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chichio's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
ARGH! This was so good.
The writing in this book was unbelievable—so atmospheric and full of details without being unnecessarily convoluted. I could quite literally see all of the imagery in my mind’s eye, and there were very clear moments where I was able to watch characters move throughout the space as though I were watching a movie. On the topic of imagery, the horrific elements of this book were so creative and grotesque. I loved every single second of it.
Also, obsessed with our protagonist Immanuelle! Loved her so much. The author did an amazing job writing this character, to the point where even when she made decisions that I didn’t agree with, I still felt as though they were justifiable because of the kind of person she’d been crafted by the author to be.
The only reason why this isn’t getting the whole 5 stars from me is the pacing, namely near the very end of the book. Understandably, action scenes are meant to be shorter in order to depict tension and high stakes but I couldn’t help but feel that it all felt too rushed. I definitely think it would’ve added to the book if we got to see a little more of the aftermath of the Slaughter on page, rather than just through summary/exposition.
Still, this was a fantastic horror read for autumn written by a black author with a black protagonist! I enjoyed it all so much and will definitely checking out more from this author.
The writing in this book was unbelievable—so atmospheric and full of details without being unnecessarily convoluted. I could quite literally see all of the imagery in my mind’s eye, and there were very clear moments where I was able to watch characters move throughout the space as though I were watching a movie. On the topic of imagery, the horrific elements of this book were so creative and grotesque. I loved every single second of it.
Also, obsessed with our protagonist Immanuelle! Loved her so much. The author did an amazing job writing this character, to the point where even when she made decisions that I didn’t agree with, I still felt as though they were justifiable because of the kind of person she’d been crafted by the author to be.
The only reason why this isn’t getting the whole 5 stars from me is the pacing, namely near the very end of the book.
Still, this was a fantastic horror read for autumn written by a black author with a black protagonist! I enjoyed it all so much and will definitely checking out more from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, Gore, Death of parent, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexism
Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse
thebakersbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.0
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
decie's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Body horror, Rape, Sexism, Animal death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Death, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Violence, Confinement, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Self harm and Racism
lisammuch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Death, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, and Medical content
Moderate: Racism and Rape
stellenelcielo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Nowadays, I don't often give five stars to books, not out of a sense of superiority, but usually because there had been an element in the book that irked me enough that I couldn't.
This is not a case of that. I loved this book.
Immanuelle, while frustratingly forgiving and self-sacrificing, especially around the end, is still a very realistic take on a character whose had piousness drilled into her since she was born. Her empathy for her town (which I may add, do not deserve it in the slightest) was infuriating at times, but understandable. I loved the dark nature of this book, and how although there's the idea that the witches might be misunderstood throughout the story, it very soon becomes clear that they are not, but that they aren't necessarily in the wrong either.
Maybe the only gripe I would have with this book would be that Vera Ward was introduced so late into the story, but then again, it does say that this is book 1 of a series, so I am very hopeful to read more about Bethel, and it's characters. Would especially be interested in knowing more about the Outskirts, and their take on faith, which was described much differently than what Immanuel was accustomed to; as well as the story of Lilith and the other witches.
Since watching the 2015 film, The Witch (with Anya Taylor-Joy) I've been interested in puritanical-criticism/witchcraft theme, and it's always fun finding works that incorporate it. Anyhow, The Year of the Witching was a great book, great plot, characters, and just the right amount of fanatical horror.
Can't wait to get my hands on the next book.
This is not a case of that. I loved this book.
Immanuelle, while frustratingly forgiving and self-sacrificing, especially around the end, is still a very realistic take on a character whose had piousness drilled into her since she was born. Her empathy for her town (which I may add, do not deserve it in the slightest) was infuriating at times, but understandable. I loved the dark nature of this book, and how although there's the idea that the witches might be misunderstood throughout the story, it very soon becomes clear that they are not, but that they aren't necessarily in the wrong either.
Maybe the only gripe I would have with this book would be that Vera Ward was introduced so late into the story, but then again, it does say that this is book 1 of a series, so I am very hopeful to read more about Bethel, and it's characters. Would especially be interested in knowing more about the Outskirts, and their take on faith, which was described much differently than what Immanuel was accustomed to; as well as the story of Lilith and the other witches.
Since watching the 2015 film, The Witch (with Anya Taylor-Joy) I've been interested in puritanical-criticism/witchcraft theme, and it's always fun finding works that incorporate it. Anyhow, The Year of the Witching was a great book, great plot, characters, and just the right amount of fanatical horror.
Can't wait to get my hands on the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Animal death, Body horror, and Sexual assault
There is brief reveal of past child sexual abuse of one of the characters.romiress's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I really enjoyed the start, but I think it tripped over itself at the end.
