While the Witchlands has an intriguing idea I have not been impressed by the execution so far. I had hopes that perhaps this prequel would give us more insight on things. It does give us something new, sightwitches and where they come from to a point. However through the format I feel we still miss a lot of things.

The format is that of diaries and even small pieces of other writings and drawings scattered throughout. It could have been an interesting format. Unfortunately we get diary entries from at least 3 different characters that we follow, one of which I wonder what the point is. There were also entries where I wondered what the point really was to add them in. It was boring to read in places.

However nearing the end of the excerpt something quite interesting was beginning to happen which I hope bodes well for the rest of this prequel.

Initially, I wasn't entirely sold on the concept of a novella. While I enjoyed the first two books in this world, I didn't feel enough attachment to any of the characters to warrant strong intrigue about their own stories. However, the bit of Sightwitch I read was truly enthralling. The world of the Sightwitches captured me much more readily than did the previous two stories, perhaps because it was so contained, and I enjoyed the unspinning mystery.
I particularly enjoyed Ryber. I was nice to have a MC who, rather than being rebellious, was very strictly rule drive, who embraced her destiny rather than running away from it.
The preview left off at a real cliffhanger and I'm eager to read more.

So, seeing as this was a preview of an ARC as opposed to a full book, I'm going to review this one a little differently! I believe the copy given out was almost exactly half of the book, so I got to read a good chunk to form my feelings from.

In a prequel to Truthwitch, Sightwitch covers the backstory of Prince Merik Nihar’s first mate, Ryber. Before she was apart of the Nubrevnian (Nubrevnan? It’s been a while) navy, she was a Sister Sightwitch in the convent that serves the goddess Sirmaya. Told through the journals of Ryber, the myth-like Sightwitch figure Eridysi, and Ryber’s Threadsister Tanzi, we get to see and learn the ways of the convent sisterhood, a ton of history and worldbuilding for the main series, and how exactly Ryber met Kullen and Merik.

Sightwitches are made, not born. Ryber is a serving maiden within the convent, the Sorrows, and she will be till she is no longer pall-eyed and she is given the gift of Sight by Sirmaya, who, as lore tells, sleeps under the mountain of their convent. Her eyes will go from brown to silver, and she will be called under the mountain to be gifted her powers.

Ryber was proclaimed from the moment she arrived at the Sorrows to be destined for greatness--but she is never called forth by Sirmaya. She watches all her friends go under the mountain and come back silver-eyed, but not her. And then, after Ryber has almost lost all hope for herself, something goes terribly wrong. Sisters are called forth under the mountain, and they do not come back.

Ryber's voice is so interesting. Though a minor character in Truthwitch, I loved her snippets and the relationship she had with Kullen. She has one of the most interesting forms of witchcraft (up there for me alongside Threadwitchery and Bloodwitchery) and I loved seeing that explored as well. The build-up through Ryber's entries in this journal is chillingly good, and though I only got to read the first half, I was genuinely creeped out by the mystery and mythos of the Sightwitch convent.

We also get to see smaller entries from Eridysi's journals, and Ryber's Threadsister Tanzi's entries as well. They were more accentual to Ryber's story than anything, but it was at times a little jarring to read them when I was really into Ryber.

I don't want to give too much away since the release is still a month off, but where the preview leaves off is AMAZING. I mean, what a cliffhanger... I don't know if I can wait another month to finish! That aside, though, I will say that the beginning is a bit hard to get into and the story can feel a little draggy, just because it's far removed from the goings-on of the main Witchlands books. I also feel that the epistolary format was a little underutilized. What I read was still an uncorrected proof with missing drawings, so I hope there will be some more added especially with the formatting of the entries, because it basically just felt like reading a normal book with a few illustrations. That's not a knock towards the author or the publishers. The book works and is fine as it is, I think my expectations were leaning toward a very specific idea of epistolary format. It also definitely could have been just because what I read was not yet finished!

In all, I can't wait to finish. Though short, I think this will be a really interesting addition to the Witchlands series and I'm really excited to read more of Ryber's story.

I absolutely love the world of the Witchlands. Susan Dennard does such a good job creating a rich world that feels so expansive. I have already pre-ordered Sightwitch so when I saw a preview excerpt available on NetGalley I jumped at it. The preview only gave me a glimpse into the story, but I love where it's going. Not all of the graphics and formatting were completed, but the graphics that were there were amazing. I love the concept behind this book. It's a story told non-linearly using mixed media.



