A review by abception
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Jessica Spotswood, Tess Sharpe

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A few of the stories were quite lacklustre, in my opinion - but the stories that HIT, absolutely H I T and resonated a lot, so pulled my rating up a fair bit.

Starsong by Tehlor Kay Mejia (aka sapphic trauma-ridden astrologist flirts with some Insta NASA troll): 2.5 stars!
  • I didn't love this story, but didn't hate it either; I was really just indifferent to it
Afterbirth by Andrea Cremer: 4 stars!
  • I absolutely loved this one! I'm a big fan of Salem/witch trials-themed stories, so this story was absolutely perfect for me.
The Heart in Her Hands by Tess Sharpe: 5 stars!
  • When I read this sapphic glory, I doubted anything else in the collection could top it... before I encountered even more sapphic glory later on...
Death in the Sawtooths by Lindsay Smith: 3 stars.
  • I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. I felt it was much too big a concept to do in such a short word count.
The Truth About Queenie by Brandy Colbert: 3.5 stars!
  • I loved how complicated and messy the emotional undertone of the story was, but I still felt like it was missing something.
The Moonapple Menagerie by Shveta Thakrar: 2 stars.
  • I wanted to like this much more than I did - the concept is something that very much did appeal to me, but the execution just didn't spark with me.
The Legend of Stone Mary by Robin Talley: 4.5 stars!
  • I really, really enjoyed this one! Sapphics + small town vibes + angry women = >:)
The One Who Stayed by Nova Ren Suma: 1 star. 
  • Definitely should have come with a TW for SA.
  •  I could see what the author was going for, but I think they really missed the mark - in the end, the story just left me feeling very uncomfortable. 
Divine Are the Stars by Zoraida Córdova: 1 star. 
  • Genuinely just not even memorable - like, fr, I cannot even remember what this was about, just that I was very confused while reading it. 
Daughters of Baba Yaga by Brenna Yovanoff: 5 stars! 
  • This was another one that I read and thought would not be topped (until I continued) - the plot, admittedly, was pretty standard fare for YA; but, the writing was just chef's kiss, bellissimo! I loved it!  
The Well Witch by Kate Hart: 4 stars!
  • This one was a funky read for me. I'm usually not a fan of frontier/Western-type fiction, but I actually really enjoyd this one! It gave off Holes by Louis Sachar vibes, if ya feel me. 
Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths by Jessica Spotswood: 2 stars.
  • I just felt really ambivalent and underwhelmed by this one, tbh.
Love Spell by Anna-Marie McLemore: 5 stars!
  •  Classic McLemore! Trans glory at it's finest!
The Gherin Girls by Emery Lord: 5 stars!
  • This one was just so FREAKING SOFT AND EMOTIONAL! I actually could have cried, it resonated so well! I adored it!
Why They Watch Us Burn by Elizabeth May: 5 stars!
  • Gayest sh*t I ever done read. I loved it. Actually perfect. My favourite story of the bunch.
  • Am I about to bingeread everything by May and become a stan in the new year: probably. 
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