Waiting on Wednesday (101)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Sightwitch by Susan Dennard
Series: The Witchlands #0.5
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Page Length: 208 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: February 13, 2018

About Sightwitch (via Susan Dennard):

Before Safi and Iseult battled a Bloodwitch…

Before Merik returned from the dead…

Ryber Fortiza was a Sightwitch Sister at a secluded convent, waiting to be called by her goddess into the depths of the mountain. There she would receive the gift of foretelling. But when that call never comes, Ryber finds herself the only Sister without the Sight.

Years pass and Ryber’s misfit pain becomes a dull ache, until one day, Sisters who already possess the Sight are summoned into the mountain, never to return. Soon enough, Ryber is the only Sister left. Now, it is up to her to save her Sisters, though she does not have the Sight—and though she does not know what might await her inside the mountain.

On her journey underground, she encounters a young captain named Kullen Ikray, who has no memory of who he is or how he got there. Together, the two journey ever deeper in search of answers, their road filled with horrors, and what they find at the end of that road will alter the fate of the Witchlands forever.

Sightwitch—available February 13—is an illustrated tale set in the Witchlands and told through Ryber’s journal entries and sketches.

I AM SO SO SO EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK. I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THE WITCHLANDS SERIES SO FAR AND CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT RYBER. AND THE EXCERPT WAS SO AMAZING AND I KNOW THE WHOLE BOOK WILL BE TOO.

Windwitch (Review)

Windwitch by Susan Dennard
Series: The Witchlands #2
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Format: ARC (received from Susan Dennard)
Page Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: January 10, 2017

I'd like to give a million thanks to Susan for sending me a copy of Windwitch. Although she provided me with a copy of her book, it in no way whatsoever affected my thoughts/opinions about this book. These opinions are completely my own.

About Windwitch (via Goodreads):

Sometimes our enemies are also our only allies…

After an explosion destroys his ship, the world believes Prince Merik, Windwitch, is dead. Scarred yet alive, Merik is determined to prove his sister’s treachery. Upon reaching the royal capital, crowded with refugees, he haunts the streets, fighting for the weak—which leads to whispers of a disfigured demigod, the Fury, who brings justice to the oppressed.

When the Bloodwitch Aeduan discovers a bounty on Iseult, he makes sure to be the first to find her—yet in a surprise twist, Iseult offers him a deal. She will return money stolen from him, if he locates Safi. Now they must work together to cross the Witchlands, while constantly wondering, who will betray whom first?

After a surprise attack and shipwreck, Safi and the Empress of Marstok barely escape with their lives. Alone in a land of pirates, every moment balances on a knife’s edge—especially when the pirates’ next move could unleash war upon the Witchlands.

I hate to bring in a pun from the start (it was not intended), but I have no other way of describing my feelings for this book: Windwitch completely blew me away. While I thoroughly enjoyed Truthwitch, Windwitch went above and beyond all my expectations and had me on the edge of my seat, captivated from start to finish. Susan’s writing truly shines through in this newest installment in the Witchlands series, and her hard work definitely paid off because the end result was absolutely magnificent.

The interwoven plots and character arcs throughout the story were so well done. I’ve never been the biggest fan of third-person, multi-POV books, but Dennard crafted this book masterfully. Although I’d sometimes wish that I could know what was happening to a character immediately after their chapter closed, I was quickly drawn back into the next character’s story again and loved the change of pace the new POV provided. The characters were so fleshed out and real to me, and I felt so attached and connected to them as they struggled and fought back against their enemies, whether those obstacles were people, their own raging emotions and thoughts, or something else entirely. Although this is a fantasy world, their emotions and struggles were no less real to me, which was quite refreshing.

Another amazing thing was that I actually liked every single character's POV, even those of the characters you are told to dislike in book one (particularly Vivia). In Windwitch, you really get to see a different side to all the characters, and it really makes you doubt everything you believed about them, especially those you believed were the antagonists of the story. I know some readers have mentioned how they disliked the separation of characters and friends from one another throughout the plot, but I have to disagree. I thought it was overall a positive thing. As I kind of mentioned before, the characters felt a lot more realistic and flawed to me in Windwitch, and I think those traits and their identities were made more clear and distinct due to the separation and individual struggles each had to face. Obviously a support network is a wonderful thing, but some battles have to be fought alone, especially when trying to discover one's identity/sense of self.

