The Once and Future Witches

I loved the mechanics and descriptions of witching. The lost histories of what bound these women together were fascinating, and the tragedies of othering that shaped their world drove the story pretty well. All the lore and fairy tales are beautifully written.

Then enter Juniper, a character that I just couldn't get behind the entirety of the book. Eve could've been written out completely, replaced with a witch sister and the story would've been about the same. Pacing suffered when some characters were on the lamb. Also, the suffragete storyline seemed completely forgotten to the detriment of the rest of the book.

The final set piece was interesting and ripe with tension, but the ending still somehow felt anticlimactic. I loved The Ten Thousand Doors of January, so maybe that's why this book disappointed me so much.

My original rating was 3 stars after going back and forth between 2 and 3, but I changed it to 2 after writing my review. Although it did get better by the end, I also didn't find it memorable and struggled to get through it.

I was excited about The Once and Future Witches because I LOVED The Ten Thousand Doors of January and it had suffragette witches. There's a lot that's interesting about the different elements that went into this story and its handling of feminist anger, remade fairy tales, and witchcraft, but it never really kept me interested.

Full Review on My Website

I've been on a kick of reading books about witches because they are the most dependent for delivering strong, complex women. The Once and Future Witches did not disappoint – and the three sisters are such beautiful examples of the different ways you can have strong characters.

The Eastwood sisters' bond grows through the book, and you get to know each sister so well. They all have different strengths and weaknesses; they all have something different the reader may relate to. Bella, my fellow librarian, was my favorite, but I loved Agnes and January as well.

Each time I've tried to recommend The Ten Thousand Doors of January or The Once and Future Witches to patrons (which is often), I struggle to articulate how much I love Alix Harrow's writing. It's beautiful; it's atmospheric. Sometimes I'd go back and reread a sentence or paragraph to soak in the language and cadence of it.

Without a doubt, one of my favorite books of the year.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Het is het einde van de negentiende eeuw, en er zijn geen heksen meer. Er waren in de wereld van The Once and Future Witches vroeger wel echte heksen die echte magie deden, en vrouwen waren koninginnen en schrijvers en wetenschappers, maar ergens in de zeventiende eeuw is daar allemaal een einde aan gekomen, met massale heksenverbrandingen en mannen die het heft in handen hebben genomen.

Maar dit is het einde van de negentiende eeuw en de wereld ziet er min of meer uit zoals die bij ons was op het einde van de negentiende eeuw: industrialisatie, en het begin van de strijd om vrouwenkiesrecht. Er zijn hier en daar nog wat overblijfselen van magie, overgeleverd van grootmoeder op kleindochter: kleine spreuken om de melk niet te doen overkoken, om een paard rustig te krijgen, om planten beter te doen groeien.

Het verhaal draait rond drie zusters: Beatrice Belladonna, Agnes Amaranth en James Juniper, die elk op hun beurt om elk hun eigen redenen weggevlucht zijn van hun geboortedorp. Hun moeder is gestorven bij de geboorte van Juniper, en ze hebben heel hun jeugd rondgehangen bij hun grootmoeder, die geen échte heks was, maar er toch meer van afwist dan veel anderen.

Beatrice werkt in een bibliotheek, en probeert te vergeten dat ze op vrouwen valt. Agnes werkt in een fabriek (denk Triangle Shirtwaist Factory van omstandigheden, vóór de brand dan wel). En Juniper is net toegekomen in de stad, nadat ze hun vader heeft vermoord.

Op een zekere dag komen ze elkaar na jaren weer tegen, op het moment ze (samen? of Beatrice alleen?) zonder goed te weten hoe even het beeld van een toren hebben doen verschijnen in het midden van de stad.

Het gaat expliciet over gender en rechten en LGBTQ+ issues en ik vond het een magisch boek, met drie onvergetelijke hoofdpersonages. Meer dan veel traantjes geplengd. Meer dan veel aangeraden.

