4.5 happily rounded up. A wonderfully witchy, feminist, and intriguing read to kick off the fall season. I just loved the emotion and rage throughout the whole story! It was nicely fleshed out and well written, and I look forwards to what Henderson does next. ( )

This was a fun book to read. It also calls out the patriarchy in the most beautiful way. I actually ended up really loving the message, it hit me at a point when I was getting bored and then BAM I was hooked again ( )

Female submission by sadistic, narcissistic males. Doesn’t sound very original? Well think again. This story is that, yes, but it’s also so much more. I’m not sure if it’s considered YA but it seems much too dark for that qualification in my opinion. What I love is that the witches in this book are real! Finally, a story about truly creepy, powerful, shaking in your shoe’s witches! Lately any title with the word “witch” ends up being ok. I did Finish the second book in the A Discovery of Witches series but, that’s more time travel and magical. This is more a chill you to the bones kind of read.
The Year of the Witching is set in a fictional puritanical society similar to that of Salem, where women are persecuted for witchcraft and other crimes that the men of cloth get away with scot-free. Bethel is a society based in hypocrisy and its history is riddled with untruths. I appreciated how Alexis Anderson told a feminist story in which the main character, Immanuelle, is a strong female who is dedicated to changing Bethel for the better by protecting the vulnerable and punishing those who abuse their power behind the Church.

There were some positively spooky scenes set in the Darkwood and the witches were both frightening and captivating. Yet, towards the middle of the book, the story began to slow for me a bit. For one, I wanted more interactions with the witches and more magic. I felt the story stalled a bit until we reached the climax. I also felt the relationship between Ezra and Immanuelle was more of a friendship and I could never buy their romance. Their relationship needed to be more developed and I would have loved to delve more into the relationship between Vera and Immanuelle as well. Overall, this was a good debut, there were just certain elements I wanted more of that I hope to get more of in a second book maybe?
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Loved the idea on paper, but it's a DNF at 50% for me. No obvious problems with anything so far and there has been the odd moment of fascinating imagery, but I am discovering the more horror I consume, the more I am aware of what I like and don't like.

For me, this was copetant all round, but, beyond the premise, nothing sparked any interest in me. The narrative is slow and ponderous, which I enjoy in a gothic story with rich prose, but the writing and characterisation weren't of a quality to keep me interested. The audiobook performance is fine, but not exciting. It all just comes together to in no way offend or evoke animosity, but I made the call that this just wasn't for me. I really did want to love this.

Giving there stars because there's nothing wrong with this and it absolutely could be a me problem. I you want some witchy goings on and have more patience than me, I would still say it's worth looking into. ( )

This book was hard to put down, it was just so immersive; it had a great creepy atmosphere and I loved learning about the Darkwood. The characters felt real; Immanuelle was an amazing strong female character and I enjoyed seeing her story unfold and where it was going to take her.

I wasn't super big on the ending, I won't delve into it too much because I don't want to spoil it, but it didn't go in the direction I thought it was going to go. But I am excited to read the second book in the series!

I definitely recommend checking this one out, especially if you loved the Witch. ( )