Listen free for 30 days
-
The Once and Future Witches
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: LGBTQ2S+, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Membership
$14.95 a month
Buy Now for $42.87
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
- Written by: Alix E. Harrow
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world, and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
-
-
Absolutely Magical
- By b r on 2020-02-10
Written by: Alix E. Harrow
-
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
- Written by: Claire North
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his 11th life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August", she says. "I need to send a message". This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.
-
-
Not really time travel
- By Mike Reiter on 2021-11-25
Written by: Claire North
-
The Last Magician
- Written by: Lisa Maxwell
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic - the Mageus - live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power - and often their lives. Esta is a talented thief, and she's been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink.
-
-
Plot twists on plot twists
- By Anonymous User on 2020-08-18
Written by: Lisa Maxwell
-
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
- Written by: Jessica Townsend
- Narrated by: Gemma Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks - and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her 11th birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.
-
-
Quick, Fun and Magical Read
- By Shelby on 2020-04-27
Written by: Jessica Townsend
-
Romanov
- Written by: Nadine Brandes
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them, and he’s hunted Romanov before. Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are either to release the spell and deal with the consequences, or to enlist help from Zash, a handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya has only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction to Zash.
-
-
Amazing
- By Leah on 2020-09-28
Written by: Nadine Brandes
-
Strange the Dreamer
- Written by: Laini Taylor
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around - and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old, he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
-
-
Absolutely amazing!
- By Alyson on 2019-11-15
Written by: Laini Taylor
-
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
- Written by: Alix E. Harrow
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world, and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
-
-
Absolutely Magical
- By b r on 2020-02-10
Written by: Alix E. Harrow
-
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
- Written by: Claire North
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his 11th life, a little girl appears at his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August", she says. "I need to send a message". This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.
-
-
Not really time travel
- By Mike Reiter on 2021-11-25
Written by: Claire North
-
The Last Magician
- Written by: Lisa Maxwell
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic - the Mageus - live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power - and often their lives. Esta is a talented thief, and she's been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink.
-
-
Plot twists on plot twists
- By Anonymous User on 2020-08-18
Written by: Lisa Maxwell
-
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
- Written by: Jessica Townsend
- Narrated by: Gemma Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks - and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her 11th birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.
-
-
Quick, Fun and Magical Read
- By Shelby on 2020-04-27
Written by: Jessica Townsend
-
Romanov
- Written by: Nadine Brandes
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them, and he’s hunted Romanov before. Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are either to release the spell and deal with the consequences, or to enlist help from Zash, a handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya has only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction to Zash.
-
-
Amazing
- By Leah on 2020-09-28
Written by: Nadine Brandes
-
Strange the Dreamer
- Written by: Laini Taylor
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around - and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old, he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
-
-
Absolutely amazing!
- By Alyson on 2019-11-15
Written by: Laini Taylor
-
A Tale of Magic...
- Written by: Chris Colfer
- Narrated by: Chris Colfer
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Brystal Evergreen stumbles across a secret section of the library, she discovers a book that introduces her to a world beyond her imagination and learns the impossible: She is a fairy capable of magic! But in the oppressive Southern Kingdom, women are forbidden from reading and magic is outlawed, so Brystal is swiftly convicted of her crimes and sent to the miserable Bootstrap Correctional Facility. But with the help of the mysterious Madame Weatherberry, Brystal is whisked away and enrolled in an academy of magic!
-
-
Fun, engaging story
- By Steven LEITH on 2022-02-23
Written by: Chris Colfer
-
Mythos
- Written by: Stephen Fry
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here are the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths, stylishly retold by Stephen Fry. The legendary writer, actor, and comedian breathes life into ancient tales, from Pandora's box to Prometheus's fire, and transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder. Learned notes from the author offer rich cultural context. This volume is a doorway into a captivating world.
-
-
Amazing
- By Kindle Customer on 2019-10-04
Written by: Stephen Fry
-
The Rage of Dragons
- Written by: Evan Winter
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost 200 years. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every 2,000 women has the power to call down dragons. One in every 100 men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, giftless Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance. Those closest to him are murdered....
-
-
Worth sticking with
- By Chris Smythe on 2019-07-22
Written by: Evan Winter
-
The Girl with All the Gifts
- Written by: M. R. Carey
- Narrated by: Finty Williams
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her "our little genius". Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh. Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up.
-
-
Unique
- By Michael on 2021-09-21
Written by: M. R. Carey
-
The Last Garden in England
- Written by: Julia Kelly
- Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio, Marisa Calin, Danielle Cohen, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Present day: Emma Lovett, who has dedicated her career to breathing new life into long-neglected gardens, has just been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to restore the gardens of the famed Highbury House estate, designed in 1907 by her hero Venetia Smith. But as Emma dives deeper into the gardens’ past, she begins to uncover secrets that have long lain hidden.
