Cover Image: The Once and Future Witches

The Once and Future Witches

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Once and Future Witches is a classic example of a book getting a lot of hype, and me leaving it on my shelf for a couple of years. What is it about hype that makes me instantly guarded? In this case, however, I’m glad it did.

It’s a tricky one for me to review. For most of the book, I wasn’t sure how I felt. I struggled to connect to the characters and found the pace to be slow. It felt there was a big climax in the middle, and I wasn’t sure where the story was going from there.

But towards the end, I became gripped. I’d come to care more for the characters and was genuinely interested to see how this was going to end, and if all the questions would be answered.

Let’s start with the characters. Bella, Agnes, and Juniper are given constant reminders of how they differ from one another, but I found they had one thing in common: it was initially hard to like them all. They’re so closed off emotionally, unwilling to commit or let down their defences. As a reader, it made it hard for me to care about them. If they weren’t prepared to put their hearts on the line, why should I?

I liked Bella the most – although cannot guarantee that wasn’t just because of the bookish side of her. Agnes is so detached that it took a long time to warm to her. Juniper, on the other hand, is rash and headstrong, to the point I wanted to give her a shake. Once these extremes in personality start to mellow, that’s when I became engaged.

It also felt a while before any tension developed. Of course, the suffragette movement had its own pace, but many chapters pass before the book gains momentum beyond that and onto the true story: witches. There’s a lot of information/spell gathering and making connections which make the pace slow.

The mid-story peak showed the potential the book had. It gained pace, the tension increased and it was the first time you saw the characters truly fight. It had drawn me in! Then everything slows again, although admittedly needed to begin with. It could’ve been a hundred pages less without losing any of the drama.

But I can see why it was talked about a lot. There’re strong messages about women’s rights and voices, the power of differences, and the magic of finding uniting traits despite all those differences. It’s a story full of magic and sisterhood, finding family and romance, and something bigger than yourself to believe and fight in.

I’m glad I didn’t read it while it was highly visible, as I think I’d have been disappointed. But I’m also glad I’ve read it now. In hindsight, it was an enjoyable book covering some heavy themes. Kudos to the author as well for showing a lot of research had gone into this book and it didn’t magic its way past any historical accuracy.

Was this review helpful?

Harrow has a gorgeous writing style and her books are always an immediate purchase for me. I love the atmosphere and the magic at play writhing the narrative.

Was this review helpful?

Unfortunately I will be unable to give feedback on this book. I requested this book and had intentions of reading it. However my taste in books has changed and I do not feel that a review from me would do the book justice

Was this review helpful?

I was surprised by how much o enjoyed this book. I really liked Alix writting style and also loved the fairytale snippets of stories and how they was tied into the actual story, mentioning the darkness to them but also that they hold power. The descriptions made it easy to see and understand without overloading with detail was a perfect balance.

3 sister lost then found, and once found so much happens, evil hidding in plain sight. I cant wait to read more by Alix as i loved this so much. Highly recommened to any reader who likes a bit of magic, drama, high stakes, sister rivalry but also found family.

Was this review helpful?

I must be honest, I wasn‘t sure if I will like this book, but at the end I must admit it was one of the best books written about witches. It‘s a story full of witchcraft, and sisterhood. I loved the beautiful respresentation of early feminism shown in the book. Great book to read during the spooky season in October.

Was this review helpful?

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Was this review helpful?

This was quite a unique read with a different take on witches. It did take me a while to get in to, but once I did I found it interesting and quite compelling

Was this review helpful?

"...her daddy said women were like hens, flocking together and pecking at one another, and Juniper didn't want to be a hen..."

As summer wanes there is the first breath of autumn in the air, so it is time to retreat indoors, preferably with the company of witchy books. I've had this book for some time, but I wanted to wait until I could give myself up to it entirely. I took a few days off from my own writing and crept into the fantasy world of New Salem and The Once and Future Witches - Bella, Agnes and Juniper.

