Truthwitch Blurb
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.
First Impression
This is a finish-in-one-day book. Overall, I liked it and will probably read the series (or watch the TV show when it comes out). If you’re looking for a book with depth, character growth, or any positive messages about friendship, love, etc. this probably isn’t for you. I tried to review it knowing that this book isn’t trying to be anything more than a fun fantasy joyride–which it succeeds in spectacularly.
There were issues with pacing, character development, and worldbuilding–the big three in my book–but because they didn’t affect the plot, I found them frustrating but forgivable.
Character
There are four main players: Safiya (Safi), the protagonist; Merik, her love interest; Iseult, Safi’s best friend/ally; and Aeduan, the antagonist.
I would have preferred a little more development, sure, but the book takes place in three days, so you can’t really expect much there. That said, the characters were all distinct and interesting. Safi’s impulsive and reckless behavior drives most of the conflict, so our antagonist only really serves to apply pressure. Not gonna lie, I didn’t like Safi. Especially when it came to her interactions with Iseult. Which is why, even though this friendship is one of fans’ favorite parts of this series, to me this friendship seemed toxic. Hear me out:
I understood everyone’s motivations to help Safi (lots of politics), except Iseult’s. Her motive was always love. But her devotion to Safi felt one-sided. Sure, Safi was affectionate and appreciative of Iseult, but only seemed to think about her after putting her in danger. Iseult was always fixing things because for some reason Safi couldn’t solve her own problems–and then, once everything was resolved, the cycle would repeat. Iseult makes a lot of sacrifices for Safi, but I never really saw the same courtesy returned. In the end, this dynamic painted Iseult as codependent. All I can hope for is that these two will grow in later books.
Normally, because Iseult was the character I related to, she would be my favorite. But because she was so codependent, I got frustrated with her. In the end, Merik was my favorite character. I’ve seen a lot of hate on him in reviews, but I think that had more to do with the shallow romance than him as a character. Setting the romance aside, he had the most compelling internal struggle of the book (that’s my catnip). His effort to balance what he wanted with what his people needed was admirable. He did sometimes make very convenient “born for Safi” decisions, but he at least had more depth than some of the other YA love interests we see these days.
World
I wanted more. More. MORE! This was a source of both pleasure and frustration throughout the book. I’m big fan of full-immersion worldbuilding, but I missed the parts that were probably edited out for a shorter word-count. As a writer myself, I appreciate that struggle, but I still can’t help feeling like something was . . . missing. Anyways, the world was rich and interesting. The magic system was somewhat reminiscent of Avatar: The Last Airbender for me so if that’s your bag, then jump in.
Storytelling
What a ride. This book is so fast-paced. Even though I have a short attention span, I read it in a day. A lot of people like that, but for me it was a negative. I was kind of stressed-out reading it because there was no comfortable breaking point and I had stuff to do that day. But I also think The Walking Dead doesn’t have enough breaking points, so what do I know? What matters is that it didn’t wander into the realm of melodrama (cough-TheWalkingDead-cough).
So, that’s all personal preference. The real reason the pacing is a problem is that it was so fast there wasn’t room for enrichment. There wasn’t time for character depth, there wasn’t time for worldbuilding, there wasn’t time to build a deeper romance. Reading this book was like looking at the tip of an iceberg through binoculars. I wanted to see so much more than I was shown. That depth seems to be there, so hopefully I can sink my teeth into more with the following books.
Well, except nothing can really undo how shallow the romance felt. They did meet and “fall in love” in three days, after all . . .
Final Thoughts
Overall, I gave it a 3.5/5. I really liked this book, but it does need the follow-ups to supplement a lack of worldbuilding and character development. The romance is pretty shallow and there were a few eyeroll moments that made you wonder why it was even included in the book at all. I wish we could’ve seen more depth, more growth. Maybe if there was, I would’ve given it a 4 or even a 5.
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