Bloodwitch Book Review
From Goodreads: High in a snowy mountain range, a monastery that holds more than just faith clings to the side of a cliff. Below, thwarted by a lake, a bloodthirsty horde of raiders await the coming of winter and the frozen path to destroy the sanctuary and its secrets.
The Bloodwitch Aeduan has teamed up with the Threadwitch Iseult and the magical girl Owl to stop the destruction. But to do so, he must confront his own father, and his past.
First up, thank you so much to Susan and her team for letting me be on the ARC chain for this book. I was so excited to read it, and I was thrilled to find that the book came with a request to make annotations in the book itself and to leave a message in a notebook for future readers. It was so very cute.
Okay, so on to the actual review. I will admit that I haven’t yet read Sightwitch and this was probably a bigger deal than I expected it to be. But oh well. I loved being back in the Witchlands world, and every new glimpse of Dennard’s marvellous worldbuilding was thrilling to uncover. I loved learning how each witch power works, and how each culture and country has adapted to it. There were so many small little details dotted throughout the book and it was great to catch them and practically see the wonderful world Safi and Iseult live in.
Speaking of which, it was great to be reunited with these two. It has been too long. And although the two characters are separated by a whole lot of land, it was great to see how they functioned on their own, making decisions and trying not to get killed. Safi certainly has a lot of complicated plot going on all around her, and sometimes that was a little difficult to keep up with [always opt for a re-read guys] but it was cool to see her dealing with it on her own. Not to mention, she seems more mature. At the start of the series she would have flung herself into danger, so even without Iseult’s caution by her side, it was interesting to see how she restrained that reckless instinct and actually made plans to help herself and others.
But it was Iseult’s chapters that I really enjoyed. I loved seeing her travelling with Owl and Aeduan. She’s definitely a force to be reckoned with, and there was actually quite a bit of humour and resilience in her scenes. Owl seemed like a total, childlike menace, but I liked how they slowly bonded. I definitely felt for Iseult everytime Owl ignored her requests and did everything Aeduan wanted her to do. I’m definitely not the motherly-type, so this was kind of hilarious and relatable all in one go.
As for Aeduan, I loved him. He’s possibly the most complex character of the bunch and it was heartbreaking and exhilarating seeing him work through so much in Bloodwitch. There’s a LOT of character development here, and I lived for the angst of it. Like Iseult, I wasn’t entirely sure if I could trust him for most of the book. He’s being pulled in so many directions by so many people that it’s almost impossible to sense where his loyalties lie, which obviously makes for some tense reading.
I will say that, although I really got into the book in the last hundred pages or so, I did struggle a fair bit with the plot. There’s a lot of names and places and magical terms being thrown about, and although they were once familiar to me, it has been a while since I read Windwitch. Plus, I don’t know yet how much I missed by skipping the short story book Sightwitch. I’m not really one for short story collections or spin-offs in series, so I almost never pick them up. Which I guess was probably a bit of an issue here. The plot does end on a big high though, and I am desperate to find out where the story goes next. Also, I am LIVING for the romantic angst in this book. Slow-burning romance is a great way to my heart when it comes to YA and I am absolutely here for the drama.
Overall, I’m giving Bloodwitch an 8/ 10 stars. I thought it was a brilliant book, and I loved seeing all the characters again and finding out new things about the world. Also, that romantic chemistry is killing me. But, I did find the plot a little confusing, and it was hard for me to get into because of that.
Has anyone else read this book or plans to read it? I’d love to know your thoughts and feelings if you have [please keep it spoiler free though!] <3
