Thank you to Harlequin Teen for this book, a great book with a fantastic story, love this series!
It held me from start to finish, was tough to put down.

This is the fastest I've ever read 608 pages - wow!

​I feel like it is impossible to review this book without mentioning the drama that erupted over it about a year ago (not sure exactly when). I also do not remember WHO started it, or WHY they started it for that matter.

Then hundreds of people started jumping on the band wagon by condemning this book without even reading it (gasp!! I know, I know...) and it just became a whole big mess - which frankly is probably the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen a community of readers and intellectuals do. Embarrassing! If you want to hate on the book just because somebody else told you to - then maybe you shouldn't be reading books at all. Because books are for people who have their own opinions.

The book was labeled racist, ableist and some other vile things. But I am here to laugh into all of those people's faces - because it's not. I do see how it could be mistakenly viewed as one (if one wants to skew the reality and see only what they want to see), but there is a big difference between a book being racist and a book being set in a racist, close minded, prejudiced world. Just because the book talks about those things (and goodness those things NEED to be talked about!) doesn't mean that the book IS those things. How somebody couldn't make that distinction is beyond me, but I digress - let's talk about the actual book!

​I've seen The Black Witch being compared to Harry Potter and I definitely see why. The magic school setting, the pure bloods vs. everybody else, the white wand and many other things are definitely similar. The lessons that those books are trying to teach are very similar too - prejudice, choosing your own friends, the magic community wanting to be pure blooded and so on.

​I could also definitely see why so many people gave up on the book very early on - the society in which Elloren finds herself is beyond toxic. Yes, the society is racist! Yes, it is prejudiced! Yes, it is absolutely horrid and cruel and mockingly pure blooded. It's like being in a company of many Hitlers and many Malfoys - at all times. But it is also shockingly, and sadly, similar to the society we now live in.

​Also, if you thought that Harry Potter got bullied a lot - wait till you read this. Elloren gets bullied on another level. It's quite painful.

​Elloren comes from a very sheltered village, where she lived a beyond sheltered life with her gentle uncle, who hid a lot of things from her. Then she finds herself in a world of which she knows nothing, except things that her exceptionally cruel aunt tells her. It takes Elloren a long time to realize what really is going on. It takes her a long time to see the lies she's been fed, to see the truth beyond all of those shimmering facades. She makes many mistakes, and many bad decisions - but her journey is a beautiful one. Elloren is flawed, Elloren is confused and scared, but despite all of that she denies the life of privileges because the price is not what she wants to pay, and finds her own way to the truth.

I gave the book 4 stars because I didn't realize it was going to be set in a magical school setting. While I do enjoy those, I also think that they are a bit overused and just don't do much for me anymore. Sure, it was fun in Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but sometimes enough is enough. I wanted something more grown up (I know this is ya, but still). There was also way too much "glaring" from a certain character for me - he literally "glared" at her about 100 times, and that just gets old, people.

But there were so many things that I loved! For example, when Elloren finds out about how her clothes are made - this fantasy book actually talked about ethical fashion! I literally whooped with happiness because I was so pleased. Ethical fashion is very important to me - fair wages, fair working environment, no child labor - I refuse to shop at the malls and "fast fashion stores" such as forever21, because of how horrid they actually are. If you don't know the horrors of fast fashion please google it - you will never look at your clothes the same ever again. So to have it talked about in a fantasy book was amazing - more people need to be aware what they are supporting with their money.

Animal abuse, interracial marriage, underage marriage, arranged marriage, unfair working wages, favoritism, corrupted politicians - this book has so much to say, and it saddens me that so many people chose not to listen. There was also a heartbreaking example of how parents corrupt their children with their prejudiced views.

There was a lot of girl power in this book, which I loved - my favorite side character was Diana - a super strong, confident girl who didn't give a flying shit about what anybody else thought. Every scene in which she was present was hilarious. I definitely need more Diana in my life, or to be more like Diana. There's a lovable bookworm, who goes through many transformations and her journey, while similar to Elloren's is beautiful in its own way. A lot of side characters are really good, but some could use a little more dimension.

