I get what this was book was trying to do but the book itself was too depressing and dystopian like. We want fun funny witches.

I tried several times with this one and ended up not finishing it. I really wanted to love this book, because it felt so spooky and enticing. When in fact, it just felt like it wasn't going anywhere. I kept putting it down and going to other books instead, which is why in the end I didn't finish it.

I didn’t connect with this one but might give it a chance at some point in the future. I think some others would connect with this one so would still recommend

A genuinely fascinating look not only into the history of witches but also the history of women's suffrage and the role fairy tales have played in our perceptions of things.

I enjoyed all the elements in this novel: a smart fantasy in an alternative history where Salem was destroyed because of the witches and rebuilt, 3 fiercely loyal sisters, strong women, witches, feminism, suffragettes, magic, and fairy tales and nursery rhymes. All of those elements are right up my alley. The only problem, in my mind, is the pacing. Around the middle, I really wanted to put it aside because it felt like it wasn't going anywhere. I wish an editor had intervened and pushed Harrow to tighten it up. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because the last quarter is excellent.

As a thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Books/Orbit, I’d like to provide a review of Alix E. Harrow’s second novel “The Once and Future Witches.” This book held my attention for its storytelling, historical setting, and magical world. The story is told from the perspective of three sisters ( Eastwood sisters – James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna) who join the suffragette movement in New Salem. The sisters have joined this new movement of women empowerment as a means for women to come together and share the knowledge learned as witches from the past. The year is 1893 and at this point in the novel, there are and have been no witches. The magic in this novel is something that immerges as the characters come together and share the words taught to them by women in their lifetime. The novel is a metaphor for the power women can hold within a community and can implement into the suffragette movement for the ability to vote Is the power needed to address issues that women face. Harrows’ writing is impeccable and adds to the period for the women of the 19th century sound as modern as if they spoke these words today. Harrow has written a timeless story that should be read by many for an interest in historical fiction, supernatural elements, and Women's rights. After reading this novel I am intrigued to read Harrow's debut as well. I give this book a full four out of five stars on GoodReads.

DNF @ 20%
This book was perfectly fine but just not for me, so take my DNF with a grain of salt. I honestly didn't vibe with any of the sisters, I found Agnes boring and Juniper annoying. I did like Beatrice, but largely because she's sapphic and seeing her relationship with [redacted] was so cute! I almost didn't DNF just to see where their relationship went, but decided it ultimately wasn't worth it. The concept was really neat, but didn't hook me enough.

I think if you're interested in this, you should still give it a shot! But it didn't work for me.

Alix E. Harrow has a way with the writing word. This book was riveting, though it does take a minute to get pulled in. The combination of witches with the women’s suffrage movement was such a brilliant decision - and felt like such an obvious combination the more I thought about it. Fantastic leading women, truly malicious villain, and a lot interwoven with fairytales, legends, and nursery rhymes all had me finding any excuse to keep reading. I will continue to eagerly pick up anything Alix E. Harrow writes. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I loved this book so much. So much that, when it came out I bought a physical copy, too. Witches? Historical? Fantasy?

YEAH, UH SIGN ME UP.


And Alix Harrow wrote it??

Say no more

This book was not the right book for me right now. I was intrigued by the idea of witchcraft being connected to the Suffragist movement. I was just a bit bored by the whole story line.

I read and did not finish this so long ago now that I'm not sure how it got completely lost in my review pile. It was...fine. I think like everything I read in 2020 I had high expectations for something that could transport me somewhere AWAY from everyday COVID life and this just didn't do it for me. Given that it was Alix Harrow, I also had much higher than usual expectations, but I never felt sufficiently attached to the story and characters to make me want to finish reading after about the half-way mark.

I'll try again in the future and be sure to put an updated review on goodreads if I manage to muddle through!

So good. This was so unlike anything I've read. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did I was absolutely captivated! Such a wonderful twist on witchcraft!

This story started out with 3 sisters being separated by an event that happened as they were kids. However strange events dealing with witch craft brought them back together. This book dealt with feminism, LGBTQIA and abuse. It took me awhile to read and I ended up really enjoying it. The sisters family weren't able to teach them magic but they soon discover that spells are hidden in all different kinds of fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

This magical story is about three sisters who live in and around New Salem in the 1880's who are surviving any
way they can in a modernizing, yet socially antiquated world. Harrow sheds New light to meaning to the word
"witch". Leaving the Reader empowered to want to don a pointy black hat & dust off your grandmas notebooks of "Household Remedies". Harrow did a wonderful job weaving modern issues with age old stories & Retellings of witchy fairytales. I especially appreciated the musical whimsy underplaying the fairytale stories in the audiobook version. The sisters were a likeable bunch as a whole, but I often disliked one of them at any given moment. I believe this intentionally made for drama & angst that propelled the book forward during story building moments.

This book just wasn't for me. I was hoping for a bit more magic a bit less history. I think this would be perfect for fans of lyrical writing and a hint of magic. It is not for those that are looking for more of a true "witchy" story. The style is slightly different than her previous book, but if you liked Ten Thousand Doors, I would give this one a go. I also recommend it for Alice Hoffman fans. It just had too much historical elements and too much flowery writing for me.

3.5
*e-Arc provided by Red Hook and Netgalley*
I didn't love this one quite as much as the Ten Thousand Doors of January. The writing and world building was fantastic in this one. I love Alix's writing style. I liked the characters, the representation and the fact the spells were like nursery rhymes.
I just struggled with the pacing of this book. I found myself getting bored at parts since it was so slow.
But if you want witches, good writing and a character driven story look no further. I can not wait t0 read more Alix E. Harrow books. She's quickly becoming one of my fav authors.

I wanted to love this book SO bad, but the characters seemed rather flat and didn't seem to exist beyond the archetypes they are meant to represent. Maybe that was the author's intention, but combined with the sheer THICKNESS of this book, it was hard to stay interested and invested. I think there is a lot of potential in The Once and Future Witches; I just wish the characters had lived up to it.

The Once and Future Witches takes place In 1893, where the Eastwood sisters use ― Agnes Amaranth, James Juniper, and Beatrice Belladonna―join the suffragists of New Salem and resurrect a wild kind of old magic.

I picked up this book because I adored The Ten Thousand Doors of January. This book had the same gorgeous prose that drew me to Harrow's work, but the pacing of this book was a bit slower and so it took a little longer to really get into the story. Like her previous book, I love that The Once and Future Witches tackles real social and political issues through such rich storytelling. Each of the three sisters had qualities that resonated deeply with me, and each confronts their own histories of pain and forgetting in order to access their magic face down the fight they all face.

While I wish the plot moved a bit more quickly, overall, this was a beautifully written book with characters that will break you heart and put it back together again. Looking forward to Harrow's next masterpiece.

Really enjoyed the beautiful writing and feminist ideas in this book. It's atmostphere was exactly what I needed, but I wished that I could connect with the characters more.

Video Review: https://youtu.be/KXwI5MGCY3Y

I went into The Once and Future Witches not truly knowing what it was about, and I’m glad I did as I feel had I known I might not have enjoyed even as much as I did at 3 stars. The audiobook was fantastic, the narrator did a wonderful job! My issue was that this story was very long and very very slow. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I thought there would be more action, more magic, more back and forth between the present and the past. But overall this story felt lacking to me and I was never truly connected to any of the characters.