Jessica Spotswood

Tess Sharpe

Women accused of witchcraft throughout history were often educated, independent, unmarried, and unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations. This anthology contains 16 diverse witchy tales from feminist authors and reveals a universal truth: there's nothing more powerful that a teenage girl who believes in herself.

15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

Toil & Trouble

kelsey

4✰

the most terrifying thing in the world is a girl with power. that’s why they watch us burn.

it’s there in the secret lives of girls, most of all. the way we smile and straighten our hair. we do magic every single day. we have to.

i loved all of this. i love powerful women.

“There are too many people in this world who would rather see a woman burn than wield power.”
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A surprisingly powerful collection of stories about magical women, whether they actually are witches or only accused to be.

As is the case with all anthology books, some short stories are better than others. Some are sweet, some are infuriating, and some are just OK. At certain times, the stories do bleed into each other, making it difficult to separate the plots from each other at certain times, but overall it was an empowering, bittersweet, interesting read to kick off the Spooktober reading.

3.5/5

Nicole Dykeman

I’ve decided we’re DNFing this. I might pick it up again one day as a physical book instead of an audiobook? But right now I’m just not feeling this, and at 50% of the way through, there should have been at least one story I liked by now :/

Sarahi Flores

I give this book 3 1/2 stars. 

If you want to read my review about this book check out my blog: www.readergalcom.wordpress.com

Laura

"the most terrifying thing in the world is a girl with power. that's why they watch us burn."

Amanda Rocha

This was an amazing read! I have had this sitting on the shelf for way too long, but I am glad I saved it for #booktober, it was such a mood 🕸️ Stories steeped in the history of witches as far back as the witch trials and as recent as modern day broom closet witches. This witchy read imagines magic in whimsical worlds of fantasy and reality alike. Each story has a unique voice and experience, but they all come together to create a sweeping and all-encompassing account of witchcraft, giving us little tastes of all different kinds of magic—much in the same way that witches today come together despite their differences.

Libby G

I almost wanted to go three stars but didn’t because I really REALLY loved some of these stories while others felt a little too ridiculous...silly...I’m not sure. But the good ones made up for it. Each of the fifteen stories were different and intriguing and very good reads. It’s something I see myself re-reading most Halloween’s. It’s a good spooky October read.

Kirsty

Starsong by Tehlor Kay Mejia – 4*
Afterbirth by Andrea Cremer – 5*
The Heart in Her Hands by Tess Sharpe – 5*
Death in the Sawtooths by Lindsay Smith – 5*
The Truth about Queenie by Brandy Colbert – 5*
The Moonapple Menagerie by Shveta Thakkar – 2*
The Legend of Stone Mary by Robin Talley – 5*
The One Who Stayed by Nova Ren Suma – 4*
Divine Are the Stars by Zoraida Cordova – 3*
Daughters of Baba Yaga by Brenna Yovanoff – 3*
The Well Witch by Kate Hart – 2*
Beware Of Girls with Crooked Mouths by Jessica Spotswood – 4*
Love Spell by Anna-Marie McLemore – 4*
The Gherin Girls by Emery Lord – 5*
Why They Watch Us Burn by Elizabeth May – 5*

Jessica Williamson

It's hard to write a review for a compilation, but here I go.

A couple of these were great (The Heart in Her Hands, The Gherin Girls), some were really good, and a couple fell flat for me (The Moonapple Menagerie, Starsong). Overall a decent collection of witchy stories.

Samantha Seeman

Listen, I am usually the first person to tell you that I don't typically read short stories, certainly not whole anthologies of them, but I have been hyped about this book since I heard about it here on the blogosphere. I immediately pre-ordered it, but ultimately decided I would wait until my favorite month to dive into it. I mean, c'mon, it's in my blog name, how can I NOT read an anthology of witch-y stories in October? And boy was did I devour these tales. I was pleasantly surprised by how many I really loved, and how little I felt dissatisfied by such an abrupt ending! That being said, there were several stories that left me needing more, which is always hard. All in all though, I am so so glad to own this book, and have it to revisit these stories every year.

For more on my thoughts on this book, see my blog review:
https://modernwitchsbookshelf.wordpre...

Heather Harrington

Full review here

**I was provided a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

All 15 stories in this collection range from historical to contemporary to dystopian, and all feature strong, powerful witchy heroines. As if that wasn't enough, they are also a brilliant mix of race, religion, orientation, sexuality-- I mean, the representation and diversity included in this book is off the charts, it's amazing. Each author brings their own light and life and voice to these stories. And yes, these are all stand-alones, but they all flow together so nicely. There were a few which I thought were cream of the crop (The Gherin Girls; The One Who Stayed; Why They Watch Us Burn) and some I thought were just ok (Death in the Sawtooths; The Well Witch; Afterbirth), and one I even felt had a bit of a Three Dark Crowns sister-against-sister vibe (Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths). Despite some not being as gripping as others, each story in this collection is about a girl/girls coming into their own and learning who they are and the powers they possess. These are stories of revenge; stories of love; stories of healing; stories of sisterhood. These diverse stories are so refreshing and unique, and are being told from such different, modern perspectives. I cannot recommend this one enough.

Megan Leprich

DNFed after the first two stories. I could not understand them and I’m not the type of reader that can only read certain stories in an anthology. I don’t want to have to sloth through the bad stories just to get to one or two good ones.

Toil & Trouble 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

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