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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
2.5
“I am not the golden goose. I am more like an actual goose, hissing and honking and attacking small children who just want to give me bread.”
➽ I finally ended up reading The Witch King! I've had this book on my TBR for so long. The story follows Wyatt, a witch who ended up fleeing his arranged engagement and is now hiding in the human world. After his fiance finds him, he's forced to go back to the Fae, who treat his kind like outcasts. I liked the general idea of this setup so much that this book made it on to my anticipated releases list. There was potential in this story, especially as it discusses Wyatt's feeling of being other both as a witch and a trans boy who doesn't fit into the rigid bioessential expectations of the fae. While he was messy, I liked him for the most part, as he was the most interesting character in the story! Unfortunately, I didn't end up liking much else about The Witch King, which was a big disappointment for me!
➽ The romance didn't work for me at all. It's a soulbond, arranged (more like forced) marriage type of relationship which can always be a hit or miss. I didn't like how it was executed here and thought that Emyr's and Wyatt's relationship was unhealthy. They weren't good for each other, something the story even somewhat acknowledged, but in the end, it's what 'makes them perfect for each other'. The beginning of the story is already iffy as it consists of Emyr hunting down Wyatt and forcing him to come back to the Fae to fulfil the marriage. He threatens and blackmails Wyatt, so he doesn't have much of a choice as Emyr promises to keep hunting him down if he flees. The way he talked about Wyatt like he was a pawn was so uncomfortable. He's literally like 'because I might lose the throne, you have to marry me and carry my babies' without considering if this is what Wyatt wants, especially now that he has come out as trans. Emyr immediately makes a bad impression with how he decides everything for Wyatt and then has the gall to say that Wyatt came willingly. He was trying too hard to absolve himself of any lingering guilt by insisting Wyatt find happiness with the Fae.
➽ It was so icky how he kept saying he wouldn't let Wyatt go (so he's basically a prisoner) and use their marriage contract against him. It didn't help that the contract kills whoever breaks it. The whole situation was so iffy and uncomfortable. How am I supposed to root for Emyr as a love interest when he manipulates Wyatt into fulfilling the marriage and point-blank admits to killing him if he attempts to escape? The fact that Emyr has a one-sided soul bond with Wyatt was even worse. Their meant to be the perfect genetic match, but Wyatt can't even feel the bond, so it's just strange. The second half of the story wasn't as bad, because we learn more about Emyr and he stops being so overbearing. However, it was difficult to reconcile his earlier actions and believe he genuinely cared about Wyatt beyond the bond. Everything was just too messy for me and I wish the author had deconstructed the soulmates trope!
➽ I didn't get along with the writing style. It utilized too much modern slang, including memes and phrases that sound like they come straight from a Tumblr post. I enjoy pop-culture references and the occasional modern slang, especially in an Urban Fantasy book. However, the Witch King was oversaturated with these kinds of references to the point that it made me cringe. The writing itself could have been much better if it hadn't tried so hard to sound cool.
➽ I also wasn't invested in the plot itself. I appreciated the discussion of many real-life issues, coupled with the in-universe discrimination of witches. However, everything was so heavy-handed and lacked any subtlety. I wish the author had trusted the readers to understand what was being said. Unfortunately, the book ended up sounding preachy instead and I think it would have been better if it had focused on fewer topics but then done so more in-depth. There was definitely potential in the Witch King, but combined with the writing, it missed the mark.
Graphic: Deadnaming, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Police brutality, Dysphoria, and War
nightshaderoots's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Deadnaming, Sexual content, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
hazel_oat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism
Moderate: Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Violence
Minor: Genocide, Hate crime, and War
bohemianhermit04's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Deadnaming, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Colonisation
tinysierra's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“I open the back door to let the dogs out, and Nadua's got her gardening shears buried like a knife in one of my fiancé's wings.” pg 1
I love Wyatt as a narrator. He is so funny.
Book 10 for the
#TransRightsReadathon2024
CW: Wyatt is a vomiter when stressful things happen
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Drug use and Racial slurs
rmperezpadilla's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Drug use and Transphobia
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment
simplyammee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, and Gaslighting
Check the tw!! The deadnaming & misgendering in this book are done very compassionatelyabarnakwn_ourcolourfulpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content
cryptidstar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria
discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The queer representation was good. I empathized with Wyatt—his self-loathing, his anger, his tendency to lash out instead of facing his emotions, and his selfishness—even when he frustrated me SO MUCH.
I did like a lot of the secondary characters as well, but overall it seemed like the author was so focused on examining Wyatt’s internal struggles that not enough focus was spent on making any of the other characters very nuanced or multi-dimensional. (Tessa’s arc is, I think, meant to involve growth and development, but it comes across more as a clumsy and sudden about face.)
I also didn’t think the author did a good enough job of making us understand why Emyr found a marriage to Wyatt so necessary that he was willing to force him into it under penalty of death. It just didn’t feel fleshed out enough to read as believable, which gave the entire premise of the story a sort-of unmoored quality. (Maybe multiple POVs would have helped here?)
Plus I felt like a lot of the plot development got squished into the last 20% or so of the book, making it read very much like an attempt to quickly tie up lose ends and insert twists where they didn’t feel necessarily natural just to set up the events of the second book. (The big “aha!” moment at the end when the villain is confronted felt very similar to the end of a Scooby-Doo episode: “and I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”)
Finally, a lot about the way witches in this story are born to (and subsequently rejected by) Fae families seemed to be an allegory for the queer experience, especially when at one point, that similarity is explicitly pointed out on page by Wyatt.
You have the Fae (conservative) businesses refusing service to the witches, then the guard (police) siding with the Fae when they protest/incite violence against witches using language most readers would immediately associate with white supremacists.
But at the same time, this allegory breaks apart when you consider this magical realm is also supposed to exist WITHIN the current, human world (and that there also exist Fae queer people). If an allegory is meant to be a fictional representation of a real-world people, institution, or concept, how can that allegory exist in a fictional story where the very real thing it’s meant to be representing ALSO exists? So maybe it’s not meant to be allegory at all, I don’t know, but I found my confusion over it very distracting as I was reading.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
Minor: Infertility