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My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Synopsis: At only seventeen, Ella Barnes is shot and killed for an unknown reason. She is shocked when she wakes up in a different world, a world of witches. Ella has to learn to adapt to a new body, new life and new world, surrounded by new people. As Ella gets to know Raena, the world of the witches, and its people, she realizes that they aren’t the perfect creatures they believe themselves to be, and she’s not the type of person to stand around and twiddle her thumbs. Will Ella succeed in changing the mindset of the people? Or will she be doomed to die another cold and tragic death because of her rebellion?
Review:
"Our human experiences are what makes us who we are."
When I first heard about this book, I was impressed that the author was just 17. Now that I've finished reading this, I'm impressed with what she's written. When I read the synopsis, I expected the normal thing with books about witches—having powers, being feared and being condemned. But this one is different from all that. Here, we're given a whole new world to explore where every person's a witch and "they were the most lovely and prosperous of all creatures in the whole universe."
At first, I was wary about this world separate from the Earth or Quan, as what the people from Raena call it. I thought it would be weird. 'Other' world are usually meant for aliens and others but not for witches. But the author did a great job in establishing Raena. It was not to different but not too common. Some things would always be there to remind the readers that this is a different world.
I really found Ella's reaction to this change believable. Her naivety paired with her I-really-don't-care-what-you-think attitude seems perfect for her. Although, I was in the middle of agreeing and disagreeing with the soul mate thing at first when Ella was sulking and was depressed over her boy friend. I really thought it was stupid to say that she finds him more important than her human parents, but after few things were explained and reveal I started to accept it. They can never love anyone like how they love their soul mate.
Among all characters, I loved and admired Thunder Clap the most. He was very loving and understand father but not the smothering type. Just someone who's willing to give up everything in a blink of an eye for his family. I know it's not uncommon to have such character but the way Deann wrote him was moving. If I'm not mistaken, she might have his father as an inspiration to this based on some of her random tweets about him.
The Witches' Sleep has a very good pacing and story flow with consistency, interesting characters that were well-developed. Deann is a very promising author and I am looking forward to the second book and to her future books as well.