The Black Witch has a lot to offer - the plot, while not very original, sure has many things that make it very appealing. The writing is phenomenal, if you ignore few words that definitely got overused here and there - the script is absolutely beautiful. I cannot believe that this was Forest's first book. She absolutely has the talent!

The book also makes you think - it throws you into uncomfortable situations and makes you draw parallels with the real world - who would you believe, what would you do, what would you change?

Big thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin TEEN (US & Canada) for providing a copy for review. All opinions are my own, honest and come from the heart. I cannot wait to dig my paws into The Iron Flower - I can't wait to see which direction the story will take.

Love, love, loved this book! I think the main problem people had with this book was that they could not see past the racism to the authors point. She wasn’t writing a racist book. She was writing a book exposing the ugliness of racism and how ingrained in a culture it can become. You weren’t meant to like the characters. You were meant to wAtch their awakening and growth. I can not wait for book 2!!!!

Full of magic!
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for the opportunity to read and review The Black Witch by Laurie Forest!
Elloren and her brothers, Rafe and Trystan, have lived with their Uncle Edwin since a Keltic attack killed their parents years ago. He treats them well. Uncle Edwin is also very protective of Elloren and wants her to have every advantage in life that her brothers have, but he’s also hiding information about Elloren’s abilities. A missing girl calls for Elloren through a Watcher, a perceptive white bird, and gives her the mythical White Wand. Sage, the missing young woman, fears for her baby’s safety and she claims that the Council is coming for him because they believe he’s evil, then she disappears into the forest once again. Elloren visits Aunt Vyvian, keeping the White Wand a secret. Aunt Vyvian wants to use Elloren for her own political goals while she attends University and she wants Elloren to be wandfasted (engaged) immediately to the young man of Aunt Vyvian’s choosing. Elloren is in danger everywhere she goes and suffers several attacks her first day at University. It seems that she’s assumed by everyone to be prejudice just like her famous grandmother, the Black Witch, who Elloren resembles completely. Elloren’s eyes are opened to the prejudices and violence in her world and Aunt Vyvian is at the top of the worst of it. The dynamics of the characters build the story line into intrigue and complexity. Genocide is threatening on the horizon and Elloren forms loyal relationships with many people who she’s been taught not to trust. I’ve grown to care about these characters and I’m anxious to read the sequel, The Iron Flower. 5 stars for this fantasy full of magic!

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

So, I knew about all the hype of this book going in, which is probably why it took me so long to read it. As a librarian, I feel censorship is against what I stand for and everyone has a right to read what they want, no matter the topic. That being said, I didn't really care for this story at all. Elloren was really annoying. I get that she is supposed to grow in character throughout the story but there has to be something to work with in the beginning, for me to be interested. The dialog was also unimpressive and just silly in parts. I'm giving two stars for world creativity because I think this could have been an interesting story with the right characters.

This is the very first book I have read by Laurie Forest. As I was scrolling through the Teen's section of the list, the cover of The Black Witch had intrigued me. As I read the blurb, the premise had captured my attention. Witches? A university? A battle between good versus evil? A head-strong female protagonist? YES PLEASE! Overall, The Black Witch was an interesting read, and I will continue on with the series, add Forest to my YA authors to read this year, I am sure The Black Witch Chronicles will get better as the other books start to unravel.

I thought that I would enjoy this book but this book is a DNF and hopefully I'll get into it again but not now.

I wasn't aware of the controversy surrounding this until after I read it, but it put me off writing a review for a while. I remember finding the whole reading experience frustrating and pretty much all the characters irritated me. I think the author tried to portray a prejudiced society and characters and that's a good thing that hopefully makes people question their own harmful beliefs and behaviours, and that's not often attempted in this genre, unfortunately it wasn't done very well... It just dragged on for too long, and had almost every annoying cliched trope I detest in teen fiction. It got a bit better by the end, and I'm undecided about giving the next one a try or not...

