Title: Windwitch
Author: Susan Dennard
Type: Fiction
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: TOR Teen (Macmillan Publishers)
Published: January 10, 2017

A physical copy of the book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books, in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes our enemies are also our only allies…

After an explosion destroys his ship, the world believes Prince Merik, Windwitch, is dead. Scarred yet alive, Merik is determined to prove his sister’s treachery. Upon reaching the royal capital, crowded with refugees, he haunts the streets, fighting for the weak—which leads to whispers of a disfigured demigod, the Fury, who brings justice to the oppressed.

When the Bloodwitch Aeduan discovers a bounty on Iseult, he makes sure to be the first to find her—yet in a surprise twist, Iseult offers him a deal. She will return money stolen from him, if he locates Safi. Now they must work together to cross the Witchlands, while constantly wondering, who will betray whom first?

After a surprise attack and shipwreck, Safi and the Empress of Marstok barely escape with their lives. Alone in a land of pirates, every moment balances on a knife’s edge—especially when the pirates’ next move could unleash war upon the Witchlands.

– My Review –

You can read my review for the first book in this series, Truthwitch, here!

Windwitch definitely wasn’t what I expected. While being the continuation of the story in Truthwitch, it has a decidedly darker feel to it. Events also didn’t unfold the way that I expected them to, and while Dennard also managed to surprise me, she wove the story threads together, entangling them while also keeping them distinct, quite skillfully. So, the fact that this book was not what I’d expected, is in no way a negative thing!

Dennard’s writing has also improved from when the manuscript for Truthwitch was written, and I really enjoyed the techniques she used to make each of the characters’ portions of the book, distinctly their own. And just as in Truthwitch, Dennard used descriptive language quite effectively to paint a very clear picture of each and every scene.

While I would consider this to be a middle-of-the-series book, in that it had to focus quite extensively on developing multiple plot threads at once, I found it to be interesting and good at holding my attention (especially when compared to other middle-of-the-series books)! The plot threads which were laid out in Truthwitch definitely wove some interesting and complex patters in Windwitch, and I am very excited to see how they all develop in the next book!

We were allowed to experience more of the world which Dennard introduced us to in the first book, which I found to be great, as I was quite curious about other parts of the map. And more of the world has been promised to us in the next book, Bloodwitch, which is to be released next year (and the wait will be unbearable!).

The characters which we met in the first book develop in evident and interesting ways, and their relationships with each other, as well as new characters were very fun to read about. Each and every character definitely feels a lot more fleshed out in Windwitch (even though they’d already felt quite multi-dimensional in Truthwitch).

For someone who has been reading complex high fantasy since her early teens, this story felt fresh in Truthwitch, and only continued to become more interesting and unique in book 2! Highly recommended to those who enjoy fantasy, adventure, and multiple plot threads developing simultaneously.

– About the Author –

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 Witchlands Series (Tor). 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.

– Purchase Links –

THANK YOU FOR READING MY REVIEW! HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOW COME? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!