Overall I think the collection was enjoyable as a whole. However, there were some short stories that I was not a big fan of, and thought that they could be a bit better. In a way I wish that the stories could be more 'witchy' since that is what I expected going into it. There were some stories that definitely stood out a lot more than others, quickly becoming some of my favorite short stories. Overall I give this book a 3 stars, since I wanted to average together the rating of each individual story. I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for some easy and enjoyable short stories for a dark rainy night.

I adored every minute of this book and cannot wait to get a physical copy in my personal library! Would definitely recommend.

I don't read many anthologies so I wasn't sure what to expect going into this. I found some of these stories to be a bit rushed and short and some to drag on and some I adored and didn't want to end! I did end up enjoying this collection overall and loved all the witchy girls in this. This collection was full of diverse characters and awesome themes that showcase the badassness (that's definitely a word OK) of females.

You go girls.

Starsong by Tehlor Kay Mejia: ⭐⭐⭐/5

Afterbirth by Andrea Cremer: ⭐⭐⭐/5

The Heart In Her Hands by Tess Sharpe: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Death In The Sawtooths by Lindsay Smith: ⭐⭐⭐/5

The Truth About Queenie by Brandy Colbert: ⭐⭐⭐/5

The Moonapple Menagerie by Shveta Thakrar: ⭐⭐⭐/5

The Legend of Stone Mary by Robin Talley: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

The One Who Stayed by Nova Ren Suma: ⭐⭐⭐/5

Divine Are The Stars by Zoraida Córdova: ⭐⭐⭐/5

Daughters Of Baba Yaga by Brenna Yovanoff: ⭐⭐⭐/5

The Well Witch by Kate Hart: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Beware Of Girls With Crooked Mouths by Jessica Spotswood: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Love Spell by Anna-Marie McLemore: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

The Gherin Girls by Emery Lord: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
This was my absolute favorite out of all the short-stories!

Why They Watch Us Burn by Elizabeth May: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

This is an absolutely fantastic anthology that made me really happy for including queer stories as well as a variety of magic paths and witch identities

I absolutely loved this short story collection. Each story featured strong, witchy women who fought for what they wanted.

A little bit about each title:

Starsong: gave me the warm fuzzies. I want more immediately

Afterbirth: the Puritan setting was really good and the cuts between bits of the trial and the rest of the story kept the pace going well and kept things interesting

The Heart in her Hands: who doesn't love a strong female taking her future into her own hands despite what fate demands?

Death in the Sawtooths: the types of magic and idea of patrons were intriguing

The Truth About Queenie: the story of accepting the truth and herself. Great character growth

The Moonapple Menagerie: cute, but also eh. Personally, I wasn't a fan of this story. It was really well written, but it was a bit too cutesy for my tastes.

The Legend of Stone Mary: I love the family line of daughters and the curse that is long forgotten but still active

The One Who Stayed: I love a good revenge story and, while this one doesn't actually feature revenge but the idea of it, it really hit the spot. The darkness and the mystery of the women by the fire kept me captivated.

Divine are the Stars: also meh. I like the sentiment of listening to the stars

Daughters of Baba Yaga: another story of sweet, sweet revenge

The Well Witch: adorable bits of romance surrounded by the story of a strong woman who doesn't let adversity bring her down

Beware the Girls with the Crooked Smiles: I wish this one were longer. I want to know more, see what happens with the sisters

Love Spell: such a happy ending!

The Gehren Girls: A great story of sisterhood and learning to see how others see things.

Why They Watch Us Burn: An incredible dystopian story set in the possibly not-so-distant future.

So I would have given this book 3 stars up until the last story. The last story perfectly culminated what all of these stories were saying. Women are power! Together we are stronger! I think that this is a perfect book to give the teenager feminist in your life.

My favorite quote: "This is what witchcraft looks like: It is women holding hands, harnessing power, and changing their fate."

My second favorite: "I understand now that magic is not for wickedness, not for the devil, not for those with cruel hearts. It's for hope. For survival. It thrives in the darkness not because it is dark in nature, but because the fire shines brightest then. "

This book provided me with so much hope for the future.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy in return for my honest review!

I knew I needed this book when it listed all these diverse great authors! Short tales of witches, magic, and female empowerment, all written wonderfully! Most of the stories in here were great, and then there were a few that were really meh for me. I wont give away names because I really think the good outweighs the bad! We are giving it a 4/5 stars!

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This book was alright- I could never truly get into it though. I think I might just not like anthologies themselves but I did really like a few specific standout stories. I wish I could have read more of these stories themselves. Also, I think overall the theme did work.

