Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Year of the Witching

Loved this! I'm so too old for most YA these days, but this was fine, maybe except the romantic undertones. It had creepy forest, witches, old diaries, spells, biracial and queer characters, social and feminist problems.
This was the first book ever made me sick to my stomach.
But the ending was meh, so meh that it lost a star for me. Kind of lazy all is well let's leave it to maybe having a sequel ending. I was rooting for revenge and blood and.... I did not get it. Idk if it was rushed or did the author felt bored by her story at this point but meh.

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cyannaslibrary's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

4.5

➵ 4.5 stars

I didn't like the ending.

Despite all of what the Prophet has done to her and her family, Immauelle chooses to spare. Like huh? This man literally took advantage of her best friend and got her pregnant which indirectly led to her death. Did I mention he also killed her parents? This man does not deserve mercy. But I'm pretty sure if they killed him off, there wouldn't be much room for a second book.

At first, I felt bad for the witches, but I realized they're no better than the people of Bethel. They turned on Immauelle the second after she didn't comply with them.

Even killed her grandfather.

They took advantage of Miriam, Immauelle's mother, when she was at her lowest and manipulated her.

Overall, I liked this book but I don't think it needs a second book.

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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

I think this had potential but I didn't realise it wasn't a standalone and now I can barely remember what happened, which shows how forgetable it is

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squisheebee_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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laaztecabella's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Okay, so I decided to give this book a 4-star rating which is probably higher than it should be but 3 feels too low. I absolutely love the theme of this book. As someone who has some religious trauma, I felt like it was relatable even if I never dealt with things to this level of church authority. I just felt like the story wasn't deep enough or the characters were not really fleshed out. I would still recommend to read to anyone who asks. I just felt like there needed to be more.

There were several quotes that really stood out to me. I will share one them as I don't think it's a spoiler but it does give an insight what the message of the book is.

"This was the great shame of Bethel: complacency and complicity that were responsible for the deaths of generations of girls. It was the sickness that placed the pride of men before the innocents they were sworn to protect. It was a structure that exploited the weakest among them for the benefit of those born to power."

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