This book is a melting pot of feminism, literature, Authurian legend, folklore, fairytale, mythology and politics, which the author has stirred together in a big cauldron, thereby creating a totally unique novel. Here we have the suffragettes that we all know from history, with the Pankhursts making a cameo appearance, yet in this novel they are not only fighting for the right to vote, they are fighting for the restoration of witchcraft. The sisters are natural witches who want witchcraft to take up its rightful place in their society, giving women back their goddess given power. It is a dangerous task and the city of New Salem where they live was built upon the ashes of the witches they executed in old Salem.

The story is told from the perspectives of the three sisters and this does lead to a certain amount of head hopping in that you just get used to one character, when the viewpoint changes again.

I also wonder if there isn't just a bit too much crammed into the story. Although it works as a cohesive whole, there is a lot in this novel and I am not convinced that all of it was necessary. For instance, although I understand that this is a feminist book, I'm not sure why the author felt the need to turn all great writers of the past into women, so we have a Charlotte Perrault instead of the fairytale anthologist Charles Perrault and the Sisters Grimm instead of the Brothers Grimm. I'm not sure that this was needed and it seemed quite clunky. Diminishing or appropriating the accomplishments of men from the past does not lift women higher! So I didn't like that part.

There also seems to be a trend for lesbian sub-plots in publishing at the moment, with many new titles having an obligatory gay female character, or at least one who is open to sexual experimentation. I feel that this is being driven by the diversity band wagon, rather than the authenticity of the books, or even of the authors themselves. It makes me wonder how much of it is being suggested to authors by publishers in an effort to keep up with social trends. This novel is no different and again, I didn't really like it. I'm not sure what it adds to the witch story and even though I liked the character of Bella, I'm not remotely interested in reading about her lesbian crush!

On the whole though, The Once and Future Witches did draw me in and I enjoyed the overall plot and the storytelling. It is very nicely written and as I said, it is completely unique in it's approach to historical witchery. It just wasn't the book that I was expecting. However, I'm sure young millennial readers will love it as it ticks all their politically correct boxes!

Happy Reading!
Marie x

Was this review helpful?

"...proper witching...only ever takes three things: the will to listen to it, the words to speak with it, and the way to let it into the world. The will, the words, and the way"

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I honestly want to rate this higher than I have but I was at least 1/4 of the way in before I finally found myself submerged in the plot and felt anything endearing of the characters. Personally, I think the author is trying to get too many diversity needs met to properly address any of these, from the suffragettes, to 'New Cairo' and the black community, to LGBTQ+, feminism and then witching on top. There are so many aspects however which were still great; The sisters of Avalon, Old and New Salem, the library and Mr August Lee, Further to this, I loved the exploration of sisterhood throughout the story and the empowerment of women.

Will I pick up another Alix Harrow novel - potentially if I don't have anything else to read but it won't be on my pre-order list I don't think.

Overall, 3/5 stars for me!!

Was this review helpful?

I don't know why it took me so long to read this book but I enjoyed the audiobook a lot. The pacing is a bit slow at times yet it made it up with the brilliant characters and their relationships. Happy to read my first Alix E Harrow book. Might have to reread again.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars

The writing style was arguably the best part of the entire book. It was gripping and meticulous in commanding the attention of the reader. It urged me to keep reading and not stop until I had read every single page of this beautiful book.

At first I was intrigued by our huge cast of characters but slowly it became too confusing and I lost track of who was who. The alternating chapters from the perspective from each character were well written but broke the flow of the story.

The book was too slow at times and did not do justice in executing the unique premise it was working with.
I see room for improvement in the author's future works, and I definitely had an amazing experience reading this book.

Was this review helpful?

