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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
🐦⬛ Bookish Thoughts
I was not ready for the emotional damage of this book. This is a story of sisterhood, forgiveness, resilience, magic, and love. I connected deeply to all the sisters, and it’s rare for a book to make me feel so seen and so invested in every relationship on the page, but this one did it effortlessly.
I was not ready for the emotional damage of this book. This is a story of sisterhood, forgiveness, resilience, magic, and love. I connected deeply to all the sisters, and it’s rare for a book to make me feel so seen and so invested in every relationship on the page, but this one did it effortlessly.
Every chapter began with a spell, adding a whimsical and magical touch. The writing was beautiful and intentional, with passages I had to pause and reread just to take them in. This book did not shy away from the difficulties of being a woman in a patriarchal world. It dives deep into the hardships and heartbreak women experience. The helplessness, the rage we have to keep quiet to stay safe, and the way women are infantilized and silenced.
“What’s so hard about calling a woman by her full name? Why do men always want to give you some smaller, sweeter name than the one your mama gave you?”
“It’s a risk just to be a woman, in my experience. No matter how healthy or hardworking she is.”
It also shows the resilience and the hope we carry. The love we have for each other that becomes our guiding force to fight back.
“You’re here because you want more for yourselves, better for your daughters. Because it’s easy to ignore a woman.” Juniper’s lips twist in a feral smile. “But a hell of a lot harder to ignore a witch.”
“For your sister.” Or perhaps for all of them: for the little girls thrown in cellars and the grown women sent to workhouses, the mothers who shouldn’t have died and the witches who shouldn’t have burned. For all the women punished merely for wanting what they shouldn’t have.
And finally, the sisters:
James Juniper is the wild sister, fearless as a fox and curious as a crow.
Agnes Amaranth is the strong sister, steady as a stone and twice as hard.
Beatrice Belladonna is the wise sister, quiet and clever as an owl in the rafters.
The Once and Future Witches is a 6 star read and one of my favorite books of all time. The ending was so bittersweet, the kind that leaves you both satisfied and heartbroken. I know this will be a book I return to again and again.
🪄 What to Expect
• Sisterhood
• Found family
• Sapphic rep
• Feminism
• Witchcraft
• Suffragette movement
• Feminine rage
• Alternate America
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
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
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book had me feeling hopeful and powerful. This is a beautiful, heartfelt, and at times heart wrenching tale of women helping women and strength in numbers with a strong enough will. Harrow writes in a wat that has me believing the power and information in fiction can be just as strong as nonfiction.
“… maybe those phoenix stories were never really about birds in the first place.” ❤️🔥
“… maybe those phoenix stories were never really about birds in the first place.” ❤️🔥
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
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:
No
I rolled my eyes at the line about her "exuberance like a wolf pup" I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it through this book.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A brilliant, subversive book filled with magic, feminism, familial dynamics, the suffrage movement, fairy-tales, and a plot that kept me guessing as to what would happen next. I love the use of fairy-tales to propel the story forward and to emphasize the role of women traditionally, as well as using those fairy-tales to create new roles for women. A fun and amazing read.