The Year of the Witching

Written by Alexis Henderson

Narrated by Brianna Colette

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Release date: Jul 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9780593213704

[Meagan Austin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was ok. It seems that the supporting characters stand out more than the main character who seems to fall into that selfless good girl trope. I feel that the main character can be more dynamic. The ending was ok.

[jamesmikealhill · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Took me a few chapters to get into the writing style, but overall I enjoyed the story. Think Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic prequels with a little Handmaid's Tale.

[smashbasile · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I... didn't love this. I didn't seem to connect with the characters, and I was kind of bored for the first half of the book. It did get better in the second half, which is probably the only reason I'm giving it 3 stars over 2.

[tip44 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

creepy ala Kingfisher.

[boufaroni · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4.5/5 This book is great on so many levels. It’s horror, it’s fantasy, it’s dystopian, it’s feminist, it’s historical, it’s political. The characters are complex, their histories even more so. Alexis Henderson is so descriptive in her settings I feel like I’m there. Everything is so detailed - the characters, the environments, the action. This was a perfect read for October.

[debtat2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This has to be one of, if not, my favourite book of the year!

This is a really hard book to review without revealing spoilers and spoiling the unraveling of the story for readers so I will keep this brief. It is a book you need to enjoy all its surprises and twists for yourself. It is a fantastic, empowering read, so immersive that you can hear the whispers calling to you from the heart of the Darkwood!

Set within the fictional town of Bethel, the town and its residents live cut off from the rest of the world, isolated from outsiders, locked in by the Darkwood, a forbidden place haunted by the spirits of the coven of witches killed by the first Prophet and a locked gateway.

Bethel is a strict religious community ruled over by the Prophet and his apostle’s. They pray to ‘The Father’, live abiding by and reading the holly scriptures and attending the Sabbath slaughter, the ritual sacrifice of a lamb.

Some of the community have ‘Gifts”. Only the Prophet has the Gift of Sight, some of the apostle’s have the Gift of Discernment, a Gift that allows them to be able to tell truth from lie and some midwives have the Gift of Naming. But since the Holly War and The Dark Ages these Gifts are becoming scarcer. But rumour has it that Immanuelle has A Gift. But if that is true, is she capable of witchcraft? Does she consort with the coven of witches in the Darkwood as her mother had before her?

Bethel is the epitome of everything you think of when you think about what a cult is!

This is so much more than just a story about witches, set in the era of witch craft, the story takes you on the journey of Immanuelle and her journey to understand her self and the power women can possess.

Grab yourself a copy now, you won’t regret it and let yourself be pulled into the flock of Bethel!

[danielle.desrochers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars
I liked this book, the writing was great but it felt like we were made to “hurry up and wait” a lot. The action all seemed to be lumped into a page or two at a time with 20 pages of narrative in between.
And the ending didn’t make sense or sit well with me. I mean, it did, but it shouldn’t.

[JShelleyAdan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very well-written story that uses witchcraft and religion to address issues such as oppression, power, sexism, racism... A novel worth reading. (Translated from Spanish)

[asukamaxwell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Immanuelle, the daughter of a known witch, must confront her past and that of the town of Bethel, after a terrifying encounter with the four great witches of the Darkwood Lilith, Delilah, Mercy and Jael. Immanuelle is a great character. She is intelligent but not wise, brave but stubborn. She struggles to undo what Bethel has taught her, and that's growth. Her dialogue is carefully handled and no relentless inner monologue. She wants to protect her family from the plagues despite their faults, which is admirable. And thank goodness the author didn't turn her into an all powerful magical girl.

Then there's Ezra, the Prophet's son and heir. Both want to protect Bethel, both have the ability to command. But their methods are different: the perverse Prophet prefers purging fire and torture. Ezra is open-minded, wants fair justice for the women of Bethel, a system ruled by mercy. A fine friend, if noticeably selfish. He's not dismissive like other Bethleans. However his rescues were a little predictable. The romance between him and Immanuelle was also slightly forced. When you're bleeding in a pool in the woods or looking Lilith in the eye on any given day, it's hard to imagine anything blossoming. Immanuelle and poor Leah were far closer. Also! The Blight! I swear the description was ergotism exactly. The author MUST have used what happened in Pont Saint Esprit in 1951 for inspiration.

