The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved books.  She loved to read about impossible adventures and horses and magic and love.  Her brother was disgusted with her because she would never play with him, preferring her books to games and outdoors.  She read big books and little books and wizard books and time travel books and vampire books, but most of all she loved books about witches.  One day she found a book about three sisters who were inseparable, then split asunder by a big bad evil, and then pulled back together only to face the biggest baddest evil of the world.  The sisters had a grandmother they loved who loved them and sang to them and prepared them for the world. This preparation would be needed when they faced the biggest baddest evil of the world - together.  They had some help, they had some trouble, they had some nightmares, and they found love.  But most of all, they found themselves.

Alix Harrow is my hero.

No, wait, she is my HEROINE!!!!

What a wonderful read - this is my kind of book.  I enjoyed The Ten Thousand Doors of January, but this one is so much more than a sophomore triumph.  So many layers and references and nuances and themes, I don't know how to begin a review!  I can't really imagine this book not being for everyone, but it IS about magic and souls and ancient stories, and sisters and causes and standing up for self.  A fairy tale told about women's rights and being true to who you are and loving who you love and defeating evil, at all costs, because you discover that you can love something, or someone, more than yourself.

The language and flow Harrow uses in this book just literally sang to me as a reader, and I loved her bits of humor and winks and so many I probably missed.  I can't say too much because it would spoil your own discovery.  But I will say this book tackles some deep themes too - women's suffrage (it is set in 1893) and the right to love who you love and good parenting and generational repetition and the burning of innocent women who just wanted a life less oppressing.  A story about betrayal and truth and doing the right thing.  About a librarian who could have "expired from sheer glee" when gazing upon row after row of BOOKS!  (I mean, duh.)

I didn't want it to end.  I literally left the last two pages open for two days before finally finishing it.  I NEVER do that.  And then, I read the acknowledgments.  (I ALWAYS read the acknowledgments!!)  Do not miss the acknowledgments in this book.  Fabulous.

What a fun ride.  Literally. ;-)  Can't wait for her next book!!!