A historical fantasy about witches, sisterhood (by blood and not), fairy tales, and collective liberation. The Once and Future Witches uses witches and magic as a vehicle to explore resistance, knowledge, and power.

Through the experience of our sisters Bella, Agnes, and Juniper, Harrow rewrites our understanding of magic not as something bestowed upon an exceptional chosen one, but something passed down collectively and impossible to fully extinguish. Magic as resistance is passed down incompletely and often painfully, but survives against all odds.

When violent systems abuse and burn knowledge and the bodies that knowledge exists within, the will to fight, live, and survive is the last refuge. This is something that mirrors radical stories, both true and fictitious. It's a desperate, animal need to hold onto the hope for the future and the desire to build it that only gets stronger the more it gets targeted.

While the three sisters are the main characters, nothing they do is possible without the collective action of their friends and allies, bound together by class and the desperation for true revolutionary change.

Layered throughout is a meticulous retelling of feminist history, featuring historically well-known moments like The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to figures largely lost to time like indigenous activist Zitkála-Šá. The result is a tender counter-history in which the women who built the path forward to today are given the recognition that they deserve, highlighting how the future is built by every voice and every action, no matter how small.

The foundational framework of the story is politically charged and symbolically rich, but the main plot also explores heavy-hitting themes of sisterhood and connection.

The way sisters are pulled apart only to be tugged back together again, how love burrows its way back into our hearts and we learn to loosen the circle around ourselves to include the people who matter the most. It's scary, to love someone, to want to do anything to protect them, but there is power in it too. To know that no matter the darkness of the world, you will not face it alone.

There are so many devastatingly real moments of rupture and repair throughout the novel as the sisters and their allies survive and fight for the future. The girls are working through their own trauma and their own survival mechanisms, tentatively taking one step forward before falling three steps back. (I cried. A lot.)

Through these moments, Harrow showcases how systems of oppression force victims to choose between their own survival and someone else's, creating wounds that get weaponized while letting them blame each other for what the trap produced.

This detailed weaving of the exploration of character and the broader symbolic work creates an undeniable message of community and the importance of networks of care that exist outside of systems of oppression. Though often fragile, connection is the most powerful weapon we have.

The Once and Future Witches shows how history is a cycle, and how the system will do everything in its power to keep people disconnected and powerless. That solidarity is not easy, connection is not without pain, and triumph is not without loss. But the work of relearning and rebuilding despite it all is the real magic.

3.75 🌟

There was so much potential with this premise but unfortunately, the plot got lost along the way.  The beginning and set up (shout out to my fellow buddy readers for their keen observations) felt exciting and the lore promising, especially the play on rhymes and fairytales.  However, the middle got muddy and the pacing and characterization suffered.  Still, an enjoyable read but I had higher expectations going in this novel.

Feminine rage, dark fairy tales, diverse characters and 100% witchy vibes. The book truly shines when it connects witchcraft to women’s rights and sisterhood. The way the three sisters represent the Maiden, Mother and Crone while subverting the stereotypes of those roles set by the patriarchy was one of the aspects I enjoyed the most. Overall I loved the core themes of the book, however the pacing could have been better, as sometimes the plot slowed down almost to a stall.