2024~4 and X2-6. The Black Witch

Warning: The first book will suck you in and then leave you hanging at the end, such that not reading the next three in the series, the prequel, and the parallel book with the backstory for one of the characters feel inevitable. 

Second warning: Despite being drawn in and reading not just the four books released in the series, but the other 2 related books, you will still be left hanging as the fifth book in the series is not slated to be released until January 2025!  You will wonder, is this another Outlander series where I will be living in an alternative world for months on end and left without a conclusion for years at a time?

So, here I am.  This not-so-young adult fiction set in a world of magical fantasy where factions of humans and other creatures, big surprise, do not get along.  What I love about this series is, unlike many fantasy worlds, none of the factions are all good or all bad.  Sort of like real life where every country and culture has some--or a lot--of problematic aspect, but also those same problematic people have some wonderful customs, values, and people.  The story is all about how we collectively villainize people collectively across borders, but also how we oppress people in our communities who do not comply with societal expectations.  Just when I got comfortable hating a particular group, the point of view would shift and it was revealed that all was not what was presented.  There are multiple unreliable narrators here, reminding the reader of the complexity of cross-cultural understanding. 

I loved the character growth and revelations, as the depth of many of the characters and their secrets are slowly divulged.  I also particularly love that even though there are strings of romance that are both sweet and a little titillating, these are not simplistic young adult romances of my youth.  For characters to have multiple love interests, be unclear who they love, what they want, and whether that should even be important in the context of a world at war is so unusual in a novel, let alone one in this genre. 

Be aware, this is a war novel, with a lot of pain and violence.  There is sexual and domestic violence, torture, and brutal combat scenes.  This was sometimes too detailed and went on for too long for my taste, but on the other hand much of it is steeped in the magic of the world and these scenes provide additional information about what is possible in ways that foreshadow other uses of the magic, so I can't say that it is entirely gratuitous.
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Recommend. 

P.S.  I am aware now of the backlash against this book as being written by a white (straight?) author about discrimination since there is a lot of very offensive language and themes that mirrors language used by Nazi and KKK groups.  I have to wonder if folks who had that criticism read the series because one of the things I liked about the book was how it starts each thread of the a person's story with how they were raised, including their xenophobic and patriotic indoctrination, and shows how they do or do not grow over time as they are exposed to various hardships in their life.  Some become entrenched in bigotry, while others resist the extremism and embrace love.  I don't know how you tell this type of story without writing about what that looks like. 

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