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.
I’ll be honest, all the pre-publication hype around Truthwitch killed my interest in this book. Like, killed it dead. I was pumped to read it, then sick of hearing about it, so it wasn’t until recently that I actually picked up a copy. I think the gorgeous UK paperback went some way towards bringing me around! As it happens, I wish I hadn’t been put off by the hype. Ths book was pretty much the definition of a page turner. Fast-paced, engaging and well-written with characters that took on a life of their own…I couldn’t put it down!
Truthwitch is an ambitious book for sure. The only problem was, it was just as confusing at times too. Aside from juggling multiple povs (five or more from memory), the author also introduced three empires; an independent country; a soon to expire ceasefire from a decades old war; a magical system comprising of six “witcheries” – earth, air, fire etc, which themselves broke down into countless different types of power; legends; politics; and two girls in the middle of it all who just want a peaceful life of their own. Names, places, curses and words are thrown at the reader from the get go with no point of reference. Take this paragraph for example;
“All right,” Iseult said, her expression unchanging. “My next plan involves the Hell-Bards. They’re in Venaza City for the Truce Summit, right? To protect the Cartorran Empire? Maybe you could appeal to one of them for help since your uncle used to be one – and I doubt even the Dalmotti guards would be stupid enough to cross a Hell-Bard.”
I had no idea what about 30% of that text was referring to when I read it. A quick visit to the authors website shows multi-page documents explaining the worlds, the history and the witchery system. Perhaps these were included in the hardback but not the paperback, but even then you shouldn’t need a glossary to make sense of a story. By the end of the book, I still didn’t know exactly what powers it was possible to have.
Confusion aside though, I really did love this book. The themes of sisterhood and friendship were what made it for me. The romance angles took a backseat, and rightly so. As much as I adored Safi and Merrick’s banter and chemistry (with the exception of a niggling consent issue; male characters kissing female characters against their will or without permission isn’t cute! You wouldn’t get away with it in real life and you shouldn’t get away with it in a YA book), it was her friendship with Iseult that made this book so special. I loved that they supported each other, I loved that their friendship was organic (and not the result of both knowing the love interest) and I loved that they were always each other’s priority. Even when separated, their first thoughts were to get back to each other. Merrick may have been Safi’s “love interest”, but he never came between her and Iseult. He never drew her focus from saving her best friend’s life. It’s depressingly rare to read such strong female friendships in YA (seriously, if anyone has any recommendations, hit me up!) that don’t take a backseat once the hero shows up. I was beyond delighted that Iseult wasn’t relegated to doing Safi’s hair and gossiping while she prepared for a date with Merrick!
Truthwitch has enough ambition and detail for a trilogy of books, never mind one, which sometimes makes for a confusing read. However the wonderful friendship between the two protagonists and their non-stop adventures kept me hooked.
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.
I’ll be honest, all the pre-publication hype around Truthwitch killed my interest in this book. Like, killed it dead. I was pumped to read it, then sick of hearing about it, so it wasn’t until recently that I actually picked up a copy. I think the gorgeous UK paperback went some way towards bringing me around! As it happens, I wish I hadn’t been put off by the hype. Ths book was pretty much the definition of a page turner. Fast-paced, engaging and well-written with characters that took on a life of their own…I couldn’t put it down!
Truthwitch is an ambitious book for sure. The only problem was, it was just as confusing at times too. Aside from juggling multiple povs (five or more from memory), the author also introduced three empires; an independent country; a soon to expire ceasefire from a decades old war; a magical system comprising of six “witcheries” – earth, air, fire etc, which themselves broke down into countless different types of power; legends; politics; and two girls in the middle of it all who just want a peaceful life of their own. Names, places, curses and words are thrown at the reader from the get go with no point of reference. Take this paragraph for example;
“All right,” Iseult said, her expression unchanging. “My next plan involves the Hell-Bards. They’re in Venaza City for the Truce Summit, right? To protect the Cartorran Empire? Maybe you could appeal to one of them for help since your uncle used to be one – and I doubt even the Dalmotti guards would be stupid enough to cross a Hell-Bard.”
I had no idea what about 30% of that text was referring to when I read it. A quick visit to the authors website shows multi-page documents explaining the worlds, the history and the witchery system. Perhaps these were included in the hardback but not the paperback, but even then you shouldn’t need a glossary to make sense of a story. By the end of the book, I still didn’t know exactly what powers it was possible to have.
Confusion aside though, I really did love this book. The themes of sisterhood and friendship were what made it for me. The romance angles took a backseat, and rightly so. As much as I adored Safi and Merrick’s banter and chemistry (with the exception of a niggling consent issue; male characters kissing female characters against their will or without permission isn’t cute! You wouldn’t get away with it in real life and you shouldn’t get away with it in a YA book), it was her friendship with Iseult that made this book so special. I loved that they supported each other, I loved that their friendship was organic (and not the result of both knowing the love interest) and I loved that they were always each other’s priority. Even when separated, their first thoughts were to get back to each other. Merrick may have been Safi’s “love interest”, but he never came between her and Iseult. He never drew her focus from saving her best friend’s life. It’s depressingly rare to read such strong female friendships in YA (seriously, if anyone has any recommendations, hit me up!) that don’t take a backseat once the hero shows up. I was beyond delighted that Iseult wasn’t relegated to doing Safi’s hair and gossiping while she prepared for a date with Merrick!
Truthwitch has enough ambition and detail for a trilogy of books, never mind one, which sometimes makes for a confusing read. However the wonderful friendship between the two protagonists and their non-stop adventures kept me hooked.
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