I really wanted to love this book. These type of books are usually hit or miss for me and this one was a miss. I went into it hoping for some awesome witchy stories and sadly that just wasn't the case.

I was so excited to read Toil & Trouble because of the premise of strong female characters being witches. Despite there being several stories in this book, none of them appealed to me. Unfortunately, I might just not be a fan of short stories...it feels too rushed. Either way, I did appreciate that the author told stories of diverse characters.

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft is an anthology of short stories featuring witchy girls. Like Spotswood’s other anthologies, the fifteen tales span the ages, geography, and culture, and feature a wide range of diverse protagonists.

We featured this novel on the YA Cafe Podcast on August 30th. Check out our conversation for the following highlights:

*LGBTQ+ representation, including Anna-Marie Maclemore's awesome Love Spell
*A variety of in-depth sibling relationships, including Jessica Spotswood's short story.
*A wide cultural representation of witches

3.5 stars - This book had a very weak opening and I thought oh boy this whole book will be boring but it redeemed itself with a few good stories. Overall I’m not a huge fan of short stories but found some of the stories an entertaining read for the fall season.

Toil and Trouble is a book of mostly uniformly good stories that suffers from too many of said stories feeling too similar to one another. Perhaps this was inevitable. The anthology's theme, feminist YA stories about witchcraft, is narrow enough to invite certain very specific themes and writing styles. There are a lot of coming-of-age tales here. The vast majority (though not all) of these stories are urban fantasy. Most (though again, not all) seem to take place in the United States, though they present diverse perspectives in other ways, with a plethora of LGBTQ+ and POC characters. And story after story tackles some combination of the themes of family legacies, family trauma, family ties between women, romance, heartbreak, superstition, and the power to wield magic for good or evil.

In this context, many otherwise strong contemporary teen witch tales begin to blend into one another. "Starsong" by Tehlor Kay Mejia, "The Heart in Her Hands" by Tess Sharpe, "The Truth About Queenie" by Brandy Colbert, "Divine Are the Stars" by Zoraida Córdova, and "The Gherin Girls" by Emery Lord, are all stories that are strong enough in their own right, but the elements that mark them each out from the crowd are overwhelmed by the things they have in common.

I'd have included "The Legend of Stone Mary" by Robin Talley in that list, except that it actually stood out to me as a favorite, though I'm not certain why. It's actually a retro period piece, set in the 70s, about a girl whose family traces its lineage back to a witch with a tragic story who may have cursed the town. Although the truth about Mary Keegan's history may have been forgotten by many, her descendants are still outcasts in the community, and the statue that townsfolk once erected to appease her anger, now called "Stone Mary" still stands, and is a popular spot for teens to congregate. One year, young Wendy Keegan decides to go along to see Stone Mary on Halloween, and ends up confronting her family history in a properly spooky encounter that hit all the right notes for me.

The only author in this collection whose work I'd previously read was Anna-Marie McLemore. I love her novels, and was eager to see how her story, "Love Spell," would compare. It's one of the few stories in this book that don't take place in the U.S. (the location isn't specified, but it feels like Latin America), but it didn't leave as much of an impact for me as her novels have. McLemore's writing is lovely and heartfelt as always, but her usual themes, which she always handles so elegantly, are so run-of-the-mill for this particular collection that this story doesn't stand out in the crowd. It makes me really think that the editors have done these talented authors all a disservice by allowing so many of them to gravitate in the same general direction with the prompt. "Love Spell" also has some elements in common with McLemore's novel When the Moon Was Ours, so some of it felt like I'd already read this from her before as well.

For the most part, the stories that stood out to me, both for better and for worse, were the ones that diverged most strongly from the formula. An early favorite of mine was "Death in the Sawtooths" by Lindsay Smith. It stood out to me for having a protagonist who is a little older and looking back at the traumas of her magic school years, which is a perspective that I personally identify really strongly with at my age. Mattie's patron goddess is the Lady of Death, which made her an outcast at the Conservatory where she studied, socially shunned and denied privileges granted to her classmates. Now she practices her craft outside the Capitol, but is drawn back by a former nemesis to solve a dark, magical mystery. I really enjoyed the reconciliation arc between these two characters. It's not clear to me whether this is supposed to be a contemporary secondary urban fantasy world or some type of very magical alternate America, but whichever it is, it's obvious that the author knows a lot about this world and its magical practitioners, and I'd love to read a full novel about them.

Another standout that felt very unique to me was "The Moonaple Menagerie" by Shveta Thakrar. Though not much about the setting is specified, it's clearly contemporary, but steeped in South Asian mythology and folklore. We follow a coven of witches who are preparing to perform a magical play, which I loved, since portrayals of magic as connected to the arts is one of my favorite things in fantasy. Ultimately, it's a story about writer's block, sources of inspiration, and trusting your friends with your insecurities, and the lyrical writing gorgeously blurs the lines between fiction and reality.

