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maestrolatinx's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is my second time listening to the book. The narrator is phenomenal. I like how spicy the book gets and I appreciate the protagonist’s journey throughout the story. There’s a lot of trauma to unpack and less plot and development of the world as I’d like. I’m looking forward to the conclusion of the duology.
asreadbykat's review against another edition
4.0
True Rating: 4.5/5
Content/Trigger Warnings (as stated in the book): violence, child abuse, childhood sexual harassment and assault, allusions to pedophilia, suicidal ideation and mentions of suicide, misgendering, drug use, and mentions of infertility and miscarriage.
There are times when I want to read a fantasy story involving queerness, and there are times when I want to read a queer story involving fantasy. "The Witch King" is definitely the latter, and is worth every second of reading it.
As someone who is Ace, I can completely sympathize with Wyatt's plight of a contracted marriage where he is basically only seen as a baby machine. While it's a different situation for him, as a trans character, I almost felt his rage and disgust on a physical level. Wyatt is a very real, very relatable character, no matter what magical heritage and powers he has, and readers can feel every emotion as he goes on his journey. Edgmon did a fantastic job with his main character, who is so very flawed and real that at times I honestly forgot I was reading a fantasy.
I also like all of our other characters; how no one is who you expect them to be, everyone with their own flaws. Even our villains have some sympathetic points, while still being pretty despicable -just like villains in real life.
And don't let how easy this novel is to read fool you -it makes some really hard, heavy-hitting arguments that I fully stand behind. The arguments are intended to make the readers think, and I would LOVE to see this book being used in a classroom for a discussion of YA literature. It works especially well because even though Edgmon uses the fantasy elements as metaphors and symbolism for real-world problems such as prejudice and discrimination, homophobia, and abuse, he also has the characters state the problems in full sentence facts. Readers aren't left with only the metaphor and symbolism; the problems and arguments are put out there in a way that no one can ignore.
The only reason this work isn't a full 5 stars is because even though I could see how much Emyr and Wyatt cared for each other, I did think by the end it was being a bit rushed. Yes, they have a history together, but that history is also tainted by misunderstandings and it would take more than a few days to overcome almost a lifetime of that, especially when combined with Wyatt's trauma. So while I was rooting for the two of them by the end, I would have liked to see a little more work being put in emotionally, especially since their relationship is kind of crucial to bits of the plot.
Overall, this is a really enthralling read and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting more queer fantasy. Just please heed the content warnings, because this is NOT a lighthearted novel.
Content/Trigger Warnings (as stated in the book): violence, child abuse, childhood sexual harassment and assault, allusions to pedophilia, suicidal ideation and mentions of suicide, misgendering, drug use, and mentions of infertility and miscarriage.
There are times when I want to read a fantasy story involving queerness, and there are times when I want to read a queer story involving fantasy. "The Witch King" is definitely the latter, and is worth every second of reading it.
As someone who is Ace, I can completely sympathize with Wyatt's plight of a contracted marriage where he is basically only seen as a baby machine. While it's a different situation for him, as a trans character, I almost felt his rage and disgust on a physical level. Wyatt is a very real, very relatable character, no matter what magical heritage and powers he has, and readers can feel every emotion as he goes on his journey. Edgmon did a fantastic job with his main character, who is so very flawed and real that at times I honestly forgot I was reading a fantasy.
I also like all of our other characters; how no one is who you expect them to be, everyone with their own flaws. Even our villains have some sympathetic points, while still being pretty despicable -just like villains in real life.
And don't let how easy this novel is to read fool you -it makes some really hard, heavy-hitting arguments that I fully stand behind. The arguments are intended to make the readers think, and I would LOVE to see this book being used in a classroom for a discussion of YA literature. It works especially well because even though Edgmon uses the fantasy elements as metaphors and symbolism for real-world problems such as prejudice and discrimination, homophobia, and abuse, he also has the characters state the problems in full sentence facts. Readers aren't left with only the metaphor and symbolism; the problems and arguments are put out there in a way that no one can ignore.
