#witchshadow

[thiscrazywonderland]

The witchlands series really has me questioning some stuff about myself cause if I were in Vivia's place I would have gone crazy and taken the throne by force just out of spite fr

Like I genuinely don't get why she still wants to save Nihar? Everyone over there sucks tbh

#the witchlands #truthwitch #vivianihar #meriknihar #windwitch #witchshadow

[safifonhasstrel]

#the Witchlands #truthwitch #windwitch #sightwitch #bloodwitch #witchshadow #safi fon hasstrel #iseult det midenzi

[sxfik]

Omg dud you finally get around to reading witchshadow?? What are your all over thoughts??

omg hello!! and yes i did! i actually ended up rereading the whole series because it's been literally seven years (saying that outloud makes it so much more real wtf). it took me a while bc my god are those books a l o t to get through for me now.

i mean idk if i need to preface this since you were literally there but like... i was one of like the 10 people that was active about this series on here when it started back in the 2016-2017 era. like i love this series, and to this day i've kept the username and all the stuff i wrote for it, so just like idk a disclaimer: im not here to hate or anything, just truly mourning something i really loved.

overall thoughts: witchshadow was so disappointing. like resoundingly disappointing. there was so many things i had issues with, and idk if i even have enough time and words to describe it. i feel like this whole series suffered from having too many complex plot points and too many characters introduced five books into a six book series. not to mention the amount of lore and words that is dropped into the books with little to no explanation of what they mean and what they indicated in this world? like how is it book five and i still don't understand what a domna truly is?

i feel like the complexity balance was really held well up until witchshadow, when it literally just got so confusing that none of the characters felt like themselves? also the weird timeline for this book did not help. like jesus christ this book is complex as it is, how are you making it harder for us??

like a) iseult. i felt like she was overshadowed in her own book, i wanted to know about her nomatsi heritage and literally so much about her like the other books did for the main characters, but this felt so disappointing. where was all the worldbuilding you set up for this moment? why did esme just get downgraded all of a sudden? and also just... she doesn't feel like she made any character improvement/her arc went backwards?

b) safi was just? stupid in this book? how did she have a negative character arc. like i know she's supposed to be reckless and making impulse and stupid plans, but her character felt reduced to just that. like first and second book safi: i knew why she was making these decisions, even if they backfired, but this just feels like a mockery of her character. and i love safi, and i wish she had a way better arc than she did, and got treated with the same book time as isuelt and aeduan.

and also god, the weird emperor/safi bs was so unbareable. she's literally like 18 in this book (i actually thought she was closer to 19/20 but whatever i guess she's 18 here). every scene with them was so werid and uncomfortable. (especially that weird one where she walks in while he has sex what the fuck was going on there) why was she desperate to have sex with what i assume to be like a 60 year old??? i had to force myself to read through these parts and not skip them

and god the hellbards. i loved them at first but im getting sick of them taking over the story. why are they so important that they essentially replace both merik and practically the whole main cast of characters. why are they mentioned at every turn? if they were this important, why didnt you introduce them sooner?

c) why does safi and iseult just not have any interaction. its literally been five books bro the seperation arc is enough (and yes i fully consider them separated) !! why have they had 0 character development together?? they're arguably the center of this series, and what started this whole chase, and yet we've gotten maybe one book and a half of them actually growing together. how is this gonna turn out for the final book when you have maybe 600 pages and 6 characters to get through?

d) where the fuck was merik. hes literally a main character how did he disappear??

e) the whole vivia/stix to vivia/vaness makes me. upset. i dont understand the decision to make them threadsisters when they were vivia was gay panicking about her 24/7 in windwitch. literally 0 buildup for something that feels like it came out of nowhere. why are they like siblings now, it feels so so so weird. i honestly have so much more to say about this and yet im still upset

now this might seem like such a hateful rant, and i promise it's not hate, it's just frustration at what seemed like such an excellent book series. and honestly, up until bloodwitch i was doing fine and then this book was just... so different to the rest of the series. i know susan was forced to combine the books into one, and so maybe that's why, but idk man, this felt so disappointing.

i love foreshadowing and worldbuilding when it's done right, and i think it was doing great until this book. a lot of stuff felt like plot twists out of nowhere, with no rhyme or reasoning to it. it just didn't feel like a witchlands book if you get what i feel. honestly, out of love and time for this series, i think i'll be reading the final book as well in the series, hoping things get fixed and we get to see characters that were beloved back again.

