3.75 stars

Witchshadow is the fourth installment in Susan Dennard's Witchlands series, one of my favourite YA fantasy series and safe to say this was a very enjoyable edition to the series! I don't think it was my favourite book in the series (I'll go into more detail later in my review) but I loved getting to spend more time with the characters (especially Safi and Iseult) and the set up for later books.

I think my main problem was the direction of this book felt a little lost, it felt like a very necessary book for the future of the series but in order to get there it meant the strength of the plot in this book was a little weak. Our characters are quite seperated (and this is fairly typical for a witchlands book) but I felt like by the end things hadn't quite come together in a satisfying way like they had in Bloodwitch. The individual arcs I enjoyed but felt like most of the time I was reading 3 seperate stories.

I really liked Iseults growth in this book, it felt like she matured a lot and learnt to stand up for herself and what she wanted. She also learnt some hard lessons about the nature of power, as well as realising that her power doesn't make her a monster (I always love this theme in books - whether the power makes someone evil or someone evil makes the power evil). I liked the full circle parts of the book that reflect back on certain things that happened in the first book, with regards to Iseult and her family. The only thing I missed slightly was Iseult and Aeduan's relationship, we don't see a lot of them together which was slightly disappointing but I did like the development that happens (trying to be vague haha), especially with Aeduan. I also really liked the development of Owl and Iseults relationship, and how this reflects on Iseults own childhood and relationship with her mother.

Safi as a character I really enjoy, and I really enjoyed her story in this book, using her political wiles to scheme and achieve her goals. I also liked how Safi is learning to be more like Iseult in certain aspects (and vice versa). I alos find Leopold to be a fascinating character and I liked getting to know more about him in this book, he was probably one of my favourite characters in the story.

Vivia's storyline in the book is also very interesting, and I really liked the development of her relationship with empress Vaness and the discussion of struggles women in power face. I think Susan Dennard is a master world builder, and the concept of the paladins I really enjoy - however I felt like this book was very much setting up for the next book with the reveals that we find out, I don't know if this is just because I hadn't read the other books in the series recently but I felt like we didn't learn a huge amount of new infomation about the world compared to other books in the series. That being said I thought this book was very strong on the character development aspects, so that made up a little for the lack of new world building.

In conclusion if you have enjoyed the series so far I think this book is a worthy successor, although I did wish I'd reread the other books beforehand so my knowledge was fresh so I woud highly reccomend doing that!

Witchshadow is full of drama, reveals and action.

This book focuses on the character Iseuits the thread/ Void witch. Iseult has changed a lot since Truthwitch. She has become a darker character. But I like that Susan hasn't made her too dark. There is a good reason for why Iseult is doing what she is doing. These reasons are shown with her interaction with the characters she cares for, and her belief in Aeduan coming back to her.

There are flashbacks in Witchshadow which shows how Iseult and Safi end up in their current situation. I liked how this was done as it interesting fining out what happened while keeping a fast pace in the story.

The POV that surprised me is Vivia, as she deals with getting her throne back from her father. I especially loved a section towards the end where you see her magic in all its glory.

Overall I loved this book, I love Susan Dennard storytelling and her ability to bring characters to life and make them loveable. Even when they have faults(some have more issues than others.)

My rating for Witchshadow is 5 out of 5.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for a review.

This. Series. Keeps. Getting. Better.

I mean, this series is now one of my all time favourites and Susan Dennard is such a fantastic writer that I would quite happily read ANYTHING they write.

This is definitely a great book series for people who likeThrone of Glass, angst and action.

WITCHSHADOW is another thrilling instalment in the Witchlands series. The longest so far, the snappy pacing (not to mention reduced font size shrinking the book) disguises the length. The story is sprawling as the new wars/wars resumed from the truce rage, tugged and manipulated by a centuries old war as the paladins step further into the narrative light.

The book focuses not on the "new war" (though you see this through one of the POVs), but on the "old war", through the largest POVs (Iseult and Safi.) The ancient beings returning with all their power and playing out old grudges is very much the stuff of classic epic fantasy, but the Witchlands has a modern vibrancy around it, rather than falling into outdated patterns.

There are some really rewarding reveals, including one just before the 300 page mark (UK HB format) that was my favourite. You absolutely have to have read SIGHTWITCH to understand the significance of some of the reveals, particularly as more paladins are revealed - and exactly who'd they'd been before. Which side of the ancient conflict had they come down on?

This book is two books in one, with what would have been the first book largely condensed into flashbacks. It does create a sense of mystery about what happened to create Iseult and Safi's situations, peppered in between the action. The balance is generally really good, the right sort of distance between where the characters had ended the previous book and where they were now. The right amount, mostly, to be a mystery without being too different to understand.<

However, there were points where there was too big of a distance, characters who were jarringly different. The main one was Aeduan, who was introduced after quite a while and something big had happened to him that took me a long while to work out why he was no longer who he had been. Once I'd worked that out, there was a definite forward momentum with me wanting to know if and how he'd return to who he'd been.

This is definitely the girls' book of the series. The last two full-length books (WINDWITCH and BLOODWITCH) have revolved around Merik and Aeduan. The girls were there, but they were not the focus. Even TRUTHWITCH, centred on Safe, still had a large presence from the boys. But this book only has one male POV (and Aeduan has little page time to himself relative to the others) and four female POVs. Merik is still sleeping in the ice, so isn't present until one of the final chapters. It was a bit odd not to have him at all, after three books, but it was also quite nice to have a really female-focused book.

Only one book left to go in the series!

I’ve been desperately awaiting the next instalment. And it’s coming out this month now?!!! You all cannot wait, trust me.

