Hi everyone! We are aware that we haven’t posted a review in a while and so we have decided to blog about a series close to our hearts and one of our all-time favourites: ‘The Witchlands’ series by Susan Dennard.
Are you a fan of elemental gifts, sophisticated world building, and serious character depth?? Then this series is for you! We feel like this series is particularly underrated in the bookish community and the publishing world and we hope you give it a chance because it is a spectacular read!
Here is the blurb of ‘Truthwitch’ the first book of the series…
“In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.
Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble.
Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she’s a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden – lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult’s true powers are hidden even from herself.After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls’ heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.”
From the synopsis you can tell what kind of genre this is; (e.g. YA, high fantasy, romance, adventure – basically the perfect combination lol), but what this excerpt fails to communicate is the sheer scope, depth and fun that this story gives and as the series progresses this becomes more and more apparent (especially in book 2.5 – Sightwitch). Alas, we could go on and on about how amazing this series is and bore you, so we will emphasis a few key things what makes this series so great.
- The characters.
They are diverse! We have POC, LGBT, and Disabled to name a few. We have characters from every walk of life and Dennard addresses them in a positive, healthy way which is hard!
They are written 
really well! We get different viewpoints in each chapter showing us their side of the story, showing us their imperfection, prejudices and backstories whilst also seeing them from each other’s POV.
They are written really, really well. The first book shows us four main characters: Safi, Iseult, Merik and Aeduan…. And man! They are perfect! Fleur has always loved Safi and Merik out of the four, whereas Star has preferred Iseult and Aeduan….and then you read book two and then you love them all equally! And honestly we love the friendships and relationships they make with the others on the way; they blend and interact brilliantly and it keeps you captivated throughout the whole book, we cannot wait to see more characters introduced!
- The Covers.
If you’re on Bookstagram or you just love a pretty cover, you are going to love these books. I mean LOOK AT THEM!
Also it’s got a map – any book with a map is a plus for us! (Meaning the world building has got lots of history and geography – which is also perfectly diverse!).
- If you liked that you’ll love this!
We hate comparing books to other books as it discredits the author, but its hard to tell if you’ll like a book unless you’ve got something to compare it to right? So here are some other works that we find has similar vibes.
Did you enjoy watching ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ when you were younger? Or loved reading Elise Kova’s ‘Air Awakens’ series? Well you will adore this series, a
s the same elemental concepts are underlining throughout the plot – yet presented in a completely different way, as the story has many layers and story arcs intertwining alongside the main POV’s. You definitely get the elemental vibes and find yourself taking the Witchlands quiz to see which Witchery would suit your personality – both of us got Air (we get that in every elemental quiz lol).
Are you also a fan of the ‘Throne of Glass’ series by S J Maas? A fantasy world with multiple point of views and great character development? Yes please! This kind of skilled writing is evident in Dennard’s work, although we would argue that Dennard’s characters are 100% more likable and more pleasant to read about!
We hope after this post you will be willing to give this series a try and love it the same way we do! We cannot WAIT for ‘Bloodwitch’ to be released this February – we need to know how our favourite cinnamon rolls are surviving! In case you are interested here are the links down below where you can purchase them!
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and we hope you have found it helpful! Let us know in the comments which series you find to be underrated in the book community. Also what are your thoughts on this series? We would love to hear your thoughts and theories! Stay Cosy and Keep Reading! – Fleur.
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