Look at that coverrrr.
Anyway, when I came upon this one I thought it sounded really interesting, and the audiobook was available to request on NetGalley and so off I went.
So thanks to the author as well as Dreamscape Lore via NetGalley for the chance to listen to this one.
Lorel has always dreamed of becoming a witch: learning magic, fighting monsters, and exploring the world beyond the small town where she and her mother run the stables. Even though a strange plague is killing the trees in the Kingdom of Cekon and witches are being blamed for it, Lorel wants nothing more than to join them. There’s only one problem: all witches are women, and she was born a boy.
When the coven comes to claim her best friend, Lorel disguises herself in a dress and joins in her friend’s place, leaving home and her old self behind. She soon discovers the dark powers threatening the kingdom: a magical blight scars the land, and the power-mad Duchess Helte is crushing everything between her and the crown. In spite of these dangers, Lorel makes friends and begins learning magic from the powerful witches in her coven. However, she fears that her new friends and mentors will find out her secret and kick her out of the coven, or worse.
Trans Witchessssssss Yisssssss.
The Sapling Cage is the story of Lorel, who wants so badly to be a girl, so she can become a witch, because all witches are women. Her best friend has been promised to the witches for her whole life but wants to be a knight, so they make a deal, and Lorel takes her place.
While she travels with her new coven, trying her best to disguise herself, she makes new friends, new enemies, and learns that there is a strange blight is spreading over the land, killing all the trees. On top of that, the last Duchess in the land is on a power hungry crusade for the crown.
Lorel just wants to make sure that her coven doesn’t find out her secret, because if they do, they probably won’t just kick her out…
I really enjoyed this one once I finally got a chance to sit down and really listen to it. I managed to listen to the entire thing in two sittings, getting quite a bit of work and chores done while I did.
I really liked Lorel from the very beginning, and I cheered for her through her journey. There were a lot of really interesting other characters as well. The world was interesting, but I wished that the magic was a little more explored. Lorel and her friends don’t actually… learn much magic at all. I’m certain that will come in future books in the series, so I shall hold out hope!
The narrator, Jackie Meloche, did a fantastic job bringing Lorel and her friends (and enemies) to life. The audiobook also has some neat little effects in it, as some of the witches tend to… speak with several voices at once at times. It was very well done.
All told, I thought this was a fun coming of age story about a young trans girl living her best witchy life. I certainly hope to listen to more of this series in the future. 4/5 stars!~
superstardrifter 
Most other stories are about girls or young women who want badly to become boys.
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