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nic3's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Cursing
Minor: Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Body horror, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Abortion
woodsofthebooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, and Self harm
Moderate: Misogyny, Child abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, and Medical content
the author’s website also contains content warnings, so go check that out too. MAJOR content warning for pregnancy, abortion, childbirthblueyogi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Religious bigotry and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Murder, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Violence, Misogyny, and Miscarriage
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
eleanora's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, and Racism
Minor: Alcohol, Colonisation, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Torture, and Violence
maureenlessreen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Moderate: Pregnancy, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Death, and Grief
Minor: Child abuse, Abortion, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Death of parent
kylaeduff's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Torture, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Sexism
Minor: Transphobia and Vomit
haleyflight's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Minor: Pregnancy, Police brutality, Torture, Racism, Transphobia, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
spineofthesaurus's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Torture, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Stalking, Violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Outing
Moderate: Ableism, Abortion, Alcoholism, Genocide, Murder, Excrement, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, Racism, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Animal death, and Hate crime
Minor: Xenophobia, Alcohol, Slavery, Deadnaming, Classism, and Colonisation
jennay's review
4.5
Would love to see this become a movie - if the producers can capture the emotions of the book accurately.
Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Abortion, Child abuse, Hate crime, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Racism, Animal death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Racial slurs
carriepond's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Set in an alternate version of 1893, The Once and Future Witches follows the three Eastwood sisters: Beatrice Belladona, Agnes Amaranth, and James Juniper. At the beginning of the novel, after being estranged for years, the sisters have separately made their way to the fictional town of New Salem, Massachusetts, a place where magic is a thing of the past after the witch burnings decades earlier in the town now known as Old Salem. When Bella feels inexplicably drawn to utter the words of a spell during a women's suffrage rally, the three sisters are reunited and a magical tower rises in the square, setting off a series of events that lead them to rally their fellow women to bring witching back to Salem. Their magical antics get the group increasingly more attention, including the attention of a sinister member of the New Salem city council eager to use the threat of powerful, witchy women as a way to propel his own rise to power.
I really enjoyed this one. Harrow is able to take so many historical references and mash them up in a fantastical way that is entertaining, smart, and unique. I am a big fan of what I will dub feminist historical novels, with characters with more modern sensibilities that don't let the historical setting force one-dimensional stories that we've already seen a thousand times. The pacing at the beginning of this was a little slow and the suffragette thread wasn't really carried all the way through, but those minor flaws didn't really lessen my enjoyment of this novel, which has so many threads and storylines that Harrow carries beautifully through to the end.
The Once and Future Witches is ultimately about how powerful women can be when we are in community with one another. I appreciated that Harrow's heroines included a diverse mix of women, which made the power-in-community theme resonate all the more. I also really liked the use of storytelling and that the ways that women passed down magical knowledge were as diverse as the different groups of women featured in the novel.
If you like books with secret societies, witches and magic, read this book. If you like historical novels with a fantasy or feminist twist, read this book. Alix Harrow is an author I am really growing to love.
Graphic: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Torture
Minor: Animal death