Cover Image: The Once and Future Witches

The Once and Future Witches

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Member Reviews

The author’s voice clearly shone through in this book. The descriptions were beautiful, showing us exactly what was happening, tugging at the heartstrings and creating a fantastic atmosphere. I wanted to know what was happening so badly, but I wanted to savour every single moment, really taking in every description. I also loved the fairytales and folklore. It was so interesting and grabbed my attention.

Overall, a really solid story that I enjoyed and would probably read again! Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author, for a chance to read and review this book.

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trigger warning
<spoiler> mention of abortion, mention of rape, torture, misogyny, suicide, plague, domestic violence, trauma, child abuse </spoiler>

When the three sisters meet again, each of them thinks herself alone in a world full of misogyny and hate. When they meet again, they feel drawn to each other by more than threads of siblinghood, and they can feel the magic rising.

This is a chunky piece of literature, but somehow I swallowed it in two sittings. I am always a bit reluctant to start a hyped book nowadays, and I am always surprised when it makes me fall in love with it. The pages fly past as you follow the story.

There are stories within a story, and you know some version of them, only in this book, they're genderflipped. The Grimms were sisters, and the heroes are always the women because this is their time.

I loved how different magical traditions from different cultures from different parts of this world get acknowledged, how seamlessly queer people fit in there because this is an accurate depiction of reality, enhanced by fantastical elements.
While our three sisters practise magic from an europe-centric viewpoint as white Americans, the author didn't keep it at that, because the protagonists team up with everyone who likes to join them. Sometimes, that mean a tiny moment of confusion when encountering something new, followed by a shrug and a why "Why not?".

This is one of the rare occasions on which I was not annoyed that a story about witches was set in Salem. It didn't feel like a cheap attempt to give the tale some gravitas through history, it simply fit.

I had fun with this book and will look up what else the author is up to.
I recommend this to people who like fantasy in historical settings, who like witches, and reading about them.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

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Not my usual genre of book and didn't quite hit the mark for me. However, I'm sure those who like this genre would really enjoy this book!

It's clear that the author did lots of research prior to writing this book and it is all very well thought out.

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This was the perfect spooky read for the season and was very intriguing!

The Once and Future Witches follows three sisters as they miraculous unite in New Salem, where their unresolved conflicts cause tension. Its firstly important to mention that as the story progresses, the tension decreases. It is nice to see the sisterly bond grow between the three, and I felt that one of the more prominent themes of this book is the importance of sisterhood.

I began this book very blindly and finished it with many more things being considered about the history of our world, which is often told in a very plain manner. This book follows a historically controversial topic of witching, whilst the also controversial suffragette movement is taking place. Something I really loved about this book was how many of the themes allowed me to think about how minorities like coloured women and the LGBTQ community would have been treated in this time. It’s something that is often neglected in the historical curriculum but is even more important. How Alix manages to intertwine all these various themes is beyond me, but it is done so seamlessly.

Feminism is crucial in this book, whether that be with the suffragette’s movement or just how the women team up to crush men (as they should ). I love how this theme is executed.

Perhaps a more sensitive theme is domestic abuse. Readers have their attention drawn to the father of the three sisters who is abusive and toxic towards them, making us see juniper as somewhat heroic for killing the monster he was. Their father serves as an example for how a toxic family dynamic can be soul crushing. We also see Mr Hill representing a similar danger, and Juniper’s heroism shines again when she sacrifices her life to protect Eve from the shackles of an abusive male figure.

A powerful message I took away from this was the strength of unity which is effectively demonstrated by how the women tackle issues better when they are a team. I doubt many of their victories would have been possible had they been conducted individually. I really enjoyed how empowering this book was to read, especially as a woman.

I really enjoyed the use of fairy tales at the start of each chapter, and similar writing styles for each section narrated by each sister. It really illustrated the fact they are sisters and presented them in a more unified manner. I enjoyed the intertwining of the past with the present and future, whether that be with the history of the girls and their father & grandmother, or the witches before them.

However, I did feel that at some points the book dragged and was repetitive at times. But overall, this was a great read, and is worthy of all praise. Alix has presented us with something very different to what we are used to and has done so in a remarkable way.

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What a beautiful, beautiful book. Harrow has the most mesmerising writing style that is just so pretty! Every sentence is lyrical and carefully strung together without the descriptions been overly flowery which is exactly how i like my books.

