Thank you to NetGalley and HaperCollins for the ARC of this book.

Most of the book was more of a 3/3.5 stars for me but the ending really picked up. It is a well thought out and intricate world and I hope the full published versions have at least a glossary and a map would be nice as well; I found myself wanting a reference for many of the terms to keep them straight. There is a lot of background and a lot of building for much of the book before the action really picks up. I wasn't completely bored by it but it wasn't completely captivating either - I didn't mind setting it down but I didn't hate picking it up either. The ending has me ready to read the next book in the series. I also think this could be done really well as a movie or tv series. ( )

When the enemy of your enemy is your enemy to be, everything's gonna end up crashing down in the end. ( )

With a lot of fantasy novels that I read, I find the first book in the series can move quite slowly at times due to the world building. This book was no different, there were parts of the book where I did not want to put it down and there were parts of the book where I was hoping the author would just get to the point. I am hopeful that book #2 Empress Crowned in Red will move at a quicker pace and jump right back into the story where we left off. ( )

2.5 stars

I was disappointed in this book. The premise sounded really cool: a story of begrudging allies, betrayals and magic, but it wasn’t that??

This world was complex, there were magic orders, lizard familiars, longstanding feuds and it really had a Jamaican atmosphere to it. I liked how the two groups had opposing ideas about magic and neither of them was right. However, it was so complex that it took me well over hundred pages to understand it. Especially the beginning was very confusing.
It was made more confusing by the writing style. A lot of sentences were just wordy and complex to read, as if a third of the words were replaced by a synonym from the thesaurus.

Jazmyne and Ira both had interesting character arcs and I liked how they developed in opposite directions, but the book was too slow to make me care for either of them? They barely interact as well, which I found disappointing, and both their romances were terrible.
I liked some of the twists, (not all of them made sense). Some books that are advertised as such are very predictable, but this one wasn’t. It’s a shame that they were saved for what felt like the last few pages.

I do want a lizard familiar though. ( )

Firstly, let’s talk about the cover. It’s absolutely stunning and perfectly presents what the novel is about—two witches Iraya and Jazmyne, despite being divided by their castes, enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat.

The Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut novel was one of my most anticipated books of 2021. The author’s writing style brought this story to life with its incredible details, magical and strong female characters and most importantly brilliant worldbuilding.

In spite of this, I was not able to connect and immerse myself in this read. I found it overly detailed (ugh, info dumps are the worst!), confusing and hard to keep track of who was who. There were a large number of characters who had strong connections to Ira and Jazmyne, and background stories of their own. Also, if you’re a reader looking for something fast paced, this is not the one for you. It was terribly slow moving and oftentimes, I did skim a little to find more engaging scenes that peak my interest but overall, it didn’t help improve my reading experience.

‘Witches Steeped in Gold’ can be categorized as a hit or miss for readers due to it’s info dumps, large quantity of characters, very very slow pacing along with rich world-building.

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