A review by queer_bookwyrm
The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 5 ⭐ CW: deadnaming, swearing, violence, child abuse, child killing parents (by accident), descriptions of blood and gore, oppression of a minority class, sexual assault

"Somewhere, at some point in time, some random cis person, who's probably dead now decided all trans people were stuck in the wrong body, and that became law. But I'm not a boy trapped in a girl's body.y body is a boy's body and its mine. My body isn't wrong."

"Your value as a person is not based on how much you can do for other people. You are valuable, Wyatt. You. All on your own. For exactly who you are."

Witch King by H.E. Edgmon is a YA urban fantasy and a queer dream! I loved this book with every fiber of my being. The representation was so so good. We get Trans, gay, bi, ace, demisexual, Indigenous (specifically Seminole and Diné), nonbinary, polyamory, and disability and fat rep! Whew! That's a lot of rep!

We follow Wyatt, a trans witch who lives in the human world with his found family and best friend Briar. We learn about Wyatt's trauma and why he left. Then his fae fiance shows up and all hell breaks loose.

Every snarky thing Wyatt says is mood af. I love that we get all the queer teen angst, and it feels so really instead of feeling like what adults *think* teen angst is. We explore the dark parts that comes with being trans and the guilt and self-loathing that comes with trauma. Edgmon does a great job of weaving these together with making the story too bleak. It's just so dang relatable as a queer person! Edgmon also clearly understands how impulsive (and how much of a dumbass) teenagers can be. And there are consequences.

We have found family tropes, childhood friends to lovers, and there's only one bed tropes. I absolutely loved Wyatt and Briar's relationship. They are family and have such an intimate bond, that is something I personally crave as an Aromantic person. Edgmon also did a wonderful job of showing how easy and seamless it can be to get consent and discuss boundaries. Just great communication about sex.

That twist at the end! I didn't see it coming at all! Imma need that sequel, like, yesterday! You need to read this book. This is a queer person's dream. Also dragons. 

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