The Once and Future Witches is set in America, New Salem in the 1890’s, a time where women were fighting hard for the right to vote. We follow three sisters with a messy past and a struggled relationship as they try to bring back witching to the women of the world. I adored the sapphic relationship between a black woman and a white woman, and the fact that Juniper requires the use of a cane to walk. Harrow twists old folktales to centre women, and creates the idea that magic is never gone. It’s in nursery rhymes and folklore and fairytales and songs, passed down for witching women to find.

This book felt wild. But not wild in a way that the content was wild. It just made me feel wild. Like running through grass and smelling fresh rain. It made me feel empowered. Definitely a new favourite!

Buzzwords: witches, feminism, women empowerment, suffrage, 1890’s America, sapphic relationship, MC with a walking disability

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I loved Harrow's writing style and storytelling in her first book, so I was really excited to get a copy of this early to review. This is one of my most eagerly anticipated books of the year and I was so so hyper to get this, completely fangirling and much squealing may have been involved! I really wasn’t disappointed I can tell you now just like her first book the writing is powerful, lyrical and beautiful , even more it’s so undeniably feminist, sisterhood and women’s rights, unapologetically so as is right ! This is a powerful read that covers the generations, about fighting for what you deserve, your rights and what you are entitled to, no matter the cost. I can’t recommend this book highly enough, I can’t over emphasise how amazing the story and writing is, basically wether you love witches, feminism, a powerful story or just an amazing read, this book is for you. Stunningly good.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

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I went into this book super excited. How could I not be? Witches in a historic setting, Alix E. Harrow as a writer? It had everything I wanted to be perfect. Yet, something about it made me unable to connect and enjoy the read. I liked the voice, even though I found it distant, I liked the setting and the idea of the characters. But unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me and I couldn't connect with the story or the characters. It was disappointing, but I can still see why people love this book. It's special and well written and at times very interesting. Unfortunately, I just wasn't for me.

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Spooky, magical and wonderfully character driven, the Once and Future Witches is another hit from Alix E Harrow that is absolutely unputdownable

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I really struggled with this book, not because it was bad because it wasn’t but just that it didn’t really suck me in. I wanted more, more action, more plot, more character interplay.

The writing was fine, nothing really wrong, I just found that the story took a very long time to go anywhere.

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The Once and Future Witches is an epic and empowering read which had me hooked from the start.

“Heat hisses through her veins. An unnatural wind whips towards the center of the square. It smells like drying herbs and wild roses. Like magic.”

This book is the superpower of fairy tales! It is an incredible book with an emphasis on the power of female bonds.

“There is no such thing as witches, but there used to be.

It used to be the air was so thick with magic you could taste it on your tongue like ash. Witches lurked in every tangled wood and waited at every midnight-crossroad with sharp-toothed smiles. They conversed with dragons on lonely mountaintops and road rowan wood brooms across full moons; they charmed the stars to dance beside them on the solstice and rode to battle with familiars at their heels. It used to be witches were wild as crows and fearless as foxes because magic blazed bright and the night was theirs.

But then came the plague and the purges. The dragons were slain and the witches were burned and the night belonged to men with torches and crosses.”

In The Once and Future witches not only was magic gone from the world but also the power was firmly in the hands of the men. All you needed for magic was the will, the words and the way but the will was often beaten down and broken and the ways and words were confined to spells for use around the home and hearth. The traditional domains of women.

Anyone who knows about fairy tales knows that three and witchcraft knows that three is often an important number. It is no coincidence that this book focuses on three sisters.

“James Juniper Eastwood was the youngest, with hair as ragged and black as crow feathers. She was the wildest of the three.”

Juniper is wanted for murder. A wildcard who has come to New Salem to join the budding suffragette movement and is burning with resentment at her sisters for abandoning her to their abusive father.

“Agnes Amaranth Eastwood was the middle sister, with hair as shining and black as a hawks eye. She was the strongest of the three, the one who knew how to work and keep working, tireless as the tide.

But on the spring equinox of 1895, she is weak.”

Agnes is in trouble and though she may not know it yet she needs her sister. If only she can see fit to forgive and forget the betrayals of the past.

“Beatrice Belladonna Eastwood was the oldest sister, with hair like owl feathers: soft and dark, streaked with early grey. She was the wisest of the three. The quiet one, the listening one, the one who knew the feel of a books spine in her palm and the weight of words in the air. But on the spring equinox of 1893, she is a fool.”

Bella also needs her sisters for a big battled ahead but can she count on them?

“The wayward sisters, hand in hand, Burned and bound, our stolen crown, But what is lost that can’t be found?”