The closest we get to fairy tale witches (which I am always looking out for, because fairy tales are my favorite) is "Daughters of Baba Yaga" by Brenna Yovanoff. This story was actually one of my favorites as well, but it's an urban fantasy about a teenage descendant of Russian immigrants to the U.S. revolving around high school drama, and isn't itself written as a fairy tale. The reference is to the type of justice that Baba Yaga metes out, not to the structures of the tales in which she appears. I had honestly been hoping for more fairy tales, and I was disappointed.

While there are a couple of historical stories in this collection, there aren't nearly as many of them as I would have expected given the long, complex history of beliefs surrounding witchcraft. "Afterbirth" by Andrea Cramer is the obligatory story of a midwife accused of witchcraft in 17th century New England, told from the perspective of her apprentice. The other obviously historical story is "The Well Witch" by Kate Hart, which is a western in which a young woman living alone in a house with a well that's a haven in the dry land is gradually forced into a horrific situation by a group of traveling men who impose on her hospitality. I'd venture that the progression of this story may be upsetting to some readers (it was a little to me).

One of the stories that puzzled me most was "Beware the Girls With Crooked Mouths" by Jessica Spotswood, because I couldn't for the life of me tell if it was supposed to be historical or not. It's a dark story about three sisters from a family of doomed witches and a turn their lives take as a result of a prophetic vision, and it seems to take place in some version of the real world, since Scotland in mentioned (though it doesn't take place there). There are high society ladies in corsets and gowns (so, historical?), but there's also a high profile arranged marriage engagement between two women (so, alternate history?) There just aren't enough information points to paint a picture of what I'm supposed to be imagining here, and it frustrated me.

The tone of these stories also occupies a fairly narrow range, from introspective, to inspirational, to angry. They are all, to the one, so utterly earnest. It's commendable, I suppose, seeing so many authors so intent on teaching their young readers profound lessons in a feminist anthology for teens, but I'd have done dark deeds for some comedic relief. I couldn't help but think that an adult anthology on the same theme wouldn't have been so restrained. Another thing I tend to enjoy about adult witch stories that I didn't see much of here is portrayals of women who are already comfortable and confident in their powers and abilities, whose skills are employed in a wide array of thematic scenarios. Many of these girls are on their way there, but for now they're still working on coming into their own.

In addition to "The Well Witch," I can see the content in a couple of the other stories in this collection being rough for some readers, specifically those that spotlight harrowing abuse at the hands of men. I'd include a content warning for rape for "The One Who Stayed" by Nova Ren Suma. It's told from the collective perspective of a group of witches in the woods as they prepare to welcome a potential new member, a girl who we learn is fleeing her assaulters in the immediate wake of an attack. The narrative device is interesting, and so is its presentation of witches as a secret society of survivors, but the story is one of the more skeletal ones, without a ton of detail.

The other story where witchcraft is a defense that women develop in the wake of abuse by men, as opposed to inheriting it from their families, is "Why They Watch Us Burn" by Elizabeth May, which is the final story in the collection. May paints a near-future dystopian scenario where women who are survivors of sexual assault are not only disbelieved when they accuse powerful men, but literally convicted of witchcraft themselves and either burned at the stake or sent to prison camps. I get why this is placed at the end. It's probably the angriest, and therefore one of the most powerful stories, but it also ended the book on a very dark note, and again left me feeling raw and upset. I wondered if the editors and author would have handled this grand finale a little differently if it had been written and published in the wake of the recent Supreme Court debacle in this country instead of before.

So in the end, while I preferred some of these stories over others, I don't think any of them are real duds, which is an outstanding achievement in its own right. So if the theme of this anthology interests you, by all means I'd recommend it. But I'd suggest taking it one or two stories at a time in order to fully appreciate them as opposed to binging it cover-to-cover, or you might wind up with contemporary teen witch fatigue, like I did.

Copy received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have admittedly never read a book of short stories before. When I first heard about Toil & Trouble, it was right around Halloween-- and what better time is there to read a collection about witches? I was hoping for stories about girls that are diverse and unique, and that's exactly what I got, which was a nice surprise.

I highly enjoyed every story, though the last one was my favorite by far. The order that the stories were put in were a good choice, since they seemed to get better as I progressed through the book (they also got lengthier, which was a good choice). Almost every story had LGBT representation-- which is so important-- and I loved the collection as a whole because of that. Also, a lot of the main characters were people of color, which seemed totally appropriate for these stories (in terms of different cultures having different myths about witches).

