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A review by once_upon_a_storybook
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.0
I enjoyed this way more than I initially thought I would. This was a very interesting read about witchcraft, religion, rebellion, dystopian, patriarchy, racism, and taking back your power. It has had a little romance in it but that is not the focal point of the story.
This is literally about a cult that takes place in this village called Bethel, and there is a Prophet who is basically the leader of this cult. They literally use religion to hide behind when creating their atrocious acts. The FMC Immanuelle was born out of wedlock and her parents are consider traitor, her mother died during childbirth and her father was executed. Immanuelle is basically considered an abomination because she was never supposed to have been born. There is these woods called the darkwoods that the townspeople are forbidden to go into because witches live in there but it is definitely deeper than that. Immanuelle is their undoing and rightfully so.
This was a powerful story that opens up conversations about organized religion, how women are treated especially women of color. This took a while for me to get into but once you get into the flow of things, it really starts to move along. This book angered me with so many times, with how women were treated, how men were marrying literal children and people were okay with it and how people were just blindly following behind the prophet who was literally the worst kind of evil. This isn’t really scary but it definitely has some disturbing elements.
This is literally about a cult that takes place in this village called Bethel, and there is a Prophet who is basically the leader of this cult. They literally use religion to hide behind when creating their atrocious acts. The FMC Immanuelle was born out of wedlock and her parents are consider traitor, her mother died during childbirth and her father was executed. Immanuelle is basically considered an abomination because she was never supposed to have been born. There is these woods called the darkwoods that the townspeople are forbidden to go into because witches live in there but it is definitely deeper than that. Immanuelle is their undoing and rightfully so.
This was a powerful story that opens up conversations about organized religion, how women are treated especially women of color. This took a while for me to get into but once you get into the flow of things, it really starts to move along. This book angered me with so many times, with how women were treated, how men were marrying literal children and people were okay with it and how people were just blindly following behind the prophet who was literally the worst kind of evil. This isn’t really scary but it definitely has some disturbing elements.
Content Warnings
Minor: Pedophilia and Racism