Witch Song by Amber Argyle (ARC Review)

Genre:	Young Adult, Fantasy, Adventure
Publication.Date	September 1st 2011
Pages:	305
Published By:	Rhemalda Publishing
Website	Amber Argyle |
	Witch Song - Goodreads
My review copy:	Provided by the publisher (thank you!)
Where to get:	Barnes and Noble | Amazon      | Book Depository

The world is changing. Once, Witch Song controlled everything from the winds to the shifting of the seasons--but not anymore. All the Witches are gone, taken captive by a traitor. All but Brusenna. As the echo of their songs fade, the traitor grows stronger. Now she is coming for Brusenna. Her guardian has sworn to protect her, but even he can't stop the Dark Witch. Somehow, Brusenna has to succeed where every other Witch has failed. Find the traitor. Fight her. Defeat her. Because if Brusenna doesn't, there won't be anything left to save.

(goodreads.com)

Please note:  Quotes are from an ARC and will be verified against a published copy.

They call us Witches. But long before that, the creators named us Keepers. It's what we are. Keepers of the Four Sisters - Earth, plants, water and sunlight. And as a Keeper, you can't deny that all are floundering. If we don't act now, it'll be too late. 

 Wardof charged them, water erupting around him. He splashed next to the boat, heaved himself up and lunged for the Captain with his knife, but he stopped cold when he saw a pistol trained on his face. "You don't have any manpower or the weapons to make any threats, sea slime. Witches are the Keepers of the sea and we do them reverence." He sniffed the air above Wardof in repugnance. "Now you get your stinking Hunter carcass away from my boat before I make you shark bait."

Pogg hadn't moved from his crouch. His eyes shifted her way. "Senna takes bath. Smells like fish. Witches not likes that.

Joshen strode to the window and looked at the sunshine. Without turning, he said, "I can promise you this - I'll never willingly leave you, Senna." "None of them willingly leave", she said. "But they leave all the same."

        

     

Here’s the short version: if you haven’t picked up this book yet, you should do it ASAP. 

And now, the long version: Witch Song is simply beautiful. In this riveting debut novel about witches, magic, love, good and evil, Amber Argyle combines superb writing and incredible world-building and character development with a storyline that’s both fast-paced and smooth at the same time.  It’s a page-turner. One that you will definitely want to re-read once you’re done. It’s one of those books that really touch your heart and fuel your imagination. It’s very rare to find a novel  - especially a debut – that has this many things going for it. Enchanting atmosphere, well-drawn characters, beautiful settings, and most importantly, really good, gripping plot line – all this makes Witch Song a very promising beginning to a new exciting YA fantasy series.

     Away from the village, in the midst of a deep forest, is a house where two witches – a mother and a daughter – lead a quite existence. They live far away from other people because they’re not welcome in the village. The villagers have no respect for witches, they fear and hate what they don’t understand – the witches’ magic and their way of life. The only time when Brusenna and her mother go to the village is when they run out of food and the hunger forces them to visit the local market. Other than that the two witches prefer to stay in their house, with the pathway leading to it magically hidden by the witch song. 

    Brusenna is a young and powerful witch, who doesn’t yet realize her full potential. Her mother, intent on keeping her daughter safe, decided to move away from Haven (an Island where all the witches live and practice magic). Brusenna hasn’t been taught much about magic – she knows how to sing (singing equals weaving a spell), but the songs she’s been taught are only the basic and most essential ones. She hardly knows anything about witches and their history, either. To protect her, her mother kept every witch-related thing a secret. But destiny has a way of catching up with us. Brusenna’s ignorance of magic and the witch world turns out to be more dangerous than her mother ever thought it would be. When all the other witches (including her mother) are captured by the evil Dark Witch, Brusenna is the only one left. She’s the last witch, the only person in the whole world that is powerful enough to face her mother’s captor and save the world from destruction. The only problem is, she knows next to nothing about magic and there’s no one left to teach her.

     Witch Song is a charming, compelling book about growing up, and discovering yourself and your true purpose in life. It’s a vibrant story, full of action and adventure, with a sprinkle of love and a whole lot of sparkling magic. And it’s not just any magic, it’s my favorite kind of magic. The sweet, beautiful, breath-taking magic, with the spells sang to life rather than recited from a book. There are no magic wands in the Witch Song, no huge toms of magic, no brooms, crooked noses and no pointy hats. In the world created by Mrs. Argyle, the witches are simply women who can weave spells with the power of their voice. They sing and the world listens. It’s fascinating! I really loved the concept of singing the spells – it reminded me of another favorite YA fantasy of mine – the Witchlanders by Lena Coakley. If someone asked me which of these two books I liked better, I think I wouldn’t be able to choose, because these are two totally different flavors of fantasy. Witch Song is definitely more girly, with the lead protagonist being a vulnerable, fragile, lovely girl and the romance thing going on in the background. I loved Witchlanders for the world building, fantastic characters and unique, romance-free plot line, but I also loved Witch Song for being so absolutely mesmerizing and heart-warming. And as much as I’m sick of the silly love stories in the recent Young Adult books, the romance part of Witch Song didn’t bother me at all. It was well balanced and didn’t appear to be forced or out of place. The chemistry between Brusenna and Joshen was quite electrifying and I admit, I got goose-bumps once or twice while reading about them.  Most importantly, it wasn’t overdone or rushed, it actually looked quite believable and natural. I really liked that Senna didn’t lose her head over Joshen. Sure, she loved him and they were very adorable together, but at the same time she stayed focused on her task. She also knew that sometimes you need to sacrifice your own happiness for a greater good – that’s definitely one of her best qualities. 

     Amber Argyle created a fascinating and detailed world. Quite a big part of the story takes place out in the ocean, while the characters are traveling from one destination to another. The setting is beautiful and fantastically described. All the places and characters are vivid and realistic, and thanks to Argyle’s evocative language it’s easy to imagine them. My favorite side-kick character was Pogg – a weird creature, with a cute and funny way of speaking that made it impossible not to love him. 

     This book is a great fantasy read. If you’re looking for a book packed with badass action, where the main character spends most of the time covered in his or his opponent’s blood then this might not be the book for you. But, if you want a more thoughtful look at magic, a book that is filled with adventures yet manages to be very sweet and charming at the same time, then this is definitely a book you’ll enjoy. I know that I did!

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

About the Author

Evie is the Blogger behind Bookish. She enjoys reading many different genres, especially YA, Paranormal, Contemporary Fiction and Fantasy.

She loves talking to authors and is always happy to welcome them for interviews, and guest posts. She also likes spreading the love for awesome books and  chatting with fellow book-worms.

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