The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

528 pages / 16 hours, 3 minutes

Read by Gabra Zackman

Published October 2020 by Orbit

Publisher's Summary: 

In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.

But when the Eastwood sisters―James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna―join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote―and perhaps not even to live―the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.

There's no such thing as witches. But there will be.

My Thoughts: 

The Once and Future Witches is not my usual reading fare. But my dad, in a little sleight of hand, aided and abetted by the same people he was tricking, got my sister and I to each send the other a copy. The reason for that? Well, in my family, I've been known as the Wicked Witch of the West and my sister as the Wicked Witch of the East for going on twenty years. Plus, this is a book about sisters and feminism. When my dad heard about this one, he thought it was the perfect book for the two of us to read. 

This was meant to be a read/listen combination once I discovered that it was readily available on audio from my library. But some extra time in the car and a home project that gave me plenty of time to listen caused me to end up listening to the whole book. It's a good thing I found it on audio because I'm not sure when I would have gotten to such a long book in print, but it's the perfect time of year to be reading this one.  

What I Liked About This Book: 

• I'm always happy to read a book about sisters and how life may cause them to grow apart, but the bond will never be broken. In this book, that's true even into eternity. 
• Equally, I love a book filled with strong women and this book has a lot of them. Juniper comes in hot (and mad) and remains a force to be reckoned with. Agnes has the kind of anger within her that leaves little doubt that her strength can be counted on, even when she tries to avoid it. But it's Bella, the quiet librarian, who surprises everyone with her strength and her unwillingness to stop trying when it appears all is lost.
• Harrow is an equal opportunity writer when it comes to passing out the ways of witchcraft, pulling in Native American and African American witch ways (for the most part ways that we would recognize as homeopathic and natural remedies). She even allows men the opportunity to use witchcraft. I would have liked to have seen more of these other witches. 
• I appreciated that Harrow included gay characters. It felt a little bit like they might have been included as a tool to expand the reader base but it wasn't over done. 
• Gabra Zackman's reading of the book. She did an excellent job of voicing the different characters. 

What Didn't Work For Me: 

• I was really excited to read a book about suffragettes and was looking forward to how that might work with the witchcraft. Unfortunately, the suffragettes were pushed to the side with the emphasis on wanting to bring back witching ways rather than advancing the rights of women. To be fair, the suffragette leaders in this book were the very kinds of rich, white women that themselves pushed out black women in reality and an agenda aligned with their religion. Still, if you're going to write a book with an alternate reality, you could do a lot to blend the two. 
• It's a little thing, but I wish Harrow would have landed on the way each of the sister was going to be known. Sometimes James Juniper was just that, other times she was Juniper, and still other times Juni. Agnes was nearly always Agnes, but often Agnes Amaranth. Beatrice's change made more sense; in the beginning of the book, she was almost exclusively Beatrice until she claimed her power and then she became Belle. Except when she was Beatrice Belladonna. 
• This is a really long book that I felt could easily have been cut down 100 pages as it often felt like it was repetitive and somethings were just too over the top and could have been left out. 
• The last 20-25 minutes or so of the audiobook. It just felt like the story could have been finished up in the final big "scene" with a short epilogue. 

The Once and Future Witches was named one of NPR's best books of 2020. Their reviewer absolutely loved this book. Clearly it was a book that was right up her alley. It is not, as you know if you've been around for any period of time, up my alley. Sometimes those books surprise me, sometimes they do not. And sometime, like with this one, I find enough to like about the book to enjoy the story; but not enough to make me want to rush out and pick up another book about witchcraft. 

This counts as my kickoff to Reader's Imbibing in Peril (R.I.P.) XIX with Peril of the Listen.