Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for the ARC of this book!

I'm happy to report that once again we've been blessed with a culturally rich YA fantasy that explores power and revenge and the morally grey area of heroes and villains.

The story follows Jazmyne and Iraya, two girls from different orders who are sworn enemies. They entire into a precarious alliance to thwart a threat to both of them, but along the way they have to face the fact that nothing is as it seems and test exactly how far they're willing to go.

Admittedly, it did take me a bit to get into this book. The beginning is very info heavy and it took me a minute to get used to the world and the history of the two orders. Once I did though, I have to say it was one of my favorite parts of the book. It's a Jamaican-inspired fantasy, and the history of the island and the magic systems are so interesting to read.

The story is action-packed and exciting, with gasp-worthy reveals in some parts and a story that leaves you really thinking about how we write the villains in our narratives, and how we might be someone else's villain. The truce between Ira and Jaz is so precarious and shaky and I loved reading it.

Drenched in politics, social injustices, and ancestral magic, WITCHES STEEPED IN GOLD is a broad and complex narrative. This Jamaican-inspired fantasy is told in turns between two main characters. Jazmyne Cariot is an Alumbrar witch and successor to Doyenne Judair Cariot of the island Aiyca. Driven by her desire to bring back justice to her people, Jazmyne is one of the key minds leading a rebellion to overthrow her mother. Iraya Adair is an Obeah witch, rightful heir to the Aiycan throne, fueled by her newly awakened naevus and desire to avenge her family. Reluctantly, these two witches dared the Shook Bargain to eradicate their shared enemy.

Ciannon Smart created a world where magical power is a birthright, while deception and betrayal are must-learn skills. The large volume of details slowed the pace down, allowing the reader to absorb the intents and atmosphere of the storytelling. The distortion of good and evil towards the end of the narrative stretches the notion that good intentions can very well be poison. And while the plot is focused on the characters’ development and magical system, both fully realized and vivid, Smart’s intention to enlighten readers on Jamaican culture and feminism is not lost.

WITCHES STEEPED IN GOLD is a promising opening for an intense fantasy series. This is recommended for readers who enjoy rich world-building and unpredictable characters.

This YA Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut story about two enemy witches joining forces and working together to seek revenge on a very powerful common foe was so thrilling to read. The world was so rife with radiant Jamaican-inspired folklore, imagery, magic and-- what I appreciate the most-- Patwah! Reading this lush and action pact vengeance filled book was so much fun, but I think what I enjoyed the most was researching and learning more about the Gods that play a role in this story and all the Patwah words as I read. I loved this first book & am so eager to read book two! Would highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children Books for this eARC of Witches Steeped in Gold in exchange for an honest review.

This Jamaican-inspired debut fantasy from Ciannon Smart was one of my most anticipated releases for 2021 and it did not disappoint. The world is richly imagined and vivid and I feel such joy for the countless Jamaican readers who will get to see parts of their culture published in such a highlighted and respected manner. Truly, I think the setting and overall world building should be celebrated, because it felt like a key feature for the story. The landscape and why certain areas were coveted and the significance of different elements, added to the lushness of the society. The introduction and explanation of Obeah was also an important aspect, since this is a an important part of Jamaican culture, as highlighted by OwnVoices reviewers.

When the synopsis stated this book was riddled with vengeance and revenge it certainly was not kidding. I felt like I had whiplash trying to assess and reassess the characters actions, in-actions and motivations and I must admit I made a few wrong assumptions along the way. At times it did feel like some characters were engaging in actions for shock value, and that it slightly negated the character traits that the author presented them with. I wouldn't say this was a huge deal, but at times it did pull me out of the story a bit.

Let's talk about the the pacing for a moment. In certain instances if felt off, like many books, this one starts off rather strong and also ends with a bang but the middle is lagging in clarity. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however I feel like many of the explosive reveals and intense action sequences could have been layered throughout creating more cohesion. Instead, I felt my engagement lacking in the middle and I had to push myself a bit, because there wasn't a lot holding my attention to the story, minus my general interest in the characters. On the topic of characters, morally grey characters are my jam and I very much enjoyed the dichotomy of Jazmyne and Ira's personalities. I like that this book explored the world in shades of grey, because to me that is how things really are, neither what or black, but the multitude of shades in-between.

The ending was captivating and really helped to add a finality to this book, while setting a good stage for subsequent events in the sequel. I'm very intrigued to see what happens next in this world, because clearly we are only on the tip of the iceberg and I keen to see what happens now that more characters are in play.

