#Emyr Peirce

[literarymagicfloatingonclouds]

Book Review!

This is an attempt to try and get in the habit of writing reviews on the books that I am reading. Hopefully it will be the first of many.

The book I will be starting with is: The Witch King by H. E. Edgemon

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Initial thoughts: I wasn't sure about how much I would like this book but I absolutely loved it. It was a wonderful read that aligned with what I am learning in my current LGBTQ+ Literature and Film class. It has messages of hope, fae, and so many queer and poc characters.

There will be spoilers below the line:

Start of Book Review

I have to say that a story about Fae and witches definitely piqued my interest. I am a sucker for young adult fantasy novels and this was definitely that. It said a lot of the things that I was thinking when I was 17.

Wyatt the main character is a trans 17 year old boy. He is forced to come back to his home in the Fae realm in order to help Emyr, who was betrothed to him at a very young age, become the king. He does not want to become a king and he certainly does not want to become a baby making machine.

There is so many different types of discrimination in this book so if that is not for you please take care of yourself first and foremost. The author even includes an amazing authors note about what to avoid and it was really an empowering speech.

But to dig deeper into the discrimination, not only is there discrimination towards people of color and sexuality, there is also a whole other giant issue of witches being born of fae but not being able to use magic in the same way. They also lack the features of a fae. This leads to many fae families leaving their children in the woods to die or to be taken in by a kind soul who might happen to stumble into them before they are frozen or eaten by one of the magical creatures in the forest. Of which there are hellhounds, gnomes, and trolls if I am remembering correctly.

It is one of the only books that I have read with a main character who isn't ashamed of their body. It is a trans narrative without being a narrative about feeling the body dysmorphia that typically comes with being trans. It was a nice breath of fresh air.

As for the queer couples, there are gay couples, lesbians, polycules, and so many more. There are also people of nearly every gender. There are gender-fluid characters, and asexual characters. The royals are allowed to be queer, and there is a lesbian queen couple and a gay king couple.

The villains aren't necessarily the straight people in the novel but they certainly are one of the more major ones.

Oh and before I forget this is a duology and the second book is just as good as the first. I was able to zoom through both of these books because I listened to them as audiobooks and it was so beautifully written, but also an amazing reader.

Overall I love this book, and I am very sad that there are no more books that are set in this world with these characters. I would highly recommend picking this book up if you love fae books, books about fighting institutionalized problems, and childhood-friends to enemies to I-have-a-crush-on-you-but-I- won't-admit-it to Lovers to a situationship- to lovers again.