2.75 stars
Oh, I wanted to love this so badly but it just didn't quite work out.
The feminist themes were a big draw to the story for me but it mainly focused on white feminism which isn't exactly very inclusive. I felt that the first half was far too slow-paced and, while the second half was better, it all felt too dense. It didn't need to be SO long. Of course, I loved the witches and magical themes (who wouldn't?!), and I particularly enjoyed the sisterly relationships.

This definitely has its flaws but, I appreciate the plot and the intentions for the story. Loved the magical aspects!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This was one of the @booking_pretty_book_club picks for this month, and was also a buddy read I started with @all_books_great_and_small, but she raced ahead and finished day's ago! 🤣

I love a good witchy read and this didn't disappoint.

TOAFW is a highly entertaining, atmospheric and emotionally charged read. The story flows from the pages, the pacing is spot on and it's a mix of historical fiction and fantasy.

Beautifully written, with some fantastic world building and the characterisations of the Eastwood Sister's so good, they were well developed and they made the story come to life with their folklore, witching and the relationship's they had with one another.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Orbit for my copy of this book!
I don’t know why it took me so long to read this. I loved this book and the sisters and their different personalities. At times it felt a little slow but I did really enjoy this one!

Was this review helpful?

i fell in love with her previous book, so when i decided to read this one, i had great expectations, and i was not disappointed. i loved the story, the protagonists, but especially the writing. i absolutely adore the author's style,

Was this review helpful?

I lived the writing of this book, it made everything seem so magical and the characters were well written and relatable. There were some parts of the story where I did feel myself loosing interest however I persevered and I’m glad I did. Overall a magical story!

Was this review helpful?

A beautifully written book with strong female characters.
I enjoyed this book a lot, although I found the beginning dragging on. As the story progressed I became more and more enthralled and keen to read on.
It’s a great story of three siblings; their relationships with each other, their romances and most of all, their talent in witchcraft.

Was this review helpful?

A very interesting story on feminism and witches, which strong characters. I really liked the historical poitn of view and the little song at the beginning of each chapter.
The relationship between the sisters is very interesting and I'd like it. The romances are also good.

I was sometimes lost by the worldbuilding, but overall a very intéresting and feminist read.

Was this review helpful?

I couldn't put the book down. That's how good this book was. A feminist story of witches, and magics. The writing was beautiful and easy to get to. However the pacing wasn't my cup of tea.

Was this review helpful?

Source of book: NetGalley (thank you)
Relevant disclaimers: none
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

I feel bad for this book because it has been sitting on my NG shelf for, um, five months? And, the thing is, I’m normally super disciplined: I read from the bottom to the top, except to switch genres (since it can be unfair to read a book from the same genre you just read if the previous book was super good or super bad). But I knew this was long, likely to be a bit dense, and taking on some complicated stuff besides. I mean, the elevator pitch is “witching and women’s rights” but it’s so much more than that. In any case, I kept waiting for the world to feel a little safer in terms … well, not just the pandemic, but human rights in general? You, see, The Once and Future Witches is set in a sort of altish-history America, where once magic was real and powerful, but has been mostly burned away with the witches. The thing is, though, for all there’s a layer of “the magic was really real” here, the actual history of the world is very much our history: plagues, social inequality (along axes of gender, race, sexuality), exploitation of the working class, corrupt judicial systems, church and state mandated institutions of social control, and y’know, all that murdering women we did in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Anyway, flash forward five months, there’s now literally a war in Europe and I came to the conclusion the world isn’t going to get any better, so I’d might as well read the damn book. And, honestly, I did struggle a bit, not because of the book, but because of everything else: basically I recognise this is excellent, and there are deep feelings roiling away in my heart about it but I JUST CAN’T AFFORD TO HAVE ANY FEELINGS RIGHT NOW.

All of which said, it is not actually the worst book you could possibly read in the midst of generalised existential despair: it’s a dark journey, and a rough one, but it is ultimately a story of unity over loneliness, love over hate, hope over fear, of finding a way when no ways seem possible.

