Review: H.E. Edgmon – The Witch King

It seems to be a bit early in the year to already have multiple favourite books of the year, but this is absolutely one of mine, and I want to tell you all about why!

Goodreads Synopsis

To save a fae kingdom, a trans witch must face his traumatic past and the royal fiancé he left behind. This debut YA fantasy will leave you spellbound.

Wyatt would give anything to forget where he came from—but a kingdom demands its king.

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.

Review

Everything in this book lined up to make this a perfect reading experience. I ate this book up like candy. It’s a perfect blend of dark fantasy told in a fresh, funny voice that just made it exactly what I was hoping for and so much more. I don’t often put off finishing a book but this one, I just wanted to savour, and I didn’t want it to end.

Seriously, this is a book deserving of a huge fandom. I can already pictures all the fan art, all the memes, all the merchandise. I want this featured in book boxes, I want to see special editions, I just want all the hype.

There’s really nothing I didn’t love about this book. It’s exactly as amazing as the synopsis makes it sound: it has chaotic monsters boyfriends and even a dragon or two. It’s exactly the book for you if you enjoy fae books, but also very refreshing if you’re not the biggest fan of Sarah J Maas and Holly Black.

And I haven’t even gotten to the trans rep yet. Damn. I just loved it so much. The way it was interwoven in the story and all the commentary, it was just amazing, and it resonated with me a lot.