Review: Truthwitch by Susan Denard

Title: Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1) 
Author: Susan Denard 
Genre: Fantasy 
Source: Finished Copy sent by Tor Teen
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: January 5th 2016
Hardcover, 411 Pages

Summary: 

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others. In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well. Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires. Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness. Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

There is a lot of hype surrounding this book. There is a major street team, a big ARC distribution, twitter pages and so much more that shows that this is the book to have in 2016. But I am always scared of that hype, because you expect something excellent then. If so many people love it, it must be a five star book, right? That is wrong. I was not a big fan of Truthwitch. 

Here are my thoughts as I read:

My biggest problem with this book was that it was so confusing. I understand that the beginnings of fantasy books tend to be confusing because of the world building, but I felt like there was so little world building that I was scrambling to figure out what was happening. But there are things that are left unexplained, are skimmed over. Things that were essential to the plot too. I pushed through it though, because everyone loved this book. 

I enjoyed Merik's character. But I didn't like his ways. One minute he was protective over Safi, then he wanted to hand her over to the bad guys, then he wanted to kiss her, then he was locking her in chains. Hot and cold much? I get that he was under stress, but I really expected more from Merik from what everyone was saying. I also wish he stopped being an ass hat sooner and kissed Safi, because Denard did write a pretty steamy kissing scene and I wish we could have had a few more before the story ended. (They kiss in the last 20%)

Now as much as there were things that I didn't like about Truthwitch, there were somethings that I did like about. Safi's impatiences and eagerness to dive into things with out thinking about it reminded me of myself. But she also had a streak of selflessness at the end of the novel that had me a little bewildered. 

Truthwitch has me a bundle of emotions that I can't decipher. I liked it. I didn't like it. I want the next book. I don't want to next book. I think my big problem with this book was the hype surrounding it. I tend to struggle with those kinds of book. If I do happen to read the next book, I do wish I have better luck with it then this one.