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A review by gdesousa
The Water Witch by Jessica Thorne
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Jessica Thorne for this eArc.
The Water Witch by Jessica Throne is a very interesting read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but, I disagree with the “fantasy romance” tagline. To me, this book leans more towards adventure treasure hunting than fantasy with some supernatural aspects. Additionally, I did not find this book to be romantic. There are undeniably some romantic moments that occur, but the relationships that leaned more towards romance were used to explore grief and trust issues. Once I let the “fantasy romance” description of this book go, I was very pleasantly surprised.
The start of the book is somewhat confusing, especially for me as someone who knows nothing about Brittany, but the author does a fantastic job of worldbuilding and using location as a deeper theme of the story. The way Thorne describes the weather, atmosphere, and location added so much and made this book very unique – a true highlight. I also enjoyed all of the characters as they all had very real issues that they were working through and you could experience them grow throughout the book. I appreciated the “fantasy” part of the book, but I do not think that it was necessary to the storyline. Given how realistic everything else felt about the book, I did not feel that the curse added a necessary layer. I think that the same book could be written as just a treasure hunting mystery and the message, feelings, and outcome could be the same. However, this is simply a personal preference.
Overall, if you are into well-researched, visual, worldbuilding-focused books then this is for you. I believe that if you start this book without thinking it will be a “fantasy romance”, you have an enjoyable read awaiting you.
The Water Witch by Jessica Throne is a very interesting read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but, I disagree with the “fantasy romance” tagline. To me, this book leans more towards adventure treasure hunting than fantasy with some supernatural aspects. Additionally, I did not find this book to be romantic. There are undeniably some romantic moments that occur, but the relationships that leaned more towards romance were used to explore grief and trust issues. Once I let the “fantasy romance” description of this book go, I was very pleasantly surprised.
The start of the book is somewhat confusing, especially for me as someone who knows nothing about Brittany, but the author does a fantastic job of worldbuilding and using location as a deeper theme of the story. The way Thorne describes the weather, atmosphere, and location added so much and made this book very unique – a true highlight. I also enjoyed all of the characters as they all had very real issues that they were working through and you could experience them grow throughout the book. I appreciated the “fantasy” part of the book, but I do not think that it was necessary to the storyline. Given how realistic everything else felt about the book, I did not feel that the curse added a necessary layer. I think that the same book could be written as just a treasure hunting mystery and the message, feelings, and outcome could be the same. However, this is simply a personal preference.
Overall, if you are into well-researched, visual, worldbuilding-focused books then this is for you. I believe that if you start this book without thinking it will be a “fantasy romance”, you have an enjoyable read awaiting you.