March Intermission: The Once and Future Witches - Alix E. Harrow

Hi there!

Welcome to our March Intermission for Alix E. Harrow's The Once and Future Witches.

Trigger Warning: violence, childbirth, torture, visions, oppression, language, murder, child abuse, patriarchy, misogyny, betrayal

Overall

This book is MEANT for women. It's very well done and put together in such a way that reminds you that even the heroes are human sometimes. Not everyone is perfect, and as women, we deserve to hold space for that human-ness in each other, instead of obeying what society dictates we should be.

We also loved the world building and the setting. Very well-crafted and helped a lot with the sisters' journey.

Ceraya's Thoughts

This book is SOOOOO good. And I'm not sure if it was on purpose that it was in the 1800's AND it's Women's History Month!!! I love that there is witchcraft in different cultural groups. For example, Cleopatra is one of the Daughters of Tituba, which is the African American sector of magic.

It's not just women who are witches! Which is an interesting thing to note, because every story has a different witch-lore. I appreciated that the author clarified it for her universe, AND I thought it was interesting that there is "Men's Magic" and "Boy's Magic," etc.

A lot of their words and ways come from fairy tales, which is super interesting, and there's always a witch in place of where another character might be.

Brieanna's Thoughts

This book is VERY well written - not only are the characters diverse, believable, and creating forward momentum in the plot, but they're also deeply flawed and incredibly human to read.

Having listened to the audiobook featuring Gabra Zackman, I loved the differences between those sisters through her vocal choices.

So far, this novel is turning out to be pretty fantastic - I'm loving the way the magic is portrayed, without many significant rules, but still fitting into a loose structure, and shown instead of told about it.

I want more plot-points to move us forward, though. I feel like all we have right now is strong women fighting THE MAN but nothing else but the love between them. I need more than just that.

Where We Are Now

Agnes has just given birth! And the maybe future mayor (secretly a witch) are hot on our tails!!!! And the tower is on FIRE right now hello can we figure this out????

Where We Go From Here

We speculate that stinky poo poo bad guy (Gideon Hill) is going to put up a significant fight, but not one strong enough to defeat the sisters - once they get their shit together ...lmao

"Aren't you angry yet?"

Ceraya & Brieanna