-
-
Distracted by narration.
- By Nmburger on 2021-03-16
Written by: Julia Kelly
-
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
- Written by: Mackenzi Lee
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Henry "Monty" Montague doesn't care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family's estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.
-
-
Disastrous socialite bisexual meets love
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-06-03
Written by: Mackenzi Lee
-
The Dragon's Blade Trilogy
- A Complete Epic Fantasy Series
- Written by: Michael R. Miller
- Narrated by: Dave Cruse
- Length: 45 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arrogant. Scornful. Full of pride. Darnuir, prince of dragons, cares nothing for the damage he's doing to the faltering alliance against the Shadow. He thinks himself invincible - right up till a mortal wound forces him to undergo a dangerous rebirthing spell, leaving him a helpless babe in human hands.
-
-
An epic adventure for all
- By Jonny Quattrin on 2020-12-11
Written by: Michael R. Miller
-
One Day in December
- A Novel
- Written by: Josie Silver
- Narrated by: Eleanor Tomlinson, Charlie Anson
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Laurie is sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic...and then her bus drives away. Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend, Sarah, giddily introduces her new boyfriend: the man from the bus.
-
-
I’m screaming !
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-04-03
Written by: Josie Silver
-
King of Scars
- King of Scars Duology, Book 1
- Written by: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war - and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built.
-
-
Lauren Fortgang is a genius!
- By Molly Ketcheson on 2019-08-12
Written by: Leigh Bardugo
-
Blackwater: The Complete Saga
- Written by: Michael McDowell
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 30 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blackwater is the saga of a small town, Perdido, Alabama, and Elinor Dammert, the stranger who arrives there under mysterious circumstances on Easter Sunday, 1919. On the surface, Elinor is gracious, charming, anxious to belong in Perdido, and eager to marry Oscar Caskey, the eldest son of Perdido's first family. But her beautiful exterior hides a shocking secret. Beneath the waters of the Perdido River, she turns into something terrifying, a creature whispered about in stories that have chilled the residents of Perdido for generations.
-
-
An amazing book
- By Anonymous User on 2018-04-26
Written by: Michael McDowell
-
The Fifth Season
- The Broken Earth, Book 1
- Written by: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the way the world ends...for the last time. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the Earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.
-
-
Not for me
- By Melissa on 2019-08-24
Written by: N. K. Jemisin
-
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
- Written by: Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, and others
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Shadow Market is a meeting point for faeries, werewolves, warlocks, and vampires. There, the Downworlders buy and sell magical objects, make dark bargains, and whisper secrets they do not want the Nephilim to know. As a Silent Brother, Brother Zachariah is a sworn keeper of the laws and lore of the Nephilim. But once he was a Shadowhunter called Jem Carstairs, and his love, then and always, is the warlock Tessa Gray. And Jem is searching through the Shadow Markets, in many different cities over long years, for a relic from his past.
-
-
Loved!!
- By mukla on 2022-04-27
Written by: Cassandra Clare, and others
Publisher's Summary
In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in this powerful novel of magic, family, and the suffragette movement.
In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.
But when the Eastwood sisters - James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna - join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote - and perhaps not even to live - the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.
There's no such thing as witches. But there will be.
An homage to the indomitable power and persistence of women, The Once and Future Witches reimagines stories of revolution, motherhood, and women's suffrage - the lost ways are calling.
Praise for The Once and Future Witches:
"A gorgeous and thrilling paean to the ferocious power of women. The characters live, bleed, and roar. I adore them, and long for witchcraft to awaken in all of us. Harrow makes it feel possible, and even likely." (Laini Taylor, New York Times best-selling author)
"A glorious escape into a world where witchcraft has dwindled to a memory of women's magic, and three wild, sundered sisters hold the key to bring it back...A tale that will sweep you away." (Yangsze Choo, New York Times best-selling author)
"This book is an amazing bit of spellcraft and resistance so needed in our times, and a reminder that secret words and ways can never be truly and properly lost, as long as there are tongues to speak them and ears to listen." (P. Djèlí Clark, author The Black God's Drum)
For more from Alix E. Harrow, check out The Ten Thousand Doors of January.
Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR Books • Barnes and Noble • BookPage
What the critics say
"The magical tale of imperfect heroines, fractured sisterhood, and shadowy undying villains you never knew you needed. Alix Harrow crafts a delightfully bewitching story with familiar but ingeniously recrafted histories and deft worldbuilding as rich as the prose that leaps off the page. This book is an amazing bit of spellcraft and resistance so needed in our times, and a reminder that secret words and ways can never be truly and properly lost, as long as there are tongues to speak them and ears to listen." (P. Djèlí Clark, author of The Black God's Drum)
"A breathtaking book-brilliant and raw and dark and complicated. It's also, to be blunt, uncannily relevant." (Sarah Gailey, author of Magic for Liars)
More from the same
What listeners say about The Once and Future Witches
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MoonShyne
- 2020-12-03
It’s An Amazing Book!
