ARC Review: Truthwitch - Susan Dennard

Title: Truthwitch
Author: Susan Dennard
Pub Date: January 5th, 2016
Publisher: Tor
Page Count: 384

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.

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2015 has been a year full of adventure - Truthwitch was one of those adventures. - Nova @ Out of Time

I'm not sure how I feel about high fantasy anymore. I'd always thought that it wasn't for me but this year [and this book] proved that high fantasy can be for me. When it comes to Truthwitch, I was really happy with the way I felt after reading. It was different, it was interesting and I was completely invested in the story and its characters.

My favorite element of Truthwitch is the friendship. It's sisters before misters in this one because while the romance was cute, it wasn't that big of a deal. It was enough to make my fangirl heart beat but not enough to overpower the stakes of the story or how important it is to have a good relationship with your threadsister. This is like those gifs where you feel like screaming, 'friendship goals' because Safi and Iseult were definitely friendship goals.

The actual plot went from very interesting to a little bit of a lull back to high thrill again. The parts that felt a little boring were mostly when it was on the boat. I mean, in the middle of the sea, it's bound to get a little calmer, right? However, before I could even complain, things went back to interesting shortly after so I really liked that switch.
The story itself is kind of meh. It wasn't very complicated and that has both its pros and cons. Pros because I followed this very easily and it leaves room for even more twists in the future but cons because there were hints at something very complex but it would be in the next book since it was only revealed close to the end. Truthwitch 2, I need you noooow.

However, the characters and the world. Yes, I'm grouping them together because they were equal. That means fantastic on both fronts. The world was so interesting and I love how there are so many different kinds of witches. It was hard to keep track of after a while but it reminded me kind of like X-Men, where the amount of powers are left up to the imagination.
Merek was wonderful. I loved every scene with him. He was entertaining to read and I really liked his personality. I even like Aeduan, even though he wasn't good because he wasn't one dimensional. I hate it when authors try to make the anti-hero have a tragic past but this didn't happen and some events showed that while he's a villain, Aeduan still had some form of humanity.

I don't know about Safi because I was a little confused with her power. She's a lie detector? In the book, it's almost like she's a golden snitch and everyone wants her but I didn't really see it. In comparison to Iseult's power, I felt like Safi was a little useless. I hope to better understand her power in the second book. That aspect just confused me. I did love her personality though. She's impulsive and emotional, in stark contrast to Iseult who's more calm and neutral. [Basically, Safi is Starfire and Iseult is Raven for my lovely Teen Titans fans out there.]

While I can't say I completely raved about it, for my first Susan Dennard book, this was wonderful! I'm definitely going to keep an open mind about her other books now - especially when it comes time for Truthwitch #2!

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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.