Scan barcode
frog_appreciator's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed reading this but several aspects of the plot weren’t fleshed out enough. Like the mother and the witches were very present but the father was just this watery concept. If you’re going to make the “dark side” so solid you should do the same to the “light side”. Also the racial dynamics just seems to be plopped there and weren’t fleshed out enough.
CW: gruesome birth scene
CW: gruesome birth scene
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
grey_jayne's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
This novel is dark and tense, set in a puritanical fantasy land called Bethel as witch plagues start drawing people into the Darkwoods, where the witches live. It's really good, told modernly while echoing the religious patriarchal stranglehold humans have been in for ages now and the feminist rage from its mark on femmes.
I wasn't sure if this was going to be my thing and the narrative voice totally sold me. I'd recommend trying it if you are on the fence too because The Year of the Witching has plenty of surprises.
I wasn't sure if this was going to be my thing and the narrative voice totally sold me. I'd recommend trying it if you are on the fence too because The Year of the Witching has plenty of surprises.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual assault and Pedophilia
lili_geek's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-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
4.5
This book was an amazing, and devastating, read. For some reason I expected this book to be more of a historical fiction and was pleasantly surprised by the world building that the author created. All of the characters were incredibly with flaws that were believable. Also, the book has a few twists and turns that kept me guessing. Overall fully recommend this book, but it’s a heavy read so be prepared.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Sexual assault, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Confinement, Child death, and Pregnancy
laaztecabella's review against another edition
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.
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."
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
mari1532's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
I checked this book out of my local library and once I started listening I was drawn into the story.
This is one of those books when you start reading it you immediately want to know everything that is about to happen and also do not want to read/listen to it too quickly. The nail-biting aspects of this story that Henderson achieves in her writing made it nearly impossible for me to draw myself away from the story.
The mix of religious fervour in the town of Bethel and myth made the story feel a bit like it might have happened in real life at some point in history.
Synopsis: Immanuelle is a teenage girl, coming of age in a society dictated by religious doctrine. In a society where women are property and physically marked upon marriage, Immanuelle has no desire to give up her independence. To complicate matters more her parents broke all the rules of Bethel and she is marked with the stain of their sin. As Immanuelle tries to find herself she must come to terms with her familial legacy and to do that she might just end up breaking all the rules.
The way Henderson writes her characters is so good. I truly hated several people in this book because they were just so awful and there were others who switched from hating to loving. The complexity made the story even richer and more engrossing. I cannot wait for the second book.
This is one of those books when you start reading it you immediately want to know everything that is about to happen and also do not want to read/listen to it too quickly. The nail-biting aspects of this story that Henderson achieves in her writing made it nearly impossible for me to draw myself away from the story.
The mix of religious fervour in the town of Bethel and myth made the story feel a bit like it might have happened in real life at some point in history.
Synopsis: Immanuelle is a teenage girl, coming of age in a society dictated by religious doctrine. In a society where women are property and physically marked upon marriage, Immanuelle has no desire to give up her independence. To complicate matters more her parents broke all the rules of Bethel and she is marked with the stain of their sin. As Immanuelle tries to find herself she must come to terms with her familial legacy and to do that she might just end up breaking all the rules.
The way Henderson writes her characters is so good. I truly hated several people in this book because they were just so awful and there were others who switched from hating to loving. The complexity made the story even richer and more engrossing. I cannot wait for the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault and Child abuse
jrharris's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
goldenslug's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, Death, Rape, Religious bigotry, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
rtaire's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Racism, and Blood
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Rape
legs_n_chins's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I really, really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it failed to engage me and the things I found lacking ended up far outweighing the things I really enjoyed. I came very close to DNF-ing multiple times. But I wanted to see it through to the end and the horror elements were solid enough that I wanted more of that.
Tl;dr: Main character suffers too much from Main Character Syndrome and too much of the story felt spoon-fed. Messaging was muddled. But horror elements held up through the end and atmosphere was appropriately dark.
The writing was technically solid. Henderson can set a scene well and creates a solid atmosphere. I felt the pacing was steady, quick to get from one part to the next without falling stagnant. However, the author also fell very heavily into the trap of telling, not showing. Many things that we were told occurred or things we were told the mc was thinking would’ve been more impactful if we had any basis of textual evidence for these statements. I also felt that information was spoon fed to the audience far too often, almost to the point that I felt condescended to. Some of the revelations, for example, that come toward the end that seem shocking to the mc shouldn’t have been shocking at all, as we seemed to have dwelled on this information for a long time prior.
I did really enjoy some parts of this book. The tension of the climax was excellent and the elements of nature and darkness were utilized well. I like the horror aspect, the constant haunting that seemed to dog our steps as the story progressed. The plagues were creative and helped continually raise the stakes through the narrative. And the way Henderson envisioned the witches, Lilith especially, was really incredible. I loved the image of the witches and the sinister otherworldliness of them.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book fell short of my expectations. Maybe I’m judging to harshly because of that, but I felt that the characters were shallow and relationships hollow. Some scenes between characters I felt were undeserved, the relationship not built enough for me to grasp the emotion the author was trying to convey. The mc never convinced me of her motivation or strength of character, and far too often it felt like she was in a bad quest epic where the most significant steps she took in her own narrative were to decide who to ask for help and when. And then in those cases she seemed to receive answers or aid without any significant obstacle. I could really overdo the word count on some examples, but this is already getting long and my main gripe is more significant.