Witchshadow is the fourth, and I believe penultimate, book in the Witchlands series. This is supposed to be Iseult’s book, and as such, it mostly follows her story. After having been reunited with Safi, they quickly have to part as Iseult tries to find a way to save them and learn about her magic. She plans to return, but the journey is hard, and as figures of legend reawaken across the Witchlands… Safi, Iseult and the world may be in more danger than they realised.

Before I dive properly into this review, I’m just going to warn for spoilers. I’ll try not to give any for this book, but if you haven’t read the previous books in this series, including the novella, this may not be the review for you.

I love books where figures supposedly from legend reawaken and start causing havoc. It’s one of the reasons why I love the Caraval books so much. Unsurprisingly, Susan Dennard handles it really well, and I’m eager to see where this is going. We already know about the Cahr Awen. Safi and Iseult are supposed to be these two powerful figures. They’ve already proven they can heal wells, but it wasn’t clear before how far back this went. You got hints in Sightwitch, the novella that’s honestly still my favourite in the series. But, now things are coming to light, entwining more and more with the main story. And I’m so excited. This is going to be a dark and deadly war. There’s going to be a lot of mind games and violence. I’m so here for it!

As usual, this book contained multiple narrators. This time we have Iseult, Adeuan, Vivia, Safi and Stix. So that’s a lot of different characters, and I feel like different people will enjoy different parts best. I liked Vivia’s the most, and this book has confirmed that she’s definitely my favourite character in the series. She’s grown through the books, and she’s a lot of fun. I also really enjoyed getting Stix’s perspective and delving into what she and Ryber were doing. There were links to the legendary stuff there, and I liked that. Safi’s perspective I find it hard to say. There were parts I didn’t like much, but there’s a character who is really going to make the next book interesting. The way he’s been twisting things already, and they don’t know… Ooooh boy. I sadly cared about Iseult and Adeuan’s parts the least. It’s not that they weren’t interesting. There was so much going on. But in places, it felt like too much was going down. And it did slow down my reading a little bit.

If you’re looking for romance in this book, then you won’t get much. The majority of this book is focused on character growth and the upcoming war. There are bits and pieces here and there, and I definitely chose a favourite ship out of the two I was debating in Bloodwitch… But yeah, not as much romance as I was kind of expecting to see. That’s not a bad thing though. This book was so very plot-driven, so the romance would have likely been unnecessary. I just want more Vivia/Vaness moments though…

The writing was good, the worldbuilding was good, and I really did enjoy it. As I said earlier though. I did struggle a little with reading it. This is a thick book, and it took me a little longer than I’d have liked. I think in part though, it’s probably because it’s been a while since I’ve read any of these books. I probably should have done a series re-read beforehand, so that’s on me. But it did take away from my enjoyment a little.

I’m incredibly excited for the next book. There was a single chapter in another character’s perspective, two of those for different characters actually, that has really opened up where the next book could be going. I think the legend stuff is really going to make things so fascinating. I kind of feel like I want to take notes and jot down my theories on what is going to happen next… Should I? Probably not. But that’s how excited and curious I am.

Anyway, this was another excellent book in an excellent series.

I have loved every book in the Witchlands series so far, and while I definitely enjoyed Witchshadow, I found this one a bit harder to engage with. I don’t know if it’s because there were so many different POV’s or threads (pun intended!) to follow, it took me a lot longer to really get into the story. That being said, it was great being back with Safi and Iseult, I was eager to see what would happen following on from the events in Bloodwitch. Witchshadow is another great addition to the series, and would definitely recommend it!

The bestselling Witchlands series by Susan Dennard continues, with Iseult’s book. As one of my favourite characters in this series I was incredibly excited to read Iseult’s story finally and lets just say it didn’t disappoint.

Following on from the events of Bloodwitch Iseult and Safi are finally reunited—but not for long, as Safi is forced into staying in Cartorra whilst Iseult must flee to survive. In order to save her friend amidst the war that is brewing Iseult must summon magic far darker and more dangerous than she has ever faced before.

Meanwhile, the Bloodwitch Aeduan is besieged by forces he cannot control and the rightful Queen of Nubrevna, Vivia finds herself without both her home—and her crown.

As the villains of legend begin to awaken across the Witchlands, only the mythical Cahr Awen stand a chance at stopping the impending war—Iseult can embrace this power to heal the land,but first she must decide which side of the shadows her destiny lies.

Brilliantly written and undeniably action-packed, I enjoyed being back in the Witchlands and was instantly ensnared—so much so, I didn’t want to leave.

The timeline in this was slightly different from the previous books—jumping back and forth between different events (which took awhile to get used to and may be a little confusing for some.)

We also get multiple POVs just as we did in the previous books;an aspect I’ve always really enjoyed with this series, especially the seamless shift between characters and settings that Dennard has perfected.(and for those wondering we get the POV of Iseult,Safi, Vivia, and Aeduan-as well as the new POV of Vivia’s former first mate Stix.)

The world-building is again, phenomenal and the history and lore is expertly woven throughout the story (no overwhelming exposition dumps here.)

I also really loved the Nomatsi tales that Iseult recites to Owl—I desperately need them to be published as a separate book. (Susan, if you read this,please make it happen.) And can I just say,the revelations in this one were fantastic. I was definitely surprised on more than one occasion.

Honestly, all in all, it’s just such an incredible book -I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoilers but if you love YA Fantasy, strong female characters and books with witches then you absolutely HAVE to read this (though this is the fourth book so I’d suggest reading the whole series, starting with Truthwitch.)

I also want the thank Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

If you love fantasy, the Witchkands series needs to be on your TBR pile. Immediately! This built on the brilliant Bloodwitch perfectly and Sysan Dennard will forever be an auto-buy author