Review: Windwitch

Windwitch
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Sometimes our enemies become our only allies

The Windwitch Prince Merik is presumed dead, following a lethal explosion. He's left scarred but alive and determined to expose his sister's treachery. Yet on reaching the royal capital, he's shocked to find it crowded with refugees fleeing conflict. Merik haunts the streets, fighting for the weak. This leads to whispers of a disfigured demigod, the Fury, who brings justice to the oppressed.

Hunted by the Cleaved, Iseult is struggling to stay free while she searches for her friend Safi. When the Bloodwitch Aeduan corners Iseult first, she offers him a deal: she'll return what was stolen from him, if he locates the Truthwitch. Yet unknown to Iseult, there's a bounty on her head - and Aeduan intends to claim it.

After a surprise attack and shipwreck, Safi and the Empress of Marstok barely escape with their lives. They find themselves amongst pirates, where a misstep could mean death. And the bandits' next move could unleash war upon the Witchlands.

I loved Truthwitch, it was one of my favourite books of last year, and I'd been anticipating this book for so long! I even made time to re-read Truthwitch before I read this book which is partially why it's taken me so long to finally review this! Windwitch was another brilliant book from Dennard, it had a different tone and vibe to it than Truthwitch did but there was just a little something missing from this one that made me give it four rather than five stars, but I'll hit on that later! 

As we start Windwitch we're immediately drawn in with the atmospheric and chillingly vivid prologue. And you know...Merik is my favourite character so I was super on edge as I was reading it! Two weeks have passed since the end of Truthwitch and all of our characters have been separated, yet they each have their own intricate, and well rounded plot thread, all of whom manage to come together and point towards some interesting developments. 

The main focus, if you couldn't tell from the cover, is Merik. Poor old Merik has had a bit of a rough ride since we last saw him. Merik goes kind of dark side in this book. I would have used the word jaded perhaps, at least in the beginning. But as the book went on, much as I loved Merik. I got a really bad feeling. His decision making wasn't the best, and he lets his thirst for revenge blind him more than once. He's so focused on what happened and who he thinks is behind it that he won't listen to his new companion Cam. Cam is a member of his crew, and the only person Merik currently has. He spends a lot of time in his city, observing all of the injustices and trying to right wrongs as well as trying to prove Vivia is the one behind his apparent death. He makes some shocking discoveries and there's a brilliant plot twist when it comes to Merik that I can't wait to see play out in the next book! Props to Merik though, he really pulls it back and grows as a character over the course of this book. 

Iseult is separated from Safi and is determined to get to her Threadsister no matter what it takes, even if it means she has to join up with Aeduan. You guys remember Aeduan? You know, the Bloodwitch that I spend most of Truthwtich reading about and just waiting for a teeny, tiny little excuse to like him? That one? Well we weren't off to a good start you guys, I kinda wanted to smack him one and I was groaning like "you're not going to give me a reason are you?". Like working for Corlant, the shady snake that I hate with a passion, made it reaaaaalllyy hard. Iseult continued to be a strong character that I really admired and rooted for, but she makes a shocking discovery this book! I kind of suspected at it, and I'm really curious to see how it's going to play out and how it may or may not change Iseult, plus her friendship with Safi as there's some debate as to what they are! 

As for Aeduan, I ended up being really impressed with him this book. He's a badass, and I'm curious about his past and I need to know more! He's a bit murdery, I think we can all agree, but he shows a more vulnerable side here and there which has you rooting for him to develop and change as a character, to become a better person. He really shows that side more over the course of this book, and he even puts aside his mission/job from Corlant. I have to say, I was shipping Iseult and Aeduan from Truthwitch, so I was pretty satisfied with this book in that respect. It was interesting to watch the relationship and romance between the two of them grow and develop over the course of the book. 

Safi is my favourite character, I'm not going to lie, and I feel like we didn't get to see as much of her this book, which was to be expected when the main focus of the book was Merik. But I was still a wee bit disappointed because her situation was one of the interesting ones. Safi is snarktacular and she always makes me chuckle, she's a badass and she's not afraid of a fight. I'm curious about her and how she'll develop as a character and what journey she's going to go on. She spends this book in the company of Vaness, the Empress of Marstok. I was all prepared to dislike her, but I ended up coming to quite love her as a character. She's resilient and intelligent and I feel like she and Safi truly bonded and became friends over the course of this book. Their ship is blown up and they end up in the clutches of the Hellbards and bound to be carted off back to Safi's home. But some pirates interfere and things get a bit tricky. 

