Laurie Forest: The Black Witch (The Black Witch Chronicles #1)

Title: The Black Witch (The Black Witch Chronicles #1)
Author: Laurie Forest
Genre: Fantasy, 21st Century Young Adult Literature
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: May 2, 2017
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover; $19.99
Pages: 600
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Summary: Elloren Gardner is the granddaughter of the last prophesied Black Witch, Carnissa Gardner, who drove back the enemy forces and saved the Gardnerian people during the Realm War. But while she is the absolute spitting image of her famous grandmother, Elloren is utterly devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else.

When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at the prestigious Verpax University to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy. But she soon realizes that the university, which admits all manner of people—including the fire-wielding, winged Icarals, the sworn enemies of all Gardnerians—is a treacherous place for the granddaughter of the Black Witch.

As evil looms on the horizon and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, everything Elloren thought she knew will be challenged and torn away. Her best hope of survival may be among the most unlikely band of misfits…if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to hate and fear. (via Goodreads)

Review: This review is extremely late (I wrote it after reading the book on release day). I was going to weave in quotation after quotation to illustrate my points, but I think I summarize everything succinctly instead for a smoother review. I also just now got a chance to polish this thing. To learn more, I highly encourage you to read this book after reading this review. Onward!

To play off of the importance and seriousness of this book, I would like to quote (or paraphrase rather) President Lincoln’s famous opinion of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Laurie Forest’s new YA fantasy novel, The Black Witch, is the little book that started a [social media] war in the last couple months (you know the one). Forest’s book, the first in a series–has been accused of some pretty horrendous things; it’s accused of being racist, homophobic, among other things. All of this is based on two reviews posted to the blogosphere—one of which that didn’t actually read the book but based her tirade off of the formerly mentioned review. What followed was a crusade of blind ravings from hive-minded SJWs that lambaste the author in an attempt to do what they believe to be a crusade against “isms”. I should mention that almost all of them haven’t read the book either. What actually resulted from this circus was a war of words aimed at shutting down a white author’s attempt at participating in honest discourse about serious themes facing our society in a challenging, raw, honest, and critical way. I am baffled and astounded at the hate Ms. Forest has received in this vein, because I do not believe she deserves any of this. Really, let’s call “this” what it is–BULLYING. We have an army of bullies out to ruin the life and reputation of an innocent person because of her race.

To put my opinion simply and to preface the following review: I love The Black Witch. It is WONDERFUL and INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. It took balls to write this book, and more still to publish it and stand by it. I applaud the author and her publishing team for standing up for this work.

Now I am going to back up and get a bit “teacher-y” for a little bit. Bear with me. I want to point out that there is a difference between books ABOUT racism (or any “ism” you want to insert here), and books that ARE racist (again with the “isms”). The Black Witch is a book ABOUT the “isms” in question, and to read such a book, we have to separate the concept of author and main character/narrator. We cannot equate the two. Characters/narrators may be used as proxies to explore themes or ideas, but they aren’t necessarily the voice of the author—in literary circles, we call this “the death of the author”. A book is believed to exist on its own.

When we’ve separated author from narrator, we need to keep in our minds that bad characters do not mean a book is bad. Characters are people, or rather, reflections and representations of people. People do bad things sometimes, which means characters can as well. Like real people, who grow and learn from their mistakes and experiences, characters should grow and learn from mistakes and experiences. This presents one of the jobs fiction has (aside from entertaining, etc.) to interrogate, deconstruct problems, and teach us.

The hope with all of the above is that when:

a.) we are presented with a character, who over time, makes choices (whether good or bad), and grows and learns from the consequences of those choices, we have a round character. Round characters often present the book’s disagreement with the book’s central theme or problem (the “ism” in question).

b.) we are presented with a character that makes choices and then is presented with the consequences of those choices and actions, if s/he fails to, is unable to, or will not learn and grow from those consequences, we have a flat character. Flat characters never change, and thus we can view them as reinforcing the problem or theme in the book.

I want to look at The Black Witch from the angle of an inherently good character that makes bad choices and faces some serious consequences as a result of those choices. However, unlike bad people, she slowly grows and learns from those choices and their consequences, and she becomes a better person. I am speaking about Elloren, our narrator and main character.