I had to redo my review.. at first I wasn’t too sure but this book is a wonder. The writing is captivating and the story a unique magical tale that you will fall into and become immersed in. Definitely recommend it and I’ll do a full review soon. But buy this book! You won’t regret it!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2021-01-16
Yes!!
This is what my daughters will be reading instead of Little Women! Great characters, great setting, great plot! So much fun to read!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-03-03
take me to another world..I can almost remember
I loved it .I instantly loved all the characters and wanted more when it was done .
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sue
- 2021-01-28
Stick with it ...best ending I’ve ever read!
Beautiful story that resonates with how many movements of “togetherness” is has been happening in 2020/2021 ...
As a practicing pagan descendant from long line of Healers - I prefer modern day term “witch” this story really had my heart strings
I loved the nursery rhyme connection bc it definitely rings true. If you know you know ...
I found the book to drag a little in middle but I was so invested with the characters I had to forge. The last 4/5 chapters where brilliant with the epilogue most riveting...even though I knew where it would go it had me in tears mostly for all the pain women in general have had and still go thru today. ...
Loved how the author made this story a “true” representation of LOVE regardless of sex colour or religion or culture. Brilliant! ...def a enjoyable read.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tall DeepVoice
- 2021-12-06
Wow! Ms Harrow, you’re a wonder!
I’m now a serious Alix Harrow fan. Won over by “The Ten Thousand Doors of January”, I am now smitten with “The Once and Future Witches”.
From the setting in a disturbingly different America in 1893 (although there are many eerie parallels to today), to the twists and turns of the story, this is a book very difficult to turn away from. While wishing and hoping for the ending I wanted, I did not want the book to end. I want to continue my relationship with the Eastwood sisters and their circles.
My only minor complaint is with the audio quality. Some edits have not had their volume levels matched. The reader’s wonderful voice often noticeably loses volume for many seconds before resuming its proper level, and, when other people stories are being told, the music is loud enough to be a distraction. As a former audio tech, I know how such things can be easily addressed. So Hachette Audio, maybe you could give the masters a bit of a tweak… or should I perhaps gather a candle stub, some acetate and iron filings and just do it from here?
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Denise King
- 2021-02-23
Engaging and addictive!
I devoured this book as quickly as time would allow. I was enthralled. You will love it.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2022-04-25
truly magic.
absolutely adored this audiobook. it made me feel so much and absolutely flew past.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lacey
- 2022-02-28
I could not put it down!
This book was brilliantly written and performed. I was often overwhelmed with emotion! LOVED IT!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kate
- 2022-02-24
"The Once and Future Witches" is Spellbinding
It took me a couple chapters to 'get into' this book. But I became more and more engaged as it progressed, and it resulted in several nights of late-hour listening. Little by little I came to 'know' the characters, and there were enough twists and turns to keep me guessing most of the time. It was interesting to hear the various spells - basically childhood rhymes that were modified from male to female versions. I also really enjoyed the narrator's interpretation. She enunciated clearly, and I felt her expression was bang on in any scene. Overall, a really enjoyable 'read', and I'm going to look for other books by this author, and this narrator.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paula B
- 2022-02-22
Fantastic!
Pure entertainment and well woven story. I loved every minute. Characters are well described and created with individuality....you can see them in your mind easily.
Thank you for this book!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LovelyD
- 2020-11-29
Almost. Not quite there.
The book needs quite a bit of editing. The movement of the plot is very much sacrificed by irrelevant "artistic" expression. For example (paraphrasing): 'there wasnt a twinkling in their eyes. Twinkling is for grandmas who knit sweaters by the fire, and blah blah blah. There was a glint in their eyes. A glint for witching." There was something like this every other sentence. It became severely irritating. Editing most of these artistic descriptors out would've made for a nice pace and a better read. Also, I think the setting of the where the novel starts should have been set prior to the falling out of the sisters so readers could be drawn into the deep love and deep betrayal. The music between chapters was a little weird. I did however LOVE the presence of sexual orientation/racial diversity among the women.
Overall, The book had potential but is just okay. I listened to this book before bed and I wasn't tempted to rewind the parts I slept through. If this a book written early in the author's career, I would be interested to read later books written by the author. If this book was written fairly recently, I don't think I'll read any more books from this author. The narrator did an okay job.
