Today I’m so excited to be bringing you my review of WENCH, by Maxine Kaplan, as a part of the TBR and Beyond blog tour! WENCH is a funny, fiercely feminist YA epic fantasy following the adventures of a tavern wench — Out January 19th, 2021!
Synopsis of WENCH:
Tanya has worked at her tavern since she was able to see over the bar. She broke up her first fight at 11. By the time she was a teenager she knew everything about the place, and she could run it with her eyes closed. She’d never let anyone — whether it be a drunkard or a captain of the queen’s guard — take advantage of her. But when her guardian dies, she might lose it all: the bar, her home, her purpose in life. So she heads out on a quest to petition the queen to keep the tavern in her name–dodging unscrupulous guards, a band of thieves, and a powerful, enchanted feather that seems drawn to her. Fast-paced, magical, and unapologetically feminist, Wench is epic fantasy like you’ve never seen in before.
CW for WENCH: Some magic in the book involves self-harm.
Maxine Kaplan, author of WENCH, was born in Washington, DC. She and her twin sister spent their early childhoods trotting behind their journalist parents as they traveled around the world, eventually settling in Brooklyn, NY. Maxine graduated from Oberlin College in 2007. Following a long stint in the world of publishing, she has worked as a private investigator since 2009. She lives in her adopted hometown of Brooklyn, NY, with her dimwitted, but soulful cat. Her first novel THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL received a starred review in Publishers Weekly and will be available in paperback January 5th, 2021. Her sophomore novel, WENCH, is coming in January 19th, 2021.
Buy your copy of WENCH now!
Check out the tour schedule for WENCH from TBR and Beyond Tours:
WENCH Book Review — 3.5 Stars
Wench was a super fun fantasy read that had me entertained from start to finish. Tanya is a real no-nonsense character, and right from the start she means business. When the story begins she’s off to the capitol to reclaim her tavern, and she stays motivated by this for a large majority of the story — it just so happens that she can’t help but get sidetracked by magical mysteries, thieves, and royals.
I loved how much action there was in this book, it’s impossible to get bored! At times, it did get a bit overwhelming just how fast the plot moved; there were a lot of different characters and different places that got introduced in pretty quick sucession. But, this never took too much away from the book for me so it was still super fun to follow along with Tanya’s misadventures and romantic encounters!
There’s also a pretty unique and interesting magic system at play — at times the rules felt a bit haphazard, but it made for such an unusual story that I didn’t mind. There’s a lot of magic and politics and royals mixed up into one big problem, and I really liked how all those elements mixed together. All in all, a super fun and entertaining read full of fun fights and every kind of drama.
ENTER IN THE WENCH GIVEAWAY!
The WENCH giveaway is for U.S residents only
One person will win a finished copy of WENCH. The giveaway starts on January 25th and ends on February 1st.
Here is the link: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/fc15a59520/
Jenerally Reading 
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