Reviews

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

cococreates26's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

peeweereads's review against another edition

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adventurous tense 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

3.75

mama_maleficent's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars - I started this book a long time ago, got it when it first came out. Then puttered through the first half before putting it down. I love some descriptive language but it felt too wordy, about the wrong things. That and it was harder to focus my attention when it was released, being a global pandemic and all. So months later, still in a pandemic, I picked it up. The second half was much better and I ended up enjoying it. If it was 50-100 pages shorter I think it would be a 4+ for me.

superstormnora's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

I liked how the story was paced and the villain was a REAL villain. 

msrcreation's review against another edition

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I don't dnf books. I think I have in the past when I would read a small amount in high school but outside of that I don't dnf. Even if I am hating a book I normally power through just so it can be complete but I just can't with this one. It feels too much like a chore to finish. I've been bored and the characters kind of blend into one and everything is descriptions and info dumping which really makes it drag. I know so many have and will enjoy this so please do not let my review stop you from picking this up. It just wasn't for me. 

tauwillow's review against another edition

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4.0

Well layered story with richly developed characters. It felt a bit slow to start, but I ended up staying up all night to finish it after a third of the way through. Sometimes a story works best when the big mystery at the center doesn’t get explained, but this one explains and satisfies. That’s a tricky feat to pull off, and I enjoyed it immensely.

sjarv95's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars

joankelleher's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

sovf's review

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

itputsthebookupontheshelf's review against another edition

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4.0

I loved Harrow's last book, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, so I knew I needed to pick this one up ASAP.

I very much enjoyed the storyline, the characters, and the writing, as I knew I would. I loved all the main and immediate side characters I felt for them as they struggled through the story. The way the author wove in the underlying lesson that you don't have to be "born special" to embrace your inner power was probably my favorite part. We all tend to forget our own personal power within at times, so it's always nice to see characters figure out the same thing. I loved watching relationships blossom and the love the sisters had for each other.

The story itself, while written in the time of 1893, was still quite relevant to today's struggles. Harrow paints a picture of white men in political power trying to gain even more, while women, people of differeanknt ethnicity, and lgbtq+ struggle to even survive and live equally.

My only complaint was the pacing. There were times I had to step away for a while and read something else. There were some really great scenes where I was fully invested, while there were others that could have been cut from the book entirely. That's where my rating falls short on this one.

I did still very much enjoy the book and can't wait to see what Harrow comes out with next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Books for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.