It is so bizarre to have the entire book be like 'The church is wrong and is using its dogma to oppress women' and then A) not really address the fact that the religion is inherently like that (father = good, mother = bad), and B) have them be absolutely right about the witches being unredeemable evil.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Gore, Pregnancy, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, and Physical abuse
kayla_kamldecker's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
4.0
The ending was a bit cheesy, but otherwise a fantastic book full of darkness, blood, horror, and feminism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny
Moderate: Rape, Racial slurs, and Racism
emily_journals's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.5
Ok, first off, the premise of this book is so intriguing to me. I was so invested in the premise and first 2/3 of this book, but the last 1/3 of this book really missed the mark for me. Without going into too much detail, the second guessing of the town and church's true motives is built up throughout the whole first 2/3 of the book, and then kind of abandoned and not truly fulfilled at the end of the book. Overall, this book was just really disappointing to me. When I picked it up, I was so excited and eager to dig down to the bottom of the mystery and learning about all these secrets towards the beginning of the book was so exciting, but the resolution was such a let down on all of the points the book seemed to be attempting to make.
Ok, now for some spoiler specific review comments to explain the above points:
1.) So, the entire beginning of the book was all about how Immanuelle was sort of discovering these issues and prejudices within the church, and also her discovering the "true story" behind the origins of Bethel and the story of the three witches. The beginning of this book was really building up how the men who run this town were not good people, and would deliberately hurt women and people with less power who tried to stand up against them, and applying that to the witches, BUT THEN you discover that the witches really were just completely evil and wanted to kill everyone and are still trying to destroy the town and EVERYONE in it (not just the manipulative men), which almost entirely negates the point that this book seems to be trying to make.
2.) The mom issue was never resolved. Immanuelle's mom supposedly was consorting with these three witch spirits to curse the entire town (not just the people who caused all of her pain). Immanuelle goes through all of these steps and discoveries that her mom essentially used her as a conduit to bring the curse to the town (which is also why only Immanuelle can stop it), and that her mom left Immanuelle to just become only this thing to carry the curse. However, when Immanuelle goes and finds her grandma (dad's mom) who left Bethel, she says that Immanuelle's mom was so over protective of Immanuelle even before she was born, and how excited she was to have her baby and how she would never reduce Immanuelle to essentially an object to carry out the curse. But this thread is never resolved. It just is left dangling, and the only resolution we get is that Immanuelle's mom really did just use Immanuelle to deliver this curse? Which again, reduces the point this book is making by having this woman who is betrayed and hurt by all the men in power in Bethel reduce her own child to an object (which is what this book seems to be trying to protest, the objectification of women and how the men of Bethel think that they can do whatever they want with these women).
3.) There is kind of a "white savior" ending. Not fully, but there are little bits and pieces of it with the love interest (white boy) saving Immanuelle multiple times at the end, so that she can then save the town. I don't think it's a full white savior, but the fact that he needed to save Immanuelle at all was a little irksome, as it is proven throughout the whole book that Immanuelle is very capable on her own, so I thought it was a little frustrating that the author did this when we, the audience, know it's not needed.
Ok, now for some spoiler specific review comments to explain the above points:
2.) The mom issue was never resolved. Immanuelle's mom supposedly was consorting with these three witch spirits to curse the entire town (not just the people who caused all of her pain). Immanuelle goes through all of these steps and discoveries that her mom essentially used her as a conduit to bring the curse to the town (which is also why only Immanuelle can stop it), and that her mom left Immanuelle to just become only this thing to carry the curse. However, when Immanuelle goes and finds her grandma (dad's mom) who left Bethel, she says that Immanuelle's mom was so over protective of Immanuelle even before she was born, and how excited she was to have her baby and how she would never reduce Immanuelle to essentially an object to carry out the curse. But this thread is never resolved. It just is left dangling, and the only resolution we get is that Immanuelle's mom really did just use Immanuelle to deliver this curse? Which again, reduces the point this book is making by having this woman who is betrayed and hurt by all the men in power in Bethel reduce her own child to an object (which is what this book seems to be trying to protest, the objectification of women and how the men of Bethel think that they can do whatever they want with these women).
3.) There is kind of a "white savior" ending. Not fully, but there are little bits and pieces of it with the love interest (white boy) saving Immanuelle multiple times at the end, so that she can then save the town. I don't think it's a full white savior, but the fact that he needed to save Immanuelle at all was a little irksome, as it is proven throughout the whole book that Immanuelle is very capable on her own, so I thought it was a little frustrating that the author did this when we, the audience, know it's not needed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Death, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Animal death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Death of parent
kkulhannie's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Child abuse, Body horror, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Child death, and Animal death
Minor: War, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization
notastate's review against another edition
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
3.75
Oof this book had me HOOKED. The tags/themes that are listed on here are very accurate- this book is not for the faint of heart. While there were times when it was confusing, I enjoyed reading this!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Murder, Grief, Gore, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, and Adult/minor relationship