I loved this collection of short stories. While some will stay with me more than others, there is a consistent high-level of quality across the anthology. Particular favorites include Jessica Spotwood's "Beware of Girl's with Crooked Mouths" and Tehlor Key Mejia's "Starsong." Perfect for fans of "Meet Cute" and other YA anthologies.

Oh My Word!! 15 stories all about witches?? Yes please!! I was excited to delve into this collection of stories all with witches as the main characters and I was not disappointed. The stories were varied, the writing great, the characters were amazing. I couldn’t wait to continue reading when I was doing mundane things like cooking and cleaning.
If you’re a fan of the supernatural, of witches, of good writing, snag this up at your earliest convenience, brew up your favorite beverage, magic in your favorite snack, and set yourself in a quiet corner to indulge in this book today.

A fantastic collection of stories from a vast array of voices. I really enjoyed the different perspectives in Toil and Trouble. As with other anthologies, I wish there were nonbinary voices. To my knowledge, there weren't any trans female voices, either. The description states, "witchy heroines who are diverse in race, class, sexuality, religion, geography, and era." Where are the gender-diverse witches? This is the future we need to think about for the teens who are seeking more gender representation.

I liked some of these stories, but found myself skimming too many of them to finish.

This is a marvelous and extremely varied anthology from some of today's best YA authors. The theme of witches unites the stories, but each author takes an extremely unique approach to the prompt. The stories are diverse not only in writing style, but also in race, class, sexuality, religion, geography, and era. I loved the majority of the stories, which is very rare when I am reading an anthology.

Toil and Trouble is a collection of stories about witches—tales of girls with powerful secrets, who are always on the fringes of society, whose lives are full of mystery and danger and beauty. And I am not exaggerating even a little bit when I say it’s one of the best anthologies I have ever read in my life.

There are so many different kinds of stories to be found in this book—there’s a mix of contemporary, historical, and fantasy settings, a varied blend of writing styles and themes. Out of fifteen total stories, I enjoyed twelve!! (which feels like a kind of record, because I’m picky as hell) And out of those twelve that I liked, I loved six with every fiber of my soul and I hope all of these strong and spooky girls know that they each have a very personal place in my heart.

I’m going to rate each story individually, and I’ll note the diverse rep and any content warnings for each one.

“Starsong” by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Rating: 5 stars
Rep: Latinx mc, f/f
A Latina witch who can read people’s futures in the stars gets into an online debate with another girl who’s an aspiring astronomer. Flirting ensues. This was such a sweet and beautiful story and I WANT THIS AS A FULL NOVEL PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!! I’m also so, SO excited for Mejia’s debut novel now!!!

“Afterbirth” by Andrea Cremer
Rating: 3.5 stars
A midwife’s apprentice in colonial New England witnesses her mentor's trial for witchcraft. This was cool but just a little confusing, and I kind of wish it had more of a focus on their actual magic than just the trial.

“The Heart in Her Hands” by Tess Sharpe
Rating: 5 stars
Rep: f/f
Healer witch Bette finally meets the boy who’s meant to be her soulmate. The only problem? She couldn’t care less about him, and is determined to defy fate and fight for a future with Augusta—her childhood best friend and girlfriend. I absolutely LOVE that this subverts the “everyone has one (1) soulmate” trope, and basically implies that this is a dumb and largely heteronormative concept collectively imposed on society.

“Death in the Sawtooths” by Lindsay Smith
Rating: 2.5 stars.
This felt like a really confusing mashup of contemporary and high fantasy. I’m still not very sure what the deal was with the worldbuilding. It had something to do with priestesses and goddesses? And the main character works with the death goddess so people are suspicious of her when someone starts working this weird kind of necromancy? There were some good ideas in here but it just felt rushed and confusing.

“The Truth About Queenie” by Brandy Colbert
Rating: 2.5 stars
Rep: all black characters
This one is about a girl from a family of black witches in California, but it’s much more focused on romantic drama than magic?? I liked Queenie’s family, but I didn’t care about the whole love triangle dynamic very much, and unfortunately that was 90% of the story.

“The Moonapple Menagerie” by Shveta Thakrar
Rating: none (DNF)
Rep: South Asian mc
A storytelling witch and her friends are trying to put on a play, but she's forced to make a deal with a mysterious creature in order to get over her writer’s block and finish the script. I reeeallly couldn’t get into this one and ended up DNFing after five pages or so. The writing felt a bit more juvenile and sort of like it was meant for a middle grade audience……which might be fine for some people, it’s just not really my thing.

“The Legend of Stone Mary” by Robin Talley
Rating: 3.5 stars
Rep: f/f
A girl whose ancestor laid a curse on her town has to confront her family’s dark legacy. This was cool! Very small-town sapphic mystery-ish. I just wish it had been a bit longer. The concept had a lot of potential, but it felt sort of underdeveloped.

