Review of Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

This is a low spice, low stakes romantasy with a “hurt him and you die” witch queen. Absolutely feminist in the delivery of the plot which may take some time to get used to if you read a lot of books in the romantasy genre. Our main female character Witch Queen Saskia has come through an abusive childhood and is determined to protect everyone in her castle. That includes a man (Fabian) who arrives there seeking asylum (also from abuse) but ends up being hired as the Castle Librarian under false pretenses instead. Readers know from the start that Fabian is actually Saskia’s arch-nemisis Archduke Felix but the Queen is wholly unaware.

I love the ogre butler and troll housekeeper, and I especially love the crow familiar. And much to my surprise,  I also like Fabian as well as his fountain pen obsession. What I didn’t enjoy were the Queen Allies and the obviousness of the villains. We had clear revelation on who the villains were and there was never any subterfuge or mystery to figure out. Something else I wasn’t fond of was that at some point we learn that Saskia is actually a “wicked” witch but we never see it. She is fiercely loyal and doesn’t take any flack from anyone but she is not wicked. Maybe that is the point of Burgis’ title…sarcasm. Saskia might only be wicked because that’s what her evil Uncle has led everyone to believe. But I do wish the politics of the world - and why we are meant to believe that the Archduke has enacted policies that have angered all the magical beings - had been flushed out more thoroughly.

If you like House Witch by Delemhach, I think you’d love this. And if you love this but haven’t read House Witch, then I suggest you try reading it!

Thank you to Stephanie Burgis, Macmillan Audio, and Neutrally for the ARC copy.