At the start of Forest’s novel, Elloren is framed within the confines of a society, culture, and nation that is deeply conservative, politically, socially, and religiously. She is the granddaughter of a powerful witch known as “the black witch” who we learn as the book goes on is responsible for numerous atrocities toward people considered Other. Her Aunt Vivian is no better, and she sees Elloren as her responsibility, to ensure Elloren follows Gardnarian tradition.

The voice of right and reason in Elloren’s upbringing is her Uncle Edwin, an eccentric man who lives a simple life in the country as a violin maker, and her brothers Rafe and Trystan. Edwin and his nephews do not share their aunt’s or grandmother’s political and social beliefs, and they time and again make their admonishment and the repugnance of such beliefs known when Elloren raises voice to those beliefs time and again as she navigates her life at home and eventually at school, where she really begins to confront the idea of diversity.

We even see disapproval of social constraints initially with Elloren’s violin making–though her uncle is a violin maker, he also has apprenticed Elloren in the same trade, in secret. This is a profession women are barred from in Elloren’s world, and the fact that Elloren and her uncle flout this ban is proof that they view the sexism in this ban as wrong. It illustrates that it should be love of a thing and equality for that thing that matters.

When Elloren does espouse the beliefs of her aunt and people, it is because these social apparatuses are ingrained in her and structure her world, much as our beliefs are a part of us and ours in the real world. There ARE moments, however, where Elloren witnesses injustices or prejudices committed by people around her, and these moments clearly alarm her. Such a moment occurs when Elloren learns that her clothing is likely made by fae slaves, which is confirmed by one of her professors. Elloren is so completely appalled by this fact, she changes her clothes, going back to wearing the basic clothing she wore at home with her uncle. This is a clear rejection of oppression experienced by others in her world.

Rebuke toward Elloren’s thinking increases in frequency as the novel progresses, which underscores the argument the book makes: prejudice, racism, and bigotry are wrong and extremely damaging. Elloren’s “come to Jesus” moment (as one might call it) of her experiences at school happens when Lucas Grey, in an attempt to keep Elloren’s roommates from bullying her (and likely to exert his power over people he despises), kills one of her roommates’ beloved pet chickens. Beyond this, Lucas displays his misdeed in a most gruesome manner: to hammer his point home he hangs the chicken up in its now-mutilated state. This destroys Elloren’s roommate’s heart–and any equilibrium she might have had with her roommates–and actually works to highlight the humanity in her roommates, humanity that Elloren has refused to see up to this point. Furthermore, what Lucas ends up accomplishing is dividing himself from Elloren and she from Gardnerian beliefs. This sets Elloren on a path for revolution and redemption; her eyes open to the damage her people do to others and that she is part of the problem. She must change, and she must help to change the social constructs around her.

A moment that highlights Elloren’s stance on the wrong side of the aisle, comes up when ______ says ““People see what they expect to see,” he says sharply. “Through a filter of their own hatred and prejudice”. This statement is a reflection of Elloren’s misguided traditions and long-standing beliefs, ones she is in the midst of changing and ones that she works very hard to overcome–and she does. Our view of the world and those in it is often skewed by our own ignorance, lack of empathy, hatred, etc. In these moments, this book examines this part of our nature and deconstructs it as well as condemns it. Futhermore, the book offers a look in how we can change.

The book ends with Elloren having finally formed a solid group of friends that is diverse, accepting, and supportive. She and they love each other fiercely, protect each other loyally, and do not live by the prejudice and bigotry of those around them. Elloren becomes an unlikely rebel against Gardneria and its leaders–she’s helped to blow up a military base in an attempt to free an abused dragon. This makes Elloren Enemy Number One. In a bid for help, she goes to her trusted history professor and is met with a welcome surprise dressed in robes that sends her on a path toward all-out rebellion and resistance against the rising tyranny in her land.

In conclusion, and my point after this long-winded essay, is that The Black Witch is by far one of the ballsiest, bravest, and important books I’ve read this year. It’s well-written, well-developed, immersive, and edge-of-your-seat addictive. I WILL be reading the rest of the books in the series, and I might even buy them in paperback, because this author deserves support. She raises such an important discussion on themes and issues we need to address in the real world. If we don’t write books about these topics, and if we silence the voices that try to make positive arguments about those issues just because that person or speaker is not part of the affected social group, society will never improve.

Thank you Laurie Forest and Harlequin Teen publishing for standing for something better.

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