I give this excerpt a 5/5. I am very excited to see the full novella arrive on my kindle on FEBRUARY 13th!!!

I have already read Truthwitch and Windwitch and I greatly enjoyed them so I was excited to get a chance to look at this novella preview. I like characters and the writing style of Susan Dennard so I knew I would most likely enjoy this as well.

This novella tells the backstory of one of the characters in the series, Ryber. I like that we get a chance to find out more about her and how she came to be where she was in the series. I also like the style of this novella with the artifacts and things throughout, not just strict chapters.

I will say that I will probably purchase this to read the rest of Ryber's story. Also, this preview was a little difficult to read due to its format but I was still able to get the gist of the story and I liked it.

I am so excited for this book! It is going to be so good, I didn't want the preview excerpt to end.

After reading the preview excerpt, I can tell this is going to be another one of Susan Dennard's genius stories! The part of the Witchland series that I love so much is the friendships between Safi and Iseult... Now we meet Ryber and Tanzi whose friendship is just as empowering. The writing is captivating and urges you to continue. I love the "diary" style format of the novel... The dates in the diary style were a little odd to follow at first but that is only a personal feeling - definitely not something that detracts from the overall story. There is a second storyline (which seems to be set in the past) which follows Eridysi, another Sightwitch, as she somewhat reluctantly takes in two young girls, Cora and Lisbet. The preview doesn't show much in this storyline however it is very intriguing and I am anxious to see how these two paths are connected!

I cannot wait to finish this book in February!

*This review is for the Sightwitch Preview Excerpt through Netgalley*

Cool writing format and awesome character. I liked seeing more of her back story, but without the complete novella it was hard to rate. Might go up once I read all of it.

[Basing this on the 118 pages I got to read, so minor changes will be made when I read the finished copy]

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for letting me get to take a sneak peek at this book!

Guys, its looking good! No seriously, its got artwork in it and of course the images are gorgeous! Now you're probably wondering why there's artwork and that is because this is being told in diary format.

Which completely works! Its got multiple POV's and this leaned credence to the story as well as a flair of the dramatic.

Sightwitch gives the background story of Ryber and how she met Kellan but its got more to it than that. It is also the story of how she became a Sightwitch and insight into one of the coolest figures from the history of this world.... ERIDYSI HERSELF Y'ALL!!!!!!!! We finally will get some insight into this ancient history of her lament, the 12 paladins, and honestly a super cool history lesson about magic.

I continue to love and appreciate Dennard's way of answering questions I didn't know I had, ones I already had waiting for answers, and giving me new questions to ponder while I wait for her next book!

This novella will definitely add to the world and make the wait for Bloodwitch far more bearable.

[Current star rating is temporary until I've read a finished copy]

SightWitch by Susan Dennard
Preview excerpt, Tor Teen book
Pub Date: February 13, 2018

I recieved SightWitch (preview excerpt) from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

SightWitch is book 3 in the series The Witchlands. It's narrative is in the voice of some of the main character, Mostly Ryber. At times it switched to the diary of an elder SightWitch Eridysi. The writing and attention to details were very important, and it helped throughout Rybers journey. The Took was my Favorite!! A sarcastic bird of course but I loved his part in the tale.

For as long as she can remember Ryber has been at the sister convent. So why hasn't she received the sight yet? Why hasn't she been summoned?
After Tanzi gets summoned by Sirmaya, Ryber grows worried. She can tell something isn't right. Usually they return on the eve of the second day, Tanzi has not come back. More and more of the girls are being summoned, but not returning. What does Sirmaya need from them? Why aren't they returning.
When Volga is summoned, it leaves Ryber on her own. Without the sight what can she do? How does she help them? Hilgas last words when being summoned have confused Ryber? What was she to do? Still in the days by herself she isn't summoned; but there is much more to this!!
Can she get to them? What will happen under the mountain in those crypts? Can she figure it all out in time? What was she to even figure out? Check out the book and its entirety February 13, 2018!!