I'm not going to go into detail about the plot itself because I don't want to spoil anything, but Windwitch continued to raise the stakes for the characters and continued to pick up the pace. It was such a fantastic second installment in the series, and I can't wait to see what happens in Bloodwitch and beyond.

My rating: 5 stars

PassTruth Launch Party Recap

Hey guys! On Monday, I was lucky enough to attend the PassTruth Launch Party at Books of Wonder in New York City. If you guys know anything about me, I am a HUGE fan of Susan Dennard, so naturally I begged my parents to let me attend her Q&A/signing with Alex Bracken and Erin Bowman. I apologize in advance if this post gets super ramble-y but I met a ton of bloggers/twitter-ers/BookTubers I knew from online so I'm probably going to ramble about that for a while. I'll write about the actual event event stuff in purple in case you want to skip over my ramblings about all the people I met.

It was merely an hour's train ride to get to the city, but since I had school earlier that day, I caught a 4:15 train and got into the city at 5:20ish. By the time I grabbed a bite to eat and got to Books of Wonder, it was 5:45 and it was PACKED.

Let me backtrack a bit to right before I entered Books of Wonder though because SARAH J. MAAS WAS LITERALLY RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME BEFORE I WALKED IN AND I SQUEALED IN FRONT OF MY DAD AND HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON BUT LUCKILY IT WAS DARK AND SARAH DIDN'T SEE/HEAR ME FLAILING BUT OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG YOU GUYS. *takes deep breath*

Once I was inside, I finally had a minute to set down my giant bag of seven books from home and picked up the copy of Truthwitch I ordered for my dear friend. Apparently everyone came way in advance though, because I received my ticket for the signing and I found out I was 89th in line.

I then rushed over to the Q&A area right before the Q&A started to meet up with my twitter/blog friend Mariam (from Flying Through Fiction), and ended up meeting her co-blogger Ashley, as well as Raisa (from Wonderland Novels) and Brittany (from Book Rambles).

The Q&A started, with Erin Bowman as moderator. The questions started off mostly with book/writing-related questions, such as inspiration and research, and later questions from the crowd were thrown in (BB8 or R2D2? Which Hogwarts Houses would your characters be sorted into? If your character could choose any companion to help them from another story/movie/etc. who would it be?) The Q&A lasted about 45 minutes before they started setting up for the signing. The event cleared out significantly after the questions were over, but there were still at least one hundred people waiting to meet Susan, Alex, and Erin. Around 7ish, the signing began, starting with the first 20 people.

I proceeded to hang out with Mariam, Raisa, Ashley and Brittany for a while before spotting Danielle from Simply Thoughtful Books (on BookTube). I had spotted her as well as some other BookTubers, bloggers, and people I recognized from BookCon and Twitter during the Q&A, and knew I had to say hello. She was surprised that I recognized her, but she was just as sweet in person as she is in her videos.

I returned to my blog friends for a while before Mariam introduced me to some people on our PassTruth NYC group chat on Twitter: Kelly and Heather, mainly, and then sort of Melissa and Jana (I apologize for not actually properly introducing myself!) I ran into Danielle again and asked for a picture with her since she's one of my favorite BookTubers and afterwards we proceeded to talk about BookTube, Something Strange and Deadly, Illuminae, and various other things. Anyway, I highly highly recommend you check her videos out since she's so genuinely nice and funny and is such a sweet person.

Most of my friends/acquaintances/I-don't-know-what-to-call-them-because-I-knew-them-online-for-several-months-but-not-in-person-until-this-event got their books signed way before me because they all somehow managed to get one of the first fifty tickets, but I was never alone without anyone to talk to.

And then basically every one of them left since they had places to be. I totally understand since they all have pretty long commutes back home, but it was uncomfortable for a while since I was starting to get really tired (it had been a long day) and I was pretty drained from talking to so many people. I'M AN INTROVERT, I'M SORRY.

