Wow… I did not expect the story to go where it went. It’s a good thing.
If you asked me what this book is about, I’ll say it’s about feminism, gender identity, and woke culture vs traditional values. It’s about sisterhood and witchcraft and friendship. It’s all those things at once. We follow the story through each woman’s perspective, and we see how and why everything happens the way it does.
I was fascinated to read one particular perspective because it served as such a great study case of Nature vs Nurture, and how one becomes a villain, or an evil TERF woman in this case. If you read closely, you’ll see that the story reminds of an author we all know is a TERF. I liked how there was diversity and LGBTQ+ characters in the story, but had no idea the whole thing would develop into a trans-rights and gender identity story, which I am so happy it did. It was so haunting and difficult and satisfying in the end, so please, if you’re triggered by TERF language or trans issues, be careful reading this book.
The only thing I did not like was the way the warlock’s rights were kind of skimmed over. Even though it’s acknowledged that female witches hold more weight in the magic world than male warlocks, it’s not really dealt with in this book. The book’s premise is about everyone having rights and everyone being equal. I mean, if your book is about that, how can you exclude someone?! Or maybe – I am hoping – we can see that in a sequel where there’s a group of warlocks banding together this time?!
Also, I don’t want to spoil anything, but you’ll probably hate the last page of the book. I was definitely surprised and… while I loved all the rest, that last page killed my enjoyment for a moment.
Overall, the writing was great – what I call invisible writing – and there was just enough humor to make me laugh out loud a few times. I loved all the characters and witnessing their own faulty thinking and mistakes. I also loved the fact the women were adult and not just some teenagers. The story was overall very masterfully spun, and for that, I have to give it 4 stars. If you like witchcraft and complex villains and you believe in the fundamental rights of every human being, you’ll enjoy this book.
-Reviewed by Violeta Nedkova
