Synopsis:

A young witch forced to play concubine for her empirical captor, finally breaks free to find a life of her own, but even those with the power to call Death cannot outrun their past…
 
All witches must serve the cruel and immortal Emperor Yamueto. But after four years of terror and abuse, Khana not only kills one of his favorite courtiers with her magic, but also discovers the secret of his power and immortality: he’s been making deals with Death. And now, so is she. 

Armed with magic that she doesn’t fully understand, Khana flees the empire and stumbles into a small mountain town filled with fierce warriors that ostracize her for being a witch, despite using her abilities to heal their sick and injured. There, her magic and courage are put to the test as she is forced to stop running and fight back against the emperor that wants her dead. 

But every deal she makes with Death takes another piece of her soul. And there’s only so much Khana can give before she turns into the very monster she’s trying to destroy. 

Review:

Firstly, I want to note that I was gifted this gorgeous copy of The Witch who Trades With Death by Angry Robot books as I am part of the release tour over on Instagram.

It’s always nice to read a solid standalone fantasy novel. We follow Khana, a young witch taken to serve the emperor as a concubine to ensure his continued immortality and life of conquest. As the title says, Khana finds the secret to making deals with Death themselves, and in doing so is able to escape her captivity and forge a new life for herself.

Khana is a great character to follow for this tale. She has come from a background of trauma and faces a lot of prejudice in her new home. Her struggles to adjust are carefully written and feel very authentic. Watching her navigate her past and start to heal was great, made all the better with friends, new family and even a sweet and tender romance. We do have other POV characters here, and I found that all of them were engaging and had unique voices – I was never sad when we had a character change!

With trauma such a key theme in Khana’s past this book does not shy away from depicting difficult and triggering topics, though I felt that the way they are approached and the way the characters are given space and agency to reclaim their stories was brilliant. The author has a list of trigger warnings for this book that I recommend you check first.

At the heart of the book, among the action, banter and character relationships is a really interesting and unique story of magic. Magic isn’t an abstract force, it’s in every part of the world and its people. Death is a character of their own here, and while we don’t meet them often, the way they see and trade magic was fascinating. The same magic can be used for healing and destruction and the ways in which people choose to use it directly and visibly reflects upon their souls.

All in all, I had a really great time with this book – I think I read it in about 2 days! If you enjoy action-packed stories with resilient characters and interesting magic that show the importance of all types of relationships, then definitely check this one out (and be mindful of triggers as mentioned before).