"Spending a lifetime pinned, like a butterfly to a board, seems like a waste when I was made to fly."

I wish I had something deep and meaningful to say about how much I enjoyed this book, but brain empty after this. Ciannon crafted such a wonderful book. The worldbuilding was next level. I mean Jamaican-inspired fantasy!!! Here are some highlights:

- Names have power and meaning
- Fantasy where the romance isn't the forefront (everything is more important to the mc's)
- A moment in part 3 very akin to Thanos’ "I don’t even know who you are"
- Are the presumed dead actually dead?
- Samson and Delilah
- Big lizards
- Bargains and loopholes
- Constant threats
- Major burns (literally and figuratively)
- I want a man with swords now, possibly even a pirate

It's Team Ira over here. 24/7. All day long. I cannot wait until my physical book gets here, so run out and get this book y'all. It's a must! This is fantasy. Black women have really been doing the thing.

This was the sort of book which I really wanted to like but just didn't gel for me. I appreciated the use of Jamaican culture, and the worldbuilding was clearly a priority as it felt rich and extremely detailed. (Sometimes too detailed, though? Most of the terminology isn't explained as much as it's meant to be inferred, and new vocabulary and concepts continue to be introduced throughout the book, making it a bit unwieldy to keep up with.) Overall, it seemed overly long to me, with the story not really pick up the pace until around the halfway point, and the characterization and relationships to be somewhat lacking - Jazmyne's sister, for example, is meant to have inspired her to action, but there's barely any mention of her actual personality and certain very fascinating-sounding parts of her life are only hinted at.

I'm certain this will find its readers - and based on other reviews already has! - but maybe I'm just not enough of an epic fantasy lover for it.

Thank you Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for sending me a digital copy to review.

This was a 3.5 star read for me.

Things I like/didn't like:
Liked:
*The cover is gorgeous
*Unique worldbuilding, Jamaican influenced folklore
*Two strong, ambitiously scheming witches!
*Good use of morally gray characters
*I liked the slang and different terms that were used to describe certain things or events but perhaps a guide to refer back to would have helped as I had to search back for what certain things meant (some reviewers mention using a Jamaican dictionary which I think is a fun way to add to the reading experience)
*I enjoyed the subplot with the pirates and was intrigued with that storyline

Didn't like:
*A lot of action didn’t happen until the last 1/3 of the story, I was abit bored as nothing was really transfixing me to the plot
*Magic system was a bit confusing
*Not enough difference between the two main characters POV (Jazmyne and Iraya), I often forgot who’s POV I was reading from (more so near the beginning)
*The motives for the characters didn’t match up with how they acted at the end of the story
*The romance fell flat for me, it should have been more defined or it would have been fine with me if there had been no romance.

This was an interesting debut novel and curious about where the story will go!

Here's what you need to know:
- Jamaican-inspired fantasy
- Intricate and lush magic systems and lore
- Nemeses forced together to combat a common enemy
- Breakneck pacing and a twisty, gnarly plot
- Witcheswitcheswitcheswitcheswitches!!!!!!

That is what you'll encounter when you immerse yourself into Ciannon Smart's atmospheric, gripping, and cutthroat debut novel, 'Witches Steeped in Gold.'
For fans of Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone, J. Elle's Wings of Ebony, Namina Forna's The Gilded Ones, and Roseanne A. Brown's A Song of Wraiths and Ruin! These are the PREMIER voices in YA Fantasy right now! I HIGHLY recommend picking up EACH of these tremendous novels!
Description and Summary:
This Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut about two enemy witches who must enter into a deadly alliance to take down a common enemy has the twisted cat-and-mouse of Killing Eve with the richly imagined fantasy world of Furyborn and Ember in the Ashes.

Divided by their order. United by their vengeance.

Iraya has spent her life in a cell, but every day brings her closer to freedom—and vengeance.

Jazmyne is the Queen’s daughter, but unlike her sister before her, she has no intention of dying to strengthen her mother’s power.

Sworn enemies, these two witches enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat. But power is intoxicating, revenge is a bloody pursuit, and nothing is certain—except the lengths they will go to win this game.

"A thundering waterfall of magic, vengeance and intrigue." —Samantha Shannon, New York Times & Sunday Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree and The Bone Season.

