Title: The Once and Future Witches
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Rating: ★★★½

Alix E. Harrow’s sophomore novel has proven what a capable, wonderful writer she is. The Once and Future Witches is a powerful, timely story about sisterhood and suffragists. The witchy vibes made this the perfect fall read!

The Once and Future Witches takes place in 1893 New Salem and follows the three Eastwood sisters–Bella, Agnes, Juniper–who are reunited after years spent apart. They work together to form a sisterhood of suffragists that use magic to work towards equality and the right to vote. I found the characters to be really fleshed out and well developed. They all had distinct voices and I could relate to certain aspects of each sister.

The writing was beautiful and full of vivid descriptives. As with The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Harrow’s compelling writing easily captured my attention and transported me into the story. The book revolves around witches and magic, which made it the perfect read for this time of year.

Unfortunately, the pacing of the book didn’t work for me. I found the story to be extremely slow moving in many parts of the book. And because of how big it is, every time I read a chunk of the story it felt like I wasn’t making any progress. The plot seemed to stall multiple times and it was a struggle to push through.

Despite my issue with the slow pacing, The Once and Future Witches was an excellent second standalone following the success of Alix E. Harrow’s debut. Full of suffragist witches, sisterhood, and magic, I would definitely recommend this for anyone wanting the perfect atmospheric read for fall!