The Witch-Hunt

The Witch-Hunt by Cordelia Castel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The third entry of Cordelia Castel’s Seven Kingdoms series opens with Cendrilla “Rilla” Perrault following a procession to the interrogation room where the captured trolls, among them being Olga, with Prince Armin still under her enchantment, are being held. Despite being instrumental in their capture, Rilla is denied questioning them, and they ultimately escape, with Rilla and a few companions, among them being perpetrators that had a hand in attempting to kill her, going after them, in the meantime seeking two sorceresses who have prices on their heads for witchcraft, Rilla wanting to save their lives.

As with before, Lord Orson Bluebeard continually seeks to affirm his impending marriage to Rilla against her will, and wants to ensure she is kept alive. Rilla and her companions have several misadventures including a trip to the Well of Wellness, whose guardian is reluctant to provide its water, and some backstory regarding Princess Freida abounds, having successfully escaped from an arranged marriage. Rill and company visit frigid lands home to beings termed Snowmen (although they seem to be yeti-like), with giant hailstones precipitating and offing many of them during a critical battle.

The third entry ends with a troll vessel approaching and a cliffhanger that naturally ties into the next book in the series, and while the tertiary installment does have its positive qualities, not being shy about its fairytale influences, it sort of marks the beginning of a slight slump in the series, with readers needing to have remembered the events of prior books in order to enjoy this one, along with the difficulty of keeping track who is who, with a few characters going by different names that can confuse some readers. Regardless of quality, I’ll definitely continue reading these books until the end.

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