Book Review- Truthwitch
Hey guys, today's post isn't going to have the separated non-spoiler and spoiler review. Most of my opinion I think doesn't leak anything important about the story prior to you reading, however I left the disclaimer because I make a comment about Iseult that could be considered spoiler-y. I also left this over-all rating at a 4, but I think it would be closer to a 4.5.
 |
| Truthwitch by Susan Dennard |
♥♥♥♥♥
Title: Truthwitch
Author: Susan Dennard
Year Published: 2016
Publisher: Tor Teen
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy
Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥
World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥
Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥
Flow :♥♥♥♥♥
Synopsis:
In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.
Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.
Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.
In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.
Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.
Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.
In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.
Review*:
I have a lot of feelings about a lot of different things in this book, so this may get a bit longer than normal. However, if you haven't figured it out this far, I do really enjoy this story. Susan has done a beautiful job creating these books and I very much look forward to reading the next one.
To start, since this information is much shorter and easy for me to identify, I'm going to talk about what I didn't love about the book. Although Susan is creative as all get out, I definitely think there can be improvements to her writing technique. This is not to talk about the plot, the characters, or the setting, but more so as you read and things flow along. There are times where I've found myself needing to re-read to see if what was on the page made sense or if I could visualize what was supposed to happen.
At the same time you can clearly see how Susan's own voice is coming through her words. After following her on Instagram specifically, there is a connection to her personality in her writing which is AMAZING to see and read, but kind of kicks you out of the fantasy. I believe it was on Twitter that Susan mentioned that both Safi and Iseult are two parts to her personality and I can totally see that while reading how these characters interact and speak.
On a smaller scale, I also have an issue with the racism towards Iseult and Nomatsi in general. On one hand, I think adding in this relatable issue was wise, however so far in this story I don't think it's been addressed properly. As people see Iseult and immediately hate her, and Safi defends her friend, I think there is an opportunity to use this conflict as a teaching tool on acceptance. I can't say it's a huge issue, this is really just me nit picking and it may be addressed in a later book, however I think it could been something that started here and then continued through the series.
Outside of the flow, I absolutely loved this book. There is so much potential straight out of the gate for this story to go so many places or for spin off series, and for me, thats what makes a sign of an author that I'm going to continue to follow. Susan has done a phenomenal job of creating a magic system that has so much detail and there are rules, which in my opinion, is needed in magic. There are also pieces woven into the story that do some foreshadowing for later in the book. I was watching the interview that Susan did with Sam (@thoughtsontomes) and she mentioned that while writing this series, she made sure to add in nuggets of information that elude to farther in the story so that if the reader were to ever re-read the books, they would recognize these pieces and building up for later events. You would think that would be obvious, however I've read quite a few books that just tackle one event at a time as stepping stones to the climax and although that is an easy method of writing, it can be boring to read.
To talk about the characters, I love them all. Like genuinely love these characters and can't wait to get to their POV in the story. As they interact with each other, you get enough of their personality to grow attached to them equally. Even Merik, who is probably the only character I could say I am not excited about. He came off a lot like Chaol from Throne of Glass at first, the entire macho- strong male persona. However his ability to not fault Safi for her selfishness because he can relate makes him a deeper character because he can recognize and forgive other people's faults. I love Safiya and Iseult both individually and as a duo because they compliment each other so well. Safi is hard headed and gets shit done, she is also definitely not shy and has the best puns. Iseult is more introverted, but she can analyze a situation and create a plan. I am also IMMENSELY interested in her magic in general, despite having some deviations from what is expected of a Threadwitch, like making stones. I haven't formed much of an opinion on Aeduan, however his character depth is something I'm excited to get into. He's such a grey character that so far as been set up very well for development. Also, Vaness is amazing and I am so happy that we get to hopefully get more of her character in the next book.
I'm super excited to get into the next book, immediately after finishing Truthwitch I read through the prologue and first chapter of Windwitch. So far I'm pretty pumped from the synopsis and what I've read so far.
On a smaller scale, I also have an issue with the racism towards Iseult and Nomatsi in general. On one hand, I think adding in this relatable issue was wise, however so far in this story I don't think it's been addressed properly. As people see Iseult and immediately hate her, and Safi defends her friend, I think there is an opportunity to use this conflict as a teaching tool on acceptance. I can't say it's a huge issue, this is really just me nit picking and it may be addressed in a later book, however I think it could been something that started here and then continued through the series.
Outside of the flow, I absolutely loved this book. There is so much potential straight out of the gate for this story to go so many places or for spin off series, and for me, thats what makes a sign of an author that I'm going to continue to follow. Susan has done a phenomenal job of creating a magic system that has so much detail and there are rules, which in my opinion, is needed in magic. There are also pieces woven into the story that do some foreshadowing for later in the book. I was watching the interview that Susan did with Sam (@thoughtsontomes) and she mentioned that while writing this series, she made sure to add in nuggets of information that elude to farther in the story so that if the reader were to ever re-read the books, they would recognize these pieces and building up for later events. You would think that would be obvious, however I've read quite a few books that just tackle one event at a time as stepping stones to the climax and although that is an easy method of writing, it can be boring to read.
To talk about the characters, I love them all. Like genuinely love these characters and can't wait to get to their POV in the story. As they interact with each other, you get enough of their personality to grow attached to them equally. Even Merik, who is probably the only character I could say I am not excited about. He came off a lot like Chaol from Throne of Glass at first, the entire macho- strong male persona. However his ability to not fault Safi for her selfishness because he can relate makes him a deeper character because he can recognize and forgive other people's faults. I love Safiya and Iseult both individually and as a duo because they compliment each other so well. Safi is hard headed and gets shit done, she is also definitely not shy and has the best puns. Iseult is more introverted, but she can analyze a situation and create a plan. I am also IMMENSELY interested in her magic in general, despite having some deviations from what is expected of a Threadwitch, like making stones. I haven't formed much of an opinion on Aeduan, however his character depth is something I'm excited to get into. He's such a grey character that so far as been set up very well for development. Also, Vaness is amazing and I am so happy that we get to hopefully get more of her character in the next book.
I'm super excited to get into the next book, immediately after finishing Truthwitch I read through the prologue and first chapter of Windwitch. So far I'm pretty pumped from the synopsis and what I've read so far.
*There may be spoilers in this section of the review. If you do not wish to be spoiled, please stop reading.
Comments
Post a Comment