Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

65 reviews

a_dara_ble's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It was so good I didn't even really notice how long of a book it was. If you want strong female characters that are all equally great and different, while also being extremely flawed, often wrong, and sometimes unbelievably (and rightly) angry, this is the book for you.
It's been weeks and I still think about this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Medical trauma, Racism, Sexual content, and Torture

wrensreadingroom's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Misogyny, Slavery, Abortion, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Torture, and Blood

chalkletters's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I wasn't expecting much from The Once and Future Witches; I only gave The Factory Witches of Lowell three stars, and this seemed like such a similar idea that I was surprised book club would add it to our list when we'd already experienced exactly this subgenre. I was absolutely wrong, The Once and Future Witches is up there with The Goblin Emperor and An Accident of Stars as one of the best books we've read.

Despite being a lover of fantasy novels, magic systems aren't that important to me. The distinctions between hard and soft, rules-light and rules-heavy rarely influence how I feel about a book. But I absolutely loved what Alix E Harrow did with the magic in The Once and Future Witches, because it's all based in reality, but given a clever and literary twist. Spells are hidden in nursery rhymes and stories, and so many of them begin with familiar words. Similarly, Alix E Harrow takes familiar concepts and weaves them into her world in a way that delighted and surprised me every time. 

In a similar way, the prose was full of clever twists and references and beautiful sentences that I loved. While the style seems simple, it's also very clever, building in references and allusions that will become more important later. I'm sure The Once and Future Witches would be a joy to reread! 

While the magic reminded me of Chocolat, the world-building shows a greater divergence from reality, something more akin to Dread Nation. I loved that so many of the significant historical and mythological figures were female versions of those found in our world: Alexandra Pope, Queen Midas, to name just two. It made me wonder if reading this feels a little like being a man in our world, where so many important figures affirm your gender. The Once and Future Witches is an explicitly feminist book, though Alix E Harrow does flesh out positive male characters just as well. 

Which brings me on to the characters, who I adored. Even though the Eastwood Sisters, and many of the others, were built on archetypes, they were incredibly well-drawn and developed. Of course, as a reader and reviewer of books, not to mention a notebook enthusiast, I loved (Beatrice) Bella the librarian and note-keeper, but Agnes' story was just as compelling, maybe even more so. To round out the three witches, I should also say that I cried harder in Juniper's chapters than I think I have in any book I've read for book club. The ending of The Once and Future Witchesis powerful and deeply sad, but not a total tragedy. 

I have absolutely nothing bad to say, which doesn't happen often. And for once, I haven't struggled to articulate all the things I loved about The Once and Future Witches. Fingers crossed I'm just as able to string my thoughts together at book club.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Blood, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Racism

nebulasaurus's review

dark hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Torture, Cursing, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

theworldof11's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Animal cruelty, Torture, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Police brutality

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Racism, Outing, Alcohol, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism

flightedcuriosities's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Excellent read. Its strong points are breath-taking prose, captivating imagery and a heart-wrenching, but ultimately uplifting story. I will say certain parts seemed to drag a bit with the amount of detail. Although I did feel a little burdened by the length of the book while reading, overall it was completely worth it and thoroughly enjoyable. I wouldn’t hesitate recommending to this anyone, especially those who love fantasy and strong, powerful female leads.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood and Domestic abuse

laisai's review

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Child abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Lesbophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Abortion, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexism, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

copyright1999's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

[Full review to be later posted.]
—
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0hhc2Nw66KGVS2Tw0yT40t?si=HxVoL-Z4Szmj2ZRhidsUBA

I create playlists for all novels that I read and find enjoyable; as such, I have created a playlist for The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. Please, feel free to listen to the playlist linked above as you read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Death, Police brutality, and Torture

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Minor: Ableism, Dysphoria, and Abortion

smoothgoat's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Racism, and Torture

Minor: Abortion, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Miscarriage, Slavery, Transphobia, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Colonisation, Infidelity, Outing, Rape, and Sexual content

georgiakirkegard's review

inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Death, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Racism and Blood

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Abortion