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much, and I don't read fiction often! I'm here for the dark and bloody theme, definitely my kind of witchcraft. It wouldn't pass the Bechdel test precisely, but still a strong woman in a fight against sexist religious oppression is what we need these days!

[Melina Gonzál... · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Original story, well written, too brief. (Translated from Spanish)

[charliwriter · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I love stories on Witches and this one didn’t disappoint. There are some things I would have liked to have explained more, a bit more flushed. This book blends horror, a paranormal dark, twisty witchy tale in a dystopian world.

The character Immanuelle is thoughtful, caring, and headstrong. I enjoyed following her journey to knowing who she was and why things were happening to her. She received a journal from the witches of the woods. Through this journal, Immanuelle learns more about her mother. Then she travels outside of Bethel to learn about her father. Her maternal grandfather felt like he was always encouraging her. I think it is because of his regrets on what happened to her mother. Her maternal grandmother, well, she felt as though it was Immanuelle’s father’s fault. She was a well written and rounded character.

Ezra I was not too fond of. I felt he was a little flat and disconnected. The side characters such as Immanuelle’s grandparents and the prophet were more rounded than Ezra. Like Ezra, I also felt the witches could have been rounded more. There was potential to show their nature, and even though we got it towards the end, I think their background and character arc could have strung out better.

Alexis Henderson takes her readers to Bethel. Bethel is a dystopian world blended with real-world themes like racism, oppression, power and religion. In Bethel, the religious society lead by the Prophet takes rule. He can take on as many wives as they want and punish whoever stands in his way, even his own heir. When this was first described, I automatically thought of this as some kind of cult. The Prophet’s wives were protected unless proved to be adulteress or unpure before marriage, and once married, they could not to leave the compound. Bethel’s citizens could not leave outside the border unless given permission by the Prophet. The Prophet uses fear, cruelty and religion to gain power and control over the people. The setting is haunting, beautiful and creepy. It adds a deliciously bleak and eerie feel to the story with the danger that lurks in the Darkwoods. The Darkwoods for me was like the Wall on Game of Thrones.

This book took me a while to get into. It was not slow by any means, but maybe there was too much. I think maybe a little more world and character building will make this book wonderful. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read dystopian, dark fantasy, and suspense horror.

[angelajmaher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was somewhat different to what I expected, a slow burn dark tale wedded to religious overtones not quite alien to our real world. It's often categorised as horror but it doesn't really fit neatly into any box. Some say it's YA based on the age of the protagonist, and while there is a strong thread of coming of age, it's not really that either. It is a dark tale, folkloric, perhaps a dark fairytale even. Could a YA reader cope with this? I say yes, but it has the darkness and maturity to appeal to an adult audience as well.

[bethyacoub · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Year of the Witching was an excellently written ride through a witchy town and the nightmarish forest that cradled it. It is an unputdownable read and I'm sad to have reached its end so quickly. The atmosphere was tense and thick... rife with endless (ghoulish) possibilities. It definitely felt like anything could happen at any given moment... things could easily have gone well or very very wrong and I, for one, was constantly wondering... waiting with bated breath.

