Reviews with content warning for Self harm - The Year of the Witching

In The Year of the Witching, author Alexis Henderson takes the ‘dark bad, light good,’ trope often seen in speculative fiction to its logical conclusion in order to dissect it. The story comes down heavily on themes of corruption and misogyny in (Christian) religious settings—I can’t say if it’s a discussion of a particular sect or denomination, since I’m not Christian. This was a tough, emotional read, but it was very skillfully written and the fantasy elements made the hard-hitting parts more bearable.

I’m going to let this book speak for itself on a few of the topics I thought it addressed really well.

- Misogyny in Christianity: “Bethel has placed its burdens on the shoulders of little girls for far too long.”

- Inaction in the face of injustice: “Good people don’t bow their heads and bite their tongues while other good people suffer. Good people are not complicit.”

- Anti-Blackness in western Christianity: “In all her sixteen years, Immanuelle had never seen any saints or effigies in her own likeness. None of the statues and paintings housed in the Prophet’s Cathedral bore any resemblance to her.”

- The church allowing men to take sexual advantage of children: “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.”

- White people not coming through for their mixed-race family: Main character Immanuelle’s white grandmother betrays her to the religious authority and Immanuelle later says, “She’s no kin to me.”

- Religious rhetoric being used to justify atrocities: “The Holy Scriptures had always made those conflicts seem like battle sands wars, but in actuality, it was just a massacre.”

This was an excellent book. I wouldn’t necessarily call it an enjoyable read at all times, but it contained lots of great social commentary built on a foundation of rich worldbuilding. I recommend The Year of the Witching to anyone who enjoys intense fantasy and won’t be disturbed by the religious commentary (or will be disturbed in a good way; western Christianity needs to be shaken up this way now and then, in my opinion.)

Content notes: mention of rape in a religious context; spousal abuse; religion-base misogyny; racism/colorism; blood/gore; ritual self-harm; ritual sacrifice of animals; religion-sanctioned child rape; on-page traumatic childbirth; death of birthing parent

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decie's review against another edition

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5.0

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charlereads's review against another edition

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dark tense 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? Yes

4.5

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bnelson13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

This book is fantastic! I loved the plot and the characters. Immanuelle was a great protagonist and I loved her journey. This book was so hard to put down.

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