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A review by jossandqvist
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
2.0
This wasn't for me and I'm actually surprised by that fact. It had a lot of the things I look for in books these days. But if I don't reach for the book when I'm at home (I do most of my reading commuting) that's an early indication.
Positive:
+ The idea for the world is cool, e.g. the magical origin wells. I would've wanted more world-building though.
+ I liked the character Aeduan and him being a maybe-not-so-evil villain. He had reasons behind every one of his decisions and I liked that.
Negative:
- Telling and not showing. Example: A few characters can see people's "threads" a.k.a. their relationships to other people and what they're currently feeling. When the story is told through one of these character's eyes, instead of showing, we find out what the color of someone's threads are and what it means. ("Their threads glowed an angry red" etc.) It's an intricate way of skipping the very important step of SHOWING and through it making the reader FEEL anything at all.
- Insta love. Do I even need to explain?
- The two main characters (Safi and Iseult) had no motive (a.k.a. something they strive for). Motive is the first thing you need when writing a book, so it's beyond me how no one in the publishing process noticed the lack of it. "Survive" is not good enough for me when so much else is going on. The main character(s) must WANT something. But they just followed along on everyone else's plans right up until the end.
- There was some really interesting build-up for the next book(s). Yay! Nice, right?! But it was just that: build-up – no more. You can't give me these super awesome hints and expect that to be enough to make me want to read the sequel when the first book was just "meh". You have to deliver from the start. This book did not do that.
Would not recommend.
Positive:
+ The idea for the world is cool, e.g. the magical origin wells. I would've wanted more world-building though.
+ I liked the character Aeduan and him being a maybe-not-so-evil villain. He had reasons behind every one of his decisions and I liked that.
Negative:
- Telling and not showing. Example: A few characters can see people's "threads" a.k.a. their relationships to other people and what they're currently feeling. When the story is told through one of these character's eyes, instead of showing, we find out what the color of someone's threads are and what it means. ("Their threads glowed an angry red" etc.) It's an intricate way of skipping the very important step of SHOWING and through it making the reader FEEL anything at all.
- Insta love. Do I even need to explain?
- The two main characters (Safi and Iseult) had no motive (a.k.a. something they strive for). Motive is the first thing you need when writing a book, so it's beyond me how no one in the publishing process noticed the lack of it. "Survive" is not good enough for me when so much else is going on. The main character(s) must WANT something. But they just followed along on everyone else's plans right up until the end.
- There was some really interesting build-up for the next book(s). Yay! Nice, right?! But it was just that: build-up – no more. You can't give me these super awesome hints and expect that to be enough to make me want to read the sequel when the first book was just "meh". You have to deliver from the start. This book did not do that.
Would not recommend.