The Year of the Witching

Product Information

A young woman is drawn into the upper echelons of a society where blood is power, in this dark and enthralling gothic novel from the author of The Year of the Witching. Some of the insights into Immanuelle's Mom made me sad. I felt for Immanuelle. She definitely was not dealt an easy hand. Reading of her overcoming and finding her power within herself was definitely satisfying though.

Because had my expectations for Alexis Henderson’s debut novel, The Year of the Witching been lower (or at least, more accurate), I suspect I would be writing a more positive review than the one I am about to write. Yet again, my hopes got the best of me. But I am wondering if from this point forward, I should apply this theory to all future books I read and just squash any preliminary anticipation as a matter of routine. Perhaps I should assume that every book I choose to read will be dreadful – and then when one is not, I will love it even more dearly. While these arguments are certainly necessary to the plot, it felt as though there were times when Henderson was unsure how to end them. This does not hurt the story, but it does feel as though it trips over its own feet here and there. Alexis Henderson brilliantly blends horror, a paranormal dark, twisty witchy tale set the dystopian world of Bethel where the Prophet makes the rules everyone must follow. She weaves in real-world themes like racism, oppression, power and religion. The Prophet uses fear, cruelty and religion to gain power and control over the people.there are a lot of good things about this - the relevant themes, the relatable characters, and the easy-going writing. i like how this is set in a very distant and dated world, but so much of the story applies to reality. i love immanuelle as a character and i appreciate that she had a determined strength to her, but is also kind and thoughtful. i feel like i dont see enough of this combination in books. i also like her interactions with ezra and enjoy their narrative. Before I read this book, I had no idea what it was about. I just know two things that made me want it; that it has witches and it got such an aesthetic beautiful cover. And I was sold! A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut. Adark, dramatic tale of oppression and rebellion, ideology and morality, with a complicated, appealing protagonist caught in a Handmaid's Talenightmare.”-Louisa Morgan, Author of The Age of Witches a witchy fantasy-horror about a teenage girl trying to break a curse while living under the yoke of an oppressive patriarchal regime.

The perfect dark, witchy escape to make you feel a little better about the world we live in now. THE EVERYGIRL This is also a puritanical society so we do get a lot of Biblical themes. We get the classic “When a man sleeps with a woman, it’s obviously the woman’s fault for tempting him" because men apparently can’t make their own decisions. There are more guys, so be prepared for a lot of eye-rolling. Also, the cruel punishments jeeeeez. I loved how Bethel and Ezra question many of these beliefs. i feel like this is one of those books where you either really love it or it just isnt for you. and being that my fatal flaw is indecisiveness, im right down this middle with this one.The setting is haunting beautiful and creepy that adds a deliciously bleak and eerie feel to the story with the danger that lurks in the Darkwoods. Immanuelle tries to follow holy protocol and confess all her sins, however, she is lured into the forbidden Darkwood where she is gifted a diary from the woods inhabitants. This diary is written by her long deceased mother and immanuelle is fascinated but also frightful of the confessions of her mother and her consort with the witches. firstly: this book was not for me. loved the prose, but disliked almost everything else. now that we’ve got that out of the way...

JadePhoenix13 on Reading The Wheel of Time: Taim Tells Lies and Rand Shares His Plan in Winter’s Heart (Part 3) 5 hours ago Immanuelle ends up finding a diary which reveals her mother’s interactions with the feared witches, and I was excited to see how this influenced Immanuelle to the very end. Whilst the society around Bethel isn’t unique but based on many other religious cult-like societies, the magical elements help build a lot of interest and atmosphere which is hard to ignore.The Year of the Witchingis a dark wood ready to swallow you whole with its tense stakes and beguiling prose. Henderson takes witchcraft to its very depths, unraveling the horrific nightmares of bone-deep ideology and devastating oppression.”— Dhonielle Clayton, New York Timesbestselling author of The Belles series Beautifully sinister and beguiling, The Year of the Witching is blood-drenched, horrific and enchanting from start to finish. TASHA SURI, author of Empire of Sand Overall I enjoyed reading The Year of the Witching, but it’s probably not my favourite book and as I was writing this review I couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t a memorable book. Positives of The Year of the Witching Bethel is a secluded community where the Prophet’s power is absolute and polygamy is the norm. It’s surrounded by the Darkwood, home of Lilith and her coven of witches whose tragic history many years prior led to their condemnation.

Immanuelle Moore has walked between two worlds her entire life. She resides in a village called Bethel, a puritanical world ruled over by the Prophet whose word is absolute Law. Immanuelle’s mother, Miriam, was meant to be one of the Prophet’s many wives, but she fell in love with one of the dark-skinned citizens of the Outskirts. Their relationship ended in tragedy but also brought forth a daughter who has never been fully trusted or accepted due to the sins of her mother and the darkness of her skin. I absolutely adored the darkness of the witches and the forbidden Darkwood in this. This had witchcraft, sigils and just quite weird and dark encounters going on. This book read like a horror movie (but a good one) which had me thinking of “The Village” and “The Witch”. Bethel is a land governed by a strict, fundamentalist religion. The Prophet rules the people and his Apostles enforce his will. The citizens in this rigid, harsh society worship a brutal god, one of fire and punishments and retribution. Anyone who acts against the will of the state or in defiance of tradition are declared witches and blasphemers and burned at the stake. Before she was even born, a dark skinned man from the Outskirts of Bethel, was executed by the Prophet. Her mother, young, pregnant, and desperate for vengeance, fled into the Darkwood and made a deal that cost her everything. Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing/Ace for sharing this intriguing ARC in exchange my honest review. The Year of the Witching was pitched as being inspired by The VVitch, so perhaps it's on me for allowing my expectations to climb sky-high due to the association with one of my favorite movies of all time. The VVitch is disturbing and unsettling and claustrophobic; The Year of the Witching is standard YA fantasy fare, and this despite the fact that it is not YA fantasy, but adult.

Reviews

For a dark fantasy like The Year of the Witching, setting is just as important as character and plot. Locations make manifest the existential horrors the characters experience. It’s a good thing, then, that Alexis Henderson is so damn good at it. The Darkwood haunts Immanuelle like a monster lurking in the shadows, and the scenes where she explores it are as creepy as any good horror story. Bethel, too, is just as vivid. Rotten with puritanical ideology and patriarchal prejudice, it unsettles as much as the Darkwood. Bethel’s religion is built on the belief in the Father, a god of fire and brimstone. His cathedral is an expanse of cold stone and sharp glass. In the Outskirts, they still worship the Mother, the goddess of witchcraft and the moon, and Henderson contrasts their church as one made of warm wood and earth. It’s impressive work that reels you in. Immanuelle is a character I struggled to get a grasp on, and perhaps that is because she is so...generic, almost as though, rather than an actual person, she's just a stand-in and mouthpiece for the various themes and ideas about gender and race that are heavy-handedly hammered through the narrative with zero subtlety. Similarly, the love interest, Ezra was milquetoast and bland; how convenient it is that despite his upbringing in this super patriarchal world he's magically a Good Guy and Rational Thinker. His romance with Immanuelle felt completely shoehorned into a narrative where it didn't belong. decades ago, there was a holy war between the prophet and apostles of bethel and the witches of the nearby darkwood, and the prophet won. the inhabitants of bethel follow the teachings of the holy father, and the witches the teachings of the dark mother -- the latter of whom is, of course, demonized by the prophet.