Witches and Suffragettes? Say less. I will never but down a feminist historical piece of fiction, with fantasy elements this book is made even better. The intricate character relationships were a real success of this book. If you appreciate stories about strong women and the struggle for social justice, this is the book for you!

I really wanted to like this one. It was, after all, a Goodreads Choice Awards nominee, and seemed fairly well received when it was published. I really like historical fantasy, too, so was excited to check out Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches. Unfortunately, overall it fell flat in multiple ways. Where it’s good, it’s really good, but the same rings true for where it’s bad.

On a personal taste level, so much of this book just got a bit depressing without any sense of why except to make it ‘dark’ and ‘gritty’. There was just no let-up on it, not even for a moment, and sometimes I really do appreciate an occasional ‘lighter’ touch, even if it’s just there to give the reader a bit of a breather before things get worse. The book dragged on, and on, and on, with pages dedicated to simply telling us the girls were on the run and hiding. There were stretches where nothing really interesting happened.

The atmosphere and time period are definitely interesting choices, especially with the vast changes taking place in 1893. This is set in an alternative version of our world, one where magic is known to have existed, and the witch trials were going after very real witches. The magic system was intriguing, using folk and fairy tales as well as nursey rhymes to create spells. As much as I liked that aspect, in some places it made the magic feel a little ‘twee’, especially in contrast to the events going on.

And I think that shows one of the biggest problems with the book. It struggles between a kind of ‘cute’, witchy aesthetic and a book that wants to say something meaningful. Not to say cutesy books can’t say something meaningful, but it doesn’t quite match here with the tone and darker topics. This is also where the book got a bit clumsy. There’s a whole thing about men’s and women’s magic, and how they’re separate and viewed differently, but instead of exploring it, it’s simply a vehicle to show how girls can do it just as well as the boys. I think it’s almost an unfair comparison, but the best book I’ve seen that handles the idea of separate magic quite well is Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, and it was a bit frustrating to see it handled poorly here.

I appreciate what Harrow was trying to do in this book, especially with the ‘feminist’ angles, but these aspects felt a little too clumsy. The main three characters – sisters Juniper, Agnes and Beatrice – feel like archetypes rather than fully fleshed out characters. There’s a sense of deliberateness to that, to a point, but again, it doesn’t quite work with what the novel is trying to do overall. There’s also a strong ‘not like other girls’ vibe to Juniper that gets frustrating. Oh, and characters have multiple names, with some going by their ‘public’ first name and others going by their middle ‘mother’ names. That got confusing, more than once. The side characters, too, felt like they had potential, but ultimately fall flat.

I didn’t strongly dislike this book; I thought it was decent, and it wasn’t a pain to read, but overall I’d probably rate this 2.5-2.75 stars. It tries to say something, but in doing so gets a bit messy and convoluted, in a way that felt like it could have been more meaningful if it had been a little simpler.

This authors writing is so flawlessly addictive and beautiful, I can’t wait to reread this already. I look forward to reading more of this authors back list

Three sisters. Three witches. A fight to bring witching back into a world where it has been scared and forced and burnt out of women. A suffragist campaign for the vote that goes deeper than that, down into the magnitude of suffering women have gone through. A fight against shadows and evil with only themselves, their words and each other for power.

This is a strong story of magic and witches, a look into how the suffragist campaign might have been different if women were witches. But at it’s core it is a story about sisters. Sisters who have grown apart and been pitted against each other, who have had to fight the same monsters but come out of the fight very different. And it’s about that bind between blood, the love that be there despite the hate and fighting and differences between sisters.

It’s also about women. About words and stories and their power, if used right. I really enjoyed the deeper meaning to everything, the snippets of fairytales thrown in, and the character arcs and relationships between the sisters.

While I absolutely ADORED The Ten Thousand Doors of January, this book unfortunately isn’t at the same level as that I’m afraid. The beginning was a bit messy, and I was lost and confused for a fair bit of the first third. I definitely think it pulled it altogether well though, and the ending in particular was an absolute joy to read and made me tempted to reach for the 5 star rating. However, I did nearly DNF it and while I am so glad I powered through and really recommend you do too if you’re thinking about putting it down, unfortunately it didn’t save itself enough for me to forget the feelings during the beginning. A solid 4 stars though, and I’m still really excited to read Starling House, Harrow’s latest novel.

This book is all about sisterhood.
It is written so so well. The storytelling is so immersive and the world building captivated me.
A fantastic book

I absolutely adore this book and have read it a couple of times after being approved for it on NetGalley back in 2020, and enjoyed it just as much the second time around in 2022.

I love the narrator's tone of voice.
I love the characters. The sisters are each really unique and interesting personalities. I loved seeing their journeys throughout the book.
I love the worldbuilding and the magic system.
I love the relationships between the three sisters. The way that they know each other intimately and love each other deeply, but also at times hate each other and know how to hurt each other the most.
I love the audiobook narrator - she really brings this to life.
I love the feminist elements.

If you love books about magic, this is a must-read. I can't recommend it enough and I am only annoyed at myself for not writing a review of this sooner

When it comes to Alix E. Harrow, beautiful and lyrical writing it what I expect. For me, this worked very well in the short stories she's written that I have read and loved. I was concerned how well I'd gel with this style when we're considering a full length novel. Unfortunately for me at this time, this book was a DNF. It was too slow for me to engage with, and some discussion of controversy caused me to pause my reading.

If I read this book in full at a later date, I will update this review.