Bethel, the focal town, was home to a sinister Prophet, his diametrically opposed heir apparent, the myopic cult-like flock of followers, some women that may or may not have been witches, and the malevolent forest dwellers. It was also chock full of rampant tropes (not necessarily a bad thing). From the evil, pious "holy men" that took grievous advantage of their naive (though others might call them complicit) congregants... those they had sworn to their diety of choice, here it's The Father, to protect. To the Puritanical, Patriarchal, sexist society with their unapologetic oppression of women. It was a perfect breeding ground for birthing a rebellious female activist, fed up with the injustices she and the rest of the women were made to endure... even if she was blissfully unaware of her radical inclinations early on. She became hellbent on changing the wrongs of her progenitors while still honoring her heritage. Eventually she found the fortitude to rise up and help fix what she could... she, her family, the menacingly spooky forest occupants and Ezra all worked together as a disjointed, unlikely yet effective ghoulish team that brought into the light (and might have subsequently decimated with unholy wrath) the patriarchal and societal ills. I mentioned Ezra... yummy yummy Ezra. He's the next in line to be the holy grand-poo-ba and not only does he abhor his father and his father's practices, he also is our MC, Immanuelle's, love interest. This paramore seemed to fall deeply in love without much preamble or foreplay... I might even go as far as to call his devotion to her as bewitched. (hehehe) I adored both Ezra and Immanuelle. I even loved/loathed much of the secondary characters especially Immanuelle's family... they were amazingly (low key) supportive (in a Tough Love sort of way) and truly came through when it mattered most.

All of these feelings made possible due to Alexis Henderson's beautifully rich prose and superb character and background development.

Overall:
What a debut novel! I was enthralled... enraptured... beguiled. There are definite Handmaid's Tale vibes and all sorts of Salem influences. I was creeped out and entranced at the same time. What a good read!

~ Enjoy

[needmoreshelves · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I did not realize this was a YA novel going in, so my expectations were just different than what I received. Not bad, but I was looking for something with a bit more substance.

[bodagirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The bones of this story were good, but the ending felt very rushed and the mythology was a little amorphous.

[menshevixen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A richly imaginative addition to the growing canon of witchy YA.

[KARENDELAGARZA · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think this book doesn't have the fame it deserves.

While reading the first chapters, it reminded me of the movie "The Village" from the 2000s. That vibe of a puritan and conservative town, extremely strict with its inhabitants, where going to the woods is very, very dangerous, so no one can ever leave the village!!

I really liked the way the themes of magic were approached, and it was very interesting how it mixes with religion. It is a story that touches on themes like feminism and racism, and it managed to handle them well with a very interesting witchy blend. This book is definitely worth it if you like the witchy vibe, and it needs a lot more promotion.

Apparently, a second part is coming that I will definitely read. (Translated from Spanish)

[Juanant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book tells a feminist story about the injustices by The Prophet, an old man who has complete control over the people living in Bethel, to the extent that he decides who dies or who marries whom. It also immerses us in the depths of the forest of Bethel, where it is said that witches inhabit, and if you enter deep within, you will never be able to leave due to the supernatural forces that punish its visitors. These witches give Immanuelle her mother's diary as a gift, in which dark secrets are revealed, helping her understand why her mother sought the company of witches in the past. Starting from the typical Puritan tale, themes such as racism, sexism, poverty, and corruption are addressed. Blood for blood, ashes to ashes. (Translated from Spanish)

[asheley-627878 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is quite dark, and I think it would be perfect for fall/Halloween reading lists. I picked it up because I was intrigued by the "puritanical" society and because I've not read very many witch stories. My mother didn't allow me to engage with anything with witches in/on it when I was growing up, so you can see why this one might appeal to me as an adult. I grew up in a very conservative and religious household and would consider my childhood church fundamentalist. The way this society is set up with The Prophet being the ultra-revered religious and civic leader with total power over everyone in the town of Bethel, especially the women...I mean, I feel certain parts of this story deeply. In a lot of ways, I feel SEEN.

So anyway, this story definitely has a creep factor. The witches that live in the forbidden Darkwood forest are terrifying and incredibly powerful. There's this sense of dread that hangs over you while you're reading, and I found that both delicious and a little bit scary. Immanuelle is a great character that carries a lot of weight and baggage in this story, and I really had no idea how things would end up. There are these wonderful nods to Salem and other places of long ago with the pyres and fires, and the patriarchal cult-like society totally gave me the creeps. It reminded me a lot of The Scarlet Letter and M. Night Shyamalan's movie The Village.

