A Fast Paced Adventure // REVIEW: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Title: Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1)
Author: Susan Dennard
Publication Date: February 3rd 2016
Publisher: Tor Teen
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 1/4 of The Witchlands Series
I Got A Copy Through: I Bought it!
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Blurb Description: 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.

Long Story Short – the HYPE surrounding this book is SO SO TRUE.

I finished this book just yesterday, and, well, my thoughts are an incoherent mess except for one thing – I LOVED THIS BOOK!

“The holiest have the farthest to fall.”

Safiya fon Hasstrel and Iseult Midenzi and Threadsisters – they have strongest bond possible between two friends. They’re two halves of a whole – one impulsive and one careful, one initiator and one completer, one light and one dark.

Safiya is a Truthwitch – a person whose entire being knows if another is lying or telling the truth. In a continent on the brink of war, she is a valuable weapon that all the Emperors are willing to fight for – and kill for.

Iseult is a Threadwitch. For every person she passes, she can see the Threads that bind them and the Threads that can break them. She can tell what everyone feels – everyone except other Threadwitches, herself, and the Carawen Monk, Aeduan.

Aeduan is a Bloodwitch. Once he smells your blood, it is a scent he can track across continents, and it is one he will never forget. He can scent everyone – except the Threadwitch Iseult, who gives off none.

Merik Nihar is the Prince and Admiral of a dying country. Desperate for a trade agreement, he makes a deal with Safi’s uncle, to take away his niece to his country to open a line of trade with his starving, falling apart country.

The Twenty Year Truce that help together the Witchlands is almost at an end. Armies are gathering, political espionage takes place behind every closed door and in a world where nothing is certain, a Truthwitch might be the most valuable player on the board.

“Those who win wars are those who write history.”

I LOVED THIS BOOK.

I loved the beginning – how is all started with a plan going wrong and we dove RIGHT INTO the story but after that first chapter, it got slightly confusing. There was SO MUCH BEING THROWN AT US. The different kind of witches, the empires, people, places and I just needed some sort of Truthwitch handbook that would help me navigate the world.

As I got used to the fact that there would always me new witches, people and places popping up, I TRULY began to enjoy the book.

 

 

I LOVED the multiple points of view – Iseult, Safi, Merik and Aeduan. They were all such interesting characters with different points of view that rarely changed and I loved them.

The storyline was quite good as well. Despite the fact that it was set over JUST half a week, it progressed beautifully. I loved Merik’s country and the JOY that something was growing. I loved the banter between Safi and Merik. I loved Iseult’s narration of the Threads between people. I LOVED the underlying plots that I know would surface later in the series.

Most of all though, I loved Aeduan. I’m a sucker for a bookish bad boy – and one with powers and ruthlessness just MADE HIM SO MUCH BETTER.

My only problem was the STRING OF coincidences that brought everyone together. Safi ran toward a lighthouse, Iseult MAGICALLY found her there and OF COURSE Merik and his crew were RIGHT THERE to save all of them from the Monks.

It wasn’t even a big scene, but it did bother me.

Also, for the LIFE OF ME, I cannot imagine what a Cleaved looks like. OILY BLACK SKIN? HUH?

All in all, a fast paced adventure that is DEFINITELY worth your fangirling heart. 4 stars.

Susan Dennard has come a long way from small-town Georgia. With a masters degree in marine biology, she got to travel the world—six out of seven continents, to be exact (she’ll get to Asia one of these days!)—before she settled down as a full-time novelist and writing instructor.

She is the author of the Something Strange and Deadly series (from HarperTeen) as well as the forthcoming Witchlands Series (Tor, 2015). When not writing, she can be found hiking with her dogs, exploring tidal pools, or earning bruises at the dojo.

You can learn more about Susan on her website, blog, newsletter, Twitter, or Pinterest.

HAVE YOU READ ANY SUSAN DENNARD BOOKS YET? 

Have you had the chance to dive into this series yet? Who is your favourite character? Your strongest ship? WHAT DID YOU THINK?

Leave me your links and I'll definitely hop on over to your lovely blogs.