Review: The Once and Future Witches

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Full disclosure:  I received an advance copy of The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow from Redhook Books via Netgalley in exchange for possibly writing a review.  

I've heard a lot of very good things about Alix E. Harrow and was really excited to get a chance to read this book.  Witches often get a bad rap, but I think it is because they are often powerful women and that scares people.  Not to say there aren't bad witches, but we'll get into that later.

This book takes place in an alternate past where the sisters Grimm write the fairy tales and witches are thought to be extinct.   That is, until the sisters Eastwood decide to revive witchcraft to fight against a society oppressing women and an evil that is taking over their city.  I enjoyed that each chapter starts with a spell or a fairy tale.  You'll recognize many of these because in this world, fairy tales and nursery rhymes are used to surreptitiously pass on magic to the next generation.  Maybe they are in our world too, but we've just forgotten?

This book isn't just about witches though.  It is about the struggles of women, people of color, and the LGBT community, and the power we can yield when we join together to fight the systems that try to keep us marginalized.  It's not without sacrifice.  Some of the strongest magic requires blood. 

Now about that bad witch....That the bad witch hates other witches so much that they want to completely eradicate them from the Earth is very telling.  I'm sure someone could do a psychological profile on that.  But here's what got me.  Even though there are breadcrumbs throughout the book leading you to the identity of the bad witch, I was surprised that I didn't make the connection until the reveal.  It's not often I am caught off guard like that.  Well done, Alix E. Harrow.

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