GoodReads: 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.
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Initially, I was a bit unsure about Truthwitch,
because I didn't enjoy the author's debut novel Something Strange and Deadly.
In fact I ended up DNFing it. In the end, however, the buzz led me to the GR page, and I have to admit I was intrigued. Firstly, because it's
high fantasy (my favourite genre), and secondly because the summary promised
action/adventure and a female friendship.
Although I wasn't as massively blown away by it as some people seem to be I really did enjoy Truthwitch. I liked that it was action packed from start to finish, and the strong friendship between Safiya and Iseult was a bonus. It's not too often I see female friendships like this one in YA. My favourite out of the two leading ladies is Iseult. What frustrated me about Safiya was her hot-headedness, and the way she did stuff without thinking things through. I also didn't care for the romance between Safiya and Merik. As much as I thought Merik was interesting as an individual I didn't quite feel anything towards him and Safiya as a couple. As for Iseult, I probably shouldn't, but I ship her and Aeduan. Every time they were in a scene together I was all *_*. Aeduan was such a complex and layered character, I hope we learn more about him in the sequel. Finally, the world presented in Truthwitch was fascinating, but the actual world building was shaky. We are introduced to a lot of new terms, etc, but there isn't much of an explanation into it all. So, I'm hoping we'll learn more about the world in the sequel.
To conclude, I'm glad the hype surrounding Truthwitch led me to read the GR summary and consequently pick up the book, because it was a great read.
Rating:
I did enjoy this one quite a bit towards the second-half but I'm not sure I'll be continuing this series. I loved the world but the characters, though intriguing, were not unique enough for me to become truly invested. I'm glad this really worked out for you, though, Renu!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed Truthwitch! It's so different from Susan's first series, and even though I enjoyed the first SSAD book (still have to finish the series) this one appealed to me more, and has so much going for it with the story and world-building. I ship Iseult and Aeduan too! :)
ReplyDeleteYay :D Stunning review Renu. <3 So glad that you liked this book a lot, despite not loving it. And yess for female friendship :D Not many of those in books. Sigh. But aw, so sad that you didn't love the romance :\ That's not good. But thrilled that you loved the rest :D I haven't read any books by her before.. but I own them all :) Must read this one soon. Just hoping I will like it too, lol. Thank you for sharing your lovely thoughts. <3
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed this overall! I admit the buzz for it has me wanting to pick it up too, but I just haven't had the time yet. I know I will appreciate this strong friendship everyone is talking about!
ReplyDeleteI have one more chapter to read of this book and I am so glad someone else enjoyed it but wasn't blown away, I have seen review from people who adore this book and some who hated it but not that many in between.
ReplyDeleteAeduan is such an interesting character and I look forward to seeing more of these different layers to his personality, I hadn't even considered him and Iseult being a possible couple, interesting idea!
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