(p.s. how are you? its been so long!!)

#user: sxfik #mine #the witchlands #witchshadow #witchshadow review #susan dennard

[dark-giver]

I have a feeling that Leopold will ask to marry Iseult in the next book, and only because of the whole story with the Trickster and Moon mother (she was caught in a storm and Iseult, I think, will be caught in a storm too, although I believe a metaphorical storm. But ugh that already happened in Praga I think - was Iseult in a "storm" again when he told her he loved her? or will it happen again.) I'm just pretty sure about

#the witchlands #iseult det midenzi #susan dennard #truthwitch #Witchlight #witchshadow #leopold fon cartorra #Is there a shipname for them? #I really don't wanna know

[everythingunderthestarsthings]

Heyyy everyone!

I love reading books but never seem to have a bookmark. I can actually remember the page numbers where I stop reading and have no problem going back to the correct page, but bookmarks are fun!

And though it's a very simple one, I made a bookmark for myself with my absolute favourite phrases from the Witchlands series by Susan Dennard!

#underrated tropes #bookmark #truthwitch #windwitch #sightwitch #witchshadow #bloodwitch #aeduan #iseult det midenzi #safiya fon hasstrel #safi #iseult #ryber #kullen #merik #vivia #witchlands #cahr awen #mhe varujta #te varuje #vaness #and of course #owl #fantasy #magic #friendship #love #trust me as though my soul were yours

[riddlemefuckingthis]

Petition for Cam to have a POV in the last Witchlands book

#cam Witchlands #Witchlands #Susan Dennard #truthwitch #windwitch #Sightwitch #bloodwitch #Witchshadow #witchlanders #the Witchlands #dennerds

[polite-bear]

Mega throwback here but I finally finished Witchshadow and I am slain . Feel free to scream with me in the comments or DMS 😌

It was honestly incredible and I feel like my monkey-brain wasn't even fully appreciating it .

#eilidh reads Witchshadow #the witchlands #witchshadow #bloodwitch #truthwitch #windwitch #witchlands

[swolpirate]

No idea how big the overlap is between the Witchlands fans and RWBY fans (if it even exists lol) but someone please tell me I'm not the only one who read like twenty pages of Truthwitch and immediately thought that Iseult and Safiya were pretty damn similar to Blake and Yang?? I actually lowkey shipped Iseult and Safi together at the beginning partly bc they reminded me so much of the bees. Like,,,,

Iseult&Blake:

-Long, dark hair that gets cut short later in the story

-Asian coded

-Has to deal with prejudice due to their race

-The quieter, more bookish one

-Much angst^tm

-Shadow, moon, night connotations

Safiya&Yang:

-No mother present in their lives

-Blonde, flirty, gifted in the chest area

-Has a drunkard uncle who secretly works behind the scenes towards the "bigger picture," initially unbeknownst to them

-Is the one who tends to rush into a fight

-Cares a lot about the people close to them

-Sun, light connotations

Anyways,,, maybe my brain was just wackin idk, but I gave up on shipping them when Merrick and Aeduan were introduced since it was clear they were gonna be their love interests. Aeduan x Iseult is super cute but I'm still not completely sold on Safiya and Merrick (don't come at me lol). But most importantly, there should be more fan content for the actual gays of the series; Vivia and Vanessssss (rip Stix, Karina rlly said "sorry, but ur destined to be maidenless")

#bumbleby #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #rwby #the witchlands #truthwitch #iseult det midenzi #safiya fon hasstrel #windwitch #bloodwitch #witchshadow

[madmanreaper]

I decided to reread the Witchlands saga, since I read it years ago when only Windwitch was out, to catch up with the other books.

