I’d heard a lot of good things about The Once and Future Witches before I read it and I wouldn’t say that I was disappointed, but I don’t think my expectations of the book matched what it actually was. I’d recommend anyone who wants to pick up TOAFW to manage their expectations going into it too as it’s closer to historical fiction (with some magical elements) than it is to a pure fantasy book.

First up is to talk about the historical elements, which were clearly well researched by Harrow. In 1893 there’s an uprising of suffragists in New Salem and a fight for women’s rights, and it’s rightly pointed out that the movement isn’t completely inclusive and sometimes isn’t as effective as it could be. The world is an alternate history of ours, but it also includes a lot to think about when it focuses on politics.

Despite it being more historical fiction in it’s pacing and some world building, the book has an interesting magic system that I loved reading about. The witches are no more due to death, and mostly being killed off in witch trials. However, each woman no matter where they’ve come from has had “small words” whispered and passed down to them from mothers, aunts and grandmothers which allow them to use small magic and give women power.

The overall theme that I got from the book is about the strength of women, and the strength of family and friendships too. The strength of a woman is not tied to how tough she is, the way they act, how much education they have or even tied to their titles of mother, maiden or crone. But themselves as women, strength is needed every day to live and power can be shared and amplified through family, friends and strangers too.

Whilst the book focuses heavily on women, there’s also discourse around men having magic but a different kind of magic which can help them. There’s a group of men that do end up helping the sisters, and I found this to be reminiscent of power dynamics in our own society, where women can fight and fight but we also need men as allies to help our voices be truly heard sometimes.

One element that I think Harrow did purposefully is give each of the Eastwood sisters flaws which make them unlikable. When reading at the beginning, I found it harder to root for the sisters except out of the “I want women to be equal” goal. However as they come together as sisters, and build out the society they start to get better, and their strengths help overcome the flaws of others. It also helps that there’s a fantastic supporting cast of characters who you do end up loving.

Overall I think the biggest sticking point for me was that the book’s pacing is slow, and the long build up to the more magical elements is something I imagine many fantasy readers might not enjoy as much. I kept reading despite my own push back from the pacing, and found that I started to get more enthralled as the secret society builds (kind of like a secret that’s being whispered all over town). But I get why others might not make it that far into the book.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a review.

Sadly this book just waasn't my cup of tea.

I think I was just expecting more magic and just more from it,,,

The plot itself was good but for me it fell short on the character development and magical elements.

Thank you, Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't want to give a 2.5 stars because that would make this book an average one.

Plot: Three estranged sisters find their way back to each other because of witchcraft. One joins the fight for women's inequality and the others pitch in to expand witchcraft to women. Nothing is ever that easy and there comes a villain contesting for Mayor against witches and witchcraft.

Characters: All the three sisters even after deciding to stick together, go alone to pursue their own agenda and bring more trouble. They act too selfish and narrow minded without properly communicating with each other. Sometimes they think and plan, sometimes they just act on impulse. Their behavior was too frustrating making it impossible to like or care any of them.

Writing: There are too many fairy tale narrations within the book to count. Some are interesting but mostly are just dragging the story. There's sudden influx of characters and no way of remembering any of them. The story would've ended long time ago if it hadn't been for the extensive unwanted information or side stories.

To Summarise: The book could've been with crisp storyline, deep characters, about 150-200 pages lesser and more interesting. Sadly, it was not. The social, political and historical aspects were the only strengths.

The first thing that hit me and then proceeded to envelop me was how the story was written. To call it lyrical is not enough to convey how it resonated with me. Whether I was following the story within the words or not, I definitely appreciated the writing. When I tried to talk about it to someone else, I equated it to a linked chain; each word held the next in place and so forth, making the entire book a continuous flow.
I started with the best part (for me). I will now move on to the story itself. As the title proclaims, we have witches past, present and the future, but it is the present that concerns us the most because our lead protagonists of the current fight live in it. It is historical fantasy fiction which means their present is our past (sort of). The times are dark and challenging, especially for women and minorities. With a small spark and shared pain, things start to shake and change. There is no conclusive ending here but an ongoing fight. The underlying point, which I think the author successfully conveys, is the concept of 'seeing' the other people in your surroundings instead of just passing them by.
The only reason I am not giving it a full five stars despite all the glowing praise is that it felt a little too long. Nothing actually repeated, so I can not say what I would have skipped. Overall, if it had been shorter, the spell the words cast on me would have held on a little longer, and I would not have been able to put the book away the number of times I did (in order to do regular day to day activities). I would recommend it to people who like a little spin in the style of narration. People who prefer a more straightforward approach are not those I would coax into giving this a shot.
The fight and the consequences, the pain and the bonds form the core of the narrative, and I actually enjoyed it even more than the previous work.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the 'words' in the book are the only thing that influenced my review.