One thing I particular that I loved is that there is 100% a historical feel to the story in terms of clothing and lack of amenities, but I sometimes think these religious/cult-type stories give me a contemporary vibe too. This is certainly the case here and I was excited to hear the author mention on a podcast interview that there may be more stories featuring Immanuelle and this world in the future.


Thanks to Ace Books for providing a digital copy of the book for my review via NetGalley!

[darcia_10 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I know my words won't do justice to my feelings about this book. But all I have are words, so here's my attempt:

On the surface, this story is about a religious community's determination to remain pure in God's eyes, while keeping the dark forces of witchcraft banished to the dangerous woods surrounding them.

At its heart, this story is about the oppression of women, racism, power and control wielded by the elite, the fine line between a religion and a cult, and the way superstition and fear trigger aggression.

This is a beautifully written, complex, heartbreaking story that ultimately finds hope in rebellion.

If you reach deep and lay bare humanity's worst traits over the past few centuries, you'll see them reflected in this story. Most disturbing is how easily we can form parallels between this historical fiction community and our current society. Our demons, literal or figurative, only grow more powerful when we allow them to linger in the shadows. Maybe we can all learn something from Immanuelle.

*I received a review copy via NetGalley.*

[jmchshannon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have very mixed feelings about The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson. On the one hand, there is a lot to love in this debut novel full of witchcraft, a pseudo-Puritanical society, and identity-finding. Ms. Henderson incorporates characters of color, LGBTQ+ relationships, feminist awakenings, and magic, all of which are story elements I adore. Yet, I tore through the novel only to feel disappointment at the story.

To me, the fault of The Year of the Witching lies in its ending. It is as if Katniss sat back and let Peeta make all the decisions about the resistance and Panem after they won their first Hunger Games. Katniss would never do that, and neither would Emmanuelle. In fact, most of the story’s conflict revolves around the requirement that she not only accept her power but utilize it. Except, after the big battle, she relinquishes all responsibility and decision-making. This one action contradicts the growth Emmanuelle shows for 90 percent of the novel and leaves a bitter aftertaste.

The Year of the Witching has other faults. I believe Ms. Henderson leaves room for a sequel, which feels unnecessary. While I sort of enjoyed the story, I didn’t love it or the characters enough to want more of it. Plus, I kept thinking the story would turn out like the movie The Village and was expecting THAT big reveal when Emmanuelle finally leaves the confines of her little settlement. I cannot pinpoint what exactly caused me to think this, but that feeling was there nonetheless.

Ultimately, I wanted to love The Year of the Witching a lot more than I did. To me, Ms. Henderson was 75 percent success with her debut story. Unfortunately, her choices for Emmanuelle’s actions at the end felt too contradictory to the character we got to know. As a result, my ending reaction is one of dislike, no matter how much I enjoyed the story to that point.

[strider66_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pros: interesting characters, quite scary and intense

Cons: uncomfortable race relations

Sixteen year old Immanuelle Moore is the daughter of a black man from the Outskirts, who burned on a pyre for having relations with her mother. Her mother was a white bride of the Prophet, who went mad after seeing her lover die. Raised as a good believer in the Holy Scriptures, she doesn’t understand why the Darkwood, home of the witches who once terrorized Bethel, calls to her so strongly. When she finally succumbs to that call, she unwittingly unleashes a series of curses on her home.

Immanuelle is a great protagonist, conflicted in her beliefs and desires. She’s strong willed and passionate. Her terror of the witches and determination to end the curses were palpable. I loved the slow burn romance with Ezra.

The world itself was terrifying for a liberal reader. Bethel is a closed community with very strict religious rules and no recourse against the hidden evils Immanuelle discovers taking place within the church: abuse of power - physical and sexual - and the subjugation of women.

The division between the villages of the ‘holy’ white congregation and the shanty towns on the Outskirts of the black former refugees was stark and left me feeling uncomfortable. I would have thought that with the conversion of the refugees, more intermingling would have occurred. The fact that Lilith, the head witch, was a black woman also left me feeling unsettled as it seems to continue this ‘black is evil, white is good’ theme, which is clearly undercut by the churches’ abuses on one hand but not really by anything on the other. Yes, Immanuelle fought against the witches, but as she was from the village and not the Outskirts it didn’t feel like she broke that aphorism. Nor does Vera, as it’s unclear if she ever practiced witchcraft or simply used protective sigils.