This was an absolutely outstanding debut! From the worldbuilding and characters to the lore and magic system, I thought every aspect of this story was perfectly intricate and intriguing! I loved the dual POVs and each voice felt very unique throughout the entire novel. I was never confused as to who I was reading or when. Breathtaking debut, and I cannot wait to see where this story goes from here!

4.5 stars and I rounded up.

...

Divided by their order. United by their vengeance.

In this Jamaican inspired fantasy, we follow the dual POV of Iraya, who has spent her life in a cell waiting for her moment to take revenge, and Jazmyne, daughter of a cruel Queen, who refuses to follow her sister to her grave. But the road to their desires is filled with twists and turns and at some point, these witches paths must meet.

...

I don’t know about y’all but from the moment this book was brought to my attention I was trying to get in this action. Jamaican inspired fantasy???? Say less. And I’m VERY happy to say that it was an absolute BANGER!!! Ciannon drops us in a world at its tipping point. In very few chapters we go from a brisk walk, to a light jog, to a dead sprint. Even the moments where we are given time to catch our breaths are filled with a delightful tension, or a terrifying one. Danger is around every corner in this plot that demands your attention and I really, r e a l l y enjoyed it.

Now there are are definitely parts where I struggled. The world we are given has a LOT of history. We are given POV from opposite sides, each with their own magic systems, lore, and customs. Within each POV we get a lot of terms, lessons, and cultures thrown at us and while they are essentially two sides of the same coin and often feed off of one another, their are still differences vast enough that you kind of wish you had a textbook on hand to help guide you through. The plot is intense, the magic somewhat even more so, and it’s a lot to focus and retain both, especially since the pace keeps picking up and the stakes are so high. Basically, I focused all of my attention to the characters, story, and motivations, but my retaining my knowledge of the magic and lore fell to the wayside the further I got, which turned out to be a big issue at times because the magic is VERY HEAVILY engrained in the plot.

I hope this makes sense.

BUT!

That was okay! At least for me!!

Usually, missing out on special terms and magic and all might come across as a huge drawback. But for me, I’m more of a character/plot driven story person, so if the characters shine, which they did, and the plot slaps, which it did, then that is MORE than enough to keep me going. My goodreads history of this novel shows it took a long time, and that’s mostly due to personal issues. I wanted to pause and give this book the attention it deserved and well………….it was worth the wait.

And really, I can’t wait to actually have my physical copy instead of the digital arc, because it’ll be easier to flip back and forth, annotate, and keep better track of what I’m learning about the systems. Also, I’m hoping there’ll be an appendix at the end to help me finally put everything together the way the author desired. Also, I just want to hug and hold it, lol.

What a beautiful fantastical representation of my beautiful fantastic island of Jamaica. Thanks so much to Ciannon Smart, Epic Reads, and Netgalley for my copy. IT DROPS TOMORROW, 4/20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUY IT!

Now to keep it together until book two.

Trust no witch indeed.

…

TW: genocide, body horror, violent action sequences, references to assault

A lush fantasy rich in Jamaican influence. Magic, witches, revenge... what more could you want? The audiobook narrators are intoxicating to listen to. I highly recommend this book.

I received a copy from NetGalley and the audiobook from Libro.fm

Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! The atmosphere, the magic, the beautiful characters and story! It had it all! This is another book I look forward to purchasing the physical copy of. I am so thankful for netgalley for sending me this for in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I can't wait to read more of this author's work!

Finding Caribbean or Caribbean-inspired fantasy is always just... such a gem. The Jamaican influence here is so visible, and even just reading something as simple as the protagonist grumbling about her island, and realizing she meant an island much like mine, brought an absurd amount of joy and layers to my reading experience.

I really enjoyed this one. YA fantasy has a tendency to be formulaic, but this one has just enough to it where it could claw out of that trap. Morally grey girls who toe the line between hero and villain? Witches? Political intrigue? VENGEANCE? It's a fast-paced, incredibly well executed and morally complex romp. It was definitely a page-turner for me, and an overall excellent debut (can we talk about how good debuts have been this year?!). Definitely, if you like YA, check this one out.

This fantasy debut from Ciannon Smart was an interesting read for me. The imagery, rich writing, and character portrayals were all excellently done. The two main characters are fighters with convictions and stories that deserve to be told, without a doubt. The folklore and mystery enveloping this story was entertaining and made the Jamaican island setting feel alive. The premise of the plot was promising and intriguing. These two girls figuring out together what a hero is versus what a villain is, who is which, and how they can overcome either/or are qualities in which good YA stories are told.

