The Boyfriend Book Review is a recurring column here on What A Nerd Girl Says. My boyfriend, Daniel (read his bio here), is a reader as well. He suffered from what a lot of male readers suffer from – they only read white men! Well, of course, that didn’t really work with this Nerd Girl and he has been making a journey through my massive YA collection. Now we’ve started this column together, to review books that I’ve most likely already reviewed so that we can get a male perspective on it. We hope you enjoy!
Today’s review is actually a little special because its a book I have NOT read. Because its NaNoWriMo and I’ve been busy, I enlisted some help in writing in November! It didn’t entirely work considering the blog was down for most of the month but Daniel was kind enough to write a review for this book!
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**Please note that we always try to keep reviews spoiler free here but in the case of back-listed books, there is a chance that there could be spoilers**
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GENRE:
Young Adult, Fantasy
PAGES:
416
PART OF A SERIES?:
1st of the Witchlands series
RELEASE DATE:
January 5th 2016
PUBLISHER:
Tor Teen
SOURCE:
Switched between Owned Physical Copy and E-Book
YOU CAN FIND THE BOOK AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR THE FOLLOWING LINKS:
GOODREADS SUMMARY:
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.
DANIEL’S REVIEW
I have a problem with finding new books/stories. I will almost always prefer to get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. Trying to break this habit can be exceedingly difficult, especially since I am a slower reader. I had gone to Barnes and Noble with Sara and I decided to just look at a few covers and see what sparks my interest and just buy it. What I saw was a book titled Bloodwitch – I found this cover because it is absolutely beautiful. Bloodwitch is the 3rd book in the series so I decided that I needed to read the first two to get to this one. Truthwitch is a VERY good start, I had never heard of Susan Dennard; Sara did confirm that she is a much loved author.
Having gone into this series blind but with an understanding of fantasy series in general, I had an idea of what to expect. You are dropped into the action almost immediately. The world is built as a ton of big moving parts that are all background to the set of main characters. Safiya and Iseult are 2 young and powerful witches in a country that is teetering on the tip of a massive world war. Safi is a Truthwitch, meaning she is able to sense when a person is telling the Truth or not. Iseult is a Threadwitch, her powers are to see how people are connected by a thin ethereal thread that moves between people. These powers are in high demand in a kingdom riddled with political intrigue.
One of my favorite parts of any fantasy settings lies in how the magic in their world works. What are the strengths? What are the shortcomings? How does this affect the physics and psyche of the people and things around the magic? I am extremely excited about what the author has is store for us over the next few books! They have already introduced a Waterwitch, a Windwitch and a Bloodwitch and I can only imagine what other kinds of witches there will be!
Truthwitch does a great job of introducing you into the world of the Witchlands. Susan Dennard is very clearly a talented and creative author and I really recommend this book if you’re a person that loves interesting worlds and magic systems. There is also a lot to be said for how each character develops and have an actual effect on the world around them. Truthwitch is great! I highly recommend it!
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