ARC Review--Warrior Witch by Danielle L. Jensen

The thrilling conclusion to the breakout Malediction Trilogy by Goodreads Choice finalist Danielle L. Jensen.

Cécile and Tristan have accomplished the impossible, but their greatest challenge remains: defeating the evil they have unleashed upon the world.

As they scramble for a way to protect the people of the Isle and liberate the trolls from their tyrant king, Cécile and Tristan must battle those who’d see them dead. To win, they will risk everything. And everyone.

But it might not be enough. Both Cécile and Tristan have debts, and they will be forced to pay them at a cost far greater than they had ever imagined.

I received this eARC from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Danielle L. Jensen brings the Malediction Trilogy to a conclusion with Warrior Witch! I remember really enjoying the first two books of this series and I was excited to see how it all ended. The problem? I had zero memory of what had already happened! I swear this is the CURSE of the reader! I hardly ever have time for re-reading anymore, so a re-read was not possible. I basically just read over my review for the second book to get some idea of what happened, but I could only recall the faintest details. And worse yet, there was next to nothing with a recap within the story. There’s none of that helpful So-and-So, my best friend, faithful companion…some other weird descriptor to give you an idea of who said character is to help jump start your memory! Nothing!

I basically read this book totally blind! I had no idea what was really going on with the upcoming war. So many names were dropping left and right, and I didn’t know if they were friend or foe! It was horrible, in a sense! I had really hoped that there would’ve been some sort of recapper, something that helps to remind you of who was who and what had started to go down towards the end of Hidden Huntress, but there was seriously nothing!

If you at all want to read this series, I still recommend it, because I gave the first two high marks. They were incredible fantasies, but my lack of memory sorely affected my mood for this one! When you don’t truly understand what the characters are fighting about or for, how can you enjoy yourself with their story? Nothing makes sense if you don’t understand what had motivated them.

I was basically a great mess of confused for the entirety of this novel. I felt so disconnected from everyone. All the characters I grew to love when I read the first two books were strangers to me! It was dreadful in a way, the book itself is not bad. But I was just hoping for some spark of memory to come about, something to help remind me of what had happened…but it never came!

The gist of what I could understand happening was a war was coming. There are many enemies left and right. They all have their own agendas and it’s seriously mind boggling trying to figure out who might come out on top! And then, yeah, the confusion over who these people are! So aggravating! I wish authors could truly realize that not all readers have time for a re-read. And not nearly all readers have the most detailed of memories. Therefore, I really, really wish that they could be better at incorporating recaps into their current novel. It doesn’t have to be a straight up “here’s what happened” but when the characters already reflect on this or that…have them reflect on what just happened in the last book!! Because I was seriously lost for the majority of this novel!

Then there’s that ending…oh my goodness…that ending!! I hated it. Just as I am trying to gather my emotions over this book and dealing with the confusion of no memory and foreseeing the ending going one way and then having it go in the opposite direction! It was heart-wending!

While I couldn’t quite enjoy this final installment in the series, I still recommend it if you’re looking for a good fantasy read! Plus, trolls! Something new and different for us readers! But I highly, highly recommend binging the trilogy back to back. I think the author intended readers to do this. But as I said, I rarely ever have time for re-reading anymore and the fact that it’s necessary for this series, kind of bummed me out. That’s the reason for my lower rating.

Overall Rating 2/5 stars—and again, this means it was just OKAY! It was not terrible, but OKAY!

Warrior Witch releases May 3, 2016