"The Year of the Witching" by Alexis Henderson is a book that immediately drew me in, captivating my interest from the very beginning. It's set in a hauntingly atmospheric world filled with witches, curses, and concealed truths, it weaves a dark and gripping narrative. Henderson's storytelling is deeply immersive, and her characters are skillfully developed. If you're in search of a thought-provoking, feminist, and eerie tale, this book is an absolute must-read. It left me with a sense of unease and a strong desire for more of Henderson's literary creations.

A well written book with interesting characters and a good story. Easy to read even though there are some more difficult subjects. Good world building!

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

The Year of the Witching is a dark and atmospheric debut novel that weaves together elements of horror, fantasy, and feminism. The story follows Immanuelle, a young woman who lives in a deeply religious and patriarchal society where women are oppressed and any form of witchcraft is strictly forbidden.

One of the strengths of the novel is the world-building. Henderson has created a vivid and atmospheric setting, with detailed descriptions of the village, the surrounding woods, and the eerie creatures that lurk in the shadows. The novel also tackles important themes of oppression, gender roles, and religious extremism in a thought-provoking way.

However, the pacing of the novel can be slow at times, and some of the plot points feel predictable. The characters are also somewhat one-dimensional, with Immanuelle being the only fully developed character in the novel.

The Year of the Witching is a solid debut that offers an interesting take on the witchcraft and fantasy genres. The novel's dark and atmospheric tone and exploration of important themes make it a compelling read. Fans of feminist fiction and horror/fantasy crossovers may particularly enjoy this one. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

A bleak yet haunting tale of dark woods and witches, family shame, revenge and redemption. One to read with the lights on....

Gripping read and I loved every moment of it. Realistic character development that had me speeding through this book in a couple of days. Throughly enjoyed, thank you

The Year of the Witching follows a patriarchal and religious society, where our main character is put in situations where she starts to overthrow it and change perceptions. There’s a bit of a mystery to unravel about exactly who the antagonist is and what they’re doing which is so wrong, and it kept me intrigued to find out more.

Our main character, Immanuelle, is a strong and smart woman who starts off the book just trying to get through her life in this society (even with a backstory which already alienates her a bit). Even when she has doubts about herself she still tries to do the right thing, and listens to her morals over what other people say is the right thing. I loved the evolution of Immanuelle’s character as the book progresses as she grows into herself.

Immanuelle ends up finding a diary which reveals her mother’s interactions with the feared witches, and I was excited to see how this influenced Immanuelle to the very end. Whilst the society around Bethel isn’t unique but based on many other religious cult-like societies, the magical elements help build a lot of interest and atmosphere which is hard to ignore.

Ezra is the character I assumed would be a predictable “bad boy” love interest, however I was fortunately wrong and there’s a lot of depth to his character. There’s an emphasis on his family, his religion and his relationships with multiple people on top of Immanuelle which I thought added to the storyline really well.

Another relationship I loved was Immanuelle’s kind of sisters, Honor and Glory. Whilst not blood sisters, the sisterly bond was strong and the family ties that were there could have caused resentment didn’t. It doesn’t feel forced, and I found the characters to react realistically with a healthy upbringing rather than one that leant too much on the negative history of Immanuelle’s mother.

I really enjoyed the use of the Darkwood and the witches imagery and lore that permeates throughout the entire story. Whilst these aspects can feel creepy and cause a lot of tension, I would say it’s very much fantasy over straight up horror which I found some people saying The Year of the Witching was.

Overall I enjoyed reading The Year of the Witching, but it’s probably not my favourite book and as I was writing this review I couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t a memorable book.

Positives of The Year of the Witching
Positive female friendships and family ties
Intriguing lore around the Darkwood
Negatives of The Year of the Witching
Unmemorable and sometimes slow paced

This review is too late. I actually forgot to post my review here and for that, I apologize. I'm just glad that this book received high praises from readers because it deserves them. I really enjoyed this book. The author is new-to-me but I'm interested to read more from her.

An interesting read that I'm glad to have discovered. I'll definitely be seeking out more by this author.

