The Once and Future Witches – Alix E. Harrow – 12.01.21

I was excited to read this, because I loved the Ten Thousand Doors of January so much. I have to say, that even though I really liked this book, for me it wasn’t as great as The Ten Thousand Doors. This is a more traditional tale of witches being just women trying to survive in a male dominated world. In this book the newly blossoming suffragette movement is classed as just another symptom of witchcraft along with practising herbal medicine and aspects of midwifery. The witches don’t just use wisdom and herbal lore though. The three main characters, sisters Juniper, Bella and Agnes, find the words to call up the old magic which gives them power to fight the oppressors, who have sinister supernatural powers of their own. The book is certainly exciting, and the three sisters have very different and well rounded personalities. There were sweet romances and heart wrenching sacrifices, and I missed the characters when I’d finished reading. I liked the idea that wisdom and power is passed down through old stories and rhymes and the obvious love the characters had for books and the written word.