I loved the way many of the spells and charms within the book were hidden in old fairy tales and nursery rhyme fragments, in oral storytelling, and other traditionally female domains. Disregarded by men because they were considered to be insignificant.

I loved the progression of the sisters throughout the book and the way the book both mirrored and destroyed the traditional fairy story trope.

“Once upon a time there were three sisters. They were born in a forgotten kingdom that smelled of honeysuckle and mud, where the Big Sandy ran wide and the sycamores shone white as knuckle-bones on the banks. The sister’s had no mother and a no-good father, but they had each other; it might have been enough.

But the sisters were banished from their kingdom, broken and scattered.”

The Once and Future Witches was an outstanding book.

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The Once and Future Witches

When Agnes, Bella, and Juniper Eastwood, there was no such thing as witches. Only the little charms and nursery rhymes were taught to them by their grandmother. After years of separation, the three Eastwood sisters reunited in New Salem in 1893. At a time during the start of the fight for women’s suffrage. The three sisters hope to turn the civil rights movement into a witch’s movement. Searching for old magic and forming new alliances. All whilst they are hunted by forces who do not want women to vote and witches to live.

At 517 pages, this is one of the longest books I have read this year, and at times it felt like it. The Once and Future Witches is a slow read with lots of characters. In fact, it seemed like new characters were constantly added to the story, and at times it became hard to keep track of them all. That aside, I loved the plot of this book and especially the bond between the three sisters. How they used their witching powers to help women gain more rights. The idea of using magic to fight for the right to vote and help create better working conditions. I also loved how nursery rhymes and fairy tales served as old spells. And how they intertwine within the story, as old witch spells hidden in plain sight.

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Absolutely adored this book. It is a beautiful story, set in New Salem, about 3 sisters - the Eastwoods - and they join the suffragists of the town. They find out more about the magic of the area and find out about a time when there were 'no witches' supposedly and they get caught up in mysteries that are magical and compelling.

A wonderful story, so very well written. Harrow's language and prose is just beautiful and compelling and I just did not want to put the book down. Thank you netgally for my eArc. I will be off to purchase this book when it is out.

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It is 1898 in New Salem and the estranged Eastwood sisters come together to bring back magic to empower the suffrage movement. Wronged women soon join their cause to fight back against the engrained misogyny that threatens their very existence. Tapping into their hidden power and strength they fight back against sexism, racism and classism.

Am uplifting and beautiful story that weaves in familiar historical fact and fairy tales into moving and powerful adventure. Lyrical prose and magical realism at its very best. Loved it 😍

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Truly astonishing. One of the best books I've ever read and the absolute pinnacle of what fantasy can be. Despite being fraught with incredible pacing, there's still time for some incredible character building, worldbuilding, and real depth of thought. I gave up reading the netgalley version and just bought a copy. I'd sold it to several people within a day of starting it.

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Thank you for the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this!

The premise is very interesting, and I love books about witches so I was very excited to pick this up. I loved how the story first develops and I really thought by being introduced to all the sisters in their perspectives was a really good way to start the story. I also really loved the writing as well for how pretty and "flowy" it is but also still accessible to read, which I sometimes find books in this genre/theme tried to be but failed.

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An exciting, intimate look into the lives of women during a dark time where they fight for their rights, with magic, words, their wills and everything they have to live a life worth living and loving while they can. Three sister's brought together again whether by fate or coincidence each with problems of their own fight tooth and nail against a darkness, an evil that wants to destroy, burn down and purge all they stand for. With words, the will and the way they may just pull it off. An unforgettable, inspiring read I thoroughly enjoyed.

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Once upon a time there were witches to be found in every town and village, but after systematic pursuing of anyone suspected of witchcraft everyone assumed that it was a thing of the past, not to be found in the modern world of 1893. But unknown to most, it lingered on in nursery rhymes and songs sung to children, and when the Eastwood sisters decide to pursue witchcraft as a means of gaining women's independence they find many people coming forward with knowledge of the old ways and eager to support them. Obviously they have opponents - most noticeable and dangerous being the new mayoral candidate Gideon Hill, a man who, despite his opposition to witchcraft, seems to command even shadows to do his bidding. The sisters must put aside their differences and work together as maiden, mother and crone to survive.



I totally adored The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E Harrow's debut novel, and was hoping to find the same enchantment with The Once and Future Witches, but while I found it an enjoyable read it somehow didn't have the same magic. I suspect this is something extremely personal and quantifiable so don't let me put you off. The story is an intriguing one, set against a backdrop of a subtly-altered late 19th century when women were campaigning to be given the vote. In part it's about the freedom of women (and even men) to act and love as they choose; in part it's about the return of witchcraft to further those aims.

