A Review: Compass Points

A spoiler free review of the upcoming release, Compass Points, by Jillian Witt.

A magical weapons master just might be the key to saving the continent from a deadly plague; if only she didn’t have to romantically entangle herself with a dangerous fae leader to do it.

Rose has kept her head down and life private for the last ten years, making weapons in the remote northern village and staying away from the world of the Compass Points. Running from her past seemed like the easiest way to deal with her pain. When a representative of the Suden Point, the leader of the earth fae, comes looking for a magical weapons master, her secrets may start to unravel.

Deadly and determined, Luc needs Rose’s skills to help fight a mist plague overtaking the continent.

When the plague hits too close to home, Rose must decide her fate. Continue to run from her past? Or go to the one place she swore never to return, Compass Lake.

I received an early copy of this through NetGalley, and took it to the mountains with me last weekend to enjoy on the porch before breakfast. Despite an unsure start, this book turned out to be more delightful than I expected!

I love Luc and Rose. Their relationship and banter create such a wonderful dynamic that just makes the whole story worth it. Rose was very relatable as a character and has such a complex background to her. They seem like a solid couple rather than one that originates from lies and leads to an inevitable falling out. Luc has respected her since he met her and is very open about the need to communicate and be honest with each other. I was ready for some backstabbing, but they have what seems like an uncharacteristically healthy relationship compared to others in a genre like this. It was refreshing!

Honestly, I thought this was going to go on my DNF shelf until about 20% of the way in. It was definitely a rocky start. I thought initially I’d somehow picked up a middle-grade novel by mistake, but wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. The pacing was too quick, more for a younger audience with a short attention span than an adult reader. I was shocked when I realized Rose was in her twenties. But it was the talking bear that really had me thinking “middle-grade.” As it goes on you really enjoy Arie and his cameos. He was a fun mystery that kept popping up, but took some getting used to.

We don’t get a full explanation of what the Compass Points are until about 20% of the way into the book, which is far too late. The start is rushed and confusing and left me struggling to get a hold on the characters. It just goes too fast, which is a sad flaw. I wanted to savor different parts of it only to have the rug ripped out from under me. Witt is trying to fit so much content into this one book (according to Amazon it's around 276 pages, so relatively short).

Although some parts leave me feeling a bit shortchanged, it still tells a full story and has a clever plot. Different important points came across well at times, but other times it was very abrupt and almost forced. As if the author had sections she wanted in the book but didn’t know how to bring them about naturally. A number of high points don’t quite hit the epic note the author is trying to achieve. Especially several at the end.

*THERE IS SPICE!* However, the spice also shows up rather abruptly (at least for my taste).

My biggest struggle was that the whole premise we were promised was Rose forging magical weapons. Ever since she leaves the Lake of the Gods at the beginning, all we’ve seen her do is finish an axe that a blacksmith was making, no magic involved whatsoever. However, I feel like her magical weapons will come into play more in book 2, as well as an increase in politics rather than focusing on the romance, which I’m honestly excited for! The ending was less jaw dropping than expected, and leaves you with what seems like more loose ends than you started with, but enough to give you closure to get you to the next book.

There’s so much potential! I struggled between 3 and 4 stars on this one. I’d say it’s on the higher end of a 3.5/5, but not quite a 4. It was really the romance and the quality of the story as it went on that pushes for that 4. It was overall entertaining after the first 20% and I could have easily read it through the night. There were several parts I highlighted I enjoyed it so much! I love what is being built here. There’s so much to explore as we go forward. I can’t wait for more!

The big question, would I read a sequel?: Absolutely!

***This book releases November 7, 2023 and can be ordered on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.