For a YA book, this was really enjoyable. The writing style was mature and lyrical, and the story itself as void of the usual stereotypes you often get in this type of fiction.

This was an excellent book! With a riveting plot, and detailed - and realistic - character development, you will definitely enjoy reading this title!

I thought there would have been witches or witchcraft that there was in this story.

Would have been better if a trigger warning was placed for paedophilia, mysoginy and sexual assault.

I was hoping to enjoy The Year of the Witching a whole lot more than I did. I think marketing it as a horror book may be slightly misleading, as I personally feel that it's more of a fantasy book. Of course, the lines get a bit blurred with stories like this though!

My main issue with The Year of the Witching was the incredibly slow start. The beginning really dragged, and there was nothing to really grip me, no hint of things to come, and I was finding it quite a quiet read for the first 25%. Because I failed to get attached to the book at the start, the last 75% of the book kind of lost me.

I've seen the word "meandering" used to describe this book and I have to say I agree.

That said, I was very much intrigued by the themes in this book and also by the idea of a sequel. I think the author could do a great job with it if the writing is tightened up a little and the characters are developed more.

The Year of the Witching was one of my most anticipated books of the year -- it looked like an incredibly feminist dystopian fantasy that was right up my street -- however, I found myself really let down by this book.

I feel like the author had the right idea here and it started strong, however I think that ultimately the book just didn't work. Ideas were contradicted, things didn't make sense, and I was really struck by the way the book ended -- it just didn't feel like it fit.

I'd be up for reading another book by Henderson, however I will approach with caution.

A beautifully written and intelligent, atmospheric debut, which packs a punch. The author has created a world of witches and oppression of women, that challenges the misogyny of the salem witch trials and includes a diverse cast. Dark, feminist and ver satisfying.

While this book had a lot of promise, I didn’t love the execution.
What I liked was the atmospheric setting of the story, but the characters and plot fell flat to me.
Overall The Year of the Witching wasn’t bad, but completely forgettable.

This has been a very well-loved book and I was desperate to get my hands on it. But for me, it fell short.
On paper it is everything I love in a book, with its cult-like community and its witchy folk tales, however, I just didn't gel with the writing style or the characters.
There was nothing, in particular, I didn't like about this book, and I can see why it has been so well received however there was nothing I specifically loved about it either. It follows a teenage girl being raised in a very religious community steeped in fear and devotion, and her battle with her mother's otherworldly life and the stigma attached to that.
I think the issue was more me and not the book, so give it a go if you enjoyed Practical Magic and A Secret History of Witches.

If I was going to pitch this story the way so many stories are pitched these days, I’d say it’s the Salem Witch Trials meets The Village—if The Village was good.

The community of Bethel live in what is essentially a religious cult, ruled over by the Prophet whose word is law. The people are warned against the evils of the Darkwood, where witches dwell, but when Immanuelle Moore ventures into the woods one evening she accidentally awakens a curse that’s been years in the making.

I love the aesthetics of this story. I could see the way the characters dress and live so clearly in my head, and I feel like this is the kind of book that could be turned into such a satisfying horror film for the aesthetics alone. If you love stories about cults or stories set in 17th century North America, I think you’d enjoy this one, too.

The Year of the Witching is a very quick and easy read; it took me a little longer to read than I would have liked because my copy from NetGalley was badly formatted and missed out the first few words from every chapter, so I ended up waiting a while for the hard copy I ordered to arrive (because screw it, I might as well support an author with my money when their debut year is this hell year). Once I got back into it, though, I sped through it in two evenings.

That being said, the story felt like it passed too quickly. It started out very strong for me, but the book as a whole was rather rushed. Immanuelle often came to convenient realisations to move the plot forward, but they were described through ‘suddenly, she realised’ moments instead of being revealed through the narrative in such a way that we felt like we were unfurling the mystery with Immanuelle. In fact when Immanuelle had her ‘suddenly, she realised’ moments I’d often already figured out what was going on.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing – I’ll always defend being able to work out what’s going on in a novel because it means the authors have dropped the right clues – but it happened so often in The Year of the Witching that I sometimes felt frustrated with Immanuelle because I thought she should have reached certain conclusions much sooner than she did.

