Title: Warrior Witch (The Malediction Trilogy #3)
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy, Magic,
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy, Magic,
Expected Publication: May 3rd, 2016
Publisher: Angry Robot Books
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Source: Netgalley
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 requested the eARC from Angry Robot Books on NetGalley*
WARNING: This review might turn out to be very long. BUT SPOILER-FREE, of course. *winks*
WARNING: This review might turn out to be very long. BUT SPOILER-FREE, of course. *winks*
I finished reading the book few minutes before 3 AM. I felt like an idiot for crying so hard in the middle of dead sleeping hours. But if I didn’t, I might as well go crazy for keeping the pain and not let it out with my tears.
Up until to this moment, while I’m writing my review, I’m still battling if I should rate this 5 STARS for being so beautifully crafted — for being so epic, and for all its glory… or 1 STAR for it slowly killed me — brutally, painfully and slowly pierced my heart; shattered and broke me into million shards and pieces. But of course, there’s no way, I’d rate this 1 star. lol
From all the endings of series I’ve loved before, Warrior Witch has got to be the most painfully beautiful I’ve read so far. It was a bittersweet ending — it was so right, but also felt so wrong. Unrealistically realistic, and all oxymoron I can ever think of.
And all those feelings I’ve mentioned, were actually just understatements to what I’ve really suffered, but words just won’t be able to describe what I went — no — what I’m currently going through. I’ve never cried this much while reading a book and I’ve never cried just by thinking about it again, many hours after reading, or even after I woke up from sleep.
Warrior Witch started so calm. It was the exact example for the statement “calm before the storm”. But I braced and prepared myself, because I know that there will be so much to wrap, to resolve, and it won’t happen calmly.
Things happened slowly at first, and it’s my fault. I was delaying the inevitable… because I was afraid to reach the ending. But when I finally decided to run full speed in the battlefield, all hell broke lose.
Epic battle scenes. I don’t really know the proper words to describe the epicness of the battle scenes. It was cruel, frightening, but amazingly done.
The characters have developed tremendously. Most of them, if not all.
Cécile de Montigny – Imagine this young lady from Stolen Songbird. She was so normal, she’s a simple farmer daughter dreaming to be a songstress. And slowly, she turned into a warrior. Brave and courageous. She may be the cause of all the hullabaloos, her selfish intents, for her and Tristan, but she realized her errors. She was brave to resolve and accept her mistakes. There were so many foolish decisions she made, but she always make them right in the end. That’s what make her special. Her crimson hair mirrors her courage and bravery.
Tristan de Montigny – The pretty-Troll prince. When I first met Tristan, he was just a boy, then he became a man, a leader, then a king. When I saw all other sides of him in Warrior Witch, even those ugly sides of him, I loved him even more than I think I’d do. His dedication, his loyalty to his people, his cleverness, and more than anything else, his undying love for Cécile were just some traits of him that I will forever be reminded of, plus his looks, the pretty-Troll prince.
Marc, the twins — Victoria and Vincent – There were so many amazing and painful memories associated with these names. The twins, their witty remarks and their humor that make even the heaviest situation lighter, and Marc, his loyalty to his friends, to Tristan, his love for his comrades, his calmness on any awful situation, and him being the first Troll that Cécile met and became friends with, I will never forget.
All other Trolls, King Thibault, Matilde, Sylvie, and the surprisingly great contribution of Martin, even the enemies, Roland, and the cunning and ambitious Lessa and Angoulême, the half-bloods, Tips and everyone else — the humans, most especially Sabine and Chris who were both there each for Cécile and Tristan respectively to support them on everything and Cécile’s family, they were all big parts in wrapping everything up.
“A life without purpose is no life at all.”
The scheming twists and turns within plot were so amazing. To defeat the enemy, there were so many plannings and scheming that had happened between character. All the twist and turns made my head spin and the statement that I kept repeating was “Who really fell into trap? Who’s really wining?!” I just don’t know, until the real end. There were revelations which I already suspected from Hidden Huntress, but never really considered seriously until they were confirmed in Warrior Witch. But how they were delivered was what made them surprising revelations, in a way.
The romance died a little, but in a great reasonable way. Sure, there was less Cécile-Tristan moments, but I didn’t notice it until I was almost done. Warrior Witch focused on patching things up, cleaning the mess, and stayed focused on the conflicts at hand. It was well-balanced, there were moments between the lovebirds here and there that were just enough to go with the plot.
Lastly, the ending. Reading the last few chapters was a great torture. It was so hard to deal. I want to stop because I was crying so hard. It was too painful. I was never the crybaby but this — it pierced straight to my heart. SO. MUCH. FEELS.
But it was the perfect ending of a great trilogy. IT WAS THE BEST ENDING NO MATTER HOW PAINFUL IT WAS.
Stolen Songbird was the beginning, the magic that led me to this adventure.
Hidden Huntress was the start of resolutions, decision makings, that will either destroy or save.
Warrior Witch was the cruel realization, the epic conclusions, the end of my adventure that I will forever treasure.
Warrior Witch made me realize that even in fantasy worlds, there is a reality that can’t be escaped easily. No matter how you wish for it to turn out the way you wanted it to be, it is not just the way it should be. And for us to have the ending we want, we have to gain it, we have to wait, and we have to prepare because there might always be a large cost at stake. It will hurt, it will be painful, but after all the pain, it will be just as beautiful.
To Danielle L. Jensen, thank you for taking me to this world, to Trollus, and for introducing Cécile and Tristan to me. I know that this is just the beginning of many more adventures in the future.
Shout out to Melissa of The Reader and The Chef and Rafael of The Royal Polar Bear Reads for keeping me company during my breakdown.
Shout out to Melissa of The Reader and The Chef and Rafael of The Royal Polar Bear Reads for keeping me company during my breakdown.
“Given the choice between one lifetime spent with you or a thousand without, I will always choose you.”
Erika is a freelance content writer and illustrator from the Philippines. Aside from her love of arts and reading, she loves taking photos, coffee, cats, and fairies. She’s into fantasy, historical fiction, and contemporary, and anything young adult genres.
Very nice and EPIC review Erika!! I should probably start reading it NOW!! 😂😂😂
Very nice and EPIC review Erika!! I should probably start reading it NOW!! 😂😂😂
Thank you, ate Grace! I'm sooo excited for you! I'm quite nervous when I recommend books because those I recommended the book to might not like the book, but here, I'm pretty confident. Good luck with your heart. :p