Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Once and Future Witches

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

73 reviews

raenyreads's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. It may be my new favourite book! The vibes are amazing - the sisterhood, the feminism and the witchiness were exactly what I wanted from an October read. I really enjoyed how nursery rhymes and fairy tales were altered and included in the story. I highly recommend this book, especially if you're looking for something with multiple strong female characters!

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful slow-paced

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

4.0

This book. Honestly, I could just stop my review right there because it says it all. THIS BOOK. It has so much power, so much angst, so much feminism, so much history, and so much truth (even though it's a work of fiction).

While the pace might be almost painfully slow, the way it's written is absolutely breathtaking. I hope to do a reread of this in the future because I felt like I needed to rush through it this time around due to it needing to go back to the library really quickly (the only negative side to borrowing books rather than buying them). I know I missed things because I had to skim sometimes to get through it, but I honestly didn't feel like I was lacking anything even at the very end. It was incredibly written.

My first book by Harrow was The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and I immediately fell in love with the whimsy and depth that somehow corresponded so beautifully throughout the story. This felt the same way. There were moments of fantastical insanity (in a good way) but then also times that had my eyes getting glassy with tears.

If you're looking for a really phenomenal, queer, empowered, witchy read - this is it. Seriously, so good.

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kimia_hyperfocuser's review against another edition

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DNF at 18%.
"Suffragist sister witches" is such a cool premise, but it ended up not working for me. The text is a tad bloated and the soft magic system a little too soft and nebulous. But people who like flowery prose and soft magic system in service of the story's themes should love this book.
Another complaint I have is it feels like the author went thru a list of feminist issues to make sure they were all included somewhere in the story: domestic abuse, abortion, sex work... even lack of pockets in women's clothes. This last one felt really forced even to me, a fervent demander of pockets.

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emfass's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book. Oh my god, this book.

I have been in a horrible reading slump for two months, grumpy about everything and not feeling pulled to pick up any book that I was trying to get through (except for an audiobook buddy reread of the Hunger Games series). Then my women's book club picked this for our October read, since the host wanted something witchy.

This book was everything I didn't know I wanted. It blasted my reading slump to smithereens, and I feel so deeply grateful and in awe. The prose. THE PROSE. I cannot. Maybe this is what helped break my reading slump, it was so lush and poetic and just stunningly gorgeous and different from anything I've read in a long time. The story interweaves sisterhood, feminism, women's suffrage, collective power, and magic steeped in fairy tales and folklore and "women's work" and the ways that women have to move through the world in order to survive.

The book is set in 1893, in a world and timeline that very clearly references events in our own but changes things a smidge (for example: referencing Eugene Debs and the Railway Union strike, and the "Square Shirtwaist Fire" that is clearly meant to represent the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which happened in 1911). But it was oh so clear to me that it was written in the aftermath of #MeToo and Trump's election; there are certain passages that are hauntingly relatable today. Harrow drops in plenty of little moments that we as women have to deal with every damn day and calls out the injustice of it all.

I will say that I feel somewhat conflicted about the ending, and look forward to processing it with the other folks in my book club this weekend. But this is hands-down one of my favorite reads of 2021.

I listened to this on audio and narrator Gabra Zackman is a dream. She shows such love for the prose, and creates distinct voices for the (many many) characters while showing them a lot of love as well.

My one small complaint about the audiobook is that during the chapters where fairy tales are retold, there is underscoring throughout the chapter, and the mix felt really imbalanced - I struggled to hear the narration over the music, which irked me. (I am a sound designer by trade, and also have some auditory/information processing issues with things like this.)

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logan_readss's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.5

I received this book as an arc and I loved reading it so much. A story of feminism written by a women for women, showing us a cast of diverse women fighting for themselves, their sisters, their daughters, their mothers and anyone else who matters deeply to them.

Set in 1800s America, during the fight for women's suffrage, three witch sisters come together to cause trouble and help women across the country while uncovering the lost magic of their ancestors, stolen from them by men.

This book kept me gripped and entertained all the way through, I never wanted to put it down. There was moments that made me cry, feeling the deep relationship and sisterhood between the sisters of Avalon. Cannot recommend it enough

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mo345's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.5

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ka_ke's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Once and Future Witches is a fine book. Best for people who prefer books with minimal world building or character growth. The cast of characters is diverse which is one of the best things there is to say.

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