I was confused by the commentary or message this book was attempting to impart. I’ll admit I can be dense about these things, and maybe I was told to expect something different that what this was intended to be, but this was billed to me as a dark fantasy wrapped around an intersectional feminist narrative. As a female-presenting poc myself, I was eager to see how Henderson would dig into this, but like everything else it felt rather shallow. The message I believe I could see here was that the patriarchal system seeks to make monsters of us all and turn women against each other to keep the structure in place. Which is all well and good, but I was hoping the narrative would allow for a breaking of that and give the women a chance to be allies with each other. Minor end spoilers:I suppose it did at the end, but like everything else it felt undeserved as up until that moment everyone had turned their back on the mc . More significant end spoiler: And, in the end, one of the final decisions made by the mc is in service to the saving of a man. A love interest I felt was unnecessary, eschewing the previously established motivation of saving the whole town.
There was also a part toward the middle of the book where the mc, a biracial woman, seeks to connect with her Black heritage and the time spent on that subplot was unfortunately brief. I’m biracial myself, I recognized some of what the author was saying here, but it still felt too surface-level because I didn’t feel the mc had a clear enough through-line of deep desire to make these connections. Though she expressed feelings of being an outsider in her own family, I wasn’t convinced of her consistent motivation to find the piece that was missing.
All in all, I was hoping for more depth and found it lacking. I may have been blinded by my own expectations and, unable to shake them, let my disappointment color my potential enjoyment of the book. But, I stand by my own critiques.
Tl;dr: Main character suffers too much from Main Character Syndrome and too much of the story felt spoon-fed. Messaging was muddled. But horror elements held up through the end and atmosphere was appropriately dark.
The writing was technically solid. Henderson can set a scene well and creates a solid atmosphere. I felt the pacing was steady, quick to get from one part to the next without falling stagnant. However, the author also fell very heavily into the trap of telling, not showing. Many things that we were told occurred or things we were told the mc was thinking would’ve been more impactful if we had any basis of textual evidence for these statements. I also felt that information was spoon fed to the audience far too often, almost to the point that I felt condescended to. Some of the revelations, for example, that come toward the end that seem shocking to the mc shouldn’t have been shocking at all, as we seemed to have dwelled on this information for a long time prior.
I did really enjoy some parts of this book. The tension of the climax was excellent and the elements of nature and darkness were utilized well. I like the horror aspect, the constant haunting that seemed to dog our steps as the story progressed. The plagues were creative and helped continually raise the stakes through the narrative. And the way Henderson envisioned the witches, Lilith especially, was really incredible. I loved the image of the witches and the sinister otherworldliness of them.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book fell short of my expectations. Maybe I’m judging to harshly because of that, but I felt that the characters were shallow and relationships hollow. Some scenes between characters I felt were undeserved, the relationship not built enough for me to grasp the emotion the author was trying to convey. The mc never convinced me of her motivation or strength of character, and far too often it felt like she was in a bad quest epic where the most significant steps she took in her own narrative were to decide who to ask for help and when. And then in those cases she seemed to receive answers or aid without any significant obstacle. I could really overdo the word count on some examples, but this is already getting long and my main gripe is more significant.
I was confused by the commentary or message this book was attempting to impart. I’ll admit I can be dense about these things, and maybe I was told to expect something different that what this was intended to be, but this was billed to me as a dark fantasy wrapped around an intersectional feminist narrative. As a female-presenting poc myself, I was eager to see how Henderson would dig into this, but like everything else it felt rather shallow. The message I believe I could see here was that the patriarchal system seeks to make monsters of us all and turn women against each other to keep the structure in place. Which is all well and good, but I was hoping the narrative would allow for a breaking of that and give the women a chance to be allies with each other. Minor end spoilers:
There was also a part toward the middle of the book where the mc, a biracial woman, seeks to connect with her Black heritage and the time spent on that subplot was unfortunately brief. I’m biracial myself, I recognized some of what the author was saying here, but it still felt too surface-level because I didn’t feel the mc had a clear enough through-line of deep desire to make these connections. Though she expressed feelings of being an outsider in her own family, I wasn’t convinced of her consistent motivation to find the piece that was missing.
All in all, I was hoping for more depth and found it lacking. I may have been blinded by my own expectations and, unable to shake them, let my disappointment color my potential enjoyment of the book. But, I stand by my own critiques.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Gore, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Pedophilia and Incest
sdsmith80's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
5.0
***Spoilers***
I put this book on hold because it was a book club pick, although I didn't get it in time to participate. I'm always a fan of religious horror though, so was somewhat looking forward to this. My first thoughts with it were that Bethel has shades of the FLDS and other local sects that subjugate women. I was pretty sure that the author was going to make the point that women are oppressed to strip them of their power, and that the witches would ultimately be forces of good. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book has a level of nuance in its characters, and the battle between good and evil, that isn't normally seen. I'll let the author tell it in their own words:
"Some of them were innocent, others complicit; still more were caught in the gray between right and wrong. Few were wholly blameless, and none were free of sin."
The fact that in the end, the witches weren't good, although their actions weren't fully evil either, was such a good choice. I truly loved the fact that everything in the end comes down to the choices of the characters. While I did feel that the ending was a bit rushed in places, the hopeful note I think was the perfect tone to leave on.
I put this book on hold because it was a book club pick, although I didn't get it in time to participate. I'm always a fan of religious horror though, so was somewhat looking forward to this. My first thoughts with it were that Bethel has shades of the FLDS and other local sects that subjugate women. I was pretty sure that the author was going to make the point that women are oppressed to strip them of their power, and that the witches would ultimately be forces of good. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book has a level of nuance in its characters, and the battle between good and evil, that isn't normally seen. I'll let the author tell it in their own words:
"Some of them were innocent, others complicit; still more were caught in the gray between right and wrong. Few were wholly blameless, and none were free of sin."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, and Xenophobia