Altijd bijzonder grappig trouwens om bij boeken als dit, waar het zoals gezegd echt héél expliciet gaat over dingen waar men vijftien jaar geleden niet echt zo hard van wakker lag, naar de één-ster-reviews te kijken. Dan komt ge altijd de meest toxische commentaren tegen van mensen die vinden dat het niet genoeg is. Ik pik er at random eentje uit, van een persoon die er niet in geslaagd is het boek uit te lezen, maar wel pagina's lang kan klagen:

The only reason I didn't finish it was because it was actively making me uncomfortable and becoming a detriment to my mental health. [...] As a non-binary person of colour, this book just reeked of white feminism. James Juniper is very much a “not like other girls” character, Agnes reminds me of a typical liberal white woman, and while Beatrice is the most “progressive” character —she is in love with a black woman and occasionally ruminates on the absurdity and inconvience that is racism— she is as interesting as cardboard. [...] [niet mijn opinie, maar hey]

To set a book during the suffragette movement without addressing the blatant racism and transphobia that is prevalent among prominent suffragists, is to ignore the glaring elephant in the room. [...] [dit is niet waar, het komt voortdurend aan bod]

The characters do make an effort to invite some black people, yet the prominent figure within their community, conveniently declines and therefore they are left with an all white association [totaal het omgekeerde van waar, zoals de persoon had geweten als die meer dan de helft van het boek had gelezen]

Ultimately, this book is a good reflection of my problems with most “feminist” books written by white women. I simply have no empathy for the woes of white women, particularly when their version of feminism is achieving the same privileges afforded to white men. [zucht]

TW // Child abuse, both physical and psychological; parental death; arrest and imprisonment; mind control; pregnancy and childbirth, including forced hospitalization; racism (not challenged); sexism; homophobia, both external and internalized; threat of sexual assault, averted; torture (mostly off-the-page, but alluded to); execution (attempted); child abandonment; major character death.

I enjoyed the book but I would have enjoyed it more if it was shorter. There were times it felt like the book was too long, but then the solution to the next plot problem would be weirdly convenient. I feel like this book need to work more on its villain and make better use of its page count.
Things I liked:
The queer representation that uses social norms of the time.
Acknowledgment that different protest groups/org have different goals. They don't all immediately meld into one super group.
The relationships between the sisters.
The effort put into describing the environment/ buildings
Things I didn't like:
The main hetero romance felt forced & weird. I could have taken it out of the book and barely changed anything.
Magic seeming to be really convenient / not explained to my satisfaction.
Consequences to actions never felt real enough. When a character sacrifices themselves, finding a really dumb loophole to sort of bring them back is just annoying.

Witches and women's suffrage. At first it sounds like a strange mix, but one reflection the persecution of women as witches and the initial rejection of suffrage have a lot in common. Alix does a very good job of putting forward the inequalities of society in a novel way, as we follow three sisters and their quest for both suffrage and acceptance as witches. A fascinating alt history with witchcraft as its basis until it was overthrown by a ‘dark' witch and repressed provides the backbone of the story. The concepts and prose are beautiful, haunting and important feeling.

My main problem is I failed to fall in love with the characters. I just found myself not really caring enough about them, the ideas they were portraying became more important than their likeability. I also find these period settings tend to encourage authors to use a more flowery prose, which whilst often pretty can be somewhat distracting. This novel falls into that trap on occasion.

Ultimately the theme and the message are very well executed, but I am not sure I enjoyed the stylings of the book. Enjoyable enough but not in the end quite living up to its promise

As I grow older I'm fascinated by witches. The idea that witches were women who knew more, wanted more, refused to bend, to make themselves smaller.

This is exactly such a story. About three witches, and so much more. The power of language, of story, of rhyme. Three sisters with amazing names: Beatrice Belladonna, Agnes Amaranth and James Juniper.

It took me a long time, and multiple attempts, to get invested in this story. It ticks so many boxes in my favorites list, and after loving the author's previous book, I knew I would either adore this book or be bitterly disappointed by it. (Which, now that I think about it, is exactly how I felt when I read the synopsis of The Ten Thousand Doors.) I did really like it, but it has such a bittersweet ending that it depleted some of the enjoyment for me. I probably won't read it again, but I'm so glad that I finally got through it. 

Another rather uneven book. It was partially great and partially really boring. All in all, it was good. I don't regret reading it.
It took me a little bit longer to read than it should have. I found it hard to get into it. About halfway I forced myself to read it.
I liked the feminist history and matriarchy in it. I don't like the witch burning and book burning.
Also, I have to commend Alix' ... er... what's it called now... dang it. How she follows the shape of the story. We get a small victory and then she rips it apart, we rise from the ashes, and she burns everything down again, again and again, the steps get higher and higher, the disappointment and loss bigger and bigger. When she burned the tower I almost stopped reading. It was a bit much. Obviously not too much, as I finished the book :-D