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

I liked the story. I think that there was too much of the other stuff and it kinda drove me crazy.

Fantasy readers will enjoy this first entry in The Black Witch Chronicles. I enjoyed the mix of seeing a young girl learn to use magic her while also dealing with ingrained prejudices in her society. I found it very timely. I look forward to the next installment in this series.

A vivid fantasy world that captures you from the first chapter. I've always thought there were two types of YA - 'young' YA that skews towards tweens, and 'older' YA that captivates teens and adults alike. This book settles somewhere comfortably in the middle; I could see a 14 or 15 year old who enjoys fantasy/medieval settings picking this up and loving it, with fringe readers somewhere below or above that age line.

I did not finish the book myself - I picked it up due to the gorgeous cover as well as the title. Supernatural/witchy stories are up my alley, but long cloaks and medieval villages are not. That being said, it did keep me engaged much longer than the usual stories set in this sort of world do. The writing and the narrative are excellent.

Elloren Gardner is the identical image of her late grandmother, the powerful Black Witch. Unlike her grandmother, Elloren has no magic. And when she's sent to university to study the apothecary trade, her grandmother's legacy haunts her and those around her.

Normally, I will read for escape, to go to a place and immerse myself in a story that is so much different (and often better) than my own. While I approached this book with that same attitude, The Black Witch had something else in store. From the very beginning, I as the reader knew that something was not quite right with Elloren's worldview, with the truths she had been raised with. And it was hard, at times, to read through the passages depicting such hate. However, the overarching theme of growth, of using education to better yourself and the world around you, kept me reading.

Elloren is no longer in a sheltered place when she goes to school and it gets her to start questioning if everything she has been taught is right, is true. It is a slow process, which is both believable and, again, hard to read. It is not easy for someone who has been indoctrinated all their life to break away from those values. It is not an instantaneous change but a change that happens over time, though I wished that some of those instances had been condensed.

One of my favorite parts of this book is when Elloren begins to understand that the history text she has been reading about her own people is incomplete, that she is missing vital pieces of information. So, she goes to Professor Kristian and asks what happened, what her book isn't telling her. And so he does. There are times she wants to protest, thinking her people, her ancestors, could not have done such things, she can feel the truth of it. After his lecture, Professor Kristian gives her multiple history texts from numerous races of Erthia, telling her to find her own answers.

Education is a powerful tool, a way to better yourself and the world around you. Elloren begins to take an interest in what is actually happening, becoming informed and aware. She was naive at the start of the book but through asking questions, seeking answers, and learning from what she was finally seeing outside of her Gardnerian influences, she begins to break away. She surrounds herself with people who share her ideals and learns from them.

The importance of education, of paying attention to the world around you, was an important and revisited theme throughout the book. I look forward to how the series will continue to handle that theme.

unfortunately, i DNF this book due to other commitments and it didn't hold my interest. i will try again at a later date!

This story tries a bit too hard to show how bad racism is, so I'm not sure why it's been criticized for the opposite.

I did not care for this book. It is getting a lot of positive reviews, and I am glad people have liked it. But, it isn't quite my speed

