The Witches Blade by. A.K. Mulford | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Witches’ Blade (The Five Crowns of Okrith, #2)

Author: A.K. Mulford

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 444

Publication Date: 11/02/21

Categories: Romance, Dark Fantasy, Fae, Witches, Fated Mates

A magic sword. A powerful curse. An untested fae princess.

Eighteen-year-old Ruadora Dammacus now possesses the Immortal Blade. But when Rua discovers the Northern King’s uncle is alive and has cast a spell on a blue witch army, she realizes that the battle is just beginning. 

Venturing into the Northern Court, Rua finds herself with an unlikely ally in the new King. Her problems are mounting, and the handsome King is only one of them. With the eyes of her newfound family on her, can Rua prove herself worthy of the Immortal Blade or will its magic be too powerful? Danger, intrigue, and thrilling passion ensues as Rua battles to break the witches’ curse. 

Enthralling and adrenaline-filled, The Witches’ Blade is the second book in the gripping high fantasy saga, The Five Crowns of Okrith.

I really enjoyed book one of this series and was curious to see how the sequel would go. Book one was Remy’s story and the sequel is about her younger sister Rua. The ending of book one really put Rua in a hard position. She feels guilt from not being quick enough to save her brother and now she possesses the Immortal Blade which infuses blood lust into her when she continues to use it. Rua feels like she is becoming a monster and is glad to be away from Remy, the sister she hardly knows.

This story goes harder than the first book meaning, Rua is damaged and she’s just trying to survive. She has trauma from what happened to her and her family as a child, then being raised by red witches who didn’t know how to give her affection, to now reuniting with her sister, just as they lost their brother. This story is emotional, dark, sad and yet it really does turn around in the end and hope comes shining through.

The romance between Rua and Renwick is a very slow burn but when they get together finally…whew…does it burn! There are a bunch of things going on in the book including Renwick trying to repair relations with the blue witches who his dad and uncle killed off or tortured. And Renwick is not innocent in the atrocities as well – he was once a part of them. Talk about trying to live with demons, trying to make things right and not knowing if it will ever be enough…that’s what Renwick is living with so he and Rua are alike in that sense. But Renwick grew on me the more we learned about him – and then by the end he was melting my heart along with Rua’s. I like that they had to work things out within themselves before actually trying to be together.

Bri is an amazing secondary character who was there in book one, now two and I hope book three is about her and her brother. She is a wonderful character but she has secrets as well. I love how LGBT+ is represented in this book and how natural it is in the world-building.

Speaking of world building, I loved how we learn about the blue witches and the atrocities that happened to them. It goes along with the darkness of Renwick and Rua’s emotions – the whole tone of this story was just darker than the first but I enjoyed it because it brought heavier emotions than book one did, it definitely delved into trauma and PTSD.

Content Warnings: addiction, violence, death, PTSD

Remy and Rua don’t get a real chance to get to know one another in this book. Remy is happy with Hale and life is good for her. Rua on the otherhand is dealing with some tough feelings and emotions. Thank goodness for Bri or else Rua would truly be lost, I think. I love that Bri was there for her in Rua’s darkest moments. Though I do hope Remy and Rua can reconnect again, I also know it’s realistic that it doesn’t happen right away after all the trauma they have been through.

This is a fated mates book and though I cringe when that part comes along, I think I enjoyed the way this was revealed more so than when it was revealed between Hale and Remy. That one was too much for me, but for Renwick and Rua…it was just right and didn’t make me cringe. I also appreciated the fact that Remy and Renwick gave each other space – I was actually wishing they were in more scenes together, but I get they needed space as well.

Why you should read it?

• you love fated mates trope
• you like a darker fantasy story where characters deal with trauma
• really consistent series so far

Why you might not want to read it?

• heavy, dark topics

My Thoughts:

This is a great sequel in what is a very consistent series so far and I’m enjoying the different couples and their romance stories plus their personal struggles as well. I love how the LGBT+ representation is so natural in the story and am looking forward to learning more about Bri and her love story – which amazing woman will win her beautiful heart? I look forward to reading book three!

📚 ~ Yolanda