A review by jess_eveland
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

4.0

Really enjoyed this story - centered on empowerment. Women at the end of hope turn to magic. It's not a typical witch story. Spells are hidden in fairy tails and children's rhymes. Words and ways are how women make a way for themselves and their families because they are poor, don't have access to healthcare, votes, fair working conditions, & LGBTQ+ rights. They heal bruises left by abusive husbands they are not allowed to divorce, struggle to find access to women's healthcare, hide secret relationships and gender identity. Set against the womens suffrage movement, at times it's startling how so many of the issues these women are struggling with are echoing in today's political rhetoric and supreme court rulings. Ultimately magic is a tool but what saves them is the bonds of sisterhood bringing together women from all walks of life.

"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"

Criticism: at times the pacing is a bit slow.