Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Witch Without Memory by Maithree Wijesekara, the second book in the Obsidian Throne series. I was excited to give this one a try despite not totally loving the first book. Did this sequel redeem the series for me? Read on to find out!

The second epic installment of the Obsidian Throne fantasy trilogy, melding Indian myth and history into a story of a witch and a prince determined to burn an empire to the ground in order to raise it up out of the ashes.

An empress with vengeance in her heart

Prince Ashoka’s sister, Aarya, has named herself empress and is determined to reverse her brother’s mercy for the mayakari.

A witch lost in dreams

Shakti is being held by shadowy figures, drugged and forced to commit an unspeakable crime. When she wakes, she finds herself prisoner, but gaps in her memory around the curse she has cast trap her more thoroughly than any cage.

The prince trying to change the world

Ashoka must find allies and quickly if he is to usher in a new dawn for the mayakari, but the tougher the decision he makes, the farther he gets from his true self. He must determine what he is willing to lose in pursuit of his vision of the future.

The first blow has been dealt by Ashoka and Shakti, but the empire not only remains, it appears stronger—and more brutal—than ever. Both must find ways to fight back before nature is deprived of its spirits and guardians, and the reign of the new empress spreads its destruction and oppression to lands beyond.

***Thank you to Harper Voyager for providing an advanced copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

Ugh. I really wanted to love The Witch Without Memory because there were so many cool aspects in the first book despite its flaws. Unfortunately, I think this sequel worked even less for me than its predecessor. This book was messy and left me wondering what the point was. The themes of the work were muddled, and the characters seemed even more naive than in the first book, which I didn’t think was possible.

The plot of The Witch Without Memory was all over the place. There was a lot of political maneuvering alongside a difficult rescue mission. It had its moments, and I was happy to see some answers to big questions I had from the first book. However, the first three quarters of the book ultimately felt like it went nowhere with a lot of meandering that seemed to have little impact on the overall story. The ending had me by the throat, though. I’ll be picking up the final book in the trilogy only because of the last 30-40 pages. lol.

Both Shakti and Ashoka were once again POV characters in The Witch Without Memory. Ashoka barely felt like the same person. He very quickly gave up on pacifism when it didn’t suit him anymore, and most of his story in this book was about positioning himself to take power from his siblings and rule the empire. Whereas poor Shakti was just barely hanging on for dear life. She’d been captured at the end of book one and spent a lot of this book in captivity. Her righteous anger continued to fuel her, though, and she managed to learn a lot about her powers, the empire’s history, and magic, in general, despite her precarious state. My biggest problem with the two of them was how dumb they still were. From randomly talking about secret plans, which weren’t that good to begin with, where anyone could hear them to all of the impulsive things they did, I was honestly surprised that anything they did succeeded. I’m pretty sure they only did because the plot needed them to. That being said, the story still managed to make me care about the characters quite a lot even though I did wish there was more depth and nuance to them.

My favorite things about the first book were still my favorite things about The Witch Without Memory: the magic and the family drama. I really loved seeing the nature spirits in action during certain parts of the story, and I still think they’re such a cool concept. The magic of the mayakari, especially the curses, took some interesting twists in this book, as well. As for the family drama, it was dialed up to a boiling point. Secrets were spilled. Lines were crossed. The drama ratcheted up into unforgiveable actions that’ll have far-reaching consequences for all the characters and the future of the empire. It just wasn’t quite enough to make up for all of the story’s shortfalls for me.

All in all, The Witch Without Memory had similar strengths and weaknesses to its predecessor. If you enjoyed the first book, you’ll likely end up feeling okay about this one, too. If the weaknesses in the plot, writing, and character work heavily impacted your experience with book one, it’s probably safe to say you should skip this one unless you’re a desperate completionist. While not an awful time, this story was not nearly as good as it could have been. Therefore, I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

There you have it! My thoughts on The Witch Without Memory by Maithree Wijesekara. Have you been reading this series? Are you enjoying it more than me? Let me know down in the comments!