- Hi hi welcome to another QUEER SCREAMING review! THE WITCH KING is packed with so much good stuff: found family, the fluidity of trans identity, a huge spectrum of genders, sexualities, races, and more.
- Though the book is a wild ride through the fae kingdom, it also covers a lot of hard topics, too: cruel parents, trauma recovery, broken friendships, racism, trying to burn the system down.
- You know I love a book with a prickly protagonist, and that's Wyatt. He makes a lot of bad choices and says a lot of hurtful things impulsively, but much of this book is about him and his friends growing through it together.
- THE WITCH KING is just such a unique book for so many reasons that I can't fit it all here. If you love queer fantasy, put it at the top of your list! 

[second read, September 2023]
Rating lowered from 5 stars to 4.5.

I reread this book so I could finally read the sequel, and while I would no longer label it a favorite—I must not feel the same attachment to it that I did before—I did still really enjoy it.

Wyatt is still one of the most hilariously iconic narrators I think I’ve ever encountered. And I do mean ever. Only the smallest handful of books—most all of them written by one of the same five authors—have made me outright cackle while reading, and the fact that this book is now on that list has gotta count for something.

I’m looking very forward to all the shenanigans of the next book, queer and magical and everything in between. And I’m really, really hoping my Briar/[A Newly Single Side Character] ship theory is right.

[first read, September 2021]
That moment when you start a book and you just have a feeling that it’ll end up being a new favorite, and then that feeling ends up being right. So satisfying!!

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book since it was released, and everyone that was hyping it up was absolutely right. It’s completely deserved. Edgmon’s debut is an urban fantasy that takes familiar ideas and puts a unique and extremely queer spin on them, and I’m so here for it. I immediately loved Wyatt and Briar, and Emyr and Jin quickly grew on me. I’d like to give all of these kids hugs and ice cream and protect them from the world. Also, Wyatt’s narration was HILARIOUS. He frequently made me laugh, especially when he was thinking of Emyr. And by the way, I ship those two SO HARD. I loved Wyatt and Briar’s friendship, and I adored Wyatt and Emyr’s childhood friends to strangers to allies to lovers vibe. And then Edgmon gifts us the only one bed trope?? GOLD. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

Wyatt is such a disaster gay and I love him for it. I love him for more than just that, but that’s definitely part of it. And honestly, I love how unapologetically queer this whole book is. There’s so much representation, and characters actually on-page asking each other for pronouns. I truly do love to see it.

What else? I love Boom. I hope Derek spends the rest of his life stepping on Legos while barefoot. The way things went down on the last page was mildly amusing to me. I’m very excited for the sequel to come out next year. Everyone should read this book. Yes, everyone.

Representation:

There's lots of queer representation in this book which is what made me most excited because there aren't many fantasy novels featuring trans characters especially. The worldbuilding wasn't very detailed, but it was interesting and needed to be explained more. The plot was probably one of the weakest parts as it was all over the place, characters faced little to no consequences for their actions, and the reveal of antagonists at the climax wasn't well planned out. 

 Oh, this was so irresistibly good 😭 Now I know why so many of my friends love this!

The Witch King has it all, I think? It has political intrigue, angst and pining, slow burn (helloo?????), "there's only one bed" trope, intimate discussions and honest thoughts about gender identity and sexuality (which is probably my absolute favorite thing in this book), the world-building and the magic system, modern lives meshed with magic, plus the gorgeous writing style and the prose??? Also, it's such a fun book. Yes, there's seriousness in this book and sometimes it can get a little dark, but it's also highly entertaining. This book checks all the boxes for me and I love it.

I think my only issue is that I expected more action for the climax? However, I know the story is far from over and we're only getting introduced to the bigger picture and the next plot to uncover. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE SEQUEL

Exact rating: 4.5 stars. Full review on my blog soon (hopefully!) 

I loved the first part of the book and I truly love the writing, I just can't read about other people's dysphoria right now. 

I loved this so much!!!

Rep: white gay trans male MC, Black male love interest (Wyatt-sexual/aspec), fat indigenous (Seminole) bi-asexual female side character, sapphic nonbinary side character, sapphic side characters, achillean side characters,

CWs (from the authors website): Violence (including gore, arson, attempted murder, and murder), Misgendering (accidental and intentional, including deadnaming—however, the deadname is not written out), Abusive parents, Childhood sexual harassment and assault (harassment is graphic, assault is not), Grooming/predatory behavior between an adult and a teenager, Infertility and miscarriage mention, On-page panic attack, Suicidal ideation and brief mentions of suicide, Drug use. 

-  lgbtqiap+, ya fantasy, faeries, witchy, magic, found family trope, bffs to enemies to lovers trope, there's only one bed trope, soulmates trope, so much tension, bff i had like to steal
- m|m, nb|w
- trans gay mc, demisexual black li, indigenous-american fat bi oriented ace sc, lesbian nonbinary woman sc, lesbian sc, and other queer side characters (sapphic and gay rep)

" you have always been you. you just found the language to talk about it."

" i swear, humans have magic of their own."

" maybe we’re taught to believe darkness is inherently tied to badness because racism is everywhere."

hands down one of my favourite books 0f 2021!!!
i went into this book knowing nothing except that the mc is a trans witch: it was enough to seal the deal for me and now,,, after having read it at last i must ask one question: where in the world is the hype for this book??!!
wyatt is a messy character, his pov is super fun to read from, he is snarky, smart, and quite impulsive, he believes in doing the right thing and will go any length in order to protect the people he cares about!! his messiness come from his need to survive that forces him to lash out at the world that looks down upon witches like him along with some of it being also connected to his transness, at always being expected to live up to the expectations of others, and at never being able to be himself bc of the deep rooted judgement he had to face from a v young age from his own parents as well as from others. it built in him a huge resentment for the fae ways, it traumatized his childhood and when he finally snapped he had to flee to the human world!!

h e edgemon does an amazing job at portraying these complex emotions bc the messiness felt so relatable, the cathartic unspooling of it, followed by a realization that anger is just as much a human emotion as love and sadness is and instead of rejecting it he redirecs that anger to destroy the reign of a corrupt and broken government in order to rebuild it from scratch. the author creates a world that is a breath-taking parallel of today's world and fights against systematic oppression, racism, power imbalance, and colonialism. 
i found wyatt's relationship with emyr the crown prince so very amusing!! it is full of snarky retorts and much tension as they try to gain their footing in this "something" where neither of them know each other's present versions and istg they had me clinging to the edge of my seat in anticipation the whole time!!!

this book ends with much hope but it also feels like the calm before a storm so i absolutely cannot wait for the sequel!!! i look forward to more of the author's works and finally if you are looking for a queer fantasy romance novel that is just as much magical as it is dangerous, charming and witty dotted with characters who arent afraid to fight back and stand up up for what's right, then i highly HIGHLY recommend this book to you!! 
GO READ THIS GEM!!!!