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A review by ashlightgrayson
Witchshadow by Susan Dennard
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This plot just continues to become more intricate. This book is more plot heavy and less character focused. I do recommend reading Sightwitch before picking up this installment if you haven't. It gives a lot of context for the history of the paladins and explains their existence as they start popping up within the story. There are a lot of characters to keep track of in this series, so I would recommend reading all of the books back-to-back as well.
I had moments in the story where I had to backtrack a few paragraphs because there was so much happening. Dennard uses a lot of subtle subtext to drive the narrative. She veers away from hand holding and mostly counts on the reader putting two and two together to figure some things out. I prefer this approach personally, than having an author overexplain things that can be concluded if you're just paying attention.
We get a tremendous amount of time with Aeduan and Iseult. A lot of characters that have never met before finally meet in this installment (it's about time). There are also some interesting relationships that form from that. My favorite dynamic was probably Leopold with Iseult. Iseult is just so intuitive and is easily able to see through Leopold's charming facade. Leopold has cultivated a persona in order to survive. Iseult on the other hand, has never fit in and has never tried to pretend to be something she is not. Some of the best dialogue in the book occurs between those two characters and it was so unexpected.
We spend some time with Iseult and Aeduan, but if you are looking forward to a lot of romance you may be disappointed. There is a lot of slow burn buildup and tension between Iseult and Aeduan, but there are no outright romantic scenes. I appreciate that we did not steer too far from the plot long enough to really focus on it. As much as I like some good romance in a story like this, it would have felt disigenous to me to have them spend more time canoodling than fighting to survive.
This isn't a political intrigue novel, but it sure felt like one with how many characters had overlapping schemes with various different goals. I really liked this aspect of the plot. There are more shifting points of view than ever in this one. However, they always all come together in the end to make and adventurous and cohesive main plot. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Waiting for it to be published is what is really going to be a pain.
I had moments in the story where I had to backtrack a few paragraphs because there was so much happening. Dennard uses a lot of subtle subtext to drive the narrative. She veers away from hand holding and mostly counts on the reader putting two and two together to figure some things out. I prefer this approach personally, than having an author overexplain things that can be concluded if you're just paying attention.
We get a tremendous amount of time with Aeduan and Iseult. A lot of characters that have never met before finally meet in this installment (it's about time). There are also some interesting relationships that form from that. My favorite dynamic was probably Leopold with Iseult. Iseult is just so intuitive and is easily able to see through Leopold's charming facade. Leopold has cultivated a persona in order to survive. Iseult on the other hand, has never fit in and has never tried to pretend to be something she is not. Some of the best dialogue in the book occurs between those two characters and it was so unexpected.
We spend some time with Iseult and Aeduan, but if you are looking forward to a lot of romance you may be disappointed. There is a lot of slow burn buildup and tension between Iseult and Aeduan, but there are no outright romantic scenes. I appreciate that we did not steer too far from the plot long enough to really focus on it. As much as I like some good romance in a story like this, it would have felt disigenous to me to have them spend more time canoodling than fighting to survive.
This isn't a political intrigue novel, but it sure felt like one with how many characters had overlapping schemes with various different goals. I really liked this aspect of the plot. There are more shifting points of view than ever in this one. However, they always all come together in the end to make and adventurous and cohesive main plot. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Waiting for it to be published is what is really going to be a pain.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and War
Minor: Gore