The horror elements are very terrifying. There’s a lot of blood and the story centres on events in womens’ lives that feature blood. The witches are evil and things get so grim I had to take breaks when reading this. Descriptions aren’t overly graphic, so though the imagery can be intense, it never feels gratuitous.

The writing is quite lyrical, which brings the world to life and really drives home the terror.

On the whole this is a fantastic story, provided you can handle a horror novel right now.

[verkruissen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So I've been considering reading this book for awhile now. The cover kept grabbing my attention and I was so glad I finally did!
This is a debut book by Alex Henderson about a girl named Immanuelle who is being raised by her mothers family in a city called Bethel. Bethel is a small village run by "The Prophet", the leader of the church and his "apostles" who carry out his bidding. The story deals with sexism, sexual assault, misogyny, and racism.
Immanuelle has been raised by her mothers family since the day she was born. Her mother, a young girl who was one of the many wives of the Prophet had escaped the church to be with the man she loved. A dark skinned man from the Outskirts, a shanty town between Bethel and the Darkwoods.

Immanuelle does everything she can to fit in, be obedient and keep attention from herself. Her mother had been labeled a witch for escaping to the Darkwoods and Immanuelle has that burden to bear. A storm and a wild chase to catch her runaway ram brings her into the Darkwoods where she comes across the fabled witches of the Darkwood. They give her her mothers journal and Immanuelle realizes that her connection to the Darkwoods runs deeper than she imagined.

I really loved this book. It may very well be a stand alone novel and it certainly works as one. But I'd still love another story from this character, the ending suggests there could be one but it may not be necessary.
I think the characters were very interesting and well developed and the book kept my attention. I read it in two days. It was really, really good!

[jillrhudy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Alexis Henderson's horror feminist fantasy stars teenager Immanuelle, who is born into the most misogynistic cult imaginable. Imagine "The Handmaid's Tale" world run by an aging Jeffrey Epstein with a messiah complex and a yen for torture as the Prophet/Pastor/Guru and you've got the general setting.

In Bethel, the people are led by a predatory pedophilic polygamist prophet, they worship a Father God of Light, and on the Outskirts, the Outskirters worship the Mother Goddess of Darkness. The Outskirts are the wrong side of the tracks. Bethel borders scary woods where the legions of the Dark Mother hang out with their hordes of foul beasts. However, the wood-dwellers in human form are dead. Kind of. They are zombie witches. A couple of them are lesbian zombie witches. Immanuelle (naturally) is the would-be savior of. . . somebody. Menstruation is a big deal and if it's Immanuelle's it can bring on plagues, and stop plagues, only sometimes Immanuelle says it was her mother Miriam (a witch) who cursed her so that she could cause plagues.

I was befuddled by the status of the zombie witches and how often they need to be destroyed or appeased or whatever, and also could not figure out who was cursing or plaguing (or uncursing and unplaguing) Bethel, and by what means precisely. Is it blood? Is it sigils-and-lots-of-blood? Is it the zombie witches just thinking they've caused enough chaos and going back to the woods for a century or so? I found the book reasonably entertaining apart from this confusion and the general ick factor. Despite all of the abuses perpetuated by the cult even against her own family, Immanuelle is a diehard true believer in the cult and breaks free of its mind control only gradually. Her transformation is well rendered.

The book needs more exposition at the beginning to tell the reader what is happening with all the weird twisted religion stuff so that sensitive readers (whether pro- or anti- religion) don't put it down on page 3. A "once upon a time" sort of intro would be most welcome. The book is artful in its simplicity; the prose trips along quite well. I was all in with Immanuelle as a main character even though I still had a lot of questions at the end. Fans of horror fantasy who wear "f**** the patriarchy" t-shirts should find it rousing and diverting.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Penguin Random House and Netgalley and was encouraged to submit a review.