67 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lillith Hobbs
- 2020-12-23
If you are over 16 you may become impatient
This story is about 3 sisters with personality issues and fear of abandonment. They have a family linage which includes witches. They struggle to band together and restore magic through witchcraft in the world. The narration is cringeworthy and the story is simplistic, stuffed with “woke” contrivances and breathless emotional awakenings. This is most definitely young adult, and quite dull
51 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Loves to Read
- 2020-11-21
Didn't finish
This is a clever storyline and the narrator is excellent. However, the story was too slow for me. My mind kept wandering and I'd have to rewind to listen to what I missed. I was over 7 hours into the story and realized I didn't want to listen to it for 7 more hours to find out how it ended. So I returned it (thanks Audible!).
40 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Artist in stitches!
- 2020-12-11
Good enough for doing chores
I was weaned on Russian novels. So most books feel like a meal of thin gruel . This book took numberless hours to give us a bedtime story.
It was ok... I guess, with predictable PC characters, and villains. I was glad when it ended, but got a lot of chores done. I have now learned my lesson on popular fiction.
27 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shaila Shodean
- 2020-11-20
Maybe my favorite book this year
I absolutely loved The Ten Thousand Doors of January, but I might have loved this more. Alix E. Harrow has done it again! A strong dose of sister love, a little bit of suffrage, fairy tales and nursery rhymes, a setting of historical fiction, some fierce momma love, and a whole lot of raw feminist power swept up in witching. I will say that, as much as I loved it, it’s not for everyone.
The three Eastwood sisters, Beatrice Belladonna, Agnes Amaranth, and James Juniper, don’t set out to disrupt the order of the world, but they find the ways, the will, and the words to change everything. Along the way, they experience love, loss, friendship, a connection with their history, and become the maiden, mother and crone. I saw myself in each one and all at the same time.
This book features one of the best, most evenly matched, and most complicated villains, Gideon Hill. I also loved the book for being inclusive and honoring POC and LGTBQ+ characters and their stories. One of my favorite parts was during birth and new motherhood. “I am terrified and I am terrible. I am fearful and something to be feared... she thinks maybe every mother is both things at once”. I felt so seen as a mother.
This is a powerful story of Womens’ power, both political and arcane, and it could not have come at a better time. It felt incredibly relevant in this time of disenfranchisement, racism and a pandemic.
“We may be either beloved or burned, but never trusted with any degree of power.”
Harrow’s lyrical writing, her extensive research, her poetry and her gorgeous imagery continue to be my favorite things about her as an author. The conspicuous storytelling and narrative voice was right up my alley. At this point, Harrow is an automatic pre-order for me. The narrator, Gabra Zackman, was also absolutely fantastic and the atmospheric music and her varied voices made this extra spooky and wonderful.
This might be my favorite book this year.
26 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bibliophile
- 2020-11-10
Love this author!!
Great story! So well written. I wish they wouldn’t add music to the story. It’s so distracting.
25 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anna Crowe
- 2020-10-27
Delicious, Spellbinding, and Descriptive
The name caught me first; it was clever, and every chapter lived up to its clever title. Alix Harrow paints with words so vividly that the taste of blood and scent of burning ash lingers in your memory long after you put the book down. She weaves the story of Woman and the miracles and magic all women seek to see the real good that should be theirs too, with effortless deference to stories you thought you knew.
Gabra Zackman nailed the timbre and time of each sister with consistency and depth. There were times I heard hints of Holly Hunter’s raspy southern voice, and it made me smile every time it came peeking out in Juniper. Each sister’s unique tone made the experience just... right.
I bought the book for two of my friends, and I’m making three more read it — it is a PERFECT book for this week before Halloween when the air is shifting and a political storm of an election riding quickly on its heels. Though this story is set 130-ish years ago, it’s a timeless gem of a read. Complete with quotable quotes!
I’ll definitely pick it up again.
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 918gram
- 2020-10-19
Well written and excellent narration!
I generally like all things "witches" but this book took it to the next level. The writing is exceptional weaving a detailed story. The narration superb. I remained "spellbound" through every second of the 16 hour, 3 minute narration.
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Momsofamazon
- 2020-12-04
Kind of depressing
This book was rather sad but what’s to be expected based on the description. I was looking for more whimsical magic. It was a good book but nothing I’d want to read again.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Laura Poko
- 2020-12-16
Story was decent but the narration ruined it
I really wanted to love this book. I enjoyed the plot and the overall concept - loved the idea of fighting for witches' rights alongside women's rights! But dang... it just kept going! At many points I thought I was nearing the end of the story and I would look at the audio and see hours left. Each time that happened, I couldn't imagine enduring even more of a story for these ladies - ladies I loved, but whose personalities were completely destroyed by the awful narration. The voices for each character grated on my nerves. The narrator did an odd speech thing where she turned "s" sounds into lazy "sh" sounds. It sounded like the characters always had peanut butter in their mouths. It probably made the book feel much longer to me. Sad, because I kind of wish I had just read it as a paper book.
10 people found this helpful