Characters would also often discuss something, only for the meaning behind their conversation to be unnecessarily overexplained in two or three paragraphs of description, which left me sometimes feeling a little beaten over the head with the points Henderson was making. Essentially I think it’s fairly easy to tell this is a debut, but it’s also clear that Henderson has a lot of potential and I look forward to reading more from her in future.

Oddly, 2020 seems to be a year of me reading adult SFF that feels like YA. The Year of the Witching is intended as an adult novel, and is marketed as an adult novel with YA crossover, but for me it feels like a YA novel, and I think a lot of that comes down to the quick pacing and how the story feels more plot-heavy than character-heavy towards the end. It races to the end and while that works for some novels, for a horror novel with cult vibes I expected it to move much slower than it does. The final conflict, in particular, was too rushed for me and I didn’t get as many answers about the world and the witches as I wanted, but these could be answers that are revealed in the sequel.

Speaking of the witches, I did like that it isn’t the typical witchcraft we see in this novel, with grimoires and spells. Instead the magic in The Year of the Witching focuses on sigils, which makes a lot of sense historically; if you ever find yourself exploring an old manor house in the UK, especially one that’s been around since the 16th century, you should have a snoop around the fireplace to see if you can see any witch marks.

I must admit, though, that I almost wish this novel hadn’t involved witches at all. I know. Sacrilegious. (Especially from me; I love witch stories.)

Had this novel just been about a young woman learning the truth about the cult she’s been raised in, I think I would have found it a lot creepier. Especially because we don’t see very much of the witches of the Darkwood at all so they didn’t have much of a ‘stage presence’ for me. What I’m realising about this novel as I write this review is that, for me, the fantasy elements took over everything else a little too much.

I wanted a slow-moving, quiet, creepy novel about a woman raised in a religious cult with some witchy vibes, and I think if there had been a bit less of a focus on the magic and the curse there would have been more time for the characters to breathe and feel like fully fleshed-out characters.

I feel like I’m writing a very negative review and I hate that because I did ultimately enjoy this novel, I just didn’t love it as much as I expected to and that makes me so sad. There’s so much potential in this novel!

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on whatever Henderson releases next, though, and when the sequel for this novel is released I will be giving it a chance.

I can see why this is everywhere right now. This was such a nice story of witches. I cant tell you what year this could be in but it felt like it was back in the days of salem or a very small town. I liked how real it was. People hated the MC to her core for being born and yet she was so kind, resilient and wanted to love the people who hated her dearly. I am so glad i picked this up even tho i waivered if i should or should not read it.

This arc was provided by Bantam Press, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

TW: mentions of rape, sexual assault, child sexual assault, pedophilia, violence, blood, gore, menstruation, childbirth, domestic violence, abuse, homophobia, misogyny, animal sacrifice, animal death, cutting, burning at the pyre

There is nothing more telling than, immediately after finishing a book, the reader goes in search to find if there will be any sequels, and if the author has announced any more book deals.

It's me. I'm that reader.

The Year of the Witching follows Immanuelle whose birth, in addition to her mother's past, has sent her family into disgrace within their community. But there are things Immanuelle can't ask, and she is always being watched by the people around her. Bethel, her birthplace and the town where she lives, is a religious community and there are norms to adhere to.

There's so much history to Bethel that we slowly learn, but the town sits near the Darkwood, the cursed forest where no one is allowed to enter. Until one day our protagonist does just that.

The atmosphere was impeccable. I had to pause my reading between chapters so many times since I felt scared not only for Immanuelle but in general. The shadows in my room felt more alive than ever as I read on. The characters are interesting and they hold you to the story, to see what will unravel.

The way the community works and interacts is also fascinating to read about, and Immanuelle's role in it. There are many layers to this novel, about the present, the recent past, and the one that has been long forgotten.

Without a doubt, The Year of the Witching is one of the best books I've read in a long while. It's on my top favorites along with The Fifth Season. Henderson is a remarkable and talented writer and I'm eagerly awaiting her future novels.