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victoriapyrrhi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a deeply personal book, and it shows with a cast of unique characters and a MC who is young and hurting and angry and confused, sometimes all at once. I loved this book, although at times the action driving the plot felt a little rushed. It also definitely sent me back into the headspace of being a teenager, full of rage and trying to figure things out.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
k_tiches's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Grief
Moderate: Deadnaming, Drug use, and Sexual assault
Minor: Homophobia
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Ink Yard Press for the arc of this book!
Wyatt has spent the last three years with a new family after running away from Asalin, where he was abused for being a witch born among fae. But then his past comes calling in the form of Emyr, his betrothed, and the prince of the fae. He will be forced to confront his past and the institutions that make it unsafe to be witch-born in Asalin, as well as dealing with the feelings he stills has for his childhood best friend.
This book is the beautiful start to what will no doubt become one of my new favorite series. It was absolutely perfect and everything I could have ever hoped for or dreamt of for a book with such a beautiful cover and title.
The world-building is so interesting and really well done. I loved the way the author incorporated flashbacks as well as other elements to tell us the complete story of the fae and the witches in Asalin as well as the other fae kingdoms around the world.
I LOVED the characters so much! There is such a wealth of diversity amongst them and they are all so well-described and oh my gosh I just love them. I love Wyatt and Emyr and Briar and all the other wonderful and beautiful side characters and allies and villains that make up this world!
This book has trans, gay, nonbinary, ace, lesbian, bi, and potentially pan and/or demi-sexual rep in it and I love that so much!
Honestly, this book is everything. Do yourself a favor and preorder it and get ready for a new favorite series.
Pub Date: June 1, 2021
Wyatt has spent the last three years with a new family after running away from Asalin, where he was abused for being a witch born among fae. But then his past comes calling in the form of Emyr, his betrothed, and the prince of the fae. He will be forced to confront his past and the institutions that make it unsafe to be witch-born in Asalin, as well as dealing with the feelings he stills has for his childhood best friend.
This book is the beautiful start to what will no doubt become one of my new favorite series. It was absolutely perfect and everything I could have ever hoped for or dreamt of for a book with such a beautiful cover and title.
The world-building is so interesting and really well done. I loved the way the author incorporated flashbacks as well as other elements to tell us the complete story of the fae and the witches in Asalin as well as the other fae kingdoms around the world.
I LOVED the characters so much! There is such a wealth of diversity amongst them and they are all so well-described and oh my gosh I just love them. I love Wyatt and Emyr and Briar and all the other wonderful and beautiful side characters and allies and villains that make up this world!
This book has trans, gay, nonbinary, ace, lesbian, bi, and potentially pan and/or demi-sexual rep in it and I love that so much!
Honestly, this book is everything. Do yourself a favor and preorder it and get ready for a new favorite series.
Pub Date: June 1, 2021
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
qace90's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review purposes. This in no way influences my review; all words, thoughts, and opinions are my own.
Full review closer to release, but seriously y’all better be preordering and recommending this book to your library cuz it’d phenomenal on so many levels! Very queer, very angry, revolution and change and chosen family. How does that not absolutely sell this book??
Full review:
Holy smokes, this book is phenomenal! Wyatt is a trans guy living in the human world but he’s originally for Asalin, the place where Fae and witches have lived since Faery became inhabitable. Witches are the children of fae but they’re treated as lesser as they’re different, different magic and different appearances. After the death of Wyatt’s parents from an accidental fire his magic started, he ended up in Laredo where Nadua found him and brought him home. Nadua, Sunny, and their daughter Briar became his family for the last three years, before Wyatt’s fiancee and crown prince of Asalin shows up to take him home to fulfill the engagement and become king and king.
There are so many truly wonderful things about this book. I loved how queer this whole book is and how diverse the characters were. One of my favorite characters was Jin, who is a nonbinary lesbian. That’s not rep I see often and while they are a secondary character, it still felt so good to see a character self described as a nonbinary lesbian. I also adore the friendship between Wyatt and Briar. They’ve been friends so long that they’re able to communicate silently and Wyatt often describes it as an open door between their thoughts that connects them. I also appreciated seeing them declare their love for one another - normalize best friends saying they love each other! And Emyr! He’s such a good guy with so many good intentions, and his interactions with Wyatt were so layered and full of their shared history and the time they spent apart where they’ve grown individually.
