Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1)

by Susan Dennard

The first in the Witchlands series, Truthwitch by Susan Dennard is a brilliantly imagined coming-of-age story perfect for fans of Robin Hobb, Victoria Aveyard and Trudi Canavan.

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.

Reviewed by Ashley on

3 of 5 stars

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I really wanted to adore this book but sadly I didn't. I didn't hate it, but didn't love it either.

The world wasn't explained well at all. Clearly A LOT of thought went into it and there are all these unique ideas like Heart-Threads, Thread-families, Cleaving, etc. but none of them are actually explained. They're just mentioned in hopes that you'll figure it out on your own??? So I feel like there was this interesting world with so much potential, but I had no idea what any of it actually meant. There needed to be much better explanations.

The main character sometimes annoyed me.

I didn't understand why being a Truthwitch was so valuable. Yes, it's a cool power, and certainly useful, but it doesn't really seem worth going to war over wanting to claim one. They acted like if you had a Truthwitch you had all the power in the world, but I guess I have a hard time really seeing that as true.

In the end it was only okay for me and I don't think I'll be continuing with the series.

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Reading updates

  • 9 November, 2018: Started reading
  • 17 November, 2018: Finished reading
  • 17 November, 2018: Reviewed