Hardcover, 368 pages
English language
Published by Ace.
A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut.
In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.
But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.
Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how …
A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut.
In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.
But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.
Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.
I read this as part of a bookclub. It had an interesting premise, but it felt a bit half-baked. It felt like it got 70% of the way there on worldbuilding, character development, and plot development. It was well-paced, and I did like the spooky super-natural parts though.
The strongest part of this book is the atmosphere, like many others have said. It’s very gothic, eerie, unsettling. The author did a fantastic job with descriptions. The plagues were effectively creepy for me. The descriptions got a bit flowery for me sometimes, but that felt appropriate for the gothic vibes.
I also overall enjoyed the plot. Curses, witches, a dark past. It’s pretty straightforward but solid. It was enough to keep me reading. Some reviewers complain about the lack of world building but I was absolutely fine with it. I didn’t need a lot of explanation, that wouldn’t have added much for me.
The primary way this book failed for me was with the characters. Immanuelle and Ezra could not be more boring. The first half of the book Immanuelle is an extreme goody-two-shoes who is always like, “but the scriptures!!” I was like, by now you should be …
The strongest part of this book is the atmosphere, like many others have said. It’s very gothic, eerie, unsettling. The author did a fantastic job with descriptions. The plagues were effectively creepy for me. The descriptions got a bit flowery for me sometimes, but that felt appropriate for the gothic vibes.
I also overall enjoyed the plot. Curses, witches, a dark past. It’s pretty straightforward but solid. It was enough to keep me reading. Some reviewers complain about the lack of world building but I was absolutely fine with it. I didn’t need a lot of explanation, that wouldn’t have added much for me.
The primary way this book failed for me was with the characters. Immanuelle and Ezra could not be more boring. The first half of the book Immanuelle is an extreme goody-two-shoes who is always like, “but the scriptures!!” I was like, by now you should be questioning the scriptures at least a little bit, come on! Then it’s like a switch is flipped and she’s suddenly not only a feminist but knows how to articulate her views on the oppression of women in her community. I needed her to have a confused stage, some middle ground.
The romance was also pretty poor. Her and Ezra’s interactions were 99% annoying bickering. No sexual tension to be found.
All the vividness of the atmosphere was completely missing in the characters. I’m supposed to believe Immanuelle is a great friend of Leah’s but she hardly thinks about her. We see maybe one substantial conversation between them at the beginning? I was not sold on their friendship. I think the best written relationship was between Immanuelle and Martha.
The ending was also meh. I was disappointed that the witches were the villains. We don’t get a lot of the story of the war, but I’m guessing the witches were wronged, and I’d have loved to see them treated better by the author. The end is so pro-women but not /these/ women.
I was also disappointed by how long it took Immanuelle to act at the end. She makes a big deal about how she can’t just grab the dagger because she’ll be shot before she can cut the sigil into herself. So she doesn’t grab it when could have with the Prophet in private. Instead she does exactly what she said would be impossible - grab it and cut herself when she could be shot. It made the story more dramatic but it didn’t make sense. Because she doesn’t get shot.
Ooh, this was good and spooky, perfect reading for New England in January. I wish we'd gotten a more complete view of the witches... at least a little bit. I understand the point was to disentangle the extra-normal entities/forces in the book from their influence on humans vs humans' influence on themselves, though. Anyway, Immanuelle is an excellent protagonist and her relationships with her family and Ezra are well-drawn and compelling. It might have been a teeny bit longer than it needed to be, but overall I enjoyed the book greatly.
I was kinda rooting for the witches
The Year Of The Witching ties together sexism, racism, and patriarchal religion into a dark and bloody horror story of a girl fighting to escape the constraints encircling her world since her birth.
I have an active fear of childbirth and a general revulsion to portrayals of it. That means this won't be one I personally want to re-read, but if you don't have that aversion and you like horror, this book is fantastic (make sure to check the CWs). It takes a lot of elements common to cults and religious horror and turns them into a powerful personal story about engaging with legacy and standing against abusive systems. It never lets you forget that this is a horror novel, but there are stretches where the intensity abates to focus on quieter moments between characters. A lot of the horror is found in silence and complicity in the highly abusive …
Unique and disturbing and highly evocative horror novel.
