Book Review: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Redhook (October 13, 2020)
Length: 528 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
You know how much I adore a good witchy tale, and with The Once and Future Witches, author Alix E. Harrow has delivered another rich and powerful novel to satisfy my heart’s desire. From the mind who brought us The Ten Thousand Doors of January comes this historical fantasy that will appeal to fans of feminist fiction and family sagas that blend together magic, folklore, and alternate history.
Once upon a time, there were three sisters. When their mother died, the girls were raised by a bitter and uncaring father who treated them like dirt. Beatrice Belladonna Eastwood is the oldest daughter and also the bookish one, who left to pursue a career as a librarian. The middle daughter, Agnes Amaranth, also went out into the world and got a job as a factory worker. That left youngest and wildest James Juniper all by herself to deal with their cruel and abusive father, and she has never forgiven her sisters for it.
Now it is the year 1893, and society is on the cusp of great change. In New Salem, the sky rips open and a mysterious tower manifests in the town square while a suffragist rally occurs nearby, and having dedicated her life to studying the history and folklore of witching, Beatrice “Bella” knows it for a sign that magic has returned to the world. As fate would have it, the moment also reunites the three sisters who all happened to witness the phenomenon. Bella works at the local college, while Agnes finds herself preparing for single motherhood after discovering she is pregnant, and Juniper is a wanted woman on the run from the law. Whatever love there was between them is now gone, and the story begins with the three women barely tolerating each other.
However, they are forever bound by their shared lineage and a common goal. Together, the Eastwood sisters must find a way to heal past rifts in order to bring back real magic and repel the dark forces that seek to corrupt it for their own gain.
Above all else, The Once and Future Witches is a story about the importance of family and the role of forgiveness in building a future. It is also about fighting for those without a voice. The three sisters in this tale—Bella, Agnes, and Juniper—are individuals each with their own strengths and weaknesses, but together they are a force to be reckoned with. Harrow develops their personalities with a combination of the environment and their life experiences, making them believable and easy to relate to. They feel like genuine people reacting realistically to the hardships and obstacles thrown in their path. It’s not always pretty, but life—and magic—is chaotic.
Speaking of which, the idea of magical spells being hidden and preserved through history in nursery rhymes and fairy tales isn’t exactly new, but I liked how some of these stories were reimagined, which seemed to fit well in the alternate history context. I also thought it was important that magic didn’t belong to the any one person or group, like how men knew how to cast magic as well as various cultures that carried out their own unique traditions. With so much knowledge of witchcraft lost to time, there was also a layer of mystery that our characters had to unravel. I enjoyed watching the sisters discovering their power and developing their skills even as they worked towards reconciliation.
There’s also a good story here, and it’s beautifully written. In fact, my only criticism of it might be a lack of original ideas to set it apart, as thematically it does feel pretty similar to several other “witchy” feminist fantasy novels I’ve read in recent years. And while I appreciated the focus on our protagonists and their personal growth, I wish more attention had been paid to developing the setting as well as the actions of other characters like the suffragettes and the efforts of Cleopatra Quinn and her compatriots. Still, there’s no denying there’s a lot going on here, and in making this story all about the Eastwood sisters, I can even understand why there would be a need to sacrifice detail in other areas.
At the end of the day though, The Once and Future Witches was a fascinating read, and while the story might not be perfect, I think its emotional depth and uplifting messages of sisterhood are more than enough to make up for its minor flaws. Recommended for fans of historical fantasies and strong women characters, especially if you enjoy books with magical or witchy themes by authors like Naomi Novik or Louisa Morgan.
The BiblioSanctum 
Loved your review, Mogsy. 🙂 This has been praised by many other book bloggers. Glad to see you also liked the book.
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It was thanks to seeing all that praise that I bumped it up my tbr – glad I did! 😀
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Loving the review!
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Thank you!
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I‘m happy that you liked this – nearly as much as I did. I can’t figure out where it hit those fifth star for me, but it was just plain perfect.
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Even though for me it wasn’t quite five stars, I think it was the emotional depth that really got to me. Especially at the end, and how things turned out. Plus, I always love stories about family, especially sisters.
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This, and the coming of a age of a witch. I‘ve never read about how they acquire a familiar!
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I loved this and it’s one of my favorite books of 2020😁
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It was definitely a highlight of the year for me!
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This is one of the (far too many) books I have not managed to read yet, although your review has further strengthened my resolve to add it to my TBR as soon as possible: something tells me that the individual journeys of the three sisters will prove more than fascinating to me 🙂
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Yeah, I know what you mean, there are so many books on my tbr and December being my catch-up/mood read month, I really struggled to choose which one to pick up. I think I made a good choice with this one though, it did not disappoint!
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Thanks for the review, Mogsy. I love the names of those sister witches.
I’ve nominated you for The Mystery Blogger Award. I’ll post tomorrow around midday.
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Thank you, that’s awesome of you! This being the holiday season, my schedule might not allow for awards and book tags, but I will try! 😀
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That’s fine, Mogsy. We’re all so busy with Christmas and covid, so much organisation. Have a happy and safe Christmas.
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Hmm, interesting. I still haven’t gotten around to this one yet, but it looks to be very good. Great review!
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Thank you! And I hope you’ll get to check it out soon, I think it’s right up your alley!
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Interesting, one of those I have no idea what I would feel before I read it
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If you like history fantasy and witchy stories, then it’ll probably work well. Oh, and there’s some romance in it too.
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I loved The Ten Thousand Doors of January, so I’m very pleased to hear how good this one is. Can’t wait to read it. I hope she continues creating great stories. And I kinda also hope many of them continue to be standalones.
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I really enjoyed Doors of January as well, so I’m so glad there was no sophomore slump here! And I hear ya, it’s so tough to find good stand alones these days if you don’t want to make the commitment required of a series.
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Really must get to this one, it sounds fab!
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Hope you’ll enjoy it! 😀
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I loved The Ten Thousands Door earlier this year so I’m lookinf forward to reading this one as well! 😀
I’m glad you liked it!!
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Strangely enough I think for at least the first half of this one I was thinking it wouild be a 4* read. The ending actually bumped it up slightly to 4.5 because of the emotional impact.
I do agree that some of this felt very familiar though, perhaps because I seem to have had a run of similar(ish) books – but I love Harrow’s writing and I think that’s what takes it up a notch.
Lynn 😀
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This encourages me to read that big book Mogsy! I was not a fan of the Ten Thousand Doors of January as I found it heavy one description and a bit slow but I have hope for this one!
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I loved this book so much! I haven’t read that many witchy books this year and this one really stood out to me – in terms of writing style, character arcs, and all that good stuff. I also would have loved to see more of Quinn – she was one of my favorite characters! Fantastic review.
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