LOVED! Three strong female leading characters. Enjoyed each perspective. ( )

suspense/ historical fiction (1619, 1942, 2019 Britain) with accused witches from the Weyward family line (main 'powers' are mostly limited to communicating with animals, but they also practiced common-sense medicine that the men didn't like them meddling with) and odious patriarchs/abusive boyfriends. Very suspenseful, I read this in about two sittings. The three womens' voices are easy to distinguish from one another (the 17th century language was a bit dry but Altha's story was still interesting). There is a bit of gore having to do with animal-mangled men and miscarried/aborted fetuses but those scenes are relatively brief.
A wonderful story about three brave women helping each other over the generations. Would recommend. ( )

This book gave me major Alice Hoffman vibes. I loved the witchy vibes and the three alternating storylines. Altha is a healer from the 17th century and she is on trial for murdering an esteemed villager with witchcraft. Violet is a sheltered daughter who delights in the simple beauty of nature on her family's estate during the mid twentieth century. Kate is a victim of domestic abuse and desperate to escape her husband's clutches. When she finds the courage to escape she fleas to her great aunt Violet's cottage in the countryside. These three strong woman may be separated by many years but they are bound by blood and the Weyward name. I was interested in all three storylines and it was so interesting to see the ways they intersected. I can't wait for more by this author! ( )

I have lukewarm feelings about this book. On paper, it seems right up my alley. I love books about women, and I love feminist themes. This story has it all. It has witches who are unfairly tried for doing the right thing, abused women on the margins who reclaim their life and power, and an exploration of feminine forms of strength. It sounds great, but I've seen it all before (Kaikeyi, When Women Were Dragons, Circe, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, The Red Tent, Lessons in Chemistry, and others). I don't need another book that only shallowly says femininity can be a strength, patriarchy is bad, and here are some examples. I need something more: Make the messaging more messy and complex, give me devastating characters, add interesting worldbuilding, or use beautiful prose.

Making matters more disappointing is how the feminism in this book lacks nuance. The men are cartoonishly evil, there's basically no intersectionality, the solution to patriarchy seems to be a simple magic spell, and the ending relies a little too much on finding catharsis through a biological process that not all women can or want to do (childbirth). Maybe the second wave feminists would enjoy this story, but it's not for me. ( )

Weyward by Emilia Hart

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


One day I’ll learn that contemporary books that get a lot of hype and claim to be about witches are never what I want them to be.

This was disappointing. If you read my monthly reading roundups you’ll know it’s been on my TBR top 3 for ages! I finally got to it and it was at best ok.

The story is told from the POVs of three related women in different time periods – 1619, 1942 and 2019 – who end up in the same small cottage. They all shared a supernatural affinity for the natural word, particularly insects and birds.

All three stories are miserable! Trigger warning for domestic abuse, assault, rape, still births, and a rather grizzly abortion. This is all at the hands of Bad Men, who are little more than blurry villains. None of this was handled in a particularly nuanced way, and I always hate reading about rape (or seeing it in TV/movies). Often it feels like a lazy plot device when the writer wants to demonstrate Bad Men or Traumatised Women.

I’m not sure what the takeaway for this novel is intended to be. The message isn’t sisterhood, because all three women are socially isolated. The one who has a living mother gets little support from her, and there is just one new friend for Kate, who is more a plot device than a character.

They deal with their situations through having these supernatural powers. So… What about all the women who suffer abuse and dangerous situations that haven’t inherited the ability to magically call insects or birds to defend them? I guess you just have to get murdered by your ex-boyfriend…

As far as I can tell the only clear message in this book is that it’s a woman’s duty to continue the family lineage. Pregnancy was central to all three plots. If I had known this I would never have read this book. I guess it’s not on the blurb because so it can be a “twist” but you’ll see it a mile off, like everything else that happens.

I’m not interested in reading about pregnancy, and I don’t need to read books that imply it’s my purpose to produce a child. It also implies that you can, even should per Alta’s story, do this without a supportive partner or community… Fuck that even more.

As for the characters, they’re pretty flat. Altha (1619) and Violet (1942) at least had some spark in them, but then there were clearer societal barriers for conflict. Kate (2019) is lacking in any discernible personality. I don’t know who she was before Simon or after him, or what her aspirations for the future are.

And the magic stuff was actually barely in it and very tame. I didn’t even get any cool witch action!

I gave it three stars because I did fly through it in 4 nights. It’s solidly written and paced, it didn’t feel like a chore to read but it was predictable and I got nothing out of it. And I’m annoyed that a book about independent witchy women turned out to be about fucking pregnancy.

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REVIEW SUMMARY

I LIKED
- Solidly written and paced. It was easy to get through in 4 nights.
- The bits that focused on nature were cool, but too few and far between.

I DIDN’T LIKE
- Unclear what the point was. Only clear takeaway is that a woman’s duty is to produce a child!
- If I had known this would be about pregnancy I’d never have read it.
- Its just relentlessly miserable – rape, assault, domestic abuse, coercive & controlling behaviour, a grizzly abortion.
- Not enough witch action!



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