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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 Harrow is able to take so many historical references and mash them up in a fantastical way that is entertaining, smart, and unique.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
themadpage'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: Pregnancy, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Torture, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent
therainbowshelf'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Confinement, Murder, Grief, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Racism, Classism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Misogyny
Moderate: Transphobia, Miscarriage, and Abortion
Government sanctioned removal of children from target group of peopleanastasiamakes'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: Misogyny and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Racism, Blood, Child abuse, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
Minor: Slavery, Abortion, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia
alerasaul0's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Police brutality, Child abuse, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment
breadwitchery'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
5.0
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexism, and Torture
Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Outing, and Abortion
Minor: Transphobia, Alcohol, and Animal death
well_read_unicorn'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
5.0
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Transphobia
stacy837'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
4.75
Graphic: Violence and Misogyny
Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Abortion
imds'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? No
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Child abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, and Transphobia