Friday, September 02, 2011

Review: Witch Song by Amber Argyle

From Goodreads: The world is changing. Once, Witch Song controlled everything from the winds to the shifting of the seasons - but not anymore. All the Witches are gone, taken captive by a traitor. All but Brusenna. As the echo of their songs fade, the traitor grows stronger. Now she is coming for Brusenna. Her guardian has sworn to protect her, but even he can't stop the Dark Witch. Somehow, Brusenna has to succeed where every other Witch has failed. Find the traitor. Fight her. Defeat her. Because if Brusenna doesn't, there won't be anything left to save. 

My Rating: 4 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Amber Argyle’s debut novel, Witch Song, is a story that I found myself easily becoming engrossed with in the midst of a reading slump. The plot was pretty solid and I thought the concept of witches using their voice through songs to control nature rather than something like wands to be quite unique. As well, with her descriptive writing, Argyle made the setting and characters really easy to visualize.



In the beginning of Witch Song, Brusenna (aka Senna) hardly knows much about her heritage because her mother is intent on keeping Senna safe and hidden from the Dark Witch. After her mother leaves to fight the Dark Witch though, Senna decides that she is done with being scared. Over time, she learns to trust others, discovers what it means to be a Witch and develops leadership qualities. While I liked Senna for the most part, I found her actions to be puzzling at times. For example, I could understand her unwillingness to let anybody close since everyone she loves tends to (involuntarily) leave her, but that is a risk I would take were I in her place if it meant help on my quest.



My favourite character in Witch Song was Joshen, Senna’s Guardian. He was brave, protective and extremely loyal, choosing to stay close to Haven even after Senna forced him to leave. It was nice to see that their romance developed slowly and wasn’t based on instant love.



My only real criticism against Witch Song was that the big duel between Senna and the Dark Witch was sort of anti-climatic. Also, the true villain in the story appeared a little too late for my liking and seemed crazy instead of scary.



A lighter fantasy, Witch Song was released on September 1, 2011 by Rhemalda Publishing.



Comments About the Cover: The cover is very pretty and to me, it kind of gives off this medieval vibe which I really like. 

In exchange for an honest review, this ARC was received from the publisher (Rhemalda Publishing) for free.

15 comments:

  1. I am going through a bit of reading slump at the moment too so maybe I need to try this. Great review :)

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  2. hmmm....I haven't read many books involving witches, and though the idea of them breaking out into song sounds like it would be a total cheese fest, it seems I'd be wrong.

    I always look forward to finding stories with a slow developing romance. Joshen sounds awesome. I want to meet him now. Thanks for the review, Z, otherwise, I probably wouldn't have consider this book.

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  3. Love the look of this one - glad you enjoyed it! Joshen sounds great and it's good to hear the romance isn't insta-love, I like it when it develops slowly rather than immediately. Great review, thanks!

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  4. No instant love? That's more than enough of a reason for me to want to read this one! Slow building relationships are way too few and far between, I love one that's full of tension and has me on the edge of my seat with the "will they" or "won't they". Fabulous review Zahida!

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  5. Yay for no instant love!

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  6. The witches using magic through song reminds me of Witchlanders by Lena Coakley so mayne I will like Witch Song too.

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  7. I kept going back and forth with this one because I wasn't really sure if I'd like it. But no insta-love? Sold! Thank you for that info :)

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  8. Pretty cover. I haven't read witch books for a while now and I could really use some books with no insta-love.

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  9. I like my villains to be really scary, too bad that this one appeared to be crazy! ;) No instant love connection? Hello? That's so, so good. I need to read this book! Great review.

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  10. I've heard mixed things about this one, but I'm glad that it helped pull you out of a reading slump! I always love finding a book that I get totally sucked into when I'm struggling with a slump :)

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  11. Ooh sounds fantastic! Glad you enjoyed!!! =D

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  12. The cover certainly has that medieval vibe. I haven't read this one... but it does sound pretty good. Awesome review :)

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  13. The witches control nature through song in Witchlanders too. I loved it in Witchlanders and I'm sure I would love it in this too (I mean, I love anything witches but it's always nice to come across something more unique).

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  14. uuuh I want to read it!! It seems to be really my type of read =9

    On my to-read list now! yey!
    thanks for sharing =)

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  15. Oh I really want to read this. It sounds just like my kind of story. The anti-climax is a shame but at least now I have a heads-up!

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