“The One Who Stayed” by Nova Ren Suma
Rating: 5 stars
CW: rape
Oh. My. God. I don’t really want to explain the plot, because it’s pretty short and I feel like it’s best to just experience this story. This was heartbreaking and intense and cathartic and I honestly had chills the entire time. (Please take care while reading, though, because this one does center around sexual assault and a specific instance of rape.)

“Divine Are the Stars” by Zoraida Córdova
Rating: 5 stars
Rep: all Latinx characters
A girl from a family of Latinx witches returns to their ranch when she hears that her grandmother is dying. This is so beautiful and full of magical realism, with a strong focus on family and heritage. All of the imagery and emotions of it are absolutely gorgeous, and I seriously can’t wait to read more of her books!

“Daughters of Baba Yaga” by Brenna Yovanoff
Rating: 4 stars
Rep: Polish MC
CW: gore
I don’t know exactly how to summarize this one?? Plotwise, it’s about this Polish-American girl who teams up with one of her friends to use her magic to exact justice in her high school, but that description feels lame and incomplete. It’s kind of weird and gruesome, and touches on issues of feminism, generational trauma, and immigrant identities. This was also an interesting read for me because it’s actually the first time I’ve read about a character who actually has the same religion as me! It’s only a tiny part of the story—and not precisely the same bc my family is specifically Greek Orthodox—but I appreciated the little details connected to Eastern Orthodox culture and religion!

“The Well Witch” by Kate Hart
Rating: 4 stars
Rep: half Native American MC
CW: racism, animal death
A water witch living on the prairie in 1870s Texas finds her way of life threatened when three strangers arrive on her doorstep. This one has a kind of old Western movie vibe, which I didn’t expect to like very much…but it was really interesting and compelling? It was a bit on the longer side and felt like it dragged a bit towards the end, but overall I enjoyed it!

“Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths” by Jessica Spotswood
Rating: 4 stars
Rep: sapphic minor character
CW: mentions of suicide
This story is centered around a family of witches who bear an ominous curse—out of each generation, only one family member will survive to old age. Jo, the oldest of three sisters, has a vision of her future that may allow her to save her siblings, but she’ll have to betray them first. I have mixed feelings about this one, because IMO it was just too big of an idea for a short story. I really liked it, but I felt like I was reading an excerpt of a longer piece……so it just seemed kinda incomplete? I did love that it was a historical-y setting and not at all heteronormative, though!

“Love Spell” by Anna-Marie McLemore
Rating: 4 stars
Rep: all Latinx characters, trans boy love interest
A bruja whose family is known for curing lovesickness begins her own forbidden romance. This was sweet, and obviously it’s Anna-Marie McLemore so the writing was absolutely stunning, but I kind of wanted more? The ending was a little too abrupt for me.

“The Gherin Girls” by Emery Lord
Rating: 5 stars
Rep: two sapphic main characters
CW: abuse
This is a very character-centric story—it’s about three sisters with magical talents in a small town in Wyoming, and their solidarity and closeness as one sister recovers from an abusive relationship. It’s very quiet, and I genuinely Felt Things about these girls and how much they care about each other!!

“Why They Watch Us Burn” by Elizabeth May
Rating: 5 stars
Rep:f/f, trans side character, South Asian love interest
CW: sexual assault
This is.....so hard to describe or categorize. All I can really say is that it's about internalized misogyny and rape culture, and reflects specifically on how organized Christianity is often used to enforce them. It's smart and brutal, but at the same time it's also about found family and a really soft f/f relationship!!

Overall, this was one HELL of an anthology!!! Like I said, I really do recommend this in its entirety, but I especially Stan™️ The One Who Stayed, Starsong, The Heart in Her Hands, The Gherin Girls, Divine Are the Stars, and Why They Watch Us Burn!! Those stories in particular are absolutely stunning and I am o b s e s s e d.

Short story collections can be a bit of a gamble with a few bright stars amongst the dark, however Toil & Trouble was enchanting from the very first story until the last. Even though the theme is rather narrow the interpretations of the theme were numerous. The authors created stories of heartbreak, friendship, happiness, all while handling the concept of otherness in meaningful ways.

For lack of a better word, this collection is a rainbow of magic from star charts, to elemental magic, to herbs, and curses. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a bit of sorcery or just needs a little bit of magic in their lives.

