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A review by labunnywtf
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Jessica Spotswood, Tess Sharpe
4.0
Read for Book Roast's Magical Readathon: NEWTs Exams. Subject: History of Magic, A Level. (Would Fit in at Hogwarts)
The moon is full, and even the stars are scared of me.
This book sneaks up on you.
That's putting it mildly.
I was SUPER pumped for this book when I requested it from Netgalley. As literally every other Goodreads review will tell you, GAY WITCHES. And not only gay, but the diversity here is so rich, it will choke anyone who would dare to complain. Race, religion, creed, gender, non-gender, it's all here. Along with almost every conceivable trigger warning you can think to throw on a book.
In my opinion, we start out too slowly. The stories are good, really good, but not BAM, in your face. The build is slow, but it's there, and it will steam roll over you if you're not prepared for it.
From Instagram witches to Salem witches, backwoods to inner city, past and future, every single scenario of what could conceivably be called a witch is here. These women are strong as hell. They're vulnerable, they're proud, they're scared, they're hesitant, they're bold, they're magical. Whether the specific stories appeal to you or not, there is literally no denying this.
I was enjoying the stories, truly and genuinely. But I wasn't getting any of that good, deep-down tingly feelings about any specific story. Until we got to Love Spell, by Anna-Marie McLemore. This is the story that knocked me on my ass, and it's the third to last story.
A bruja who specializes in healing the heartbroken and an acolite headed for the priesthood fall in love.
I...I have no words for this story. Is it the long-abandoned Catholic upbringing kicking in? I don't know. But that story just...was a punch to my heart. In all the best ways, but I finished it and had to set the book down for about an hour to deal with my feelings. Because goddamn.
And the last story is so painful, and so real. It's set in the future, Salem Witch Trials meets The Handmaid's Tale, and if that combination doesn't scare the shit out of you, wait until you read the story. It's upsetting. It's really upsetting. But it's beautiful, and just entirely too fucking real for me to handle at 9:00 at night.
The stories that don't work for me really don't work. But the ones that do, the ones that touched a part of my soul, are going to stay with me for a really long time. And I think that's the best part of this book, it will leave a mark.
However, I genuinely hope that in the non-ARC version, there's an introduction. I'm disappointed that there wasn't one here.
The moon is full, and even the stars are scared of me.
This book sneaks up on you.
That's putting it mildly.
I was SUPER pumped for this book when I requested it from Netgalley. As literally every other Goodreads review will tell you, GAY WITCHES. And not only gay, but the diversity here is so rich, it will choke anyone who would dare to complain. Race, religion, creed, gender, non-gender, it's all here. Along with almost every conceivable trigger warning you can think to throw on a book.
In my opinion, we start out too slowly. The stories are good, really good, but not BAM, in your face. The build is slow, but it's there, and it will steam roll over you if you're not prepared for it.
From Instagram witches to Salem witches, backwoods to inner city, past and future, every single scenario of what could conceivably be called a witch is here. These women are strong as hell. They're vulnerable, they're proud, they're scared, they're hesitant, they're bold, they're magical. Whether the specific stories appeal to you or not, there is literally no denying this.
I was enjoying the stories, truly and genuinely. But I wasn't getting any of that good, deep-down tingly feelings about any specific story. Until we got to Love Spell, by Anna-Marie McLemore. This is the story that knocked me on my ass, and it's the third to last story.
A bruja who specializes in healing the heartbroken and an acolite headed for the priesthood fall in love.
I...I have no words for this story. Is it the long-abandoned Catholic upbringing kicking in? I don't know. But that story just...was a punch to my heart. In all the best ways, but I finished it and had to set the book down for about an hour to deal with my feelings. Because goddamn.
And the last story is so painful, and so real. It's set in the future, Salem Witch Trials meets The Handmaid's Tale, and if that combination doesn't scare the shit out of you, wait until you read the story. It's upsetting. It's really upsetting. But it's beautiful, and just entirely too fucking real for me to handle at 9:00 at night.
The stories that don't work for me really don't work. But the ones that do, the ones that touched a part of my soul, are going to stay with me for a really long time. And I think that's the best part of this book, it will leave a mark.
However, I genuinely hope that in the non-ARC version, there's an introduction. I'm disappointed that there wasn't one here.