However, even with all those positives, the development of the plot left me a little bored unfortunately. It took me several days to read up to 35% of this book which is a big indicator of my investment. It was very slow that I almost gave up on it. The plot does pick up and gets rather twisty and more developed rather than the abundant details without much movement in the beginning.

Overall, this is a smart, entertaining YA fantasy debut and I'm glad to have read it. It's unique and the two main female characters are warriors, each in their own right - which is something I always want to support. I look forward to the next book in the series.

DNF at 30%

I’ve been looking for a great diverse read and had high hopes that it would be Witches Steeped in Gold but sadly, it wasn’t. I rarely DNF books but this wasn’t working for me.

The unfamiliar words although interesting to read at first became difficult to follow and also add names and places without providing context to who’s who and what’s what to the mix. Sentence structure was also different from what I am used to, I had to read some pages over and over again to try to understand - I had no idea what was going on most of the time. The alternating POV’s did not work for me either as the characters are very similar, and at 30% I still wasn’t invested in any of the characters.

I read an ARC so it is possible that the finished copy has a different sentence structure. I might still give this a try in the future but for now I would say that Witches Steeped in Gold wasn’t for me.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me an E-ARC to review.

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart is a Jamaican-inspired fantasy that follows two enemy witches who enter into a dangerous and deadly alliance to take down their common enemy.

Iraya has spent years in a cell, but she plans escape and she vows vengeance on those who killed her family. Jazmyne is the daughter of the queen, but she disapproves of how she rules and plans to put a stop to it. The two must make this alliance work, but power and revenge are dangerous things.

Smart has written a rich and absorbing story. I love it. I eagerly await the sequel.

A great book to match a beautiful cover. In this book we follow 2 main protagonists who both want revenge. They end up thrown together but everyone has there motives and secrets. The characters in this book are so fun! You don't know who to trust or who's really working with who. The allies for a complicated web and secret after secret is slowly revealed. The distrust you have of each character makes it so you can't stop reading. The plot moves at a good pace and is sprinkled with lore and background for all of the main and side characters.
The magic system has a lot of components such as conduits, guzzus, relics, and dolls. There are very little constraints to what a witch can do and I struggled to make it all connect but each piece was intriguing. I also struggled a bit with the action and timeline which seemed to jump around without warning making it hard to follow at times.
There were wonderfully surprising character choices at the end of the book and this is definitely set up for book 2 without feeling incomplete. I really enjoyed this read and will be picking up the sequels without a doubt.

Actual star rating is 3.75!!!
I had a little bit of difficulty getting into this book because there is a lot of world building in the beginning and not a lot of character dialogue which made the first 50-75% of the book slow for me. However, the authors writing style is great and the last 20% of the book blew my mind! I love that we are shown both sides of a "war" and that almost every character is morally grey.
I will definitely be picking up book two and I would recommend this to fans of YA fantasy! (Just go into it knowing the beginning is a little slower with a lot of world building and introduction)
I have posted a more detailed but still spoiler free review on my website!

I knew this would be epic the moment I picked it up. Ciannon is which a brilliant writer!!!! I absolutely adored the morally Grey characters which I wasn’t expecting upon reading this!! I cannot wait until the sequel is released. This is a must read for everyone!

Daughter of the Queen and next in line to rule as doyenne of the island of Aiyca, 17-year-old Jazmyne Cariot is a witch of the Alumbrar order, and unlike her sister, she refuses to die in order to strengthen her mother’s power. After spending ten years in a cell, 18-year-old Obeah witch Iraya Adair is the newly freed and rightful heir to the Aiycan throne, seeking vengeance on those responsible for her downfall. Despite having every reason to hate one another, these two enemy witches join forces to defeat a common foe—and they might just succeed, if they don’t betray each other first.

Ciannon Smart’s Jamaican-inspired YA fantasy is an empowering, deliciously complex debut. As an avid fan of antagonistic character dynamics, I loved witnessing the precarious alliance between Jazmyne and Iraya develop over time. Smart deftly explores the differing perspectives between their two factions, and how notions of morality can change depending on who is telling the story. Both heroines walk the line between hero and villain in a way that will capture readers from the very start. Moreover, the worldbuilding is intricate and lush, featuring a matriarchal social order imbued with an intriguing magic system and cutthroat politics; I was especially entranced by the history of Aiyca as an island nation. All in all, Witches Steeped in Gold is perfect for fans of high-octane fantasy, thrilling twists, and complicated characters.

(Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)