from those Airwitches. I also really loved the slow building romance between Safiya and Merik that it wasn't insta-love but they had to work towards that.
Truthwitch is the first book to The Witchlands series which consists of a very diverse magical world. Throughout this world that Dennard created you will come across all type of witches that contain powers you at least once wish you had or dreamed about. With a powerful female duo being the center of this series along with characters that you quickly develop certain judgement about, Dennard is on her way of creating an amazing world I know I will love.
The world does take time to fully understand and get used to, since it is a bit complex and grand but Dennard does a great job at patiently writing it out. The second half of the book certainly is faster once you understand the way it works and I cannot wait for the sequel. My only 'complaint' or something they should add, is a glossary for every type of witch and 'odd' word being used in this book since you can get lost in it all.
-
The world
The world as I said previously was amazing! I do however have so many questions that I am sure will be answered in the rest of the series but once I finally got accustomed to the world I loved it so much. It is so diverse and complex with lots of potential hints to the future books. The way the magic system works and how there is a type of witch for mostly everything is amazing. I truly want more background on the world
Spoiler
and also the 20 year truceSafiya
Safiya is a character that you will love for her fiery passion and love she has for the ones closest to her, usually that is Iseult her Threadsister. I really loved how bold she was and how she would go out of her way to protect Iseult but at the same time when it came down to it Safiya owed up to her mistakes.
Spoiler
I at first thought that she was an unapologetic character, that she would be reckless but she did have some sense and admitted to Merik when things were her fault which I truly appreciated.Iseult
Iseult is definitely the calm one of the two, the "underdog" and the one everyone is about unsure about but I absolutely loved Iseult's character. I really love Iseult's powers
Spoiler
how she can see everyone's emotion and that they are each a different shade and that it can be overwhelming at timesSpoiler
When Iseult returned to her mother how strict everything was and how controlled the Threadwitches must be of their own emotions and how Iseult grew up after she left her initial homeAeduan
Aeduan the Bloodwitch never failed to capture my curiosity throughout this book. I loved how complex and mysterious his character was in this book. I did not think that I would end up liking him because in the beginning he was portrayed as the antagonist, which in a way he still currently is but we, the readers, have definitely seen much more of his personality and thoughts to create another image of the Bloodwitch. I truly want to see more of his past and his family and especially more of the history he had with Everane.
Merik
I really loved his character as well. He was strict yet we saw that he was battling with himself against those ways constantly through this book. I really want to know more about his family as well and the connection he had with his best friend which felt similar to Iseult and Safiya. Him being a Windwitch was very interesting and I would like to know why exactly they are separate from Airwitches or if they are sort of the hybrid from those Airwitches. I also really loved the slow building romance between Safiya and Merik that it wasn't insta-love but they had to work towards that.
adriannasophiabookss's review against another edition
4.0
3.75
This was a good first book in the series, it's got me excited for the rest but I found this dragged and dragged and dragged. I really disliked Safi until about the last 50 pages. This series definitely has potential and I'm excited to see where it goes.
This was a good first book in the series, it's got me excited for the rest but I found this dragged and dragged and dragged. I really disliked Safi until about the last 50 pages. This series definitely has potential and I'm excited to see where it goes.
magik_the_cat's review against another edition
5.0
OMG this book is a beautiful fantasy filled with a beautiful friendship! I have read very few (if at all?) books with a friendship as pure, and deep, and beautiful as the one between Safi and Iseult. It also has some pretty fantastic world building. I hadn't really heard of the book until I won Sightwitch. I wasn't about to start there so I had to buy books 1 and 2 and I am so glad I won Sightwitch. I only wish I had read Truthwitch as soon as I got it in the mail.
writings_of_a_reader's review against another edition
3.0
On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery,” a magical skill that sets them apart from others.
I liked Truthwitch, but didn't love it as much as I wanted to. The story is told from four different points of view which I liked, but the character Safiya annoyed me throughout most of the book. Safiya is a Truthwitch, which is a rare type of power and she keeps that fact a secret from almost everyone because the power of a Truthwitch is also a very coveted thing. Basically she doesn't want to end up being someone's puppet. Only somehow just about everyone seems to find out and there is never any explanation as to how they find out. I honestly don't know why a Truthwitch's power is considered so great. So she can tell when someone is telling the truth or lying. I guess that is an advantage at times, but so much so that everyone is going to fight to control her?
