This honestly took me over a year to fully complete reading. Yikes! It actually had to do with the formatting of the eBook version, which was absolutely awful when it transferred to my Kindle. There were so many weird breaks in the sentences and words. Then there were the weird lack of breaks between some paragraphs that drove me mental. So to say, I continually put off reading the anthology after reading through a couple pages or stories. In the end, I grabbed a copy from my work and set about, FINALLY, finishing this one.

This wicked anthology consists of thirteen stories by thirteen wonderful authors. I always give props to those who can write a short story, let alone get me so emotionally invested in such few words. Each story had one element in common: magic.

I’m going to give a short synopsis of each story, and any of them with an asterisk (*) by them were one of my favorites!

Starsong
A sixteen year-old bruja trying to make up for the poor choices she made growing up. She uses social media a lot as a way to show off her magic. Essentially, a doubter messages her and they begin a meaningful bout of messages which become flirty and cute.

***Afterbirth
Historical fiction, set in New England in the seventeenth century. A midwife is accused of being a witch after saving a stillborn child. The midwife gives her apprentice her book of “spells and healing,” passed down for generations. Told via past and future events (before and during the trial.)

The Heart in Her Hands
Dealing with soulmates. Despite having a different soulmate, a young woman fights to stay with her girlfriend, even though in doing so, her gift of healing is taken away for defying her coven.

*** Death in the Sawtooths
A servant of Xosia, the Lady of Death, who is a medical examiner with the power to lay souls to rest. Although the town spurs her for her gifts–or curse, according to them–they end up seeking her out for help. This one had a True Blood vibe to it!

The Truth about Queenie
African-American witch in love with her best friend, a pro-skateboarder. She ends up saving her friend’s girlfriend after almost killing her.

The Moonapple Menagerie
I honestly cannot tell you what this one was about because I do not remember it. Except that it had something to do with a play?

*** Legend of Stone Mary
Descendant of a famous witch in town, which the town never lets her forget. There is a memorial statue of the witch. Desperate for friendship, the young woman goes out on Halloween with a group of people to see the statute, and winds up changing the town’s perception of her and her family.

The One Who Stayed
Narrated by a group, waiting for the one person who seeks them out and stays. Trigger warnings. Dark

Divine are the Stars
A story about family and greed, including magical realism. Very neat!

Daughters of the Baba Yaga
Unfortunately, another one I do not remember.

***The Well Witch
Damn, this one was one of my absolute FAVORITES. Historical fiction. A young witch living in BFE, Texas with the only oasis for miles. Three men on horses wind up at her home looking for shelter. This one is wicked. Trust me!

Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths
Interesting and crazy. Three sisters in a line of witches where only one will survive until old age because they will eventually turn against one another. The eldest sister has a vision of all three surviving, but at what cost to the bond and love they share?

***Love Spell
A bruja who lives with her grandmother. Although witches are not welcome in town, the folk come to them for spells and assistance. She goes to Mass, even though she is shunned by being there, and falls in love with an alcolyte despite the fear that they can never truly live together in peace.

Gherin Girls
Unfortunately, another one I cannot recall.

***Why They Watch Us Burn
Holy hell on Earth, I think this one was the best for me. And I would ABSOLUTELY read an entire novel based upon this story. Very dystopian. Women get removed from society and sent to camps (where they essentially stay until death) because of either being too strong or accusing someone of sexual assault. This one was amazing, and it made me think it was inspired by Margaret Atwood. I loved it.

Until we meet again, Readers!

Cheers,
Talia x

Thank you to NetGalley for this review copy!

Most anthologies are a hit or miss for me, and that was still the case for this one. I enjoyed a handfull of the stories but a lot of them just fell short.

This was a fun read. As a pagan, I enjoyed the stories and recommended the book in several of the New Age groups I belong to.

I quite enjoyed this read. I don't usually read collections of short stories but these were quite interesting.

I love short stories, I anticipated this amazing collection from authors that I read and it did not disappoint. I particularly liked that the stories were a good mix of futuristic and historical. It's a fast entertaining read. I totally recommend.

One of my new favorite books! This author has such a way with words the pages flew by in no time! I can’t wait to see the next work by this author! This was such a joy to read!

An interesting, engaging read that allows readers to learn more about people who identify as witches. I love that it included stories of witches of various ethnic background & sexual orientations. It was diverse & inclusive!

Anthologies are always tough. Some of them are riveting and upsetting because each story is so short. Others are hot-and-cold, with some stories dragging on and others pulling you in. This was the latter. There were good stories, and there were okay stories.

I has to admit that I wasn't impressed with this collection. I feel like every single story had some sort of queer aspect to it and as great as that is. It got old really fast.

I gave this 3.5 stars out of 5, or maybe 3.75. Some of the stories in this anthology really stood out and were very enjoyable. The ones I enjoyed most were Starsong, Death in the Sawtooths, The Truth About Queenie, The Legend of Stone Mary, and Why They Watch Us Burn. The last one, especially, was hard-hitting, and I found myself highlighting passages on every other page, it felt. All in all this was a good collection of witchy stories, though some fell through the cracks and I genuinely can't remember what they were about. I also skipped Tristina Wright's story as it is not included in the final version.

This series of short stories was a departure from what I'd normally pick, both in length and subject, but I was pleasantly surprised. While short stories, they weren't short on substance and generally didn't feel abrupt. I appreciated the different perspectives offered in each, and am always a fan of works that center strong women. Most of the authors were able to create tension and develop characters well for the length. Although I wasn't particularly interested in all of these selections, I definitely wanted more from a few of them (The Gherin Girls and Death in the Sawtooths stand out). This is the perfect book to curl up with in fall as you get into the harvest/Halloween spirit!

Fun and spooky tales of witches and wise women. None of the stories really stood put to me but this is an enjoyable read. Nice to dip in and out of.

This took me a while to get through. Some stories were good and most I wasn’t very into unfortunately. However, I still think it’s a good read around Halloween

This was so much fun and great for the spooky season! I loved every second of this book, and I loved getting the diverse stories from diverse authors. I will definitely be recommending it.

I was given a copy of this via Net Galley for my honest review.

It took me quite a while to get through this, not because it was bad, but because I'm the ultimate mood reader. Short stories always give me the opportunity to change my mood. Aside from that, it was a good, solid read. I come from a long line of women who love witches and reading different aspects of that culture was really entertaining. There were a few stories that were better than others, but overall, it gave strong, sometimes feminist, sometimes straight up leaders, a really superb view on the female culture.

Overall, I think this was a really great group of short stories that I would dive back into whenever I'm feeling a little witchy.

This is the perfect witchy read if you need something to curl up with this fall. Something for the magic in everyone.

I enjoyed reading the different and varied stories in this book. As I was reading, I already knew teens in my library I would immediately recommend read this title.

Loved this book. Witches are just so much fun and so were the stories in this one. This one is going on my permanent library want list.

This is a fun collection of short stories that are perfect for fall! I absolutely love stories about witches but don’t always have the time to devot to a full length novel, so having a bind up of short stories is always great.

I LOVED THIS ANTHOLOGY SO MUCH. Toil & Trouble is definitely going to become a yearly Halloween read for me! I loved the diverse characters and the variety of different stories being told. A+, supremely witchy!