Review: Witchshadow by Susan Dennard
I have been massively into The Witchlands for years, and my god Witchshadow did not disappoint.
This is book four in a series, so if you haven't read the other three, I suggest you get thee to a copy of Truthwitch if you like high fantasy, multi-POV stories that have a core relationship that is a friendship. Also, a prophesy, a slow-burn romance, a very in-depth magic system, and lots of queer characters.
I really loved that this book had a link to recap's of the previous books at the beginning of the book! I skimmed it as it has been over a year since Bloodwitch, but I do also think that Dennard does a good job of reminding the reader of important information from the previous books (and the very important novella) before the reader needs that information for Witchshadow.
This book is very cleverly structured; you are thrown into the book and immediately see that a lot has changed since the end of Bloodwitch. Not with the characters who are temporarily out of commission; side note: I missed Merik a lot throughout this book but am very excited for what happens with him in the last book. We see Safi is Empress of Cartorra and a Hell-Bard in the capital, Iseult is traveling with Owl, Vivia and Vaness are together still but are unable to garner any support for their quests to reclaim their thrones. The first half of the book moves forward from this precarious point, and you flashback to the time between Bloodwitch and the starting point of Witchshadow. It is really well done and makes the beginning of the book so engaging and mysterious. It is such a fantastic puzzle.
It is so hard to figure out how to talk about books in a series, especially as you get further into the series. I never feel like I have adequately talked about the book because I am worried about spoiling and partly because so much happens in the final books in a series that it is hard to figure out what to highlight in a review.
This is Iseult's book. So the main thrust of the story centers on Iseult's journey as a character, with everyone else's story coming into play, but Iseult has the most POV chapters. The storyline that made me know I was falling in love with Truthwitch was Iseult, Gretchya, and Alma. I loved so many things about Truthwitch, but I was particularly fascinated with that storyline. Iseult's relationship with her mother is so pertinent in this installment in the series. It is absolutely heartwrenching and does such an excellent job explaining Iseult while also handling generational trauma in a nuanced way. We see Iseult's relationship with Owl mirroring her relationship with Gretchy in such a clever and interesting way.
I was also so interested in the way Safi's character journey was going to go in this book. Her situation is so precarious and upsetting that I was on tenterhooks the entire book waiting to see what happened with her. I also just really enjoyed seeing how Safi has grown since Truthwitch and how she has stayed the same. I also really liked how Safi's story propped up Iseult's, especially when we got to see that Iseult loves Safi so much and is able to recognize that just because she is not like Safi does not mean she is not deserving of the boldness that Safi embraces.
The thing that I so wanted from Bloodwitch was more Stix; I adore Stix as a character. I was so excited that Stix has a much more prominent role in this book. I was a little sad about the direction of one of Stix's stories (right at the end and something to do with Vivia), but I totally don't think it was a bad decision on the part of Dennard, and it totally makes sense, and seems to be building to something really excellent in the last book. I also loved that Ryber was with Stix; I missed getting Ryber time.
Vivia. I, like everyone else, adore her. I loved getting to read her journey with Vaness, getting to see how their relationship shifts, and watching the way people react to these two incredibly powerful women who have had very different past experiences. I don't want to spoil anything, but I am so excited to see where their stories go in the last book in this series.
I gave this book five stars. I loved this book. I am so excited for the last book, but I am also just excited to reread this series so that I can see all the building blocks that lead the story to this point. Dennard does an excellent job of building the plot to this place; she does a great job of laying the path while also making you think you are going in a totally different direction. I loved the plot reveals in this book; I am so sure that the final book in this series is going to blow my mind.