Safi's best friend Iseult-or Threadsister as it's called in this book, is a Threadwitch who is from a tribe of people who are shunned and hated. There isn't much explanation as to why they are hated. From what I gathered it had something to do with their skin looking white as death and maybe the type of magic they have. It would have been nice to have more explanation here. I wasn't sure why they were able to live so close to town when they are so hated either. Iseult can see the threads of magic that are connected to everyone, or something like that. I'm still a little confused as to what exactly she can do. Threadwitches are supposed to be able to make thread stones that have magical attributes, but for some reason Iseult can't. Iseult was probably the best character in the book. There was one other that I really liked and I'll get to him in a minute.
Truthwitch centers mostly on Safi and Iseult and their friendship, or it tries to anyway. As far as their friendship went, the book would have benefited greatly from more showing and less telling. Because of the way the book is written, it was hard to feel the relationship between the characters. I also found Safi hard to like at times. For a good chunk of the book she does so many reckless and stupid things that I found her annoying. I felt sorry for Iseult for having to put up with her. However the book picks up considerably later on when Safi actually realizes what she's been doing, feels guilty and changes. Thank goodness for that. I actually started kind of liking her as a character at that point.
There are two other important characters in the book, Merik and Aeduan. We get chapters from their points of view as well. Merik is a Windwitch. He can control the wind and uses it to fly, among other things. Aeduan is a Bloodwitch that can basically control his own blood and the blood of others, with other cool added abilities. Aeduan would be that other character that I really liked. He's for the most part the coolest character in the book. The magic in this book reminded me a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but with other types of magic added in as well, and I liked that.
As for the world building, it could have been better. There was a lot left out about the past war and the treaty and how it all came to be. There could have been so much told about the world in general and each kingdom and its rulers. Not much is told about where the magical witch powers come from either, other than the wells and some gods that we know next to nothing about. We also get next to nothing on each of the characters backgrounds, just little tiny snippets here and there. It is a trilogy or a series though, so we may get more in subsequent books, at least I hope so.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
I liked Truthwitch, but didn't love it as much as I wanted to. The story is told from four different points of view which I liked, but the character Safiya annoyed me throughout most of the book. Safiya is a Truthwitch, which is a rare type of power and she keeps that fact a secret from almost everyone because the power of a Truthwitch is also a very coveted thing. Basically she doesn't want to end up being someone's puppet. Only somehow just about everyone seems to find out and there is never any explanation as to how they find out. I honestly don't know why a Truthwitch's power is considered so great. So she can tell when someone is telling the truth or lying. I guess that is an advantage at times, but so much so that everyone is going to fight to control her?
Safi's best friend Iseult-or Threadsister as it's called in this book, is a Threadwitch who is from a tribe of people who are shunned and hated. There isn't much explanation as to why they are hated. From what I gathered it had something to do with their skin looking white as death and maybe the type of magic they have. It would have been nice to have more explanation here. I wasn't sure why they were able to live so close to town when they are so hated either. Iseult can see the threads of magic that are connected to everyone, or something like that. I'm still a little confused as to what exactly she can do. Threadwitches are supposed to be able to make thread stones that have magical attributes, but for some reason Iseult can't. Iseult was probably the best character in the book. There was one other that I really liked and I'll get to him in a minute.
Truthwitch centers mostly on Safi and Iseult and their friendship, or it tries to anyway. As far as their friendship went, the book would have benefited greatly from more showing and less telling. Because of the way the book is written, it was hard to feel the relationship between the characters. I also found Safi hard to like at times. For a good chunk of the book she does so many reckless and stupid things that I found her annoying. I felt sorry for Iseult for having to put up with her. However the book picks up considerably later on when Safi actually realizes what she's been doing, feels guilty and changes. Thank goodness for that. I actually started kind of liking her as a character at that point.
