Review of “Windwitch: A Witchlands Novel” by Susan Dennard
“Windwitch”, the second novel in the Witchlands series revolving around Prince Merik Nihar with a 4.02 rating ranks higher than its elder sibling, “Truthwitch”, the first book in the series. The plot of the story includes perspectives of multiple characters, the main one being of windwitch Merik’s, the supposedly ‘dead’ prince. The book contains heart wrenching stories about family, the consequences of wrongful blaming, as well as relationships that, astonishingly, turn from hate to extraordinary friendships. It throws in new characters, new plots, new villains, and definitely new themes, making the perfect recipe for the perfect book. Although...
The Safi/Iseult interactions, Safi/Merik tension, and the blistering pace that evoked emotions in me in the first book “Truthwitch” were almost completely unseen in this second installment. There was next to nothing to make my heart beat faster, nothing to bring out any passion in me. “Windwitch” definitely suffers from ‘second book syndrome’ and I was hugely disappointed by this Dennard novel.
So to say, I never have a problem with multiple point of views, unless they work at odds with the book. Throughout “Windwitch”, the point of views switched almost every chapter, twisting and turning the plot with every flip of a page— and not in a good way. The floppy way that the point of views switched and most of the times didn’t connect to the plot of the book as a whole confused me, more so when new characters and ideas were brought into the book.
Dennard’s world-building and writing were, per usual, strong, but the pacing and the weird flow of the story brought “Windwitch” down to the ground.
By Sanvi Mitra.
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