I’ve been excited about this book since I first spotted it in the Inkyard Press catalogue on Edelweiss many months ago, and I was gutted to be denied for an eARC copy. Luckily my wait for a library copy didn’t take too long and I was able to blast through this book not too long after release anyway!
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About the Book
The Witch King
The Witch King Book One
by H.E. Edgmon
Published 1 June 2021
Inkyard Press
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy, LGBTQIA+
Page Count: 432
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To save a fae kingdom, a trans witch must face his traumatic past and the royal fiancé he left behind. This debut YA fantasy will leave you spellbound.
Wyatt would give anything to forget where he came from—but a kingdom demands its king.
In Asalin, fae rule and witches like Wyatt Croft…don’t. Wyatt’s betrothal to his best friend, fae prince Emyr North, was supposed to change that. But when Wyatt lost control of his magic one devastating night, he fled to the human world.
Now a coldly distant Emyr has hunted him down. Despite transgender Wyatt’s newfound identity and troubling past, Emyr has no intention of dissolving their engagement. In fact, he claims they must marry now or risk losing the throne. Jaded, Wyatt strikes a deal with the enemy, hoping to escape Asalin forever. But as he gets to know Emyr, Wyatt realizes the boy he once loved may still exist. And as the witches face worsening conditions, he must decide once and for all what’s more important—his people or his freedom.
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My Review
My Rating: 4 Stars
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Wyatt is a witch, he’s trans, and he happens to be betrothed to a fae prince. He has no control over his powers, accidentally killed his parents, and wants nothing to do with the fae or his destiny, but he still loves his prince. Is there a happily ever after in store for Wyatt, or is that impossible?
I’ve been excited about this book since I first spotted it in the Inkyard Press catalogue on Edelweiss many months ago, and I was gutted to be denied for an eARC copy. Luckily my wait for a library copy didn’t take too long and I was able to blast through this book not too long after release anyway!
Despite the synopsis clearly indicating actual magic, for some reason I was expecting Wyatt to be a witch of the mundane human practitioner of Wicca variety, and I was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. Wyatt has actual magic, guys! I was also excited to discover the inclusion of changelings used in the way I’m used to seeing them, which is the way they tend to be used in role-playing games rather than how they actually appear in mythology. It’s a subtle difference, but I prefer the modern RPG version.
I love Wyatt, Emyr, and Briar all equally! This book has a great cast. I also loved the fact that the fae world is completely accepting of all LGBTQIA+ identifies. Wyatt shows up as Wyatt after disappearing pre-transition, and it doesn’t phase Emyr at all when they meet again. Emyr simply asks for pronouns and moves on. There’s a scene where fae nobility from far and wide have gathered, and not only are there very few cis/het couples present, it’s completely normal that non-cis/het couples have kids. The fae society in this book has a lot of problems (it’s kind of a major plot point that it does) but rights and inclusions aren’t among them.
Cons? This book has some clarity issues. Sometimes when Wyatt talks about his parents it’s all good things, sometimes he doesn’t seem too distraught that they’re dead, and most of the time it’s complicated. All to be expected when you absorb the backstory, but sometimes it really didn’t seem like he was talking about the same set of parents. I sincerely cannot tell if he spent time in foster/”adopted” in some capacity by another family or not, but sometimes it seems like he’s recalling a different family who he loves and misses and didn’t have a complicated relationship with, and that doesn’t jive with the backstory on the family he accidentally incinerated.
Also a clarity issue: POV consistency. Sometimes we’re completely restricted to Wyatt’s POV and sometimes we’ve pulled back to third person (limited?) omniscient. There’s no rhyme or reason to these switches; it just seems to happen whenever it’s narratively convenient.
In terms of critiquing the plot, this book both tried to do too much and too little at the same time. Wyatt, Emyr, and Briar all have their own moments in the spotlight sorting through their crap, and I enjoyed it. This would be a great character-driven plot if we just sorted them out and left the external conflicts for later. The external conflicts are also really interesting and I’m looking forward to continuing the series! But the way these plot elements were combined? It feels like the interesting external stuff was crammed into the last third of the book, and what was clearly meant to be an “OMG I must read book two now!!!” cliffhanger just feels… expected? Underwhelming? Again, I’m invested and want to read the next book anyway, but I can’t help but wonder if these plot points should have been teased apart and placed in different books. Maybe it needed a companion or prequel novella.
Overall this is a unique YA fantasy with strong LGBTQIA+ and specifically trans representation,and I have high hopes for future works from this author. If the official synopsis or anything I’ve said here in this review makes it sound like this book might be your thing, it is, go read it!
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