Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1) by Susan Dennard

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. 

-- Goodreads.com description --

Truthwitch was one of my most anticipated reads of 2016 and it did not disappoint. I LOVED it! I believe it's going to a four book series and I want the second book right this instant, but let's face it, we'll have to wait a year. A WHOLE year for the second book to come out. I can't deal with that at this moment. It's safe to say, Truthwitch got me out of my reading slump, right at the moment my classes resume, I'm sorry to say.

However, back to the book. It's a fantasy that is highly focused on the friendship between the two main characters, which is so refreshing and much needed in this genre. Even though there is a romance in this book, you already know that it won't push the friendship between Safi and Iseult to the background. For this alone, you should read the book! Female friendships are so scarce in (fantasy) young adult novels.

Once more this year, I'm reading a book with all likeable characters. I loved all of the characters in this book, there wasn't a boring or unnecessary character to be found which was awesome. We get four different points of view, first of all, Safi and Iseult, of course, and then, we also get Prince Merik's perspective and the point of view of the Bloodwitch, Aeduan, which I found incredibly interesting. The only problem with these different perspectives is the fact that Susan Dennard only uses a double space to announce a change of perspective in the middle of a chapter. Once, the author also uses ***, which felt out of place and inconsistent since this wasn't included in the rest of the book. I would have preferred to have *** in every chapter to announce a different point of view. However, I'm not complaining, I could follow the story quite well, it just required a little bit more concentration.

The magic system, although interesting and intriguing, should have been explained a little bit better. The reader isn't told what the different types of magic can do, therefore, I was not as "scared" as the characters were when for example a Firewitch showed up. There are many more examples like this to be found in the book. Also, I don't know if I just missed it but suddenly at the end, a new type of witch was introduced. It would have been nice to have an overview of all the possible witches and their powers in the beginning of the book. As well, as a little bit more information about the world and the different countries and people. We only get a map in the beginning of the book and that just has to do.

Spoilers below about the romance in the book

The romance between Safi and Merik, although cute, felt lacking to me. Especially when told from Merik's point of view. I am shipping them, though, I wouldn't have minded for it to have dragged out till the next book, or so.

And then, there is Iseult. I have a feeling she could end up with Aeduan and I wouldn't mind that one bit. Did anyone else think this as well?

End of the spoilers:

All in all, I really loved Truthwitch and although I do have some minor problems with the book I gave it 5 out of 5 stars. There is a very high possibility that this book will be in my top ten books of 2016, we'll have to wait and see!

Have you read Truthwitch or are you planning to? I would love to hear your thoughts about it! Leave a comment down below!