Early Review/Letter: Warrior Witch by Danielle L. Jensen

Posted March 8, 2016 by Melissa in Uncategorized / 12 Comments

Hi everyone! Today I am going to do something different for my book review. I will share with you the letter/thoughts about Warrior Witch that I sent to Danielle L. Jensen after finishing Warrior Witch. I edited out spoilers so you don’t have to worry about that, I would NEVER spoil you because I know how much it hurts. Thank you for stopping by!
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Title: Warrior Witch
Series: The Malediction Trilogy #3
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Angry Robot Books
Publication Date:  May 3rd, 2016
Page Count:  426 pages
Format:  eARC
Source: From the author/publisher

Summary:
The thrilling conclusion to the breakout Malediction Trilogy by Goodreads Choice finalist Danielle L. Jensen. 

Cécile and Tristan have accomplished the impossible, but their greatest challenge remains: defeating the evil they have unleashed upon the world.

As they scramble for a way to protect the people of the Isle and liberate the trolls from their tyrant king, Cécile and Tristan must battle those who’d see them dead. To win, they will risk everything. And everyone.

But it might not be enough. Both Cécile and Tristan have debts, and they will be forced to pay them at a cost far greater than they had ever imagined.

………………


*The Reader’s Rating*
My rating: 5/5 stars
 *NOTE*
This letter/review below are my raw feels. I was a mess when I wrote these words back when I read Warrior Witch in December. I still am. I don’t know how I’ve managed to survive all on my own. With no one to talk to and no one to tell me that everything will be alright. Because when you finish a book, when you reach the end of your favorite series of all times, a chapter of your life closes when you close the last book.
And because I understand that my letter is REALLY long and I know some of you might not want to read it or maybe won’t have time to, I want to tell you all that Warrior Witch IS the ending that this amazing series deserves. The ending that completely destroys you and then fixes you. The ending that your heart will never forget. 
Get ready to go back to Trollus and Trianon. To love with all your might Tristan, Cécile, Marc, Vincent and Victoria. To cheer them on as they fight for their lives and the freedom of the half-bloods and humans alike. You will gasp, cry, laugh, swoon, hate and feel every single emotion inside Warrior Witch‘s pages. 
But if you ask me to tell you which book from The Malediction Trilogy is my favorite, I fear that I won’t be able to answer you. My heart loves them equally for separate reasons, but I will say this:
Stolen Songbird is like a dream. A surreal hidden world that’s frightening yet beautiful. 
Hidden Huntress is like waking up into a harsh and desperate reality. Enticing and unforgettable.
But Warrior Witch goes beyond the unimaginable. It’s the very reason why epic fantasy exists.
Enjoy. ♥
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Letter to Danielle L. Jensen about Warrior Witch
From: melissa
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 2015 
Subject: A letter.
To: danielleljensen
Dear Danielle, 
First of all, I want to thank you again for letting me beta read. You can’t even begin to imagine how honored I feel, how you granted me the best gift a reader could get from her favorite author. I seriously feel blessed. Warrior Witch will forever be a book that I will hold dear in my heart for I feel that there’s a little bit of me in it. Believe me, although I may not be the greatest beta reader out there, I poured my heart and soul into the task. Again, thank you for granting me this (what I thought to be) unreachable dream. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For everything. For writing this series. For being as awesome as you are. For breaking my heart. For making me cry. For all the laughs and swoons and feels. For my favorite book boyfriend. For the bestest of fictional friends. Thank you.
Warrior Witch is undoubtedly one of the best series endings that I’ve ever read. I’m still stunned by everything I went through in these 426 pages. There’s not a single dull moment for it is action-packed and full of surprises in every corner. I lost count of all the oh my gods I promised to keep track because they all kept on coming one after the other. It is realistic, it is cruel, it is heart-breaking, but also inspiring, exciting and amazingly full of heart. 
After reading Hidden Huntress and before reading Warrior Witch, I didn’t really know what to expect. My mind couldn’t come up with good theories because the possibilities were endless and I knew that I wouldn’t come even close to what you would come up with. And I was right. Nothing came close to what I thought would happen, so everything was a shock-full of both terrible and fascinating surprises.
Sometimes, one must become the unimaginable… I don’t think you could have chosen a better tagline for Warrior Witch. This sentence stands for everything and everyone. For Cécile. For Tristan. For Thibault. Even for Angoulême and Roland. I have no words for how impressed I am with the complexity of every character you brought to life in your books. Some things I never would have guessed until you threw some hints, and some, well, let’s just say that stilled my heart once the truth came out. 
I love all your characters. ALL OF THEM. The good, the bad, the questionable ones. I wish I could keep them all safe in a jar away from your grasp. Although I’m a little bit late for that, right?
Tristan: My love, my heart. It’s because of characters like him that make me shy away from real boyfriends. I saw the good and the bad of him in Warrior Witch, some things less than attractive, but impossibly as I thought it would be, I fell deeper in love with him. I thank you for showing us all sides of him. I felt him all the more real knowing more about his vulnerable side. I had never felt his love for Cécile as much as I did in this book. 
So maybe Warrior Witch isn’t full of scenes in which we see Tristan and Cécile freely show their love for each other, but it’s there. In every thought, between words, before and after every page break. You know.
Cécile is a heroine. She sacrifices herself so much in this book that there’s no way she could ever be called a damsel in distress. Her pain was my pain, her joy was my joy. I felt her and supported her all the way. I admire her. I begrudgingly accept that if it’s not me the one to have Tristan’s heart, then it always needs to be her. Forever.
Marc was valiant and amazing as always. If I didn’t love Tristan as much as I do, Marc would have been the guy for me. He amazed me til the very end! 