The only reason this work isn't a full 5 stars is because even though I could see how much Emyr and Wyatt cared for each other, I did think by the end it was being a bit rushed. Yes, they have a history together, but that history is also tainted by misunderstandings and it would take more than a few days to overcome almost a lifetime of that, especially when combined with Wyatt's trauma. So while I was rooting for the two of them by the end, I would have liked to see a little more work being put in emotionally, especially since their relationship is kind of crucial to bits of the plot.
Overall, this is a really enthralling read and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting more queer fantasy. Just please heed the content warnings, because this is NOT a lighthearted novel.
glassarrow917's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
fast-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
4.0
vtlism's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Decent dealing with Issues but with a main character who was annoyingly immature (reminded me of Zander from Buffy).
schumachr's review against another edition
i felt little to no sympathy for the narrator wyatt, and i felt that he was too dramatic and self-centered. i understand that he was supposed to be a character that had a traumatic past, but it just felt like he was taking all his problems out on everyone else and never fully self reflected on all the harm he caused. the other characters were not very well developed and the world building was almost insulting in how it was presented. the writing was not well done and was very cringey; i do not really want to read writing reminiscent of 2016 tumblr posts. i would not recommend this book at all.
janagaton's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, those last 100 pages!! My favorite things about this book are the dynamic/romance between Wyatt and Emyr, and the fact that the humor is so self-aware and cheesy in the best way. I loved all the classic tropes being thrown into this world of fae, witches, and humans. The audiobook narrator is also perfection and really enhanced the reading experience for me. I'm so excited to read the sequel!!
autumnxrose's review
adventurous
emotional
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
4.5
hazel_oat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Confinement, Abandonment, Classism, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Gore, Deadnaming, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: War, Hate crime, and Genocide
magikspells's review against another edition
4.0
I forgot to update when I finished this!
So the gist of this story is that witches are the offspring of the fae, so they can do a different sort of magic from their families. This creates an interested dynamic because the fae don't believe witches to be their equals (even though many of them are related). Its very much a social commentary.
I really enjoyed this book. There was a wide swatch of queer characters and identities, which is a nice change of pace from a lot of other stories where there's one background character.
Admittedly Wyatt was not my favorite character, but I think it's normal to dislike a main character when it's written from their perspective, because you know all of their thoughts and plans and faults. I'm sure it would have been the same way if it had been written from Amir or Briar's POV. Also, I really liked Briar as a character, I just struggled with how she always felt like she was conveniently inserted into various situations. It makes more sense at the end, its just a little clunky.
So the gist of this story is that witches are the offspring of the fae, so they can do a different sort of magic from their families. This creates an interested dynamic because the fae don't believe witches to be their equals (even though many of them are related). Its very much a social commentary.
I really enjoyed this book. There was a wide swatch of queer characters and identities, which is a nice change of pace from a lot of other stories where there's one background character.
Admittedly Wyatt was not my favorite character, but I think it's normal to dislike a main character when it's written from their perspective, because you know all of their thoughts and plans and faults. I'm sure it would have been the same way if it had been written from Amir or Briar's POV. Also, I really liked Briar as a character, I just struggled with how she always felt like she was conveniently inserted into various situations. It makes more sense at the end, its just a little clunky.
swampbooks's review against another edition
DNF-ing at chapter 4 (14%) on account of me not yet enjoying anything.
Wow, I only read 3 chapters and already have so much to say. I won’t leave an official rating for it because I’ve decided to stop doing that to books I didn’t finish, but if I did it would be one single, lonely star.
Where to begin… The writing style felt very “How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?” They tried to have an air of comedy but it just ended up feeling like Tumblr in 2014, and a lot of it was un-healthily self-deprecating. Making a joke like “at least I’m gay so no one expect me to be good at math” might be funny on Twitter where your followers KNOW you’re just being goofy, but it’s less funny in a printed book where impressionable teens are going to take it at face-value. We don’t want to be telling the LGBTQA+ youth that they’re limited or have stunted knowledge because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, we want to remind them they can accomplish anything.
