Review: Truthwitch

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a solid 4-star review.

I am not in the target audience for this book. The story revolves around two teen girls developing their magical powers into something greater than themselves. It is a story of two girls that share a strong bond of friendship. And it is a story that involves a moderate amount of romance. I'm really not in the target audience.

I loved this book.

The girls were smart and determined. The world building was meticulous. The variety of magic available offered so many intriguing options for the story. It was largely a well-told story.

There were a couple of areas where it fell a little short.

(view spoiler)[
The girls spend a lot of time ignoring the advice, instruction, and direction of the men in their lives. But when I got to the end, it seemed like they would have been better off had they just followed that advice/instruction/direction. They had been told not to get in trouble, yet in the first chapter, they are out robbing a stagecoach. Apparently, they had done something similar in the past. With that action, they open themselves up to a powerful witch with the power to track them down. Had they just avoid that situation, most of the rest of the story would have gone smoothly.

An author has to create tension to tell a good story. But in this case, had they just been a bit more obedient, the story wouldn't have been necessary.

There are other portions of the story that have similar impacts on the unfolding tale. Had the girls not done A (as instructed) then they wouldn't have had to deal with B, C, and D on their way to E. At the end of the story, it seems that our protagonists are in almost precisely the same situation as would have happened had they listened to all those men. The only difference is a whole lot less death, mayhem, and other trouble along the way.

The whole story seems to be a fable instructing girls to always do as they are told.

The other criticism is that the story doesn't really let us see how the non-witches in this fictional world live/exist. It is implied that they exist, but there isn't much information provided about their role in the world.
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Switch your brain into a slightly lower gear and then enjoy the fantastic story offered in this book.

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