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A review by ajb24
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Jessica Spotswood, Tess Sharpe
3.0
Disclaimer: I started this book mostly because I knew it was on my to-read shelf and I saw it was available at the library so I rented it. But I was skeptical that I would enjoy the topic of witches/witchcraft right from the start (I added it to my list because my ex was into witch stuff so I thought I would read it for "perspective" or whatever...reviews said that it had gays too so obvs I got intrigued)
That being said, there were some stories that I genuinely really enjoyed and held my interest in a way where the ~magic~ elements didn't bother me. Others however...not so much. Not that I think that they're bad stories or anything (though some are weaker than others quality-wise) but it's just...sometimes I just can't get behind the whole idea of universes where witches exist. There's that one story where like, a witch girl starts chatting with the science/NASA girl. Yeah, I'm like the NASA girl (but less intense because science is hard and i'm not into that) But conceptually like...I can appreciate that people believe in this stuff but usually it's just not for me. If I had to list my favorites from best to worst it would go like this:
1. The Gherin Girls
2. Death in the Sawtooths
3. Why They Watch Us Burn (this might be a tie for second because I really appreciate the underlying social commentary)
4 (tie) Love Spell
4 (tie) The Legend of Stone Mary
5. The Heart in her Hands
ok and then after this I don't know if I can really rank them because they either weren't compelling enough for me to remember them or I just don't like them.
I could probably rank my bottom 3 actually
3. The Well Witch
2. The One Who Stayed
1. The Moonapple Menagerie
Any others I didn't rank are stuck in that middle section of "I don't care enough to have a distinct opinion"
I took notes after each story (not extensive, just my general feelings so I could remember for this review...obviously that didn't work out totally well lol) BUT anyways I think I'm funny sometimes and I wanna preserve what I wrote so I'm gonna copy/paste them down below (there is NO consistency in what I comment on for each, sometimes I wrote it during and other times after, but anyway...)
Starsong
- rolled my eyes but it gay so,,,
Afterbirth
- kept me intrigued
The Heart in Her Hands
- gf came to save her from a hetero fate!!!!!
Death in the Sawtooths
Definitely my favorite so far, so interesting and liked the concept
The Truth About Queenie
Boring heteros :/
Eh, don't like the abrupt ending (maybe it's abrupt cuz I'm just listening to it and don't have a concept of how long it is)
Weird cheating motif and I dont rly get it
The Moonapple Menagerie
Goddamn these witches are furries
Hey question wtf is going on
I don't understand it
[like, OK, I /get/ that it's a different culture and I was trying to be open to the whole plot and what was happening, but I was just so confused and didn't like it]
The Legend of Stone Mary
The gays!!!
The One Who Stayed
What???? Don't like it :/
Divine Are the Stars
Eh
Daughters of Baba Yaga
New concept, a bad witch, was OK. Don't understand the communist bit tho or why that was included
The Well Witch
Partial to this one only cuz I recently read the Sebastian Barry book set in civil war time, but not much else impresses me
Eh actually not really it was boring and not a lot of witchyness
Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths
Hmph
But there were some gays that was nice
Love Spell
I read an article in medical anthro about susto once so this one is cool to me
Also just am into the story more which is surprising since the other book I've read by this author I didn't like
Def can see this author's magical realism style coming thru
The Gherin Girls
"Small warm relief sets in" - sounds like a description of if u peed urself even tho i know it's not
Oooo I really liked this one!!!
All the sexuality representation!!! But also family love!! Yay!!
It's incredible how much I identify or feel "seen" in the Willa/Ingrid scenario...just like, the description of what she loves about Ingrid and how they lie next to each other I /feel/ that, yknow?? Cuz like, after some of these hetero stories it's like, holy shit, I do NOT understand that I'm SO gay
It's almost like...representation matters 🤔 *insert Pikachu face meme*
Why They Watch Us Burn
Oof this is powerful
That being said, there were some stories that I genuinely really enjoyed and held my interest in a way where the ~magic~ elements didn't bother me. Others however...not so much. Not that I think that they're bad stories or anything (though some are weaker than others quality-wise) but it's just...sometimes I just can't get behind the whole idea of universes where witches exist. There's that one story where like, a witch girl starts chatting with the science/NASA girl. Yeah, I'm like the NASA girl (but less intense because science is hard and i'm not into that) But conceptually like...I can appreciate that people believe in this stuff but usually it's just not for me. If I had to list my favorites from best to worst it would go like this:
1. The Gherin Girls
2. Death in the Sawtooths
3. Why They Watch Us Burn (this might be a tie for second because I really appreciate the underlying social commentary)
4 (tie) Love Spell
4 (tie) The Legend of Stone Mary
5. The Heart in her Hands
ok and then after this I don't know if I can really rank them because they either weren't compelling enough for me to remember them or I just don't like them.
I could probably rank my bottom 3 actually
3. The Well Witch
2. The One Who Stayed
1. The Moonapple Menagerie
Any others I didn't rank are stuck in that middle section of "I don't care enough to have a distinct opinion"
I took notes after each story (not extensive, just my general feelings so I could remember for this review...obviously that didn't work out totally well lol) BUT anyways I think I'm funny sometimes and I wanna preserve what I wrote so I'm gonna copy/paste them down below (there is NO consistency in what I comment on for each, sometimes I wrote it during and other times after, but anyway...)
Starsong
- rolled my eyes but it gay so,,,
Afterbirth
- kept me intrigued
The Heart in Her Hands
- gf came to save her from a hetero fate!!!!!
Death in the Sawtooths
Definitely my favorite so far, so interesting and liked the concept
The Truth About Queenie
Boring heteros :/
Eh, don't like the abrupt ending (maybe it's abrupt cuz I'm just listening to it and don't have a concept of how long it is)
Weird cheating motif and I dont rly get it
The Moonapple Menagerie
Goddamn these witches are furries
Hey question wtf is going on
I don't understand it
[like, OK, I /get/ that it's a different culture and I was trying to be open to the whole plot and what was happening, but I was just so confused and didn't like it]
The Legend of Stone Mary
The gays!!!
The One Who Stayed
What???? Don't like it :/
Divine Are the Stars
Eh
Daughters of Baba Yaga
New concept, a bad witch, was OK. Don't understand the communist bit tho or why that was included
The Well Witch
Partial to this one only cuz I recently read the Sebastian Barry book set in civil war time, but not much else impresses me
Eh actually not really it was boring and not a lot of witchyness
Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths
Hmph
But there were some gays that was nice
Love Spell
I read an article in medical anthro about susto once so this one is cool to me
Also just am into the story more which is surprising since the other book I've read by this author I didn't like
Def can see this author's magical realism style coming thru
The Gherin Girls
"Small warm relief sets in" - sounds like a description of if u peed urself even tho i know it's not
Oooo I really liked this one!!!
All the sexuality representation!!! But also family love!! Yay!!
It's incredible how much I identify or feel "seen" in the Willa/Ingrid scenario...just like, the description of what she loves about Ingrid and how they lie next to each other I /feel/ that, yknow?? Cuz like, after some of these hetero stories it's like, holy shit, I do NOT understand that I'm SO gay
It's almost like...representation matters 🤔 *insert Pikachu face meme*
Why They Watch Us Burn
Oof this is powerful