I can’t believe I waited so long to read Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. The world building and characters absolutely blew me away and now I’ve bought the next three books, can you tell I’m obsessed?
Summary
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.
Review
You know those books you can’t believe it took you so long to read? That’s me with Truthwitch now. I’ve had it for about two years now, I even got a copy of Windwitch at the Boston Teen Author Festival, and yet I’ve still waited until January and my backlist book club (for more details see my Twitter or my goal post where I’m trying to read more backlist books this year). And I think what I ended up loving, above all else, is the friendship between Safi and Iseult.
They have a friendship that is supportive, teasing, and complementary. Their flaws and strengths complement each other and you can tell from page one that their friendship has history. The entire world has such a rich and wonderful history that you catch a glimpse of and want more. You are teased with secrets, relationships, and mysteries that can only be revealed in further books.
There’s epic style world building with prophecies, magic, and countries that just gets you excited. This is certainly more complex than what you might pick up, so just prepare yourself. I am so glad I can basically binge read the entire series, until book three now, because it means I can stay so much longer in this world. And I want to!
Overall,
There are so many elements pulling you into all these sorts of directions. If you don’t like multiple perspectives, this book has them, but I adore multiple perspectives so much! There are all these threads and pieces of the plot moving in this constantly whirring machine. Questions of loyalty, friendship, and identity permeate the pages and I’ve already thought about starting Windwitch.
Find Truthwitch on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound & The Book Depository.
I read this one when it was released and wasn’t a huge fan but then I wound up having to binge read the rest of the series and by the time I got to Bloodwitch I was totally on board. I’m really excited to see what happens next.
Ohh that’s good to hear! I haven’t read the other ones yet, but I’m hoping to later this year!