Harrow smashes it with her world-building and characters in this one. The Witch sister, their witchy rhymes and the atmospheric magic flows into the plot beautifully. And a feminist angle to the tale is the cherry on top. I think this book might just be better than Harrow's first-which I loved too!

The Once and Future Witches is a weird one! It's pacing ebbs and flows, and the story feels much bigger than it's ~500 pages - as such, it isn't a story which pounces on you and refuses to release you, instead it's insidious and slowly, slowly crawls under your skin.

I did t finish this one. It has great potential, and I really wanted to love it, but after trying twice I decided its just not for me.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc of this book, I also purchased a pysical edition and a copy of the audiobook for myself.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this one. I was expecting there to be more magic in this story and I was left disappointed.

I also did not connect to the story and the writing was incredibly flowery to me which I do not like. This, combined with a really slow story left me disappointed. I think that if this book had been shorter, it would have worked better as the story would have moved along quicker.

I had great expectations for this novel, as 'The Ten Thousand Doors of January' is one of my all time favorites. But this book was completely different from the previous book, so I would suggest that you read this book with an open mind. The cover is just soooo stunning (just like the previous book by the author) and sets the tone for the story.

'The Once and Future Witches' is an empowering story following the three Eastwood sisters -Juniper, Agnes, and Beatrice as they struggle for reclaiming not only women's rights but also witches' rights. The Eastwood sisters had separated a long time ago due to some misunderstandings. They are brought together by fate to reclaim magic feared by the people and to win the struggle against misogynic forces.

The writing was amazing, as if the words were woven together with threads of magic and emotions. Each chapter began with a spell (slightly warped and darkened versions of well known nursery rhymes). I loved the way short, twisted versions of fairytales were included. The setting of New Salem, 1890's was mystical, eerie, dark and gives off just the right vibes for the story. The character development was great too. Each of the Eastwood sisters were unique and as different as people could be. Even the side characters were of great significance. I also loved the relationship building between the Eastwood sisters. I too have an elder sister, and although I love her, she drives me crazy, so I found their relationship very relatable.

The only flaw that I felt was that the pace was slow, and at times dead slow. The author may have done this to let the readers take in events, but it did not sit well with me. Towards the seconds part of the novel, the story turned more interesting, so after that point, the story and pace were complementing each other. And the ending was EPIC and was worth it!

I highly recommend this novel to everyone, especially for people who love fantasy or historical fiction and those who are looking for a powerful feministic read, to make you feel inspired and empowered.

I thank NetGalley and Orbit Books for giving me this wonderful opportunity to read and review this unforgettable novel. I also thank Alix E. Harrow for again writing such a beautiful, promising story to the world!

#TheOnceAndFutureWitches caused me to miss some sleep- I couldn’t stop reading it!

Three sisters are reunited in New Salem in 1893, and the bonds they thought were lost still tie them together. Each left their home because of their abusive father, and each still bears their own scars from childhood. Agnes is pregnant and unwed, Bella is a librarian who fights to resist her forbidden desires for other women, and Juniper is on the run- hunted for suspected murder & witchcraft. Each woman needs to find the power within to win against the forces of misogyny and the fear people hold against magic.

This feminist tale, has bite, magic and love at its heart. The evil Gideon Hill is a true villain. I really enjoyed the fairytales that are interspersed with the main story pms and I wished that I could be part of the magic.

I really loved this book and would recommend it. Thanks to #NetGalley & the publisher for my free advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

I apologise I did not get to this one. I did however purchase and finished copy and will review on Goodreads as soon as I complete.

- DNF @50% -

It's 1893 and it is not a good time to be a woman - they don't have the right to vote and their magic has been reduced to small, useful spells which are nothing like the powerful witching that was once around.
The Eastwood sisters have grown apart and are living different lives, but James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth and Beatrice Belladonna find themselves drawn back together and seeking the power of the old witching.
However, there are forces at work that intend to stop them.
Will the sisters triumph?

Having enjoyed the author's previous novel, I was excited to read this one, especially as the time period and the magic intrigued me. Unfortunately, I ended up being disappointed.
The sisters were fairly interesting protagonists and they were very different from one another. While Agnes was my favourite, I'm not left with overly strong feelings about any of the characters.
The setting of New Salem didn't feel very fleshed out to me and I would have liked some more information/detail about it.
My main issue with the book was that it was far too long. I don't mind character-focused books when I love the characters and enjoy the plot and setting, but in this case I found the storyline almost achingly slow and the other aspects of the book were not enough to save it. I read over two hundred pages of this book and it could quite easily have been cut in half given how little actually happened.
I liked that nursery rhymes were used as spells and the fairy tales that were included throughout the book.
I might have another go at reading this at some point, but on this occasion I couldn't bring myself to pick up the book to read more and decided to DNF it.