There were some short stories that I did not enjoy as much-- the first two stories comes to mind-- but Toil & Trouble gets better as you continue through it. I liked this book because most stories had an important message about feminism, accepting yourself, et cetera. We need more diverse (and actually enjoyable) collections like Toil & Trouble in the YA genre.

I really enjoyed reading these powerful, witchy stories! I love how each one was unique and about powerful Women! I don’t read many anthologies but I am glad I was able to read this one!

*I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Wow, what a great short story collection! I usually find that there's only one or two stories that I absolutely love, and the rest or either just okay or not for me. This collection was pure gold! Each follows a female witch in some form or fashion, and has a feminist bent to it. There are several LGBT and POC stories, which adds its appeal to a wider audience. The time periods vary as well. Sharpe and Spotswood's veteran knowledge when creating, editing and writing this type of book really shines through. Overall, my top three stories (after a lot of consideration) were "Afterbirth" by Andrea Cremer, "The Truth About Queenie" by Brandy Colbert, and "The Gherin Girls" by Emery Lord.

I recently worked my way through this anthology in the week leading up to today – Halloween! – so I thought it would be perfect to post it today. I’ve had the egalley for a while and mixed in the audiobook too. As usual with anthology reviews, you can see reviews for each story below, along with the cumulative star rating in the book info area above. The cumulative rating for the stories came to about 3.25 stars, so I decided to round up to 3.5 stars. I enjoyed this anthology overall more than my ratings may imply. There were a lot of great stories and it comes as no surprise to me that my favorites were more contemporary-oriented. It was harder for me to get into the historical ones or straight-up paranormal/fantasy. However, it’s nice that this feels super well-rounded! I think there’s a story in here for readers of all genres and types.

Starsong by Tehlor Kay Mejia
four-stars
This story was actually my first foray into bruja books. I’ve had some on my TBR but I don’t often read witchy books to begin with. I loved the main character, Luna, and her interest in (or abilities related to) astrology. The fact that her story/romance involved fighting with an astronomy enthusiast was awesome. Opposites attract, eh?

Afterbirth by Andrea Cremer
two-half-stars
Interesting and odd, but not for me I guess? I know it’s hard to do a lot in a short amount of pages but this one, unfortunately, felt a little pointless. There were strong religious tones and it was set way back in the 1800s (if I remember correctly), so it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I liked seeing a historical perspective of witchy things though! It was interesting while I was reading it but I definitely won’t remember it.

The Heart in Her Hands by Tess Sharpe
four-stars
This was pretty great. I loved the main character and how badass she was in just a short story! It amazes me in general the amount of “worldbuilding” Sharpe was able to do in that time frame as well. The whole concept of soulmates through witchy means was awesome. I was slightly confused in certain parts, especially toward the end, but I definitely liked it overall.

Death in the Sawtooths by Lindsay Smith
three-stars
Hmm not sure what to make of this one. I think this falls in the “should be a longer story/book” category. I wish there was more world building too. I finished reading this story earlier this morning (at the time of writing this review) and I think I remembered it the least.

The Truth About Queenie by Brandy Colbert
three-half-stars
This was really good for most of the story but gahhh the ending. I need more than that; I have so many questions and I’m bummed it didn’t end how I personally wanted it to lol. I liked the contemporary feel, unlike most of the earlier stories. The skateboarding stuff was pretty good but I’m super picky when skating is referenced in books lol.

The Moonapple Menagerie by Shveta Thakrar
three-half-stars
I loved the coven of girls here and the ending, but I think I got somewhat lost in the middle. (What else is new?) Without getting too spoilery, I liked the twists! The writing was quite nice and the characters had a lot of personality for being such a short story.

The Legend of Stone Mary by Robin Talley
four-stars
This one was short, straightforward, and kind of simple… but I liked that. It was a good story about forgiveness with a hint of witchiness. Stories involving some kind of bullying always make me sad but I think how everything came together made me feel better. This was a solid short story that genuinely didn’t need any more or less pages, which is hard to come by!

The One Who Stayed by Nova Ren Suma
four-stars
Sad and powerful. I liked the unique way it was written and the fact that it was purposefully vague, but you still knew what was going on. I would have liked a little bit more from it, maybe just in terms of added details and length? I’m curious about this author now; I’ve had books on my TBR but haven’t gotten to them yet.

Divine are the Stars by Zoraida Cordova
three-stars
Another one that confused me but I think it could be my fault; my mind was kind of elsewhere for some reason? Beautiful writing and a good message, I think. Strong messages about family – both good and bad people that you happen to be related to – with intriguing witch vibes.