It was, and believe still is honestly, my favorite saga of all the time.

Rereding it now, it still fells like the first time, I love this books even more then the past, and I absolutely swear that IF SUSAN DOESN'T MAKE SAFI AND MERIK ENDGAME AT THE END OF THE BOOKS AND DON'T GIVE THEM THE ✨HAPPY ENDING✨ THEY DESERVE I'M GOING TO BURN MYSELF & THIS BOOK (together yeah 😩) BECAUSE I CAN'T LIVE SUFFERING🚶‍♀️, BUT EVEN IN DEATH I WOULDN'T WANT TO BE SEPARATED FROM THEM! 😭

#the witchlands #truthwitch #windwitch #bloodwitch #sightwitch #witchshadow #iseult det midenzi #safiya fon hasstrel #merik nihar #aeduan x iseult #susan dennard #bookstagram #bookworm #books #lgbtq books #fantasy books #books recommendations

[galicianbooklover]

I've been playing Fantasy life in my Nintendo 3ds recently and the moment I saw these people I thought: THEY ARE THE ADDERS FROM THE BOOK OF THE WITCHLANDS!!!

#the witchlands #truthwitch #windwitch #bloodwitch #witchshadow #susan dennard #fantasy life #Seriously I'm the only one who sees it? #Rokesh is you?

[melanielocke]

📚 do you have any book recs with a MC who doesn't have a love interest or doesn't end up with the traditional, expected love interest? idc if it's sci-fi, fantasy, realistic fiction, w/ever... also love your blog <3

Most books I read do have romance in them but I have some you might be interested in

No romance:

Vespertine - Margaret Rogerson

This is about a nun with powers connected to ghosts who teams up with an ancient semi evil spirit to stop someone who is creating an army of ghost posessed soldiers. Artemisia generally dislikes being around people and has no love interest, but she does have an interesting bond with the revenant, the spirit she works with.

Not a lot of romance

Witchlands series - Susan Dennard

While most characters in this book do have a love interest, they spend most of the books apart from each other or not really doing anything with romance. The series is set on a continent with three empires and some more countries/territories that used to be at war and are now nearing the end of a twenty year truce. It starts out focusing on Safi, a truthwitch with the power to tell truth from lie. Together with her best friend and Threadwitch Iseult she has to flee when an emperor wants to marry Safi. They are aided by Merik, a Windwitch and prince of a kingdom that's starving and trapped between the empires and hunted by Aeduan, a Bloodwitch who can smell people's blood from across the continent. The series gets a lot more complicated over time with secret histories, magic, etc. I just reread them all in one go (except book 5 which is coming out in a year or so) and I would recommend reading them all after each other as the plot might become too complicated to understand if you forget too much.

Romance that is not as expected

Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao

This book reimagines several characters from Chinese history in a sci-fi dystopian Chinese inspired setting. In this land, a pair of male/female pilots pilot vessels that fight against aliens that try to kill people and a lot of times this ends with the female pilot dying. Zetian wants to take revenge when her sister dies after volunteering to pilot and volunteers herself. She ends up going to battle alongside the male pilot who killed her sister and ends up killing him in the process. This earns her the title "Iron Widow" and she gets paired with the strongest male pilot the land has to offer.

#book recommendation #ask answered #anon ask #iron widow #the witchlands #truthwitch #windwitch #bloodwitch #witchshadow #vespertine

[thiscrazywonderland]

A little trouble I keep having with the witchlands series is that throughout the books we keep getting told that when Safi and Iseult are together they're just this incredible team and can pull off just about everything and whatever, but... When do we really see that?

I mean, they do have a great friendship, but can they actually work together tho??? I don't know if I'm not remembering things correctly (I'm on the final book currently) but I just don't remember a moment in the books in which they actually manage to pull off one of their plans, It always seems like they end up being too reckless and everything ends up going wrong.

To me it just seems like they are best friends but can't find common ground on their personalities when working together. Safi, on her part, is super active and reckless and she is always pushing Iseult to do things she's not comfortable with, even when she knows she's not a good strategist. On the other hand, I think Iseult let's herself be overpowered by Safi and doesn't trust in herself enough to be able to push back on her when she's not thinking things through, so Iseult ultimately allows her loyalty for Safi to cloud her judgement.