The deal is this: three sisters, raised in rural nowhereville, their mother dead, their father abusive, separated during their childhood following a significant fire on their farm. The details of this come out later and are resolved, but at the beginning of the novel the sisters are splintered, hurt, lonely, convinced of the necessity of that loneliness, and equally convinced that they have both betrayed their sisters and been betrayed by them. Despite everything else that happens in this book—and the characters feel simultaneously vulnerable and strong, so there’s an air of permanent threat from the opening chapter which I found quite hard to take—this was the emotional thread that caused me the most trauma. Trauma, I hasten to add, because it’s well done, not because it’s overwrought or gratuitously suffering-centric. But there’s something really painfully real about the fact that the sisters, all too aware what a terrible person their father is, still ultimately find it easier believe in each other’s betrayal than in their love. It’s a subtle way of exploring their father’s abuse—the way the impact of abuse extends far beyond abuser and victim—without focusing too heavily on him or making him too much a part of their story. But it does make the early sections of the book, where the sisters feel so very damaged and so very lost, hard to read, especially because all that’s really standing between them and reconcile is one honest conversation. A conversation, I’m glad to say, that does take place by the mid-point of the story, after which the book gets a lot less emotionally claustrophobic (although the general air of menace remains).

The plot kicks off when, in the last decade of the 19th century, fate … or a spell … or something draws the three sisters, Bella the bookish one, Agnes the, um, one who happens to pregnant, and Juniper the wild one, to New Salem (the old Salem having been burned down with the witches inside it). Bella chants a spell that causes the Tower of Avalon—supposedly the stronghold of the three last witches—to briefly appear in the town square. What follows is complicated to explain. On the most basic level, I guess, you could say it’s about how the sisters, along with various marginalised communities of New Salem (including workers unions and the suffragist movement) use witchcraft to challenge the established hierarchy of their society, as represented by Gideon Hill, an ambitious city councillor with his eye on the mayorship. But, honestly, that barely scratches the surface: you’ve at least two love stories here (one queer, one straight), you’ve got themes of motherhood and family and found family, you’ve got recovery from trauma, on both the personal and the social level, you’ve explorations of power, powerlessness, and abuse, especially in the context of marginalised identity, all artfully woven with folklore, nursery rhymes, fairy tales (and a sprinkling of Arthuriana).

As you can probably tell from the description, this is a story with a specifically feminist … I hesitate to use the word agenda because that sounds negative, as if a piece of art having a point of view was somehow a bad thing, so I guess I’ll go with sensibility? But I’ll also say that, to me (insert sixty-five paragraphs of me checking my privilege and acknowledging my lack of standing to make assertive statements on the subject) it was of the most inclusive flavour: I think what gets lost in our increasingly bifurcated social justice discourse is, often, all rights are human rights. By empowering those who are marginalised—even if they are marginalised along different axes to us—we empower society as a whole: while the book does focus heavily on the sisters, and the position of women within their society as a whole, it’s equally interested in intersectionalities of class, race, sexuality and gender. All of which is to say, while both the main antagonists of the book are men (if we count the sister’s deceased father as an antagonist, which I think we should), not every bloke is evil. I’m not necessarily saying it would be a problem per se if they were (I’m not here to tell women how they can and can’t portray men) but it’s an approach that reinforces the idea that freedom and equality are, and should be, universal concerns, not merely fringe issues restricted to the affected group.

Another element of the book I personally found was handled with a lot of care was the witchcraft itself because I think it’s very easy for … how can I say this … women-centric depictions of magic, particular witch-themed magic, to go to some, at best, essentialist and at worst TERF-y places. Something The Once And Future Witches makes super clear—and while it’s not dwelled upon, I actually found this an incredibly interesting element of the setting—is that magic is not inherently gendered. It is socially gendered. As the book continues, it becomes very clear that there’s no such thing as “women’s” magic or, indeed, “men’s magic.” That anyone, cis or trans, can perform any type of magic. It was simply that witchcraft was explicitly associated with women and forced into a domestic sphere that encouraged people to view it as trivial, as a way of marginalising and devaluing it. This is partially why it survives as tales and rhymes, passed down through family lines (usually from mother to daughter). For me, I found this an incredibly successful allegory for the way marginalised experiences and areas of influence become culturally diminished. Our history reduced to fragments and turned into stories.