Starsong, Love Spell, and The Well Witch stood out to me as my favorites. The characters created in all the 15 stories were worth knowing. They feel like your sisters, your mothers, your friends, yourself. This is a book that will speak to all of the witches (and some warlocks too)

This swell little anthology edited by Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe includes 16 “tales” of girls and women who celebrate (or try to conceal) the special powers they have claimed. They are witches - the Instagram star who star gazes, the midwife’s apprentice, the water diviner living in her own private oasis in the desert - and each must follow her own instincts in order to make her way in the world. Most of these stories are uncompromisingly feminist and celebrate the love of and in many cases for other women.

While the title gives a little wink toward the stereotype of the crone, most of the stars of these stories are young. Several tales are historical fiction, some lean toward fantasy, and others are modern tales, featuring characters of color and of differing cultures. Like in a lot of YA, these characters are coming of age. They are discovering themselves. They are falling in love. They are coming into power. The fun part is finding out just what powers they hold.

Standouts from this collection include Starsong by Tehlor Kay Mejia, The Truth About Queenie by Brandy Colbert, and The Well Witch by Kate Hart, but each of these stories offers the curious perspective of a woman making her way in a world that may or may not embrace what she brings along with her. These timely themes and compelling characters will likely attract an audience of readers who wonder a little about their own powers, their own strengths.

I love witches, so I was really excited for this book! Like all anthologies, there were some stories I loved and some I didn't. Other than a couple of outliers, the stories were all well written and unique in their own way. Witchcraft is addressed throughout the ages from a modern witch dealing with trolls online, to a Quaker witch, to a woman in a dystopian future similar to a Handmaid's Tale. The diversity of the characters was amazing! Nearly every story featured someone who was trans, lesbian, non-binary, Latina, Indian, SO MUCH DIVERSITY! I loved it and it is exactly what YA needs. Strong women of color who aren't straight. I will definitely be buying this book for my library and recommending it to teens. The only reason I gave it 4/5 stars is because a couple of the stories were just not interesting and were forgettable.

I was excited starting this witchy anthology. Like with all collections, some of the stories were stronger than others. Four of them particularly stood out to me as being phenomenal; The Heart in her Hands by Tess Sharpe, The Legend of Stone Mary by Robin Talley, The One Who Stayed by Nova Ren Suma, and Why They Watch Us Burn by Elizabeth May. These stories are worth picking up a copy of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this ebook!

Toil & Trouble by Jessica Sharpe, available from Harlequin Teen August 28, 2018.

Toil & Trouble introduces us to 15 young women just coming in to their magical powers. From love spells and healing hands to magical spells that write plays, this collection tells the stories of strong and powerful young women. Covering different time periods and locations, the different stories in Toil & Trouble are both unique and unified.
We meet Esperanza, a fashion icon who uses her social media prowess to spread her gift of astrology who finds her scientist soulmate during an online debate. Deliverance Pond, a midwife in the 1600’s who witnesses an extraordinary birth. Mattie, a Priestess who uses her gift to solve a mystical crime. Our young and powerful witches use their gifts to empower, heal, and protect.
Consent, domestic abuse, sexual identity, family, school, boyfriends, girlfriends, best friends, body image-it’s all in here. Each story was powerful and engaging and I was unable to put it down. Excellent collection!

Full review can be found at www.sevenacrebooks.com on publication day!

I found a lot of the stories to be very childish, or "trying to hard" as it were. Some of them I started to read, then honestly just skimmed over them, to at least have my eyes pass over the words. There were about three stories I did like, but that wouldn't be enough for me to actually go out and buy this sucker.

Regardless, I do have friends that asked what I thought, and they've decided to seek it out when it gets released (there's not enough LGBT representation out there, in the mainstream, that's for sure, so it may do well for that alone) so it's not all bad. Just not my cup of tea.

I was really excited to get to read this book early. I was a bit disappointed in it though. I'm not use to short stories/anthologies so most of these stories seemed unfinished to me. I think that the book has good witch stories and stories that show female power. It was still lacking something for me though.

Teenage witchy perfection. I excitedly re-read my favorites.

Some of these stories are absolutely wonderful. Others are great. Collectively, they're a treat!

A cauldron bubbles, incantations are chanted, and another ingredient is added to the potion: these stories of women from past and present and the trials of being out of the ordinary. Toil & Trouble is a spell-binding collection for fierce teens and twenty-somethings alike.

Love collections for when you don't have a lot of time to sit and read and this one has witches, one of my favorites. Fun read that I didn't want to put down. Will be checking out more from many of the authors as well.

I tried really hard not to read this all in one setting but, it's that good! Really can't wait for everybody to finally read this. It has: WITCHES!, diversity, and gay representation, and characters you will ultimately fall for and think are precious cinnamon rolls.

I don't often read story collections, but as soon as I saw this one, I knew I wanted to give it a try. As it often the case with anthologies, I enjoyed some stories better than others, but on the whole, it was an enjoyable read:-)