The Witch King

2/5

This is not a final draft.

SpoilerThe first chapter may be, and starts off strong with the image of Emyr's wings pierced, but the latter half of the book simply isn't finished. There are so many things that the author wants to do here, but with each addition the story grows more complicated and frustrating and less believable or thoughtful.

There's Twilight-style imprinting (which our protagonist is told is to urge reproduction, but cannot be because there are other couples in the book who either can't or won't have children).

There's a blood contract based on that imprinting (which is resolved so weirdly and suddenly that I had to read the passage over and over again).

There's blackmailing that doesn't appear to have stakes because of how blas?? Wyatt is about it sometimes, and how anxious others (Derek exists as a caricature, a Darkling-lite, and I didn't care for the Darkling, either).

There's a clumsy pile of secrets that, when revealed, turns characters into one-dimensional ideas (e.g., Clarke).

There's an entire secret society of magical beings which functions only vaguely (why do they have US currency at all? If they're technologically-averse, how do Briar and Wyatt charge and use their phones so easily? Where do they get the wealth with which to travel first class, and how did the fae kingdoms separate and keep in contact so long ago?)

There's immersion-breaking moments where characters who have lived outside of the human world all their lives speak like they've spent years on tumblr (and let me make clear that I have no problem with characters like Wyatt speaking in tumblr-esque queerspeak and found it funny, but when Wade says ???Absolutely ridiculous. This timeline is completely fucked. I hate it here.???, that... took me out).

Many issues could be resolved through simple communication; why, for example, didn't Wyatt tell Emyr about Derek threatening him as soon as he felt comfortable with Emyr again?

And through it all there's no sense of urgency or real tension. There's friction, there's an anti-witch coalition, there's protests and secret groups and contracts and an upcoming marriage, there's a friendship that suffers and begins to heal again within a handful of pages, and overall it just feels like Wyatt is sort of... fucking around the whole time.

The Witch King celebrates queer culture and friendship and love. But it also seems to promote an aesthetic in its cover and marketing that is not yet present inside - one of adventure or something tidy and grand. There's a lot to work with, but it needed to spend more time with an editor, to have cut some elements and expanded on others, to create a likeable, believable world and to feel more complete.

3.6/5 stars

Summary: Wyatt is forced to flee to the human world after losing control of his powers. Years later, he is found by Emyr and forced to go back to the fae world. Emyr needs to marry in order to be able to keep his throne. Desperate to leave, Wyatt makes a deal with Emyr's enemies in hopes of being able to leave. As he gets closer to Emyr and condolences seem to worsen for the witches, he is forced to choose between his freedom and his people.

One of the main reasons I picked up this book was because of the main character's being trans. I was not disappointed in this book at all. Wyatt is a well-developed character and isn't just represented by being trans. He is shown to have very little dysphoria and is shown to be rather comfortable with his body. For a good chunk of this book, we can see his anger, which is understandable considering the situation he is going through or went through. We see how he can start to doubt himself as he remembers the mistakes he has made. We can also see how Wyatt tends to use self-deprecating humor in order to mask his emotions.

Briar was also a rather likable character in my opinion. She is shown to be very different from Wyatt. She is protective of him but, at the same time, is very open and excited to be in Asalin. She immediately does her best and gets along with most of the people there. I was not expecting the plot twist that included Briar. I understand why she hid that, and hopefully we will see more of her in the next book. Hopefully, she can repair her friendship with Wyatt.

Emyr is a character that becomes more likable as you get to know him. When we are introduced to him, he is shown to be rather selfish but understanding. He's selfish because he wants Wyatt to come back to Asalin to marry him in order to keep the throne. He doesn't give Wyatt a choice but accepts that Briar comes as well. He uses all of Wyatt's correct pronouns and tries to make everything as comfortable as possible for him. As the story progresses, we see him get closer to Wyatt, but every time he tries to open up to him, Wyatt just shuts him out. This is likely partly due to Wyatt's being in denial of having any feelings for Wyatt. Even with this happening constantly, we learn a lot about Emyr, including the fact that he receives a lot of opposition.

Spoilers Ahead: He was adopted because the Queen couldn't bear children. We also learned that the Queen was killed, and it took a large amount of magic to bring her back from the dead. Wyatt keeps being in denial until the blood bond is broken by Emyr's death. He manages to bring him back to life and realizes how he can control his powers. Although it is clear that Emyr has feelings for Wyatt, he is still letting him go because he wants him to be happy. He goes from being selfish and somewhat understanding of Wyatt to being able to let him go and do as he pleases. We see that he cares about his people and will place their needs first before his own.

Other characters that are worth mentioning are Tessa, Wyatt's sister, and Jin, the nonbinary lesbian witch activist dragon handler. I understood Tessa's anger at Wyatt as she lost everything she cared about in one night. I feel like the way they repaired their relationship was rather quick. I would have liked to see them take more time in order to make up. Jin was a cool character to see, but it fell flat. In terms of characterization, they never got past a certain point and felt more like a plot device. The book can get to be really slow at times, and at times it felt like there was too much going on. As a result, I can't give it a 4-star rating.