Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

86 reviews

craftysnailtail's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

I could see a certain type of person really loving this book, but it absolutely wasn't for me. The neverending tragic backstory reveals felt incredibly tropey. Show me a woman in this novel and she will be "strong" because she survived so much abuse. Everything in this book was traumatic, depressing, and often ended poorly for all the women involved. I understand the fight against injustice, but it felt too heavy handed for me. 

3.5 stars because the plot was interesting (though far too drawn out), and I enjoyed how magical knowledge is passed down through generations. I even liked the sisters themselves. But for a book with witches and lesbians, I thought I would've enjoyed it much more than I did.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Sexism, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Alcoholism, Grief, Sexual assault, Murder, Transphobia, Racism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Classism, Abandonment, Abortion, and Addiction

issamay's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Torture, Misogyny, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Abortion, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Animal cruelty

kickitupanotch7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This may be the best book i've ever read. I laughed, I cried, I felt seen. This book is what it's like to be a woman. Anything you do is demonized but when a man does it he's praised. Alix E. Harrow writes about how "behind every witch is a woman wrong." (445) and creates beautifully complex characters like Agnes that show a true beauty and a true darkness in femininity. Juniper is a feral, selfish, and damaged girl but

her final act is to do something so selfless it saves all future witches. She bears the burden so that the future of her niece and all other mothers and daughters won't have to.

I could spend hours describing my love and adoration for this book. The emotional and storied complexity for even minor characters like Jennie and Mr. Blackwell are so outstanding and enriching. I think Harrow needs all the awards and I'm devastated i'll never be able to read this book for the first time again. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Classism, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Transphobia, Racism, Police brutality, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gore, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Torture, Suicide, Misogyny, and Homophobia

beccaand's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Confinement, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Death, Sexism, and Torture

Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Minor: Transphobia and Abortion

gardens_and_dragons's review

adventurous dark emotional slow-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? No

4.0

I very much enjoyed this fairytale esque story about three sisters who are witches, and seek to bring about magic back into the world, around the same time as the women’s suffrage  movement. This is not the same 1800s that we know, which is are a real tangible thing that is a history long since blotted out of the world. it’s also a world that relies heavily on mothers and daughters, and passing down of children’s rhymes, and the important women’s work to carry spells into new generations. 

It does me a little bit more than I would like. I think that there is a good chunk of the book, devoted to the “all is lost” section of a heroes journey before they find the means to get back at the evil George Hill. 

If I read it as a fairytale or fable, like its inspiration, it is forgivable in the sense that the villain is fairly two dimensional , not quite as realized as I would hope but better than I had feared. 

Overall, I think what made me enjoy this the most was the pros and descriptions in the book. I think that what Alex Harrow has done here in terms of the write (metaphors and similes and weaving together history and fable) is really magical in its own right. 

I also enjoy how much the author in her weave in people historically  left out of the women’s movement. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny

Moderate: Racism and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abortion and Transphobia

kylaeduff's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

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

brttbwrs's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Racism

jbird_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

Finally read this! It's been on my tbr for years. I like the characters and the writing, as well as the weaving in of historical accuracies. <Spoiler> the "square shirtwaist factory" instead of the triangle shirtwaist factory was really funny to me. I think the main thing I didn't like was how long this was. The pacing could have been improved, and at points it seemed like the author wanted to tackle a lot of subjects but ran out of time in the story to weave it all together. Overall, though, it was good, and I'm glad I read it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abortion, Racism, and Blood

Minor: Transphobia

haleyflight's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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