The relationship between Safi and Vaness was a surprise. But I loved watching them become closer, and the trust build and the friendship bloom. She's no replacement for Iseult, don't get me wrong, but they do make quite the team. Safi also manages to reign her in a little when it comes to leaving people to die. I was thoroughly impressed with the end of the book and the fact that Vaness gave her a choice and two pretty good choices too. I'm excited to see them working together in the next book, because I'm loving the team up that's going on! 

Along with the characters we already know from Truthwitch, there's some new characters that pop up. Dennard does incredibly well with her characters, they're diverse and they're all very well brought to life and created. They have dimensions to them and aren't merely there just for support. They get built up a nice amount with a background and personalities and they're very authentic and really add to the story. Esme...I feel kind of sorry for her. She seems lonely and I do feel for her and it was nice to get to know her more in this book. There's the previously mentioned Cam, and then there's Stix and Vivia. We met Vivia very briefly in the previous book and I really didn't like her. Like I was firmly Team Merik so I was fully prepared to hate her this book and I was even kind of annoyed we got her POV so much. But over the course of the book I ended up really liking her. She's a brilliantly strong character, who's fighting to be heard and acknowledged. She and Merik blame each other for a lot, and we see this throughout the POV's of both of them, but they're also quite alike in their mindset and their thoughts about their country and how it needs to be helped. If they can put aside their misgivings and the misunderstandings, I feel like they could become quite the team, and the scene towards the end of the book showed that I'm right! I'm hoping to see more of her and Merik working together and mending their relationship in the next book. Vivia surprised me a lot and this book really changes your opinions on multiple characters. I actually got a bit choked up seeing Vivia trying to save her brother and the two of them working together. I was totally picturing Yara Greyjoy too, I'm not going to lie! 

I have to say. When we first heard about the Chiseled Cheater I knew we'd meet him again eventually. Safi mentioned him too much and he even has an actual title. It was a matter of time, so everyone say hey to Caden! Another character I was prepared to dislike intently, along with his little Hellbard buddies, but they all grew on me over the course of the book and I was fully cheering when Safi decided to bring them along with her. Caden is quite an interesting character, he has many different faces, and I'm intrigued to know more about how the Hellbards work. I'd also like to get to know his team more in the next book! They all bonded with Safi and I'd like to think that when the time comes they won't do the Thing. 

Windwitch lets us get see Nubrevna, a place mentioned multiple times in the previous book and that we got to see a little bit of. I was so excited to see the capital and all the things Merik had talked about, and the situation was quite dire. We had an underground cave system, dodgy taverns crawling with pirates, forests and jungles...there was a wide array of different scenery, each setting more vivid and atmospheric than the last. Dennard's world building is on point and really serves to suck you in to the story and I like how she's building up the world. I'm hoping to see Marstok next! The writing continues to be dynamic, the descriptions rich and the battle scenes full of tension and suspense and energy. The characters she creates have their good moments and their bad, they grow and change and overcome multiple different things, even themselves. The plot is intricate and we have multiple different threads that weave together in this book and I was kept on my toes as I tried to figure out how everything fit together and what was going on! I should also point out we get another creature sighting in this book...mountain bats! I kinda want one! 

My issue with this book is that it was lacking some of the things that made me love the first book so much. There where points when I felt like not much was happening, and I reached a point in the book when I was reflecting on what had happened so far and...well the pace is steady and everything built up and lead to something, I'll just say that! Iseult and Safi's friendship and bond was one of the things I loved the most about the previous book. They where such a brilliant team, and I was quite disappointed there where no scenes with the two of them until right at the very end and even then it wasn't in person. I'd kind of expected them to meet back up by a certain point in this book. There was a very real lack of Safi and she wasn't doing much more than running and hiding and biding her time. 

My biggest disappointment was the lack of Merik and Safi. They where quite clearly, at least to me, heading towards a romance in the first book and their interactions and growing relationship had so much tension and fire...they had a spark and their scenes really lit up the page and made an impression. There was no such relationship in this book. Much as I love Iseult and Aeduan, their interactions didn't quite compare and I was disappointed not to see Safi and Merik reunited. Especially as Safi seemed to be getting quite...close with the Chiseled Cheater. I did at one point wonder if that was it for Safi and Merik, and if it is, I'll be even more disappointed because it would feel like such a brilliant start to a relationship had been kind of wasted. I don't know. There where just some things missing that made me mark this down a star. 

Windwitch lays a lot of foundations in this book that are going to be exciting to see play out, so while the plot is more steady than fast, things are going to be very interesting in the next book!