Witch Song

For the most part Witch Song was what I expected it to be – an adventure filled, coming of age, high fantasy, that pits good against the all-powerful evil, and for the most part I enjoyed this story very much up until the climax or what I thought to be the climax. It turns out that everything that was building in Witch Song, the main thing the characters were striving to defeat wasn't the main thing they should have been focusing on and when I found that out well I was disappointed. I suppose it, and I can't say what it is because it would be a major spoiler, was supposed to be a twist (and I love a good twist) but honestly I just felt underwhelmed at the revelation. It felt like the story was moving up this hill and when it reached the top there was another hill hidden behind it that we had to quickly climb again when there should have been a nice quick descent to finish the story. However, before you decide that maybe I didn't like this story after all let me talk about before that point in the arc and tell you what I did enjoy about Witch Song.

Brusenna or Senna is our sheltered main character who has lived alone with her mother in almost seclusion her entire life outside a village where mostly all of the inhabitants are prejudice against her kind, her kind being witches. She is both immature in her magic and socially - the latter isn't a surprise when we see the cruel way the villagers treat her in the first chapter. If I were treated that way just for what I was and was that outnumbered I would be afraid of people too and as for being immature in her magic that is Brusenna's mother's fault because I never understand it but in most stories parents always decide the best way to protect their children is to leave them in the dark. FYI fictional parents this plan never works because something bad always happens and the children are left defenseless! The bad is that an evil witch is taking power from all the witches and is using witch song for her own selfish ways. She is basically screwing up the climate which of course is not only affecting people but all living creatures.

Thus a quest begins because well Brusenna's mother is gone and lack of parental supervision means the kid is on her own. I like quest tales, there are little pockets of adventure sprinkled throughout the book while underneath there is still our main story – Brusenna, an untrained young witch is the last hope to save the world, and in Witch Song she comes across both friends and enemies, a hodgepodge of quirky characters who I either loved or despised while she trains for her battle against this big baddie. It was Brusenna's different interactions with new people and places that I enjoyed the most, it added a certain charm to the story but there wasn't enough of it for me to become fully immersed into the world of Witch Song. Still, the parts of the world and people I did read about were my favourites and if it wasn't for them I can't say I would have liked this story all that much. There were moments where I was laughing and moments where I actually loved genuinely loved the story I was reading but stepping back and looking at is as a whole Witch Song is a story that had great potential but didn't quite meet it.

So in conclusion, although I didn't fully love this story I am happy that I got to read Amber Argyle's writing, she obviously has a wonderful imagination and knows how to create characters so I will most definitely be checking out what she comes up with next.


Review copy provided by Rhemalda Publishing