Daughters of Baba Yaga by Brenna Yovanoff
three-half-stars
Very revenge-filled and badass. Maybe the gals were a bit on the “bad witch” side but I enjoyed that; some area of gray can be fun. On that end, I do also wish there was a little more relating to the title (Baba Yaga). The writing style was too choppy though and it made the story feel scattered when transitioning between scenes, but I enjoyed the plot!

The Well Witch by Kate Hart
one-half-stars
Maybe I’m an idiot but this was not witchy at all? I mean the title implies something, so I think I can see the witch-related part in hindsight, but I don’t know… I was intrigued by the first half and some of the potential romance but it went downhill quickly. The ending was not great and it deserved a better one.

Beware the Girls with Crooked Mouths by Jessica Spotswood
four-stars
This was fascinating and beautifully written! I could have gone for more pages, especially with the ending. Some stories in this collection could have used more pages in a bad way (the endings were abrupt and the stories didn’t have enough time to be fleshed out) and other stories could have used more pages in a good way (I loved them and wanted more!). This one falls somewhere right in between those two, but it’s probably one of my favorites in the collection still.

Love Spell by Anna-Marie McLemore
three-stars
Interesting! I knew this one would probably not be for me, with the religious aspects involved, but I think it exceeded my personal expectations. I can see why people love this author though, she has some seriously pretty writing! The writing style and concept definitely made it a solid read for me.

The Gherin Girls by Emery Lord
four-half-stars
Yes, of course I loved Emery Lord’s story. She’s the best. I loved these three sisters and their somewhat subtle powers. She really just knows how to write relationships, romantic or familial or friends. There were some heavier moments balanced in the relationship of these three sisters. Perfect.

Why they Watch Us Burn by Elizabeth May
four-half-stars
“There are too many people in this world that would rather see a woman burn than wield power.” This was the right story to end this collection, even if it was sad. Really powerful allegory for today’s society. I couldn’t tell fully when this book takes place, because it could honestly happen at any time. Again, that’s why I thought it was so appropriate and timeless.

This year I've been doing something I never do, which is to read books that fit the current season and one of the first one I decided to tackle this October was Toil & Trouble! I love reading about witches and magic because there are so many ways you can explore those topics, and this anthology provides a fun little diverse read.

Like all anthologies, this has some hits and misses in it, and since there are so many stories I'll only focus on those that stand out for whatever reason. The One Who Stayed by Nova Ren Suma, is true to her style and has that signature eerie yet almost ethereal style. I love how twisty her stories are and how even if you see the major twist coming she'll definitely get you with the delivery and unique character voices. Daughters of Baba Yaga by Brenna Yovanoff is a witchcraft that is on the edgier side with one openly larger than life character who can work over people in sly ways and one that is all teeth. I totally dig angry stories like this and it just worked. Death in the Sawtooths by Lindsay Smith is more of an urban fantasy type story and I would read the hell out of a longer series if it existed. It has a really cool magic system and a pretty stellar MC to follow. Only one of the stories included in this anthology fell below 3 stars, which was The Moonapple Menagerie by Shveta Thakror. It wasn't' bad per se, I just didn't mesh with it for some reason. I thought the imagery was great and I really loved the South-Asian influence on the story, but I just felt somewhat bored by the overall idea I suppose. 

Many of the other stories were enjoyable and fairly varied in nature too. There is plenty of romance to be had, a few that run on intense emotions, and some that dip into horror as well. In addition to that, there is some great diversity in terms of characters and cultures represented. There is some great LGBTQA representation (lesbian, bisexual, and trans to be exact), and some great racial diversity (latina, south Asian, black, & native American). 

Overall Toil & Trouble was a fun read with a great variety to choose from, and certainly more than a few authors I"m interested in checking out the backlists of.

If you go into this anthology thinking you'll be reading spooky witch stories, you're mistaken. This compilation of short stories offers so much more than that.

“There are too many people in this world who would rather see a woman burn than wield power.” - Why They Watch Us Burn by Elizabeth May

This book will empower you through the array of stories that feature women of different ethnicities, beliefs, and time periods. You may not love each story, but I can guarantee there will be one that speaks to you within these pages.

“If witchcraft is the voice of women rising free and powerful (to change the world, make it ours, on our feet instead of our knees) then I wish to be a witch more than anything.” - Why They Watch Us Burn by Elizabeth May

There were some fantastic witchy and feminist stories in this anthology. There were a couple that weren’t my favorite. I applaud the publisher for removing one authors story d/t sexual assault allegations. Female female relationships and witches....love. *ARC provided by NetGalley for review