Big themes aside, the writing is *chef’s kiss*: it’s quite artful, I will admit, because it’s got that edge of fairy tale to it, but Juniper’s more matter-of-fact perspective provides just enough texture to stop the self-consciously stylistic prose becoming wearing. The characterisation is similarly deft, despite the breadth of the cast and the complexity of relationships between the various characters: the trio of sisters, in particular, are their own little interpersonal web, as they each has a specific relationship with the other two, as well as relationship to the … sibling unit, if that makes sense. I also really enjoyed Bella’s relationship with Cleo Quinn, a dashing reporter (who is also a member of a group of Black witches called the Daughters of Tituba—who have what felt to me like a realistically complicated relationship with the white suffragist movement) and Agnes’s slightly more tentative love affair with August Lee, an agitator for worker’s rights. It was really intriguing to me to have two thematically resonant relationships, one straight and one queer, developing … not quite side-by-side but close enough to reflecting upon each other in fascinating ways. For Agnes, healthy heterosexuality involves learning to trust she can be loved without having to surrender her power, for Bella, healthy homosexuality is simply learning to love without shame. And as if this wasn’t an embarrassment of riches, there’s also a … complicated, though definitely not romantic dynamic, between Juniper and Gideon Hill that adds an extra layer of nuance to someone who could very easily become a one-note antagonist, or bland representation of the patriarchy. I mean, he is very much a representation of the patriarchy but in an interesting way: dangerous, entitled and desperate, yes, but almost (keyword almost) as damaged by his own toxicity by the people he has destroyed.

The only slightly off note for me—and please be aware that this is personal and once again I have no authority or standing here—was Jennie Lind, a transgender witch who we later learn is the daughter of the former Mayor. For me, she was treated respectfully by the narrative and her fellow witches (bit depressing, isn’t it, that fictional 19th century suffragists are more accepting than certain elements of modern feminism) and while there’s several hints about her identity (her mother’s name—the middle name that all women have—is Gemini, she performs a spell that Juniper notes is ‘boys magic’, and when the women are arrested she is separated from the group, only to reappear later having, apparently, been sent to a different workhouse) I liked the fact that the text didn’t find it necessary to make those hints more explicit or directly out her. She even gets a love affair of her own, albeit one that is barely on page, with a fellow suffragist witch called Inez. I think where the wheels came off for me was the final scene between Juniper and Jennie where Jennie explains who she is to Juniper. I mean, the exchange made emotional sense because Juniper and Jennie are friends, but it felt almost … narratively redundant to me. Like it was there for the reader, more than anything, in case we hadn’t noticed the trans woman was trans—but that begs the question, why did matter if we noticed? It also ended up making the climax of Jennie’s story talking to Juniper about her transness … which, I don’t know. Made her feel less like a person and more like an issue of the week. Plus there’s this line from Juniper when she thinks of Jennie working “shoulder-to-shoulder with sisters she couldn’t quite trust with her secret.” Again, this troubled me slightly because it seems to imply that trans self-acceptance is contingent upon cis acceptance? That if it’s not disclosed, then it’s a secret, and I don’t necessarily think that’s the case? Like, I don’t think not disclosing your identity is the same as withholding it, if that makes sense.

But who knows. I’m picking at nits here. Ultimately, this is a rich, complicated and fascinating book that somehow manages—like many of its characters—to be both very angry and very hopeful at the same time. It is, however, also a really intense book. So, do check the triggers before you pick it up and maybe don’t read it immediately after a war kicked off?

Was this review helpful?