Review – Sightwitch (Witchlands, Book 2.5) by Susan Dennard (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: February 13, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1250183521
Stand Alone or Series: 2.5th book in the Witchlands series
Source: Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Before Safi and Iseult battled a Bloodwitch…

Before Merik returned from the dead…

Ryber Fortiza was a Sightwitch Sister at a secluded convent, waiting to be called by her goddess into the depths of the mountain. There she would receive the gift of foretelling. But when that call never comes, Ryber finds herself the only Sister without the Sight.

Years pass and Ryber’s misfit pain becomes a dull ache, until one day, Sisters who already possess the Sight are summoned into the mountain, never to return. Soon enough, Ryber is the only Sister left. Now, it is up to her to save her Sisters, though she does not have the Sight―and though she does not know what might await her inside the mountain.

On her journey underground, she encounters a young captain named Kullen Ikray, who has no memory of who he is or how he got there. Together, the two journey ever deeper in search of answers, their road filled with horrors, and what they find at the end of that road will alter the fate of the Witchlands forever.”

This was a good prequel to the Witchlands series. I enjoyed all the history and it helps readers to understand the magic system a lot better. I also liked how everything was laid out in here with pictures and journal entries.

The story is good, but very short. We hear from three POVs throughout. The book is half from a couple years before the Witchlands series starts and half from 1000 years before that. The portion of the book from the recent past alternates between Tanzi (Ryber’s best friend) and Ryber’s POV. The other half of the book occurs in the far past (1000 years ago) and is told from Eridysi Gochienka’s POV. The two different settings (near past and far past) alternate throughout the book.

Overall it’s a good story and provides some nice background on the history of this world and how magic works. I would recommend to fans of the series. I wouldn’t really recommend as a stand alone; there just wasn’t enough story here to allow this to stand alone well.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Goodreads Reading Challenge