Our protagonist Sir Christopher Hensley goes by the alias Miles Singer, in order to escape his discovery and continue living a mundane life as a psychiatrist in a veteran’s hospital. His country has been at war; one which Miles has seen first-hand. He went to war to escape his destiny as Sir Christopher, but when he returned home, he couldn’t leave his past behind. When his patients start murdering their families, Miles has to quickly discover what is truly hiding within the veterans who have returned from war, and how he can cure it, quickly!
Miles is a witch. As the son of a high-ranking Minister and the brother of the woman running for Voice, Miles is assumed to dedicate his life and his powers to his family. However, Miles has better uses for his affinity of healing and his smarts as a doctor. Instead of binding himself to his sister and becoming a Secondary, Miles changes his name, escapes to the war and then starts working with the veterans who have returned with demons, just like him.
The setting in this novel was very reminiscent of Edwardian England and post-world war. It was a fun steam punk meets Oliver Twist setting, with a dash of political intrigue. Polk describes her characters and the atmosphere magically.
This book was very enjoyable, however, I believe it could have been more enjoyable if the world was further explained to the reader. From the beginning, the reader is aware that there is a war taking place and our protagonist is at the centre of it, however, we don’t know much else about what started it, who’s on each side and why its continuing. I hope that this is explained more in the sequel and can give the readers a more in-depth look at the magical world Polk fabricated.
I genuinely enjoyed this book, but because of the lack of explaining when it came to the ins and outs of the war, I was genuinely confused around the 60% mark. Things became slightly clearer and I was able to understand and thoroughly enjoy the ending of the novel, however, more insight would have made the star rating become much higher than what it is.
This is the first in the Witchmark series and the following books have yet to be announced. I will definitely be continuing on with the series when the books are released.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
C. L. Polk arrives on the scene with Witchmark, a stunning, addictive fantasy that combines intrigue, magic, betrayal, and romance.
In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.
Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family’s interest or to be committed to a witches’ asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans’ hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.
When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.