Let me just start off this review by saying that I wanted to read this book for myself after seeing the articles regarding the racism and highly-segregated society that is portrayed in this book. I didn’t look too much down into the rabbit hole because I wanted to see if I felt that those issues we’re at the forefront of the book.
I will also say that I received an ARC of this book for review from the publisher. Now onto the review!
The Goodreads plot summary reads as follows:
Elloren Gardner is the granddaughter of the last prophesied Black Witch, Carnissa Gardner, who drove back the enemy forces and saved the Gardnerian people during the Realm War. But while she is the absolute spitting image of her famous grandmother, Elloren is utterly devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else.
When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at the prestigious Verpax University to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy. But she soon realizes that the university, which admits all manner of people—including the fire-wielding, winged Icarals, the sworn enemies of all Gardnerians—is a treacherous place for the granddaughter of the Black Witch.
As evil looms on the horizon and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, everything Elloren thought she knew will be challenged and torn away. Her best hope of survival may be among the most unlikely band of misfits…if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to hate and fear.
The plot was pretty slow-paced, and while I get that most of it was to build relationships with other characters for the latter end of the book, it was way too drawn out and had me picking it apart more as I read it.
Elloran is pretty childish throughout the story, but I guess that’s a result of her sheltered upbringing. It was still frustrating though to see Elloran pretty consistently fall back on the mainstream hiearchy ideologies. I feel like with the way her uncle is presented in the beginning of the book, and the way the author goes out of her way to emphasize that Elloran’s uncle raised her differently than what is typical in their society, Elloran should be more open and not as prejudiced as she is in the book.
The romance in the book is slow and never really goes anywhere. I know that this is going to be a series, but I feel like it should’ve been more intense. I wasn’t really into any of the romantic interests. I usually root for one of the interests if there’s more than one but I found both to be too brooding for my tastes.
The other aspect about Elloran that bothered me was the fact that she has no magic. The book shows that there is definitely something up with Elloran, but it bummed me out not finding out what it was 500 pages in.
I liked the secondary characters so much more than I liked Elloran. They are the best part of this book. They are well developed, they have their own problems and are in different races/social status’ than each other, and I appreciated how they all come together into a rag-tag bunch.
The ending; however, ultimately left me unfulfilled. Once again I understand that this is going to be a series, but the lackluster ending left me saying “do I really want to read more and find out what happens to these people?”
Overall, this book seems to have gotten a lot of attention due to the racism controversy, but I feel like it’s also a major theme that Elloran eventually overcomes (kinda). I hope that the next book is more fast-paced and not as much of a setup book that this one seemed to be.

This one is a wee bit tricky for me to review to be honest. On the one hand, I know there has been a lot of debate and controversy surrounding this novel, a lot of which was fueled by people who have not read the book (which I dislike!). I read a lot of people's discussions, and I can see where they are coming from, and I don't want to get involved in those discussions, but for me I can clearly see that it was obviously not the author's intention.

I wanted to read this book myself and make my own opinions about it. I can see where people are coming from, but in my opinion I put it down to poor writing. I don't think the author expressed her views in a clear, cohesive way. I found a lot of the book quite messy and confusing, and a few times reading it I had to reread sections because I just had no clue what some of the sentences meant! I do think the book had a lot of promise, the story is cool, and the world-building was really well done (and if I were to continue with the series this would most likely be the only reason I would - it's super awesome), but at the same time it didn't bring anything reaalllllyyyy new to the table. I read a lot, A LOT of YA, particularly YA fantasy, and I am finding more and more that it is hard to read something that it totally and completely refreshing. Of course I understand that can be hard, and I do usually find something I love about a book, but unfortunately for this one that wasn't really the case.

I think this book had SO MUCH potential, and I really wanted to like it, but in the end I just found it a wee bit...forgettable.

Due to the controversy around this book and the issues of racism, I have decided I am not the best reader for it.

I don't exactly know how to rate this book. I was a mix of horrified, shocked, uncomfortable, angry, and happy.
Horrified, shocked, and uncomfortable because damn, the author went there. So much racism. Yes, I get that it wasn't a contemporary racism, but a fantasy racism. Okay, that's cool-but you still have races treating others like garbage, treating other religions like garbage. Meant to be a social commentary? Possibly.

I was angry at Elloren who had no clue she was just as bad as the others she criticized. I was happy that she at least made an effort to learn why she was wrong, to learn about others, and befriend others. But it never really felt genuine.

I don't know. I just don't. Am I upset I wasted time on this book? Nope. In fact I stayed up till 2am finishing it and don't regret it. I thought the world building was excellent, and I loved all of the various races we met. I want more of them! I want to spend lots of time with the Kelts, the Amaz, the Lupines. Will I finish the series (if there are more published)? I don't think so.

I couldn't get into this book. I did not finish it. It was just a bit too boring.