Listen, I'm not saying they don't have good chemistry or that they aren't amazing friends, but I do think that the books keep trying to tell us that they have a certain type of dynamic that I'm just not sure is there

#the witchlands #truthwitch #windwitch #bloodwitch #witchshadow #safiyafonhasstrel #iseult

[flaviathebibliophile]

Witchshadow by Susan Dennard (Review)

Witchshadow by Susan Dennard (Review)

Title: Witchshadow Author: Susan Dennard Type: Fiction Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Publisher: Tor Teen Date published: June 22, 2021 A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. War has come to the Witchlands . . . and nothing will be the same again. Iseult has found her heartsister Safi at last, but their reunion is brief. For…

View On WordPress

#2021 book #2021 books #2021 release #2021 releases #book #book blog #book blogger #book review #book review blog #book reviews #books #fantasy #fantasy YA #Susan Dennard #tor teen #Truthwitch #witchshadow #ya book #young adult #young adult book #young adult fantasy

[sxfik]

Hiiii oh my god you've read it!!! The conversation surrounding Witchshadow is honestly so exhausting emotionally for me because I feel as if I need to justify both liking the series despite it and liking some elements of the book to myself. I'm definitely of those holding out for the last book (and shamelessly seeing nuance that isn't there in the threadsisters thing—totally could just be a way to say best friend (it isn't)) but it's interesting to see your thoughts and I'm glad you're back!

-@un-empressed

heyyy!! yes, finally after like seven years, i read (reread) the whole series including witchshadow. i completely understand where you're coming from, bc ive avoided reading the book for so long because of the same thing. and even now, i feel like this emotional ping ponging between loving so many elements of this series and feeling let down by witchshadow? the witchlands was such a special series for me, with it starting off this tumblr account itself and encouraging me to start my ao3, and making so many mutuals and friends on here, and idk witchshadow really kinda soured it for me.

i'm still going to support susan though, bc from what i understand there were a lot of publisher/editor/industry issues, and i still love the series for what it was. i hope that the book was just a dip, and that the rest of the series wraps up well!! maybe i can start writing for safik/baesult again (and fix up my old fics bc jesus christ)

#its so good to see you tho!! #i see you occasionally across my dash but it really has been a while #the witchlands #user: sxfik #witchshadow #susan dennard

[dark-giver]

"Safi and Henrick will soon parade through the great hall. So dramatic, so public. Nothing like the braiding ceremony for Nomatsis. Then again, Cartorrans do not marry for love. There’s even a song about it. Something with robins and magpies."

-witchshadow, chapter 26

BRAIDING CeREmOnY?!?! 🥹

#there are so many details #I love how I find something new in every reread #the witchlands #iseult det midenzi #susan dennard #safi #truthwitch #witchshadow #Heart-Thread

[safifonhasstrel]

Besties, I will probably need a new url at some point. It pains me to say this but there is a 90% chance that I am dropping the Witchlands fandom after the final book comes out, completely depending on the ending. I will probably not even read it until @baeduan has read it to tell me how bad it is. Sorry in advance my friend! Witchshadow was just so bad that I have miniscule hopes for the final book. It just seems more and more the case that the author did a complete 180 on the series and is scratching everything she planned and foreshadowed in the beginning and ruining everything for some side characters. Of course, should I turn out to be wrong and the final book should be more in themes of the first 3 books and give me a satisfying ending, I will gladly eat a broom. But it's over a YEAR until the book comes out and I am dreading that time. I want to know but I also don't want to know.

#sometimes i still get overly emotional over this series #like it's like everything that i loved in the beginning was taken away #i am gonna have a whole ass bingo for all the worst cases when the last book comes out because everything is possible now #the Witchlands #Witchlands critical #i guess #if you are still able to enjoy the series good for you but i have lost all my energy to participate in this fandom #everyone who says witchshadow was good is lying to themselves because it was such a MESS