Review: “The Witch King” by H.E. Edgmon

Release Date: June 1, 2021
Series: The Witch King series
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Description

In Asalin, fae rule and witches like Wyatt Croft…don’t. Wyatt’s betrothal to his best friend, fae prince Emyr North, was supposed to change that. But when Wyatt lost control of his magic one devastating night, he fled to the human world. Now a coldly distant Emyr has hunted him down. Despite transgender Wyatt’s newfound identity and troubling past, Emyr has no intention of dissolving their engagement. In fact, he claims they must marry now or risk losing the throne. Jaded, Wyatt strikes a deal with the enemy, hoping to escape Asalin forever. But as he gets to know Emyr, Wyatt realizes the boy he once loved may still exist. And as the witches face worsening conditions, he must decide once and for all what’s more important–his people or his freedom.

My Thoughts

Wyatt Croft is angry. Born a witch in the king­dom of Asalin, a magical realm hidden inside our own, Wyatt was raised at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Witches are the “corrupted” and “abnormal” children of the fae. Where the fae can do big, powerful nature magic, witchcraft must be taught and controlled. His whole life he was told he was inferior, that his only value was as mar­riage material. As a child, he was paired off with the heir apparent, Prince Emyr, and segregated from the other witches. For years, Wyatt stifled his growing anger, until he can’t any more. In a fit of rage triggered by a violent assault, Wyatt burns part of Asalin to the ground, then flees to the human world. There, he eventually finds safety in a new found family of kind humans. With their support and protection, he is able to come out as trans…

Read the rest of this review at Locus Magazine.

Buy it at bookshop.org (affiliate link). Thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.