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Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1)

Susan Dennard

Start date: January 1, 2016

Finish date: January 31, 2016

Discussion: TRUTHWITCH

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TRUTHWITCH

TRUTHWITCH (SPOILERS)
By April (Aprili… · 3 posts · 66 views

last updated Jan 31, 2016 08:29PM

TRUTHWITCH (NO SPOILERS)
By April (Aprili… · 3 posts · 74 views

last updated Jan 25, 2016 11:05AM

What Members Thought

Jan 10, 2016 The Audiobookworm rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.25 ★
I could lie to myself and say that it wasn't so bad. In fact, I tried denying that through most of the book because I really wanted to like it as much as everyone else. I didn't want to be the only "Negative Nelly" out there harping and complaining. But putting a sugary spin on this wouldn't be an honest review. The truth is that Truthwitch gave me more grief than enjoyment. At first, it was hard to put a finger on my issue with it and then I realized that was because I had multiple issues 3.25 ★
I could lie to myself and say that it wasn't so bad. In fact, I tried denying that through most of the book because I really wanted to like it as much as everyone else. I didn't want to be the only "Negative Nelly" out there harping and complaining. But putting a sugary spin on this wouldn't be an honest review. The truth is that Truthwitch gave me more grief than enjoyment. At first, it was hard to put a finger on my issue with it and then I realized that was because I had multiple issues with it. It was like the entire Throne of Glass series combined into one installment and put on steroids. Beginning installments for high fantasy series usually start out slowly, with lots of descriptions, character backgrounds, and world-building. Truthwitch had very little of of any of that. I was shocked at the lack of imagery. In a fantasy world such as this, I want vivid descriptions of everything. In my opinion, Dennard's descriptive writing could be called "minimalistic", to say the least. High fantasy series also normally start out slowly to give the reader/listener time to process this new world and develop opinions about the characters (opinions that will probably change later, but still). Imagine if you accidentally started the Throne of Glass series with Heir of Fire. You were just thrown in with very little help and expected to keep up during all of the action. You may be alright with that scenario, but I'm certainly not. And that's exactly how listening to Truthwitch was for me. It was very demanding on the reader/listener. There were several key concepts in story that I was never given ample time to grasp and I still have no clue what they mean, even after finishing the story. That, friends, is not how it should be done. This story was also extremely unbalanced with entirely too much action and too little processing time. In my opinion, Dennard should have spread the action in this book out through at least one or two more installments and filled the rest of this with character development. In an earlier post, I said listening to Truthwitch was like chewing a tough piece of meat and I stand by that analogy.

Obviously, I am in the minority here. But this is a bandwagon I simply cannot jump onto. Susan Dennard had some really great, original ideas with Truthwitch, but I feel they were executed poorly. For example, I love the idea of two badass best friend protagonists who would do anything to protect each other. That was the driving relationship in the story, not the romance. Again, that was a really great idea that wasn't given proper development and that is so frustrating to me because this could have been really very good. But it's hard to enjoy swimming when you can barely keep your head above water.

Narration review: Cassandra Campbell was an excellent narrator. I enjoyed her accents and I appreciated the character voice distinction. That made the multiple POVs easier to handle. Her voice had a very nice and mature tone to it. It somehow managed to be soothing and quietly intense simultaneously. ♣︎ ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Jan 02, 2016 Rose marked it as to-read

Shelves: on-hold

on hold for now, just not feeling this one & there's so many books I'm dying to read ///: ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jan 29, 2017 Jessica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

2.75 stars

Where to start with this review?

There weren't too many expectations with this book on my part. The things I knew going into my first reading included a strong female friendship, AEDUAN, lack of world-building, AEDUAN, witches, and AEDUAN (okay, I think you guys get the point). There were friends of mine that loved and hated this book for valid reasons on both sides. For me, this was a book with problems.

- Susan Dennard's writing style. I think what really knocked off stars left and r ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 19, 2016 Jasmin rated it liked it

3.5 stars.

I now have a full review up on my blog. You can read it here at: https://bookcorners.wordpress.com/201...

thanks for checking it out!

Original review:
I bought this book when it first came out because of the hype, but I didn't pick it up until now. I'm glad that I waited to read this book because I would've been a little disappointed with it.

I thought Truthwitch was an okay read with cool characters, amazing friendships, and a solid storyline. To me, the novel lacked in world building and ...more

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Apr 14, 2016 Berta rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-read-in-2016

It's been a while since I read anything fantasy. Khm.
Anything truly fantasy.
And this....
THIS WAS PURE BRILLIANCE.
I adored all the characters, good and bad, but ohmygod I NEED MOOOORE. NOW!!!
Also, Mhe Verujta ...more

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Jan 17, 2016 Allison rated it it was amazing

I actually enjoyed this a whole lot more than I thought I would. It took me a while to get into it - I first tried when the book first came out in January, and could only get into it now.
It was a 4 star book, but the last 15 percent was, without any other words available, epic. I can tell that the second book is going to be awesome, just from the foundation of where the characters are going now.
Really, really good!

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Oct 14, 2016 Kylie ward rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed the relationship on the two main female characters, 2 really strong female relationships. I found the fantasy aspect was a little hard to follow at times and that the world wasn't built up enough for me. ...more

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Jan 03, 2016 Rashel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

4 stars. Yes, there were some problems with it, but it was a fun, quick read and that's just what I needed right now. I'm eager to see where the next book takes the series. ...more

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