Review: Sightwitch by Susan Dennard

Sightwitch by Susan Dennard
Narrated by Bahni Turpin (Narrator), Saskia Maarleveld (Narrator), Cassandra Campbell (Narrator), Lauren Fortgang(Goodreads Author) (Narrator), MacLeod Andrews (Narrator)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved learning Ryber's backstory. From the previous two books, you don't know that she has any witch abilities. This tell you the story of the Sightwitches and Ryber's journey as a sightless sister. It also tells the story of how she and Kullen meet. If you haven't read the first two books, you won't know who Kullen is and why their relationship is important. Ryber has been a Sightwitch Sister since she was 4 years old when she began serving the goddess Sirmaya. Ryber has yet to be blessed with the sight, and she is frustrated because she has always followed all of the rules of the temple and worked very hard to be chosen. It isn't until she finds that all of the sisters have been called into the mountain for service by the goddess and Ryber is left alone that she begins to uncover her unique gift sight. Her gift isn't the same as the other sisters, and she is the only one who can save them from the fate they have been called to. I won't spoil it. On her mission to save her sisters, Ryber runs into Kullen, a Nubrevnan Navy Captain, he has amnesia and they must work together to face the challenges inside the mountain to find the sisters and the way out. A connection forms between the two of them, which you learn more about in Truthwitch.

This gives so much information on the Witchlands, the history of what is going on in the lands, what has happened in the past, and what is yet to come in the story. While this is only a novella and it the main focus is on Ryber and her journey to save her threadsister we learn so much about so many other things in this short little book. I expect we will see more of Ryber in the next installment, especially given what we've learned in this little gem. I have so many conspiracy theories as I wait for Bloodwitch. Unfortunately that won't be out until early next year so I'll just have to be patient.

I listened to the audio and there are multiple narrators. Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin are always amazing. There is a full cast which adds so much to the audio experience. I highly recommend it. This is told in the form of journal entries and other documents so the timeline isn't linear, and it does jump back and forth between a few different perspectives. Using different voices for the various characters helped keep track of who and what time you were listening to.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and can't recommend it enough. Dennard's writing and character development just keeps getting better. This novella is much more focused on one character and plot line and I really enjoyed it. I can't wait to see where the cast of characters takes us in the future.

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Review: Windwitch by Susan Dennard

Windwitch by Susan Dennard
Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This review is long overdue.  I recently listened to Sightwitch,which prompted me to finally get this posted.  That review will be up soon.  Cassandra Campbell is quickly becoming one of my go to audio narrators.  I really enjoy her voice acting in this series, and highly recommend anything she narrates. 

This picks up shortly after Truthwitch leaves off. Safi has gone off with the Empress of Marstock to try to use her powers to make a difference. Iseult is alone and determined to find Safi no matter what. The bloodwitch Aeduan is very present and makes an unlikely ally to Iseult.And then there is Merik, everyone is led to believe that the prince is dead leaving his sister Vivia to tend to the people of Nubrevna. There are so many twists and turns that you aren't sure who to trust and who is really on the side of good and evil in this tale. It was quite a ride. I very much enjoyed it.

We follow each of the main characters on their very different journeys as they are all on different adventures. Merik must heal after a devestating accident that leads to his supposed death. He is trying to uncover the darkness that is invading his city and save his people. He knows that there has been a great betrayal, but it may not be at the hands of those he initially suspected. He takes on the persona of the Fury, a merciless god in their culture who rights wrongs. He is aided by Cam, one of the few of his crew to survive the accident at sea. In the meantime, Vivia is on the same path to save the people of Nubrevna, though she struggles to find purchase in a world dominated by men. She is fierce and powerful, but she lacks the respect in the political arena.

Isuelt and Aeduan find themselves partnering through many action packed situations. They are both dealing with internal struggles. Isuelt is learning more about her threadwitch powers and learns that she is not a traditional threadwitch like her mother. She must find herself without Safi, and really comes into her own. Safi is always on her mind, and she never forgets that her goal is to find her threadsister and help her. Aeduan meanwhile is remembering things from his past as he must continue on his mission while also aiding Isuelt who happens to be part of his mission. There are hints at a possible romantic relationship in the future between them, but nothing happens in this book. There is pretty much no romance in this book. If you remember in Truthwitch there is a pretty explosive romance between Safi and Merik toward the end of the book. They spend the entire book pining for each other but driven by duty in Windwitch. They want to get back to each other, but romance will have to take a backseat.

Safi is on her own adventure with the Empress of Marstock. Their ship is attacked they are captured by the Hellbards. Hellbards are kind of like witch police, they can bind a witch's powers and are typically employed by royalty to do their dirty work. Safi is still full of attitude and spunk. She never gives up, but she also grows up quite a bit in this book.

Overall, there is a lot going on here with several different plot lines going on at the same time. I really enjoyed the different plot lines and I felt like they came together really well in the end. Clearly there is more story to tell, and I'm excited to see where Susan Dennard takes us on this adventure. The writing was excellent in my opinion and I've grown to love the characters.  I'm bummed that Bloodwitch won't be out until January 2019.

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Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I learned so much from this book. While medical ethics have improved since the days when Henrietta Lack's cells were taken without her knowledge, I don't think most people know what their rights are with regards to their cells and tissue. I certainly didn't until Skloot laid them out. I also had no idea what Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells have done for medicine.

While this is a compilation of the science behind the cells and what they've done for modern medicine, Skloot also tells the story of Henrietta and her family. She presents Henrietta to us as a person, which is how it should be. The doctors who used HeLa cells didn't see her as a person, they just saw cells and cultures, they forgot that she was an actual person with a family. Unfortunately, given the time that Henrietta lived in the color of her skin meant that she didn't get adequate medical care and when she did go to the hospital doctors took advantage of the opportunity to study her cells. My heart broke so many times for the wrongs done to Henrietta and her cells. Learning the hardships her children faced after her death was so sad. The Lacks children weren't the only people impacted by medical ethics injustices, and I was angered to learn how some of our modern "cures" have come about.

I wish the Lacks family could have gotten some sort of reparations for all of their suffering, but I understand how the legality of their situation doesn't allow for that. I guess I'm thankful for what HeLa has done for medicine, but I sure do wish the Henrietta and her family had received better treatment both personally and medically. This was a great telling of the Lacks family history, the evolution of HeLa, and medicine in general. I really enjoyed this.

On a side note, Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin did an amazing job with the narration of the audio book.

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