Somewhere between 2 - 2.5 stars. 
 I wanted to like Truthwitch. The story sounds like it should be right up my alley, the genres fit everything that I like, and people have been falling all over themselves to sing this book's praise. However, I'd heard so many good things about it that, alas, maybe my expectations were set too high from the outset. 
 I did enjoy the start of the story, when the two main characters, Safi and Iseult, find themselves embroiled in a hold up that's gone wrong, allowing for the villain of the piece, a monk called Aeduan, to also be introduced. There were some interesting concepts introduced, and I was looking forward to settling into this fantasy world. 
 Unfortunately the further I read, the more I realised that there were too many things wrong here for me to actually be able to fully enjoy the story. For example: 
 * Safi 
 While I really enjoyed Iseult as a character, and looked forward to her passages, Safi drive me up the wall. Apparently she's special because she's a truthwitch, able to discern whether or not someone is telling the truth. This power puts a price on her head - every leader would kill to get their hands on a truthwitch. Only... I didn't see why Safi's truthwitchery was so sought after. There were plenty of other powers introduced throughout the story that seemed far, far more interesting to me than Safi's own. 
 Furthermore, Safi seems to spend her whole time making stupid decisions that put her and those she cares about in tricky situations. E.g. she's told several times that the blood monk can sense her witchery and the only way to conceal herself from him is to hide under a cloak of salamander fibers. What does Safi do? Throw off the cloak and go it alone, of course, and then act all surprised when she's chased. I often found myself wondering how her stupidity hadn't got her killed before the book even opened. 
 * The world building 
 What world building? 
 It doesn't exist in any way that matters. 
 There are some authors who can drag you into their world, and it seems as real to you as the world we actually live in. Susan Dennard is not one of those authors. There was never enough fleshing out of the society we're experiencing to allow for immersion like that. It's all just surface level. 
 * The ball 
 I was already starting to feel apprehensious about the story when Safi finds her story dragging her off kicking and screaming to participate in a royal ball. Kicking and screaming, but she enjoys the fuss of dressing up. 
 I read historical romances for balls, not fantasy. I expect my fantasy to be grittier than that. A ball in a fasntasy novel can work out if presented in a different light to a historical romance ball. It was not the case here. 
 That said, there were some things that did work for me as well. 
 As mentioned earlier, I liked Iseult's character. Unfortunately, Safi's voice was the more prominent of the two, and at one point the events that take place lead to Iseult's voice being more or less silenced for a while. 
 I also liked Aeduan, the villain. I'm certain there's more to him, and that the exploration of his character as the story advances will be one of the more interesting aspects of the story. 
 The story has promise. I'm sure that's some excellent history that can be drawn on to spice up the sequels. This first book just allowed itself to get so side-tracked by other (less important) things, so that, in my opinion, it's not lived up to that promise yet. 
 As yet, I'm not sure whether or not I will continue with this series. I'll see how I feel by the time the next book is released.