With comments like “I don’t have anything good to say about myself, either” and “I’m even more useless than usual” it’s hard to root for Wyatt when you know nothing about him other than he’s emo, he would rather run away (literally) from his problems rather than try and fix them, and he likes to make self-deprecating jokes that try and force you to feel bad for him. He’s just a pity party, and an angry one at that.
I didn’t get in too deep into his relationship with Emyr, but it looked pretty unhealthy from what I saw. Not because Emyr was a jerk, mind you. Emyr is a sweetheart trying to do his best - a fact that Wyatt himself acknowledges. Wyatt is the bad factor in the relationship. I did read the first page of chapter 4 before DNF-ing, and all I saw was Wyatt admitting to lashing out to his loved ones for no apparent reason. Get some therapy, bro.
My last point, which is something I’m SO glad to not be reading more about, is why do the Fae have Facebook? Where’s the magic? The intrigue? WHY DO THEY HAVE AN APP WHERE YOU CAN SEND AND DOWNLOAD MAGIC SPELLS?
I read fantasy to get away from the real world, not to read about a fictional, magical character’s newest social media profile.
All that being said, I can understand why people would be drawn to this book. It’s inclusive, has a trans person as the main character, and tackles real-world issues (if poorly) while including all the other fun bits that make up YA fae-focused fantasy. Like I mentioned, I read to escape. This story appear to do the opposite and wraps up all the problems our society is dealing with into one book. It’s probably better for younger readers who either aren’t as knowledgeable about real world issues or who aren’t emotionally drained by hearing about it in the news every day. That’s just not me!
Wow, I only read 3 chapters and already have so much to say. I won’t leave an official rating for it because I’ve decided to stop doing that to books I didn’t finish, but if I did it would be one single, lonely star.
Where to begin… The writing style felt very “How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?” They tried to have an air of comedy but it just ended up feeling like Tumblr in 2014, and a lot of it was un-healthily self-deprecating. Making a joke like “at least I’m gay so no one expect me to be good at math” might be funny on Twitter where your followers KNOW you’re just being goofy, but it’s less funny in a printed book where impressionable teens are going to take it at face-value. We don’t want to be telling the LGBTQA+ youth that they’re limited or have stunted knowledge because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, we want to remind them they can accomplish anything.
With comments like “I don’t have anything good to say about myself, either” and “I’m even more useless than usual” it’s hard to root for Wyatt when you know nothing about him other than he’s emo, he would rather run away (literally) from his problems rather than try and fix them, and he likes to make self-deprecating jokes that try and force you to feel bad for him. He’s just a pity party, and an angry one at that.
I didn’t get in too deep into his relationship with Emyr, but it looked pretty unhealthy from what I saw. Not because Emyr was a jerk, mind you. Emyr is a sweetheart trying to do his best - a fact that Wyatt himself acknowledges. Wyatt is the bad factor in the relationship. I did read the first page of chapter 4 before DNF-ing, and all I saw was Wyatt admitting to lashing out to his loved ones for no apparent reason. Get some therapy, bro.
My last point, which is something I’m SO glad to not be reading more about, is why do the Fae have Facebook? Where’s the magic? The intrigue? WHY DO THEY HAVE AN APP WHERE YOU CAN SEND AND DOWNLOAD MAGIC SPELLS?
I read fantasy to get away from the real world, not to read about a fictional, magical character’s newest social media profile.
All that being said, I can understand why people would be drawn to this book. It’s inclusive, has a trans person as the main character, and tackles real-world issues (if poorly) while including all the other fun bits that make up YA fae-focused fantasy. Like I mentioned, I read to escape. This story appear to do the opposite and wraps up all the problems our society is dealing with into one book. It’s probably better for younger readers who either aren’t as knowledgeable about real world issues or who aren’t emotionally drained by hearing about it in the news every day. That’s just not me!