I can definitely see other people enjoying this book, but, unfortunately, this wasn't for me.

I adore books about witchcraft and The Once and Future Witches is a book that practically sings with magic from the very first page. I lost some serious sleep over this book as I had to really force myself to put it down and go to bed.

The Once and Future Witches is a story of three women not so much pushing through the boundaries placed on them by gender, race and sexuality, but more burning those boundaries to ash, a story of empowerment and of women claiming their place in the world.

There is a lot to love about this book, and in fact I could wax lyrical about it for hours if nobody stopped me, but I will attempt to contain myself to my particular highlights here. One of these was the rhymes and witch-tales that are interspersed through the book, familiar, yet not, as Perrault, Lang and the Grimms are reimagined as women. I loved each of the Eastwood sisters for different reasons, although bookish Beatrice won a particular place in my heart. In contrast, Gideon Hill is an antagonist to make your skin crawl and give you goosebumps.

Some books just demand to be held as a physical print book and the e-book is just not enough. This is one such book, and I highly recommend buying the hardcover. I just know this is a book that I will be rereading and guarding with my life as a treasured possession.

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

3.5 stars

The Once and Future Witches is the story of the three Eastwood sisters - James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna - once lost and now found.

It's a complex story not only about sisterhood, it follows the sisters especially Juniper as she reclaims women's rights along with witches' rights. In a time where witches are burned at the pyre and witching is but a few nursery rhymes, Juniper remembers her grandmother's teachings and longs to leave the shadows they are all subjected to.

The sisters had been separated years passed by circumstances and misunderstandings, and one night they are reunited by fate itself. Juniper wants to be loud and seen, whilst Agnes and Bella want to live their quiet lives.

My favorite part was, without a doubt, the magic itself - the rhymes, the components to it, and how it was shared. Each chapter has a spell in its header and an explanation, and it made the reading experience more special.

However, what drew me to this book was the promise of a family story, of these sisters' relationship and it did fulfill the promise, but there seemed to be a disconnect between the characters and myself as the reader. I enjoyed what I read but I wanted more from these characters and their reunion, their apologies. Considering the ending, I felt nothing toward the sisters or their goals with the suffragette movement. I think the writing needed to be more compelling in reaching the reader's feelings.

Similarly, the beginning of a chapter or a division within the chapter had the same structure so the writing and the sentences felt repetitive.

I do think I had a good experience with this book and with the author, I'm intrigued to see what Harrow will write in the future.

This book for me was a little hard to get into but after the first few chapters I was hooked.
I loved the way that nursery rhymes and fairy tales that we all grew up hearing have been woven into the threads of this story. It brought back the memories of being a little girl who sat in wonder imagining a world filled with towers,gingerbread houses and the dangers of spinning wheels.


There were parts of this story that I felt dragged on a little more than needed and the burning of ancient books was traumatic enough that I am not sure I'll be able to sleep for at least a week ! * a moment of silence for the lost books*

Over all this is a wonderful story that shows the power that all women hold. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I really didn't enjoy this book. I found the writing and plot too predictable. I enjoyed the premise behind this story and the characters, but the writing really put me off. I have also heard mixed reviews about this book, and didn't want to stumble through on the off-chance it would pick up after a couple of chapters.

What a treat this book is.
I didn't know much about it going in and it didn't disappoint.
I've always been a fan of sister stories but this was altogether better than any other one.
Eastwood sisters have their differences and that makes their relationship all the better. The ups and the downs, the falling outs..
It's a hard tale to read but throw in a bit of magic and it becomes impossible to put down.
Absolutely loved it and would read it again

It took me a while to get into this book, definitely a slow burner. Worth it to get to know the characters individually and an epic conclusion!

Alix Harrow can do no wrong, I loved The Once and Future Witches just as much as Ten Thousand Doors of January, Beautiful, lyrical and engaging writing, I can not wait to see what they do next.

I loved Harrow's debut, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, so I was super excited to read The Once and Future Witches and it did NOT disappoint! Extraordinary world-building, well-rounded characters, all the references to fairytales and nursery rhymes from my own childhood, the bond - both figurative and literal - between the Eastwood Sisters, the romances!, the Familiars!! : this was a book I didn't want to end.

Additionally the way Harrow reflected our modern world, the issues that divide us and the realities faced by so many minorities make this an important and thought provoking read. Highly recommended!