"Witchmark" by C.L. Polk

 I'm veeeery slowly making my way through this pile of free ebooks that I've been able to download from Tor.com each month. I think this one was from back in March, haha. But I finally finished it.

Witchmark is a book set in what I think is a fantasy, alternate reality England where witches exist and specifically shape the weather. The witches themselves are divided into two groups, there's the Primaries who are able to sing and control magic through their voice, and the Secondaries who are typically seen as support and are forced to bind themselves to a Primary and give their power to them. The protagonist is Miles Singer, a Secondary who ran away from home to become a physician rather than be bound as a servant. He has been making a life for himself, until he has a patient who is another witch. He dies, but not before telling Miles that he was murdered. The bulk of the plot is a murder mystery as Miles tries to chase down the killer. Along the way he meets Tristan, a mysterious person who intrigues Miles and clearly also has an aptitude for magic. (Queer romance incoming!) And Miles' sister Grace eventually finds him and Miles' past finally catches up with him.

There's so much to love about this book. There's a gay romance that's really sweet and lovely, and it gest into aspects of classism and racism that are relevant to our contemporary society. For example, witches of a lesser social standing are persecuted in this reality, for no reason other than the fact that they are poor. Miles comes to this realization partway through the book, with Tristan's help. I think having that perspective of someone who is slowly realizing that the system is rigged is really helpful for those who are experiencing a similar realization in real life.

My main complaint is that the politics of this world are super complicated. It turns out that the witch leadership and the mortal leadership are both all tied up in this murder and different people profit and gain power from the status quo. I couldn't really keep up with the logic, who was doing what, things like that. But I just kept going and you get the gist of it really. I imagine though if you keep reading the rest of the series that it all comes back in the end.

Having said that, this book stands on its own really well, and feels like a complete story. I might check out the rest, probably not, but maybe if I stumble on it. I did really like the characters and the world that I was introduced to, it just felt so complete and wrapped up entirely. I'm not intending it as a complaint, it's rare that you don't see a series that promotes later books, but it does mean that I won't go out of my way to read the next one. All that to say, check out this book! The first of this series is really incredible.