I want to say I really enjoyed this. But really, it just wasn't as good as Bloodwitch. Witchshadow has its high points, which had me reading right to the end.

This was a buddy read with Marguerite!

So, a brief review:

High points, and the things that I did enjoy
- I love Iseult and Aeduan. These two. Can't even.
- I did really like seeing Iseult's progress, and her process of character development (just as I enjoyed the others in the previous books - Aeduan is still my favourite). Her character has always interested me, especially as she's got a phenotype that I can relate to more than the bright Safi.
- I do still really love the world, and Dennard builds it further in this book. It's so much more complex now with Old Ones and Paladins.
- The relationships that are developed/developing are all wonderful.
- Safi's side of the story is intense, but I enjoyed seeing more of Caden, the Hell Bards as a whole, and most of Leopold.
- Prince Leopold has developed so much since the beginning, and now I'm really curious about his story.

Sort of low points
- I'm not usually one to complain about how long it takes me to recall a series when I jump into the sequel a year later. But this one begins really chaotically. And I was very confused initially about why Iseult was where she was, where was (my darling) Aeduan, why is Safi married, and where is Merik? But once I started treating this as a very connected 'standalone', it made it easier to settled into the story. And of course, I did live for the moments when Iseult encountered Aeduan again, among all the highlights mentioned above.
- While Merik and I have always been in the up and down, I will point out here that Merik doesn't appear at all but for 1-2 pages towards the end. Just in case you're looking for him.
- There's a lot of development happening in this book that somewhat makes it difficult to follow at times. Nonetheless, I did like the development, I dunno, I guess I was wanting something little more like Bloodwitch but in Iseult's style? Perhaps a little more pacing to just absorb the high moments - of which there were many!

Overall
I did still enjoy Witchshadow, even if it wasn't exactly what I expected!