The same goes to Sabine. I love how Tristan refers to her as his co-conspirator because it’s true. They couldn’t have done it without her, for her strength and quick thinking. She’s more than amazing.

This brings me to mention Chris. I never would have thought he would develop a strong friendship with Tristan. It’s the best bromance I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Their banter made me smile and laugh constantly. “Pretty faced bastard”, I so loved it. Chris is one of the best supporting characters ever.
The twins. Oh gosh, what would I have done without them keeping the heaviness at bay with their pranks and “alliteratives”? I so loved how they would casually mention why certain prank would work, usually because they were the very ones they played on Tristan and Anaïs. It made me want know more about their past, before Cécile and all. That’s why it was so great to how you used those Tristan moments to throw in some flashbacks. So grateful for that. 
King Thibault was one character I’ve been secretly loving for some time, since the beginning of Hidden Huntress when he avoided to give a straight answer to Roland that he would become king. He’s evil and cruel, a master in deceits, but a true genius. 
Roland. ROLAND. So wicked and MAD. This small boy truly frightened me throughout the whole series and in this book… wow. And speaking about evil characters, Angoulême and Lessa got what they deserved, but they were great antagonists. Lessa turned out to be the worse of the two, but Angoulême was also plain evil. I seriously liked how you tied loose ends with both of them!

Oh, but the ending. The ending, Danielle!! I think my videos expressed well my feelings about it. I wasn’t supposed to ugly cry in front of you, but you fell asleep and I had no one to talk to about it. I am a bit sorry for my feels taking over my words. It’s just that I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this ending. I’m still crying about it in this very moment. I’m fairly sure you have at least 20 full jars with just my tears, imagine how rich you’ll be when everyone else reads it?
But thank you for this ending. I think you stayed true to the story and this is how it was meant to be. There’s nothing better than an honest story, and you delivered that. Well done. And you gave us what we all wanted. How did you manage this?! 
Also, THAT SONG. Never again while I relate it to that iconic thing it represents. This is Cécile and Tristan now. I will imagine myself as Cécile while singing it from now on. And you bet I will cry! 
A lot of things happen in these 426 pages. So much that I must once again say how impressed I am with you. You gave us something epic, one big adventure full of many heart-stopping moments. This is the kind of book that demands to be read over and over again. The Malediction Trilogy IS the kind of series that MUST be read over and over again. And I will never tire of saying this.
There might be so many other readers out there who love your books as much as I do, maybe even more because it’s hard to not love them, but I must tell you that I love them with all my might. So much. They mean the world to me and I thank my lucky stars that Strange Chemistry accepted my request to review it on that fateful day. It was my first approval as a reviewer. But I didn’t know Stolen Songbird would consume me as much as it did. My first ugly crying  was with Stolen Songbird and it ends with me ugly crying with Warrior Witch. In a twisted sense of humour, I think that was the perfect way for me to say goodbye to my favorite world. 
Long live Trollus!
Much love, 
Your reader ♥
Giveaway!

Wow, you reached the ending of my super long letter! To make it up to you, I have a small giveaway. Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win a signed copy of Warrior Witch by Danielle L. Jensen plus a set of The Malediction Trilogy bookmarks!
Note: Signed copy will be mailed after I receive it from the author. If it’s not mailed before release day I’ll also include an ecopy! 
And BIG thanks to Danielle L. Jensen for providing the copy. ♥
This is OPEN INTERNATIONAL. Good luck and thanks for reading!♥♥♥


12 responses to “Early Review/Letter: Warrior Witch by Danielle L. Jensen

  1. I know you have always been a BIG (if not the biggest) fan of this trilogy, what I didn't know was that you beta read this one! How cool!! 😀 Your letter is lovely, I'm pretty sure it made the author's day! Thanks for sharing it with us, your enthusiasm and love for this Trilogy is simply amazing 🙂 x

  2. I'm so curious about King Thibault! And I can't wait to see Angoulême and Lessa get what they deserve. I think it will be most satisfying since they have been horrible!

    This is so so sweet Melissa!! I'm so happy I met you and Danielle and got to know you two through this trilogy! You guys are absolutely amazing <3 <3

    • DYING to know what you think about Warrior Witch. I'm basically stalking your feed. And I love how I've made so many amazing friends like you thanks to this series. ❤❤❤❤❤

  3. Wow that's so amazing that you got to beta read a book from one of your favorite authors!! I still have yet to read the first book but I made it one of the books I REALLY want to get to before this year ends. The covers are stunningly gorgeous. Probably one of my favorite covers ever. I'm really happy you enjoyed the last book. Often times, the last book in a series is my least favorite 😐

    ~Karina @ A Reader Under The Sea

  4. I can't wait to see how this series ends! I'm dying to see how things play out for all the characters especially with that cliffhanger in Hidden Huntress.

  5. Lis

    Oh this makes me want to read the first book so badly! I'm adding to the top of my TBR now!
    I want to meet your prince, soon 🙂

  6. Reading your letter to Danielle makes my heart feels awfully tight again. I can strongly feel your words, as someone who have just finished WW as well. Thank you for being with me during my breakdown.

    PS, I think I'm becoming a masochist too. I listened to THAT song, and watched videos for minutes. And cried. I was crazy. LOOOOL

  7. I'm adding Stolen Songbird to my 'must buy now' list based on that! I'm so happy that you've loved these books so much, and I'm so glad the last one was so wonderful for you! I understand what an emotional wreck these things make of us! *hugs*

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