The Once and Future Witches — Book Review with Content Warnings

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Genre: Alternate history

Series: Standalone

Age Rating: Teen+

Synopsis

Once upon a time, there were three witches… James Juniper is the wild sister, fearless as a fox and curious as a crow; Agnes Amaranth is the strong sister, steady as a stone and twice as hard; Beatrice Belladonna is the wise sister, quiet and clever as an owl in the rafters. Behind every witch is a woman wronged, and the Eastwood sisters take New Salem by storm as they head the suffragist movement in a desperate fight for equality and justice.

Content Warnings

General Rating: Teen+ (14A / PG-13 / TV-MA)

• Spice Rating: Mild—closed-door sapphic romance

• Violence Rating: Moderate—torture and fire injury, abuse of women

• Profanity Rating: Moderate—frequent use of Jesus Christ, occasional use of f*ck

• Other Trigger Warnings: pregnancy, death of a loved one, child abduction, homophobia, outing, manipulation/coercion, torture, attempted murder, fire injury, racism, misogyny and sexism

Overall Rating: 5/5

Wow, what an incredibly beautiful story. Haunting, stunning, brilliant. An exploration of feminist rights in a world where women have few; a journey through the anger and injustice felt by women as well as people of colour. A desire to see equality between genders and colours. Each sister’s personal journey was stunning—Juniper from reckless anger to sacrificial responsibility, Agnes from self-sufficiency to open love, Bella from insecurity to confidence. The hurts and bonds between them were realistic and timeless at the same time. I’m floored by this book. It may take some time to recover.

What I Liked

• The writing! Harrow is so brilliant at lyrical, poetic writing. This is the second book I’ve read by Harrow, and it was just as beautiful as The Everlasting.

• The sisters! Each of the protagonists is compelling and strong. I love them. They are realistic, flawed, and complex. They each undergo their own growth journey:

  • Juniper—so angry and reckless, but she learns that there is a cost to her recklessness, and it tempers her.

  • Agnes—self-preservation is key, but she learns to widen her circle and let others in.

    Agnes thinks… of the terrible risk of loving someone more than yourself and the secret strength it grants you. (346)

  • Bella—she’s insecure and uncertain, but this grows into confidence through her relationship with Cleo and her sisters.

• August and Mr. Blackwell: Harrow nails this—she writes strong men who love and support strong women. She doesn’t fall prey to the feminist trap of man-bashing, and I love her for it.

Themes and Reflections

• Misogyny: The power and influence of women is so easily and often misunderstood, and thus, feared. Harrow peels back the layers of women and witches in the 19th century, exposing the harmful stereotypes and lies told to and about women to keep them ‘in their place,’ that is, powerless.

  Books and tales are as close as she can come to a place where magic is still real, where women and their words have power. (22)

• Colonialism and religious assimilation: You can’t talk about witches in America without addressing the harms of colonialism and religious assimilation. Witchery is seen in direct opposition to Christian faith, which condemns the witches here as it did in real history. Harrow paints witchery as the only equalizing option between men and women; without it, women are perpetually powerless and at the mercy of powerful men. I’d like to think that the correct Christian response would be not to condemn women who are trying to find a way to be seen as equals to men, but to empower them and their God-given abilities to create life and growth in the world. Witchcraft, most often, is misunderstood by men and Christians alike; it is far less demonic than it is naturalistic and holistic, a use of intuition and the natural elements in the created world to heal and protect.

• Political resistance to oppression: The parallels between the autocratic leanings of the United States in the past decade and the actions of power-hungry Gideon Hill are obvious. Fearmongering is a dominant method of securing power; witches are the scapegoats. The Eastwood sisters spark a revolution, a resistance to the oppression, and it moves like wildfire through the city, but not without consequences to families and relationships. One thinks of Nazi Germany, and the fear of harbouring anyone whom the government has deemed dangerous or traitorous. It takes courage to resist political oppression.

“Maybe they won’t tell our story at all, because it isn’t finished yet. Maybe we’re just the very beginning, and all the fuss and mess we made was nothing but the first strike of the flint, the first shower of sparks. There’s still no such thing as witches. But there will be.”

— The Once and Future Witches, Alix E. Harrow

Writing Style

• Dense, lyrical prose

• Seamless, slow pace, gradually unfolding

• Tense and foreboding atmosphere

• Atmospheric worldbuilding

• Rich, witty dialogue

• Complex, flawed, and dynamic characterization

• Third-person POV, alternating between the sisters

• Evocative and inspiring
  

Tropes

• Forbidden magic

• Corruption of power

• Revenge story

• Found family

• Revolution
  

Books Like This

• The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec

• A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Publisher Info

• Publisher: Redhook

• Release Date: October 13, 2020

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