Title: The Black WitchAuthor: Laurie Forest
Series: The Black Witch Chronicles #1
First Published: May 2, 2017
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 608
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Rating:
Synopsis:
Elloren Gardner is the spitting image of her grandmother, who drove back the enemy forces in the last Realm War. But while her people believe she will follow in her grandmother's footsteps and become the next Black Witch of prophecy, Elloren is devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else.
When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at Verpax University. But she soon realizes that the university may be the most treacherous place of all for the granddaughter of the Black Witch.
As evil looms and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, Elloren's best hope of survival may be among a secret band of rebels…if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to fear.
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
The Black Witch is a thorny book to discuss because of the controversy that had surrounded it upon release during an era of extreme knee jerk reactions in the YA reading space. I recall being surprised that I had been blocked on twitter by bloggers and at least one author during this time despite never reading the book or commenting on it, but I had mutuals who had that were defending the book. Out of sheer curiosity I read the book, and honestly? I realized that there are many readers that lack media literacy, and there are some authors that found a niche profiting off of tearing other authors down with their virtue signaling.
I’ve seen this book described as being like if Draco Malfoy was the main character of Harry Potter and this is spot on. The protagonist, Elloren, is sheltered and raised with the belief that she is superior as a pure-blooded witch. She gets her first dose of reality upon entering a magical school filled with all kinds of fantasy creatures. She’s initially suspicious, disgusted, even terrified of the others around her, she lashes out and is at times cruel. Over time as she gets to know her fellow students, she begins to question her previous assumptions and change her thinking.
The moral of the story is obvious, heavy-handed for sure, but it’s not an easy subject to tackle. I liked seeing Elloren’s world open up as she learned more about the world around her, that the path toward overcoming prejudice is not easy. I think this book could be relatable for teens struggling to break away from toxic family teachings.
This book is a fairly standard epic young adult fantasy story, filled to the brim with tropes, instalove, and of course a love triangle. The romance made my eyes roll and Elloren is a bit of a mean girl Mary Sue, but these qualities frankly aren’t unusual in female centered YA fiction. It does struggle a bit as a first book in the series by spending so much time establishing characters that not a lot actually happens with the conflict.
Despite taking a while to hook me, I did end up enjoying this book. Not sure if I enjoyed it enough to continue with the series, I am definitely not the target audience, but it was an interesting and easy read.
Quote
“Real education doesn’t make your life easy. It complicates things and makes everything messy and disturbing.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Laurie Forest
backwoods of Vermont, where she sits in front of a wood stove drinking strong tea and dreaming up tales full of dryads, dragons and wands.
She is the NY Times bestselling author of The Black Witch Chronicles, including The Black Witch, The Iron Flower, The Shadow Wand, The Demon Tide, and the prequel e-novellas, Wandfasted and Light Mage, which are also available in print as The Rebel Mages anthology.
Discover more from Radical Dreamer
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
