Witchmark caught me off-guard with how deceptively charming it was. What seemed to be a simple murder mystery quickly unravels to become something more, something connected with a much larger plot- one which can see a country unravel and erupt. It’s really just a beautiful book and I enjoyed every moment of it. Witchmark is an excellent book, please read it. It’s a magical murder mystery with gays and possibly inciting nearly changing an entire country by exposing a terrible system. If you don’t want spoilers, I’ll just say this very good and if you like witches, family drama, and Victorian-Edwardian era type settings, this is for you.

I don’t think I’ll be able to write this review properly without spoilers so there will be spoilers after this point.

Witchmark is a Gaslamp Fantasy set in this universe’s equivalent of the late Victorian to Edwardian era. There’s also an in-universe equivalent of WWI- albeit, with vastly different causes. Here, everything is powered by aether which is basically magic and this, along with the mages who control Aeland’s weather are the reason for its prosperity.

I originally titled this review “Progress Written in Blood” because that’s what this book is essentially about. If you’re the wrong type of mage from a high-born family, you get to become a living battery for the Storm-Singers to enhance their power. These Storm-Singers are so prized because of how they control Aeland’s weather. Meanwhile, their Secondaries are good as slaves so it’s a fate Miles tried desperately to avoid- to the point of running away to the army and faking his own death. Unfortunately, things aren’t that simple and when one of his patients die, he is caught up in a plot bigger than what it seems at first glance.

Miles is such a fascinating, complex character. He’s a veteran of the war and works in a veteran’s hospital. The way he cares for his patients is really nice to read about and I love how he doesn’t abandon them, no matter what happens. While he strives to distance himself from his family as much as he could and actively avoids highborn society, he’s still very much a product of his upbringing and believed that there was a difference between the mostly-poor witches and the highborn wealthy mages. It takes the arrival of a strange man, Tristan Hunter for him to challenge these assumptions and find out harsh truths about the society he lives in.

The truth was- it wasn’t true that poor witches inevitably go mad. It was all a lie so that they could be sent to asylums where they could be used, so that their souls could power Aeland. It was a monstrous secret and one which was abhorrent to all. It portrays the horror of what people are willing to do in the name of “progress”. This even connects directly to the war which has been affecting soldiers who then go on killing sprees. Honestly, Witchmark has this potent blend of mystery, politics, family drama, and the slow slide to a possible revolution or another war.

Freedom is a huge theme in this book. Throughout the story, Miles constantly reiterates his desire for freedom and it does get constantly undermined by his family and the greater society he lives in. This personal desire can then be seen in the larger context of the novel- that of the poorer witches, the ones who weren’t born to aristocracy and thus doomed to the asylums. They too, deserve freedom and to know that their gifts aren’t useless because they aren’t ‘mages’ or Storm-Singers.

There’s also a hefty amount of family drama in this book in part due to Grace, Miles’ sister and the person he was supposed to be a Secondary to. While Miles does love Grace as his sister, there’s always that undercurrent of resentment in their interactions as Grace is the prodigy, the favorite child. Their relationship is complex and while there are a lot of things that happen in this book which makes Grace not exactly a good person, she does have a lot of moral complexity to her which I appreciated. I really would like to see her redeem herself for her actions more in the next book.

I enjoyed the romance between Miles and Tristan. It’s kind of an instant attraction thing followed by a slow-ish burn as they try to solve the murder mystery. I also liked that despite who-or what Tristan is, that doesn’t really play a part in their relationship. They were together because they got to know each other enough to know that they like each other and wanted to be in a relationship. It was very cute and heartwarming.

Overall, Witchmark is a charming book which eases you into the larger context of its world and the implications which surround it. Highly recommended.