Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

91 reviews

marleywrites's review against another edition

adventurous tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

My favorite character was Juniper.

I really thought she was gonna take over Hill’s familiar as her own. But the crow also makes sense and suits her.

She is such a badass character and I love her spirit. 

From reading reviews, I thought I wouldn’t like Agnes. But truly, I really enjoyed her character. I don’t usually relate to mothers or the whole “maternal bond” thing, but I really felt like Agnes did a good job of balancing her loyalty to her sisters and her child.

And I am obsessed with her relationship with August.

Bella was also a great character. I’m fond of lesbians and I’m fond of librarians, so this was just a wonderful character for me overall. I think I relate to Bella the most, with the anxiety yet fierce loyalty to her sisters. 

I don’t have a sister, but reading this book made me feel like I do. These characters had me wrapped up in their little family with them. And their extended family in the witching community was just beautiful. 

This book was a bit slow at first, but once it picked up I was IN IT! I think I’m going to recommend it to anyone looking for a witchy read.  I’m a big fan of Alix E. Harrow and have read two other books by her. I’ll definitely keep reading her work and I look forward to her next project!

Side note, I loved the LGBTQ+ rep in this book. Amazing. 

Side note to the side note: am I the only one who felt terrible for Hill’s dog? 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Medical content, Pregnancy, Death, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, and Sexual content

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, and Child abuse

Minor: Abortion

haunted_jackalope's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

Slow books aren't my favorite, but the story was worth it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Confinement, Cursing, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Torture, Abortion, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

I wasn't sure if this would be a good book for me. I anticipated it might be a little dull or a little too intense, but I wound up loving it! I especially liked the adaptation of fairy tales and other well-known works as the hidden words of spells. This was just the book I needed this month.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Confinement, Murder, Grief, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Racism, Classism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Misogyny

Moderate: Transphobia, Miscarriage, and Abortion

Government sanctioned removal of children from target group of people

tormerritt's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was truly magical from start to finish! I was already expecting a well-written book because I am in love with Harrow's gorgeous writing style from 'The Ten Thousand Doors of January', but I was not expecting such a beautifully woven story with so many profound elements to it. I can tell so much work went into the writing of this book!

It is 1893, and we follow the Eastwood Sisters who are discovering their witchcraft and using the power of spells and storytelling to share their "words and ways". Ultimately, turning a women's movement into a witches' movement! The bravery and strength of the many women in this book were incredibly inspiring! The story deals with some heavier subjects like trauma, abuse, racism, violence, abortion, pregnancy/birth, and constraints against women during the 1890s. 

Every character was written so well that they practically jump off the pages! We get to see their struggles, where they are from, who their family and friends are, what has caused their traumas, their thoughts and feelings, and their most vulnerable moments throughout. This made the characters relatable and so human for me. Also, I love the fact that there is LGBTQ/interracial relationship representation. ❤️

There wasn't anything I disliked about this book. I did not want to escape this enchanting world of The Once and Future Witches and I definitely want to form my own society of powerful witches now! Who wants to join? 🧙🏻‍♀️✨️ 


I highly recommend this to anyone and everyone, a new five-star favorite! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Death of parent, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, and Racism

Minor: Abortion

anastasiamakes's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Racism, Blood, Child abuse, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality

Minor: Slavery, Abortion, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

sneakysnam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Abortion, Child abuse, Misogyny, Colonisation, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Grief, and Kidnapping

Minor: Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death of parent, and Grief

immovabletype's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexism, Torture, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Transphobia

jenmcreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This book was more than I expected. With a story of witches joining the suffragette movement, I was pleasantly surprised by the degree to which this book explored intersectionality and took that issue seriously. I loved the women's collections of magic being saved and passed down in recipes and nursery rhymes and I felt that set a poignant tone for the book overall. At times, the plot became a bit convoluted and challenging to follow however I did find I was always able eventually to catch up to it. This definitely scratches the itch for witchy reading, and does so with more depth and nuance than I anticipated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Confinement, Violence, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Pregnancy

lilithreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Death of parent, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Confinement, Animal death, and Torture

Minor: Kidnapping, Transphobia, Grief, Sexism, and Sexual harassment