Fantasy is not my usual go-to genre, but there are some authors who I will read. Jessica Thorne writes approachable fantasy romance. The Water Witch is the third of her books that I have read, and while it doesn’t quite reach the enchantment of the first two, there is still plenty to recommend it.
I was instantly taken by the fantasy part of the story. The setup of the wreckless princess and how the alleged curse occurs is a good hook. There was a bit of mystery as to the origins or history of the lost city, which also caught my interest.
Honestly, I found myself wishing I could spend more time in Ys. I know that’s not how the author plotted it out, but there were times that I wish we had gotten more background on the city and its people.
This became more pressing (for me anyway) when the dots began to be connected in the present time. I love a good archeological mystery. Who doesn’t have an inner Indiana Jones who needs feeding every so often).
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But I feel like the present would have been more believable if we had more details from the past. The fantasy romance part didn’t exactly work for me either.
I can’t say much more than that without giving things away.
There wasn’t much of a connection to any of the characters in the present. They were fine but didn’t do anything to really stand out to me. And there were times that each of them was downright annoying.
I’ll also say that the big reveal of the two worlds merging did not work for me at all. That is definitely a place where there could have been more build-up. Unfortunately, it sort of comes out of the blue. I’m still scratching my head about it.
It is a decent story, if a bit uneven. For my favorite Jessica Thorne fantasy romance, I still choose The Bookbinder’s Daughter. But I’ll eagerly await her next one.
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About the author of The Water Witch
Jessica Thorne saw Star Wars at an impressionable age and life was never the same. She loves fantasy, romance, and science fiction, and spends her time looking for adventure – in the pages of her books.
Sometimes she is Ruth Frances Long and won the European Science Fiction Society Spirit of Dedication Award for Best Author of Children’s Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2015.
