Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (The Witchlands #1)
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: January 5, 2016
Pages: 416
***Received ARC from a Goodreads Giveaway***
Summary: On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.
In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.
Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.
Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.
Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.
My Rating: 
Even though I did not give this book 5 stars, I still really enjoyed reading it.
Susan introduces a complex world with politics and magic that are prevalent all through out the novel.
The idea of these witches was very unique and unlike anything I had ever read in a fantasy before.
The characters, world, etc. are complex and Susan shows that wonderfully through her writing style.
What made this book difficult to get through was the pacing and world building.
I felt that I got put into this world so quickly and I wasn’t given much to the world/magic system. It felt like I had more of a broad overview and not much of a detailed explanation.
I also felt at times the pacing was slow and it really took me a while to get through it.
However, this book overall has really great elements that work well together, I personally just found it hard to connect it all.
While this book wasn’t necessarily for me, I still think you should have this book on your TBR for 2016 if you love YA Fantasy, friendship, and intricate plots/worlds! 🙂
Even though it wasn’t a 5-star book for me, the ending really had me interested and I still plan to read the next book to see where its headed 🙂
***Full ARC Review to come***
If you’ve read this book/plan to, have any additional thoughts? 🙂
I’m so excited for this book! It looks so good. It’s a shame about the pacing and worldbuilding! They’re such important things, and hard to master. I hope I enjoy this book when I finally read it. Thanks for the great review!
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thank you :)! & I’m sure you’ll enjoy Truthwitch! I was kind of in a reading slump already so that’s also probably why I didn’t enjoy it as much
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