Eventually, around 9ish, they finally called the numbers in the 80s. I COULD FINALLY JOIN THE LINE! After a few more minutes, I finally met Susan (my favorite author ever) and kind of internally flailed the whole time. I dropped my five books off at the table for her to sign, and gave her my Truthwitch fan art (if you missed it, I shared it in this post). I was so nervous the whole time, but she is honestly one of the sweetest people I've ever met and I'm so grateful that she didn't act like I was a total spaz (even though I definitely was one).

I then got to meet Erin Bowman, and she was also super sweet! I felt a bit awkward because I hadn't read Vengeance Road (or the Taken trilogy) yet, but she was really friendly and I really hope I get to meet her again one day (after I've read her books!) Unfortunately Alex had a huge line so I couldn't meet her (since I had to head home because it was a weeknight and I had school the next day), but overall the experience was amazing (and also exhausting). It was so worth it because I finally got to meet my favorite author (yay!) and got to meet some of my amazing online friends in person.

Secret Truthwitch Blog Tour - Safiya fon Hasstrel Fan Art

The Truthwitch Blog Tour is a surprise blog tour hosted by Liran (@ Empress of Books). Although there is an official blog tour, Liran recruited a ton of Susan Dennard fans (or just people who are super excited for Truthwitch in general) to this blog tour in order to spread our love and appreciation for Sooz and spread the word for Truthwitch! What's different about this blog tour is that it consists of content made by fans in anticipation for Truthwitch's release.

I am absolutely IN LOVE with both the UK and US Truthwitch covers, so I thought it would be interesting to see what they would look like combined. Thus, my sketch of Safiya fon Hasstrel was created, with her UK look to the left, and the US look on the right. For reference, here are the UK (left) and US (right) covers of Truthwitch. (Aren't they absolutely GORGEOUS?!?!)

So without further ado, here's my sketch of Safi!

~Alexandra

Check out all the stops on the tour!

November 1

Liran | Empress of Books

Alexandra (yours truly!) | Literary Legionnaire

November 2

Kit | Let The Pages Reign

November 3

Hedvig | Sunroadreads

November 4

Em | Piplup's Shadowy Bookshelf

Angel | Avid Reader

November 5

Stacey | Write All About It

November 6

Jaimie | Jaimiesam

November 7

Casey Marie | Little Red's Reviews

About Truthwitch (via Goodreads): 

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.

Waiting on Wednesday (20)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
Genre: Young Adult/High Fantasy
Page Length: 416 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: January 5, 2016

Via Goodreads: 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.

~

Can I just comment on how fabulous the covers are? Both the US and UK covers are PERFECTION. This is the one time where I think I'm actually going to get both the US and UK editions when they come out.

I actually chose to make Truthwitch my Waiting on Wednesday #20 because 20 is my favorite number and this book just sounds perfect and amazing and like it will be my favorite book, because let's be real... I've been waiting for this book since Sooz first announced that it was even going to be a thing, since it's a Sooz book. So it's bound to be good. And when the unofficial blurb was released and it was announced that it was going to be in the vein of Avatar: The Last Airbender (my favorite TV show pretty much ever) and Garth Nix (who I've only heard great things about), I mean, honestly, how could I not want this book? FAVORITE AUTHOR + FAVORITE TV SHOW = TRUE LOVE.

On its own though, I know Truthwitch is going be EPIC. I recently read the first three chapters and it's already so fast-paced and perfect and I just can't wait 2 more months!!!! Not to mention the excerpt that was just unlocked yesterday for #TruthwitchTuesday... *fans self* PERFECTION YET AGAIN.

Something Strange and Deadly Readalong

The readalong is hosted by the Stephanie @ In Wonderland and the other Waterwitch Babes, and will run from October 10 - January 4.

SCHEDULE:
Something Strange and Deadly (October 10 - November 6)
A Darkness Strange and Lovely (November 7 - December 4)
Strange and Ever After (December 5 - January 4)

~ ~ ~

If you didn't know this, THE Something Strange and Deadly series is ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES AND SOOZ IS AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AUTHOR AND HUMAN BEING. SO NATURALLY I AM GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS. I AM SO EXCITED AND HOPEFULLY I WILL BE ABLE TO KEEP UP (OR NOT READ TOO FAR AHEAD) I normally don't reread books, but I'll make an exception for this series because <33333333 *flails*

~Alexandra