Truthwitch Read-Along Weeks 2 & 3

Hello my lovelies!

So I’m a week behind on my answers to the Truthwitch Read-Along. Last weekend/week I was dealing with a nasty cold and didn’t write any blog posts outside of what I already had scheduled. It was a sad time 🙁 But I’m back healthier and ready to catch up on all my blogging. So with that said I’ve decided to combine Week 2 and Week 3’s discussion questions here for the Truthwitch Read-Along I’m participating in!

The Truthwitch Read-Along is hosted by the Waterwitch Babes including Charlene (Bookish Whimsy), Olivia (The Candid Cover), Kim (Dreaming in Libraries) and Carine (Ceres Books World).

Week 2 (Chapters 10-19) Discussion Questions:

Question One: Of the lands that we have visited so far in the book, where in the Witchlands would you want to live, given the choice?

To be honest I’d probably want to live at sea haha I feel like there might be more freedom in that decision. Although both Venaza City and the country Nubrevna sound interesting. However, Venaza City has that icky Emperor and Nubrevna has cursed lands so there are drawbacks. So I’d see myself most likely trying to live on sea or far from the government lol but I can’t wait to see more of Nubrevna in the coming chapters! 

Question Two: There have been quite a few mottos and words of wisdom used by a few of the characters so far. Which one is your favourite? Do you have any special phrases that help you get through your day?

Iseult’s mantra: Stasis in your fingertips and in your toes was a favorite one of mine. I loved how she’d repeat this to stay calm. I have to admit that I googled the definition of stasis as I couldn’t remember its exact definition. The definition I found said stasis is a “period or state of inactivity or equilibrium” which made me really love the mantra even more — the whole idea of balancing yourself out to a state of calmness. 

The other mantra/words of wisdom I enjoyed reading was: with your right hand, give a person what he expects–and with your left hand, cut his purse. Besides being very amusing, I think this is very sound advice for the characters living in the witchlands. They might need to keep this advice tucked away for survival situations 😉 

For me personally, I like to remind myself to breathe throughout the day. Sometimes I feel like I get so caught up in things or too stressed out that I need to remind myself just to breathe and things will be alright. I’m also very found of carpe diem! 

Question Three: Friendship is a main theme that pulses through Truthwitch. Do you have a relationship like Safi and Iseult? Is there someone out there who always has your back and will defend you?

I have a wonderful gang of friends and am so happy that they’re in my life. They just recently sent me flowers for my birthday (since I’m currently living out of state from them). It was such a surprise and so amazing of them to do so! Additionally, I know I have some friends I can just pick up with any time even though we’re on different paths in our lives right now. I’ve also made some great new friends in my new city and know my one good friend here would have my back in a heartbeat! I’m so lucky to have wonderful friends at home, in this new city, and in other cities in the US. I know if anything were to happen there are about 6 people I could call who’d have my back right away! I love them all and am sooo appreciative, grateful and blessed to have them in my life! 

Question Four: If you were inserted into one of the novel’s epic battle scenes, which witchery would you like to have in order to defend yourself?

Hmm, Kullen’s power to take someone’s air away sounds like an epic power to have in your arsenal! Additionally (this is getting ahead to the next chapters), I also found the Empress of Marstok’s Ironwitch powers to be impressive. So really either of those would be awesome to have! Plus, of course I’d want to also be a master sword fighter and mix martial arts wielder 🙂 

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: ISEULT

Do you find Iseult to be a likeable character? How do you feel about the way she is treated like an outcast? Do you think she is a good influence on Safiya?

I do really enjoy Iseult as a character. I think I relate to her more than Safiya because I tend to be someone who likes to plan before acting impulsively. I also love how she can stay calm in most situations. I think it’s awful how she is treated like an outcast, but I think Iseult handles it well–especially when Safiya is there to defend her (even if Iseult doesn’t want her to). And, yes, I do think that Iseult is a good influence on Safiya. She balances out Safiya’s impulsiveness and they work well together in the different situations they are put in. I think they each take away something from each other for the better 🙂 

Questions from The Candid Cover post.

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Week 3 (Chapters 20-29) Discussion Questions:

Question #1: A huge part of the story takes place on the sea. Do you love the ocean? Would you like to travel with the crew on the Jana? Or do you think you’d get seasick?

I love the ocean! Traveling by sea would seem like such a fun thing to do and I’d so be down to travel with the crew on the Jana. Merik doesn’t seem to be too harsh of a captain/admiral. However, I’ve never really been on a long ship journey so who knows how I’d fair haha 😉 

Question #2: From the boys we’ve met so far – Merik, Aeduan, Kullen, Leopold – who would you choose to be your book boyfriend? OR: From the girls we’ve met so far – Safiya, Iseult, Evrane, Ryber – who would you choose to be your book girlfriend?

Hmm none of them are really calling out to me to be real “book boyfriend material”, but I’d be interested in maybe getting to know Merik or Kullen better. We shall see 🙂

Question #3: Did you imagine the sea foxes as described in the book? Do you think they’ll play a greater part later in the series?

I did have a little trouble imagining the sea foxes as described. I think I might have mashed up a foxes head with a serpent’s body and made them silver/white/translucent-y. I’m not sure how well my imagination did though haha. As for how much of a part they’ll play in this series…it’s hard to tell at this point I think. They’re definitely a dangerous adversary, but I feel like the books will be focusing more on the human/political dangers of this world versus the fictional/magical creatures. 

Question #4: What is your first impression of Nubrevna?

My first impression was actually a little bit of heartbreak. “Seeing” a land that is devastated by a cure just breaks my heart. Knowing that all the land, vegetation and animals (both in sea & on land) are dying tugs at my heart and I just want to go there and heal it and save all the animals! 

On another note, I am interested to see more of the people and architecture to come. 🙂

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: MERIK

“Whenever there were wrinkles, Merik had to smooth them out.” (p. 205) Do you think he succeeds in “smoothing the wrinkles out”? What do you think of his actions so far? Do you like Merik?

Merik, oh Merik. I’m definitely still trying to figure him out. He seems to be trying his best to “smooth out the wrinkles”, but I also feel like he’s one who takes on too much and doesn’t always ask for help. I’m not sure if this is because there really isn’t anyone (outside of Kullen) who can help or if it’s his pride/mindset to shoulder all the responsibility in saving his people/Safi & Iseult. With this said, I think his actions are sometimes a little impulsive like Safi but he’s being doing a good job surviving so far and keeping to the contract’s agreement. He thinks quickly on his feet (better than Safi seems to do) and I think he’s going to be an important character to watch throughout the series. I do like him as a character so far and I’m very interested in seeing how his character progresses 🙂

Questions from Kim’s post here.

Thanks for stopping by to read up on my thoughts of Truthwitch! How would you answer any of these questions? Did you enjoy reading Truthwitch or have it on your TBR? Let me know in the comments below!! 🙂

Happy Reading!

xo,