I just honestly love this book so much on so many levels and the characters and the world are all just wonderful. I really hope many people plan to read this because gah it’s phenomenal! And I cannot wait for the sequel, especially after that ending!!
Full review closer to release, but seriously y’all better be preordering and recommending this book to your library cuz it’d phenomenal on so many levels! Very queer, very angry, revolution and change and chosen family. How does that not absolutely sell this book??
Full review:
Holy smokes, this book is phenomenal! Wyatt is a trans guy living in the human world but he’s originally for Asalin, the place where Fae and witches have lived since Faery became inhabitable. Witches are the children of fae but they’re treated as lesser as they’re different, different magic and different appearances. After the death of Wyatt’s parents from an accidental fire his magic started, he ended up in Laredo where Nadua found him and brought him home. Nadua, Sunny, and their daughter Briar became his family for the last three years, before Wyatt’s fiancee and crown prince of Asalin shows up to take him home to fulfill the engagement and become king and king.
There are so many truly wonderful things about this book. I loved how queer this whole book is and how diverse the characters were. One of my favorite characters was Jin, who is a nonbinary lesbian. That’s not rep I see often and while they are a secondary character, it still felt so good to see a character self described as a nonbinary lesbian. I also adore the friendship between Wyatt and Briar. They’ve been friends so long that they’re able to communicate silently and Wyatt often describes it as an open door between their thoughts that connects them. I also appreciated seeing them declare their love for one another - normalize best friends saying they love each other! And Emyr! He’s such a good guy with so many good intentions, and his interactions with Wyatt were so layered and full of their shared history and the time they spent apart where they’ve grown individually.
I just honestly love this book so much on so many levels and the characters and the world are all just wonderful. I really hope many people plan to read this because gah it’s phenomenal! And I cannot wait for the sequel, especially after that ending!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse
Minor: Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Vomit
- Injury - Blood - Deadnaming (name not revealed, but another character uses it) - Fire - Casual ableism - Sexual harassment - Arrest - PTSD, flashbacks - Misgendering, challenged - Drug use - Protests - Bigotry - Fascism - Explosion - Dissociation (secondary char) - Shocktraeumenvonbuechern's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
[The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.]
CN: violence, gore, blood, murder, death, mentions of parental death, transmisia, misgendering (accidental and intentional), off-page deadnaming, fantasy racism, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual assault, panic attacks, trauma
I didn’t know how much I needed this book until I read it. I finished it yesterday and I already want to re-read it.
“The Witch King” is literally my dream book. It has everything I ever wanted - and more! A very relatable gay trans main character who really needs a hug, a best friend who is both cute and badass, a sweet and charming love interest, lots of queer side characters, the “friends to enemies to lovers” trope, found family, tarot cards, soulmate bonds, so much diversity (!!!), discussions of racism, systemic oppression, colonialism, power imbalance and (anti-)fascism, shocking plot twists, a unique fantasy world, a beautiful mlm love story that actually made me cry… And it's so funny!
Seriously, I loved everything about “The Witch King”, and my review doesn’t do it justice. Everyone needs to read this book! Please pre-order it or request it at your library if you can!
Like Anniek says in this review, "The Witch King" deserves a huge fandom with merch, fanart, memes and fanfics. Let's make that happen!
And please also read Adri's beautiful review!
CN: violence, gore, blood, murder, death, mentions of parental death, transmisia, misgendering (accidental and intentional), off-page deadnaming, fantasy racism, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual assault, panic attacks, trauma
I didn’t know how much I needed this book until I read it. I finished it yesterday and I already want to re-read it.
“The Witch King” is literally my dream book. It has everything I ever wanted - and more! A very relatable gay trans main character who really needs a hug, a best friend who is both cute and badass, a sweet and charming love interest, lots of queer side characters, the “friends to enemies to lovers” trope, found family, tarot cards, soulmate bonds, so much diversity (!!!), discussions of racism, systemic oppression, colonialism, power imbalance and (anti-)fascism, shocking plot twists, a unique fantasy world, a beautiful mlm love story that actually made me cry… And it's so funny!
Seriously, I loved everything about “The Witch King”, and my review doesn’t do it justice. Everyone needs to read this book! Please pre-order it or request it at your library if you can!
Like Anniek says in this review, "The Witch King" deserves a huge fandom with merch, fanart, memes and fanfics. Let's make that happen!
And please also read Adri's beautiful review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Blood
Minor: Deadnaming
Fantasy racism, misgendering, off-page deadnaming, fire, trauma