The Witch King is an #ownvoices YA contemporary fantasy featuring a trans MC, who is a witch born to a fae family and mated to a fae prince. The story involves politicking about whether he’ll marry the prince and ascend to the throne in a kingdom where tensions are bubbling below the surface. 

I loved some of the characters and the author’s note about how writing this was healing for him really came across in his depiction of Wyatt. However, I thought the worldbuilding was pretty thin and most of the side characters were underdeveloped. 

Some other things were just not my taste — cringey dialogue, references to real-world things like Starbucks and McDonalds, the fated mates trope, and inconsistent pacing. The big mystery was revealed in a sorta cartoonish way that felt disconnected from some of the subplots in the story. Even though it’s YA, I thought the author could have explored the themes in the book with a bit more subtlety. 

Despite those complaints, this was an enjoyable read and really fun to do as a buddy read! I’m not sure yet if I’ll pick up book 2 but I’m glad I read this one.