Mark These Books Monday: Truthwitch & The Impostor Queen!!!

Hello there guys!!

Happy New Year 2016!! 

I had plans to have blogged a bit more last week and all, but given how busy with apartment things my days off work were... blogging had to take the back seat! And on the 1st, when I finally had some time off... I just spent the day reading, and I really needed that!

So, now back to business!! I'm starting this year's first Mark This (These) Book(s) Monday with two reviews for two ARCs of books that publish tomorrow and that you REALLY NEED AND WANT to read!!

One of them was my first read of the year and also counts towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge, so I'm starting strong on my challenges this year! ;)

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I just... have no words!! What an amazing book!! How do I deal with a book hangover as epic as this one will be? HOW?!?

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Many months and two re-reads later I don't feel much better prepared to review Truthwitch, but given how the release day is almost here, I feel like I need to finally should try! Give that I've already told you I've re-read the book twice already and I'm planning another re-read once I get my preordered final copy... that should be proof that this book is worth reading. In short, the hype for Truthwitch? Very well deserved!

It is high fantasy at its core, with a magical system and political wars between Empires and different nations and a legend that has been mostly forgotten but seems to be relevant once again. The world building is fantastic, woven quite seamlessly into the story, narrative and plot. We get glimpses here and there at the Witchlands, but there's so much more to explore and discover in depth! We got enough to immerse ourselves in the story, but we can also look forward to new world to explore and discover in the sequel(s).

First books in epic fantasy series can sometimes be slow or lack action because of the need for world building, but this is not the case. Truthwitch was nonstop action pretty much from the beginning to the end! We are given very few respites from it, and very much needed ones because you cannot stop turning the pages to know what's to come next! And on those less frantic moments, there's information to absorb and ponder on before you're back to biting your nails & the nonstop action!

I loved the characters to bits too, Safi and Iseult are best friends, Threadsisters, their friendship is pivotal to everything that happens in the book. They're always there for each other, no matter what messes they might get into, no matter whose fault the mess is, they're always there for each other, fighting together no matter what. Safi and Iseult are very different from each other, both complex and flawed characters, full of doubts and questions, but always growing and ready to support each other. I really loved them and their strong relationship!

I don't want to give many details about the rest of the characters to allow the pleasure of discovering them yourselves, but let's just say that all of them are well crafted and have much more hidden than you'd expect at first for sure. Bad guys aren't black & white for the most part, there are plenty of grey characters, not entirely good, not entirely bad. And most of them have hidden depths that we're just starting to discover!

There's romance in this book and for me being a romancephobe, I was extremely surprised how much I shipped these ships! Yes, plural! I was shipping a ship that's barely a hint in this one, but it's already OTP for me! Susan does a fantastic job on building tension and chemistry without hindering the story or having it take over the plot!

So yes, Truthwitch gets very much deserved 5 stars from me, and I've been dying for the sequel (to come in 2017!!!) since June 2015, so... yeah.



The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Sarah Fine is seriously carving herself a spot in my auto-buy list of authors. The Impostor Queen is my first YA by here and I just cannot wait till I can continue devouring all the rest of her books!

When I got approved on Edelweiss for this one, I was beyond happy! And after finishing the book, I am even more grateful that I was given the chance to read it early!

The Impostor Queen is a fantastic epic fantasy book, full of magic and brilliant characters and a plot that manages to surprise you at every turn, no matter how much you think you might know what's to come.

Elli is our main character and she's been raised as the future queen (or Valtia) of the Kupari, bu things don't really go as expected when it's her time to inherit the magic and take the throne, so she ends up on the run, taken in by outlaws. Elli discovers that many things she had been taught had been either incomplete truths or outright lies, and she discovers that despite her lack of magic, she is not useless. I loved Elli's journey from coddled but controlled heir to proud and hard-working girl. I also loved that she is bisexual and it's shown as something that's accepted by those around her and not something that makes her a freak (although she had some worries at first).

The plot build up was fantastic, because we keep on hoping Elli will be okay, she'll get her magic or some answers at least, and following her very hard path is very rewarding! The plot and the world building go hand in hand, the twists keeping us on our toes whenever we feel like we're getting comfortable and the new information changing our perspective more than once!

The rest of the characters are also quite intriguing and usually more than what we see at first. Elli finds herself struggling about who to trust and how to earn people's trust, and some characters do manage to surprise us more than once with their motivations and/or actions, but Sarah does a great job to make us care for a lot of them quite deeply!

The ending of the book is a resolution of the first conflict but with more definitely to come, so thankfully without a cliffhanger, but it also leaves us wanting more, with quite a few questions that I'm sure will be answered in the final book in this duology!

Fascinating, immersive and with fantastic world building, with well crafted characters that feel real & with a plot that unfolds unhurried but relentlessly, The Impostor Queen is a must read for any fantasy lover! Well deserved 4.5 stars for this one!


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