Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this.  It was action packed throughout.  It has great friendship and strong female leads.  It does have romance, but it is more focused on the friendship.

I really loved the magic system and can't wait to learn more about the witchery as the series continues. I really loved that Safiya and Iseult are equally strong, each has strengths and weaknesses but neither of them is weak. They balance each other perfectly. These two kept me on my toes, I never knew what they were going to do next. Safi is a Truthwitch, a rare power that could be used by many to shape the future of the nations. Safi has kept her power well hidden, but all she wants to do is live free and do what she wants. Safi is a noble, and her uncle suspects that her power has been revealed and makes plans to hide her away. In her travels she meets a prince, but Merik isn't your average prince, he is rough and will always out his people first. He and Safi are both stubborn and quick to anger. In short they are perfect for each other and insta-love ensues. As many other's have said the insta-love with Safi and Merik came on pretty heavy and wasn't really necessary to move the plot along. Thankfully there wasn't a ton of romance. Maybe if the whole heart thread thing was explained a little better. Isuelt on the other hand feels like a cast off, always the discarded one as she was never able to get a handle on her powers as a Threadwitch. She always felt cast aside by her mother, who was revered in her village. Her people are seen as scum, and she isn't really sure how to help Safi escape or stay safe if people find out she's a Truthwitch. I hope we find out more about her powers in the next book. As Safi and Isuelt are separated and reunited they fight various enemies and make some interesting allies. The book is action packed from the first sentence and never lets up.

I also loved the villain, not because I want him to win, but because he is so interesting. Aeduan is a Bloodwitch who can track another witch by the scent of their blood, he can also control a person's blood, and he's a monk sworn to uphold the tenets of the monastery he is sworn too. He is a mercenary who does what he's paid, but he is also torn to uphold his monk vows. I'm so interested to see where this plot line goes as he is intertwined with Isuelt and Safi's stories.

I listened to the audio, and I didn't really understand the choice of accent for the characters.  They were all the same, so clearly that was done on purpose.  It just didn't seem necessary that the narration was done without an accent but the characters had an accent.