Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Posted on April 24, 2016 by pennma05

21414439 Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Published January 5th 2016 by Tor Teen

415 Pages

Goodreads Summary: On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery,” a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

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: Back in December I was approved for an ARC excerpt from NetGalley. I didn’t even have to read the whole excerpt before I knew I was going to love this book and so I preordered it. When I got my preorder, I set it off to the side for a bit to avoid the inevitable hype monster. I finally read it in March and completely fell in love with it. There was so much action, which is almost kind of rare in the first book of a new fantasy series. Normally the first book of a new fantasy series is filled with world building and character development. One of the big things that I loved about this book was the balance between the world building, character development and the action. Nothing was really overshadowed so it felt like a complete story. I loved the two main characters, Safi and Iseult. The world building was fantastic. I loved putting all of the descriptions to work in my head visualizing this new place. It was very easy to do the way the author explained things. All of the action, especially that involving the Bloodwitch was so nerve wracking and heart pounding. This book caused a lot of adrenaline rushes. I could not put this book down once I started it. I even stayed up late one night because I just could not put it down. I had to finish it even though I still had quite a bit of it left. Totally worth it though. There are a lot of mixed reviews but I completely loved this book and I really can’t wait until the sequel comes out!

5 Stars

Mini Reviews – December 17, 2015

Posted on December 17, 2015 by pennma05

I’ve been really struggling with posting book reviews lately so I’ve decided to take a whack at writing some mini reviews. I’m hoping to get back into the swing of full reviews in the new year (one of my blogging resolutions). Today here are three mini reviews for you of some NetGalley titles I’ve read lately. I had been taking a NetGalley hiatus for a few months in part because of my frustration with the approval time and archival dates. But earlier this month I went a little crazy requesting titles so I’ve got three to post today and several more still to read. (All links go to Goodreads)

24795912 Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley

This novel is about the Bronte siblings in their young adult lives writing in their home. I really like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights so I was pretty excited to read this one. Unfortunately I didn’t like it as much as I hoped. There were parts where Charlotte and Branwell disappeared into their writing world they called Verdopolis where they would see their stories play out and could make themselves any of the characters they chose. Back in the real world, it would appear as if they really weren’t there with quills writing on their own on the page with Anne and Emily watching. It was just a little too weird for me. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters either. While I didn’t like this book I can see how some people might enjoy it though.

2 Stars

27538664 Blood, Ink & Fire by Ashley Mansour

This book sounded fantastic and it started out really promising. I was immediately gripped by the main character, Noelle. It kind of felt like a cross between Fahrenheit 451 and The Giver. Books are a thing of the past, and so is reading and writing. Instead, people are taught and communicate with pictures streamed through Verity. Interesting concept, right? And it was until Noelle’s best friend John dies and Ledger inhabits his body. Ledger is supposed to be the soul of every single thing ever written in human history. He knows humans and human nature based on the things humans have written. WEIRD. Too weird. Then Noelle started to turn into one of those characters who is constantly changing their mind about everything and anything. It was kind of disappointing. But for the most part, I did like the book. It just wasn’t as good as I thought it could have been.

3 Stars

21414439 Truthwitch by Susan Dennard – PREVIEW EXCERPT

People have been going nuts for this book all over the blogosphere and Twitter. I debated back and forth for awhile whether I wanted to preorder it or not. When I saw that NetGalley had a preview excerpt I requested it to see if I would like it. I got two chapters into the excerpt and decided that yes, I was going to like this book and preordered it! I am completely fascinated by this world that the author has created and I’m really looking forward to finishing the book! Truthwitch, Bloodwitch, thread sisters, etc. It comes out January 5th so I don’t even have to wait a month for it! So excited!

5 Stars