The Year of the Witching

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Blood” is the second section of the novel. Immanuelle was 17 and attended church with her family. Her best friend, Leah, was betrothed to the Prophet. Immanuelle herself had not yet bled, which was unusual for a girl of her age. She lived in a small village named Bethel, which was surrounded on all sides by the Darkwood, which were said to be haunted. Only the Prophet and his closest companions were able to leave through the Hallowed Gate to venture out into the rest of the world. In the Age of Light, the Father had given many humans supernatural Gifts, but now they were quite rare. The Age of Light had ended after the Holy Wars, during which the four witches (Jael, Mercy, Lilith, and Delilah) worked as servants of the Dark Mother to fight against the Father. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Henderson, Alexis. The Year of the Witching. ACE, 2020. Kindle. Bethel’s society is one with a massive sexual double standard where women are characterized as inherently sinful and scapegoated for every problem, especially if they don’t or can’t comply to rigid gendered expectations of purity and duty. There is an exploration of intersectionality in Immanuelle’s experience as a biracial woman in a racist and sexist society; I really enjoyed the sections of the story that focused on the people of color living in the Outskirts a lot.

A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut. and then there’s the fact that the dark-skinned outskirters practice a completely different version of the prophet’s religion in which witchcraft and the mother have a prominent place, and yet… the prophet appears not to care about this at all. people get burned at the stake for adultery and witchcraft, but not for having a worshipful portrait of the evil mother of witches in their church. the gothic horror descriptions are definitely my favorite thing about the reading experience. the darkwood where the witches live comes to life in a deeply unsettling, intangible way, and the stained glass and heavy wood cathedrals almost loom over our characters like the oppressive regime that they represent. A 1986 article from Time Magazine explained that King planned on quitting horror after he wrote “It.” At the time he said there was too much competition, citing Clive Barker as “better than I am now” and “a lot more energetic.” But that was almost four decades ago. Since then he’s written some horror classics such as “ The Dark Half, “Needful Things,”“Gerald’s Game,”and “Bag of Bones.”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 A thrillingly brisk and bracing tale of magic and power, I loved this book. It takes the best tropes of horror and witchcraft and gives them a refreshingly feminist twist. S.A. CHAKRABORTY, author of The City of Brass 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. The Year of the Witching is set in the deeply patriarchal and puritanical land of Bethel, where the word of the Prophet is law. Our protagonist, Immanuelle Moore, lives on the fringes of acceptability. Her father was burned on a pyre as a heretic. Her mother is known throughout Bethel as a witch and a traitor. Immanuelle is determined to live as uneventful a life as possible. But then she discovers her mother’s journal, and accidentally unleashes a plague upon Bethel. She must use all the cleverness and magic at her disposal to stop the plague, but the question is – does she want to? we follow immanuelle as she tries to explore her own heritage while resisting the mysterious calls of the witches from the wood… until a deathly curse sinks its claws into bethel.

This is an intensely dark read and one of the most original books I've read in a long time. BUZZFEED She gets her dead mother's journal from one of those witches and learns that her little town is in for a hot mess. She starts kinda poking around and realizes that she might have to be the one to save the town. I do not know if I would bother because to be honest...the town is full of turds and a crazy ass preacher man.This is a beautiful, powerful, important book, and I hugely recommend it.”—Seanan McGuire, New York Timesbestselling author of The UnkindestTide Psst! Read Katherine Arden’s gorgeous Winternight Trilogy instead. Or better yet – just read The Handmaid’s Tale.) i thought that was one of the more poignant parts of the novel, even if it does show up as an in-depth exploration rather late (about halfway through the story).

Grappling to make peace with the truths revealed by the diary, Immanuelle slowly begins to uncover the harsh reality of the history of the Church. The time for change has come – and for the sake of Bethel, Immanuelle will fight tooth and nail to ensure that the archaic, injurious rule of the Prophet and the Church is permanently transformed. 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. The initial build-up was strong and captivating. I liked meeting Immanuelle and learning a bit about her family history and the beliefs/traditions of Bethel.In the end, The Year of the Witching does claw its way to the top, proving itself to be an enjoyable enough, compelling enough YA read. But it is not the second coming of The Handmaid’s Tale. (No. Not even close.) My recommendation to read it is given with many, many attached reservations.