I cannot get enough of the Witchlands- and while I can't wait to read Bloodwitch, Sightwitch is making the wait seem shorter. When I first saw this pop up on netgalley I requested it immediately. While I was sad that it was a sampler and not the whole book, I am hardly let down. I adored Sightwitch, and can't wait to find out if Ryber is able to save her sisters and to see how her story connects with the main series.

Sightwitch is a prequel novella to The Witchlands series – it’s set before the beginning of Truthwitch, and it follows one of its side characters, Ryber.

Ryber has lived in the Sightwitch monastery for years, but she’s still a serving sister: goddess Sirmaya hasn’t chosen her yet, hasn’t given her the sight or silver eyes. The novella starts with Ryber’s threadsister, Tanzi, being chosen. Then things get… interesting really quickly: Tanzi disappears. And she isn’t the only one; soon Ryber remains alone in the monastery.

The storytelling is non-linear – some parts, which are told in Tanzi’s PoV or through excerpts from the diary of mysterious Eridysi Gochienka, are set in the past.

My favorite scenes were those set in the crypts. They were the right level of creepy, and I loved The Rook, who is probably immortal and totally not what he seems.

Ryber remains one of my favorite side characters from The Witchlands series (my absolute favorite is Cam), and this was an interesting look not only into her backstory but also in the complex worldbuilding of The Witchlands.

I don't like to read partials. I find them frustrating and usually annoying. Though I like this series I probably won't read this until the whole thing is available.

I liked being back to the world of the Witchlands. There is a lot of mystery going on in this novella and there are alternative POVs moving back and forth in time. A certain loved Threadbrother is featured and I know that my heart is going to break with this book!

I am a huge fan of the Truthwitch series so I was so excited when I got the opportunity to read an excerpt for the Sight Witch!

However, my excitement fell when I started the book. Unfortunately, the book was a bit boring and it started out really slow. I had to put the book a couple of times and pick it back up to get back into it.

It followed the path of a specific Sightwitch who needs to find out where all of her other sisters have disappeared into the mountain. This takes place around the same time as the Truthwitch series, but there are some journal entries from the past.

As I said I only received an excerpt so maybe throughout the second half of the book it improved, but the book was written following multiple viewpoints through journal and diary entries of different people. I felt like sometimes there were just too many different viewpoints and it sometimes randomly flip-flopped which made it harder to understand.

All in all this book was okay, and was a nice novella in between books, but there was just nothing about this book that stood out to me.

I NEED the whole book now. This was wonderful. Looks like it might be even better than the previous two books.

Sightwitch by Susan Dennard follows Ryber Fortiza and her quest to discover where her friends and the Sightwitch sisters have disappeared to. The story is made up of a variety of media including Ryber's journal entries, entries of other Sightwitches, past and present, and sketches. From reading a preview excerpt, I can say that Sightwitch is definitely a book I want to read in its entirety. From start to finish.

There is so much detail and with Ms. Dennard giving various timelines and perspectives, in addition to the current story, there is a lot to follow. For me, it took a bit for the story to get going and really engage with me, but by the end of the excerpt I was craving for more. I want to know what happens next!

If you are fans of Ms. Dennard's other Witchland books this provides some interesting additional backstory as well as world building. I liked Ryber's raw and still forming character in this installment as she fights both herself and many challenges on her quest while she grows and develops in Sightwitch.

Overall, I recommend Sightwitch by Susan Dennard and can't wait to read the entire book when it comes out on February 13, 2018!

I had the chance to read an excerpt from this book and I'm even more excited to read the full story! The excerpt started off slowly but I'm incredibly intrigued by the premise. It cut off right when things were starting to get interesting and I'm counting down the days until February 13th, 2018 when I can find out what happens next! If you're a fan of the Witchlands series, definitely put this one on your radar!

This is only and excerpt, so it's hard to judge the whole novella on just this alone. I don't love the journal format, which is keeping me from being completely hooked in. I'll reserve judgement until I've read the whole thing, though, as I'm sure there is important information relevant to the rest of the series.

Sightwitch was super interesting. Written in diary format that made you want to keep reading. I read the whole excerpt in one sitting. I loved how it expanded the Witchlands. This world is so vast, I’m so so so happy every time we get to see more of it. This novella specifically had a ton of history. I really liked Ryber and all of the other characters. I probably would have binged the novella in one sitting, had this galley been the full story. I’m excited to know more about Ryber and to see her in the future of the series.