This was one of my most highly anticipated releases after I finished and loved The Ten Thousand Doors of January. I love the author's writing style, and her descriptions kept me interested. It was an overall very magical read and I will always keep an eye out for new books from the author.

☆☆☆☆

The Once and Future Witches was a great book. It follows the sisters Eastwood and then trying to bring back Witchcraft. I really enjoyed watching the sisters grow and develop throughout the book and also mend their relationship along the way too. I also really liked the side characters too from Miss Cleo Quinn to August Lee to the Last Three and the other characters we met along the way. I also thought the villain and his story was well done.
Another part I really enjoyed about the books was the occasional tales in the story and the spells at the beginning of the chapters like it was a cool addition to the book and done well.
One of my only issues with the book was that I felt like it was a little slow at times, like I wanted things to happen faster or to get to certain points long before we did but that may be due to the fact that it took me a while to get through the book (as I was reading multiple books at the same time). Other than that I really, really liked the book and will probably pick up more Alix E. Harrow books in the future.

Historical fantasy featuring witchery and women's rights. Although it didn't quite meet my expectations and took me a while to read, I did enjoy it, I just found it slow at times and I didn't always care about the characters as much as I felt I should have.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

4.5 stars
This was such a powerful novel. I loved the relationship of the sisters and the different approaches to life they chose. The writing style was perfect for the setting, I felt myself transported into the story.
Highly recommend!

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow is a spellbinding must-read novel. Set in 1893, Harrow masterfully depicts a world without witches. Through their pursuit of forgotten magic and knowledge, three Eastwood sisters join the suffragists of New Salem, reigniting the idea of the witch's movement. In a world of shadowy pursuers, illness and malevolence, these sisters must embrace the ancient magics, make unlikely allies, and nurture the bond between them if they hope to survive and bring the power of witches back. Harrow weaves a stunning story of family and friendship, oppression and empowerment, and self-discovery that captivates from start to finish. For readers of all kinds, The Once and Future Witches is an enchanting and unmissable book.

Really slow to start, unfortunately - I ended up slogging for a while but my interest not being piqued, in contrast to Harrow's earlier novel, which I quite enjoyed. Might pick it up again at a later time, but going into my unfinished pile for now, unfortunately.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow is a captivating novel set in a late-nineteenth-century America. This book is an intriguing mash-up of fantasy, historical fiction, and social commentary. It follows the reunion of three estranged sisters, Beatrice, Agnes, and Juniper, after seven years apart. Together, they set out on a quest to restore the world's forbidden magic. The novel is a story about female solidarity, strength, and resilience.

Harrow's writing is beautiful and lyrical, with vivid and detailed descriptions of the world and characters. She deftly combines elements of folklore, mythology, and history. Her characters are complex and multifaceted, and I felt a strong connection to them. Each of the sisters is distinct, with her own backstory and motivations. Their interactions with one another and with the other characters in the novel are complex and believable.

The plot of The Once and Future Witches is intricate and satisfying. It's a story about secrets and revelations, as well as the growth and evolution of characters. It's a story about finding strength in unexpected places and standing up for what's right. It's a story about female empowerment, reclaiming what was taken from you, and fighting for a better future.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the EARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this book as so many people raved about it but I was very disappointed. I struggled the whole way through even putting it down for a few weeks and coming back to it but could just not get into it.

Although the story of the relationships between the three sisters is great for me it was not enough to make me like it any more. I know most people loved this book which is why I was so looking forward to reading it but unfortunately I found that it dragged on and it did not hold my attention.

"I am terrified, and I am terrible. I am fearful and I am something to be feared.

What an exceptional novel filled with rage, sisterhood, grief, fear, courage, and love. I adored every word. A word of warning, this is slow; it's like meandering through a dark forest, where the beaten path twists and turns, its stopping to smell the flowers, its perhaps going a little wayward before finding the trail again. Its focus is on the characters and their journeys, but the plot does not suffer-- it is lush, magical, captivating...

It follows three sisters, all scarred, angry, and riddled with grief. All were lost until they were found. I adore books about sisters, and I adore their connection, their love, and their undying devotion. At the root of this novel is family, but not just blood, it's also found, and it's shared.

"She thought survival was a selfish thing, a circle drawn tight around your heart. She thought the more people you let inside that circle the more ways the world had to hurt you, the more ways you could fail them and be failed in turn. But what if it's the opposite, and there are more people to catch you when you fall? What if there's an invisible tipping point somewhere along the way when one becomes three becomes infinite, when there are so many of you inside that circle that you become hydra-headed, invincible?"

If you're a fan of sisters and witches, and books that don't shy away from the visceral anger of just being a woman in the world, THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES is the book for you.

I did overall enjoy the story but the pacing was off slightly and it was quite slow.

However the story itself was very detailed with excellent world building and well thought out characters.

Great read - so easy and engaging, I was thoroughly engrossed throughout, with the three distinct characters of the sisters being easy to follow and empathise with. It has a strong sense of place and moves along at a great pace, being really plot focused. The magical realism is well pitched, it's not too out there and feels close to a Sarah J Maas read. This is the first Alix Harrow I have read but this has definitely piqued my interest so I will be hunting down more!

LOOOOOOOOVED this one. A rich, textured story with plenty for a reader to teethe on, and a great main character arc.

Unfortunately I just didn't get on with The Once and Future Witches which is such a shame as I was really looking forward to it! I will keep returning to it just in case as I think there is real promise in the storyline, but for now this just isn't for me.