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This book sounded like the ideal autumn read for me... Just say witches, and I get in the mood. However, I wasn't really immersed in the story as I wanted to be, and at one point I even considered not finishing it. It's not that this is a bad book by any means, and this is after all, just a personal opinion.

I liked the characterisation, I thought the characters were very well done. For me, I felt that even though the book had everything you need to love the sisterly connection between them and to get drawn in by it...I just didn't feel it.

I felt it was too long, and if it was 150 pages shorter, perhaps it would have been an easier read, overall more succinct and pleasurable to read.

I loved the authors writing, since I do tend to like purple prose, and this was on the verge of that.

When I think about this book, I feel like it's not a book I would want to reread, and it's also not a book that left a lasting impression on me. It feels more like those enjoyable reads for the season, if you have plenty of time on your hands and you want your October to include a witchy read. This just didn't do anything for me personally, though I think others will still enjoy it.

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“Witching and women’s rights. Suffrage and spells. They’re both…” She gestures in midair again. “They’re both a kind of power, aren’t they? The kind we aren’t allowed to have…”

There are no such thing as witches, not anymore. Those that came before were burned, and Salem lies in ruins. A new city arose, and New Salem is a place of order and Christianity. A woman’s only hope of power lies within the ballot box, yet this way is blocked.

When three estranged sisters – the youngest wild and impetuous, hiding a terrible secret; the next with a steady spirit and a secret of her own; the oldest wise but nursing deep emotional wounds - come together in New Salem, they must try to work with each other and the suffrage movement for both women and witches alike, because the price of failure will be too awful to bear.

This intricate novel may have been slow to start, but once it got going it was superb. Set in 1893, it considers women’s rights at the time of the suffragist movement, conflating the proscription against witchcraft with the exclusion of women from the ballot box, and also exploring civil rights, feminism, gender identity, family, and attitudes to sexuality. This makes it sound incredibly heavy and boring, but I promise you that it’s anything but.

Enter the three Eastwood sisters – James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna. The first part of the novel concentrates on establishing the personality, history, and nature of each of our protagonists, which is why it takes a little while to get going. There’s a lot of flicking back and forth between the three which is slightly confusing at first, but it passes once you get into the meat of the story. That doesn’t mean the reader can afford to not pay full attention: this is not a book you’ll be able to just pick up for ten minutes in between doing other things – it deserves your full attention, so find somewhere quiet to curl up with a coffee and indulge yourself.

There are so many touches in this novel that I love, from the use of common nursery rhymes in the spells to the comment on why women’s dresses no longer have pockets to the foreshadowing in a description of the sisters’ hair. It may be a work of fiction, but so many of the injustices against women, homosexuals and people of colour happened in history, and Harrow obviously spent a lot of time researching before putting pen to paper (so to speak).

There’s really not much more I can say without giving away spoilers. Enjoy!

I received a free reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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“That’s all magic is, really: the space between what you have and what you need.” #TheOnceandFutureWitches #AlexEHarrow #LittleBrownBook

Genre: #Fantasy #HistoricalFantasy #Witches #Feminist

My rating: 3 / 5

Books: 1/1

I really wanted to love this book, since it had everything, I love. History, Witches, rebellions, but this book just wasn’t for me. I considered to DNF it after the half, but then I forced myself to finish it, because I was hoping that it would get better. It did get better, but not enough to say I’ve enjoyed reading it.

Let’s discuss why...

Feminism. This is one of the most feministic books I’ve read! For some it might be a huge advantage of the book, for me though, I felt it was over-exaggerated. I rolled the eyes every time when something bad happened and it was caused by men (obviously). We have three main characters, three sisters, who are very different and are dealing with personal issues/past traumas left by the witchcraft and their father. They start to practice magic, using long forgotten words and rituals.

The main historical issue of this book is time, when women fought for the right to vote. There was a movement for the Women Rights, sisters try to change that movement into witch’s movement.

Too many unnecessary facts, random/one-time characters appearing, without specific need. It made some parts of the book tedious. Due to that it felt that this book would never end...

I will stop ranting... Things that did impress me...

Author did an incredible job by documenting historical facts, social and political issues of the time (end of 1890’s), women's role in society, described marginalization in different parts of community.

A lot of issues that author is covering in this book are present in the modern-day society, she writes about sexism, racial issues, homophobia, women's rights.

I think my main issue with this book was, I started reading it as a fantasy, but in reality it’s more of a magical realism.

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