Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Once and Future Witches

I enjoyed a lot of the ideas in this, but there were just too many places it bugged. I'm sick of reading about Salem, I'm bored by "what if [Historical Figure] but GENDER SWAPPED" and "what if [Historical Figure] but SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT NAME" and

the expendable character being the one who didn't fall in love

and the badass Black *supporting* character… Also it took me way too long to get into it, and WAY too long to remember who was who. I like that the tower is

a library

. I like that there is a trans character, minor though she is. I like that there is at least a mention of White women's history of one-sided "solidarity" and magic hidden in the open simply because women's work is never taken seriously. I just... I feel like someone needed to come in hard with the red pen and whip this into shape. I feel like "set in our world so I don't have to explain everything, but also everything is different" is a cop-out and a really irritating one for some reason? But mostly I just.. I really wanted to like this more than I did.

Content Warnings

annir's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

Content Warnings

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

All a witch needs are the words, the ways, and the will but it's 1893, and the words and ways have been burned with the witches. Women have only the rhymes and songs passed down by word of mouth from mothers and grandmothers. But when Beatrice Belladonna Eastwood discovers a forgotten rhyme in an old book, she thinks she may have found a way to bring back the Lost Way of Avalon and restore witching to the world. When she is reunited with her sisters, Agnes Amaranth and James Juniper, they must move past old betrayals and work together for all womankind.

This book was perfect for me: the writing style was beautiful and a little bit meta, with references to storytelling and stories within the story; the characters were vibrant and lovable (and yes, I related to Bella a lot, as an oldest sister and book lover); and the feminist themes. I loved how Harrow altered fairytales—Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Rumplestiltskin, and more—and history—the Salem witch trials and the Underground Railroad—to use for her story. I loved the parallels drawn between witching and women's rights, and I especially liked how the story dealt with intersectional issues like race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The setting reminded me of the Harry Potter franchise's Fantastic Beasts movies (though the book takes place about 30 years earlier, just before the turn of the century), with the gritty American city and leaders determined to hunt out witchcraft. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just my judgement of how happy the ending is because I always wish someone would tell me that before I read books):

I'll be honest, I cried. I'd still say this is a relatively happy ending, though, but maybe bittersweet is a better word.

Content Warnings

More...