There are two other important characters in the book, Merik and Aeduan. We get chapters from their points of view as well. Merik is a Windwitch. He can control the wind and uses it to fly, among other things. Aeduan is a Bloodwitch that can basically control his own blood and the blood of others, with other cool added abilities. Aeduan would be that other character that I really liked. He's for the most part the coolest character in the book. The magic in this book reminded me a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but with other types of magic added in as well, and I liked that.
As for the world building, it could have been better. There was a lot left out about the past war and the treaty and how it all came to be. There could have been so much told about the world in general and each kingdom and its rulers. Not much is told about where the magical witch powers come from either, other than the wells and some gods that we know next to nothing about. We also get next to nothing on each of the characters backgrounds, just little tiny snippets here and there. It is a trilogy or a series though, so we may get more in subsequent books, at least I hope so.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
katbotdiaries's review against another edition
The main characters, in order to avoid getting caught, put on bad disguises and go to their enemy instead of disappearing before. Dnf at 2%
laurenwedge's review against another edition
4.0
i liked the second half better than the first, but overall it was a really good book. i dont like stories with witches in them (harry potter excluded, of course), but this book surprised me. I found all the different powers the witches had to be interesting and different, and often find myself wishing i could have their powers. a definite recommend!
tatumlemurs's review against another edition
4.0
Ohhhh my goodness. I really, really enjoyed that. It took me about half the book to really get into it, but I'm putting that up to the obligatory world building in fantasy books.
Once I made it past that, though! I read the next hakf pretty quick- I TORE through the last fourth.
The plot kept taking amazing twists. The characters kept getting better and better. Aeduan is a really interesting character- Alongside almost all the rest of them. I cannot wait to read Windwitch and keep learning about them.
All in all, I really enjoyed it. The main romance in this book was kind of insta-lovey, but I don't think it was horribly done and the rest of the book made up for it!
4/5 stars, because of the first half beinh so slow... But I can see the next book being a five star review if it's executed well!
Once I made it past that, though! I read the next hakf pretty quick- I TORE through the last fourth.
The plot kept taking amazing twists. The characters kept getting better and better. Aeduan is a really interesting character- Alongside almost all the rest of them. I cannot wait to read Windwitch and keep learning about them.
All in all, I really enjoyed it. The main romance in this book was kind of insta-lovey, but I don't think it was horribly done and the rest of the book made up for it!
4/5 stars, because of the first half beinh so slow... But I can see the next book being a five star review if it's executed well!
thecrazyreader's review against another edition
4.0
Vuoi il raiting o il fatto che poche persone parlano di questo libro, fatto sta che è finito in fondo alla mia TBR per molto tempo.
La settimana scorsa mi sono finalmente decida a leggerlo e non sono rimasta delusa.
I punti forti del libro sono i personaggi e il sistema magico.
I quattro protagonisti riescono a conquistare il lettore con le loro diverse caratteristiche. Ho amato il rapporto tra le protagoniste femminili, ne servono di più nei libri (non smetterò mai di dirlo) e le ship (che ship!).
Il sistema magico è molto interessante, con diverse possibilità, tutte affascinanti e con il loro perché.
La trama del libro non è la più originale che io abbia mai letto, ma ormai non mi aspetto più niente di nuovo dai libri e punto tutto sui personaggi che devono riuscire ad invogliarmi a continuare la lettura.
Missione totalmente compiuta da questa storia che non vedo l'ora di continuare.
La settimana scorsa mi sono finalmente decida a leggerlo e non sono rimasta delusa.
I punti forti del libro sono i personaggi e il sistema magico.
I quattro protagonisti riescono a conquistare il lettore con le loro diverse caratteristiche. Ho amato il rapporto tra le protagoniste femminili, ne servono di più nei libri (non smetterò mai di dirlo) e le ship (che ship!).
Il sistema magico è molto interessante, con diverse possibilità, tutte affascinanti e con il loro perché.
La trama del libro non è la più originale che io abbia mai letto, ma ormai non mi aspetto più niente di nuovo dai libri e punto tutto sui personaggi che devono riuscire ad invogliarmi a continuare la lettura.
Missione totalmente compiuta da questa storia che non vedo l'ora di continuare.