01 02 03 Bookish Wanderess: Book Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Book Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

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Truthwitch-Susan-Dennard

Title: Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1)
Author: Susan Dennard
Published by: Tor Teen
Publication Date: January 5th 2016
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Pages: 416

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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*Disclamer: I read this book a few months ago, the review has been on my drafts since I read it, I only had to finish the last bit of it and I had to organize this post. It took me a long time to actually do that, but here it is!* 

When I started to read Truthwitch, I got a bit confused. There wasn't a lot of explanation about how everything in this world worked or about the new words that were introduced or about the magic system. Everything was very complex and Susan Dennard didn't take any time to explain or set up. Eventually, once the story advanced, everything got a lot clearer and I realised  it was actually a very fascinating and intricate world and magic system. I couldn't get enought of it and I defintely want to find out more about it in future books. Apart from that, the writing was amazing, it was beautiful, fluid and captivating. It went really well with the fast paced of the story;  there was always something happening!

On top of that, the characters were definitely one of the best parts of  the book. Iseult was my favorite characters, I found her to be really intriguing and fascinating. I loved how the author talked about discrimination through her character and I really liked how complex Iseult was; she always tried to be what her culture expected her to be, but she couldn't because it wasn't who she really was. Also, I enjoyed her relationship with Aeduan immensely even if it was not that present in the book; I was really intrigued by him as a character and I really want to see how their relationship develops. I also really liked Safi, even if I didn't find her as interesting as Iseult. She was a bit impulsive sometimes, but she was brave and clever,  and I really enjoyed her relationship with Merik. 

And now the most important thing, the relationship between Safi and Iseult. It's weird to find a YA fantasy book that focuses mainly in the friendship between two female characters and I think that's the caracteristic that made this book stand out. Furthermore, it's a relationship based on love, respect, and support of one another. 

Truthwitch is a book with a complex and fascinating world and magic system, with a captivating writing style and with compelling and gripping characters. If you haven't read it yet, you should! 

Rating: 4,2 stars 

Have you read this book? Did you enjoy it? Are you panning on reading it?  Let me know in the comments! 



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