The premise of this got me so excited but I was so disappointed that it didn’t hook me at all. Perhaps I went in with too high expectation, however I despised to DNF as it put me into a bit of a slump and never had to urge to keep going. I couldn’t connect with the characters and was struggling to decipher who was who when talking. Thank you to NetGalley for the arc, it’s a shame it wasn’t for me however I am grateful for the opportunity to give this one a go.

I REALLY wanted to like this book, but ultimately I put it down more times than I actually read it. The scenario felt forced and there were too many characters that I couldn't keep them straight (pun intended). I felt like I was working too hard to understand all of the plot lines. I love all of the ingredients, so maybe I will try again another time, but it wasn't for me.

As a younger lesbian, I fell in love with [book:The Hadra|2679310] so was up for revisiting a book about lesbians using their power. However, A Circle Outside is about a whiny group of 1980s lesbian witches who share-house with the same difficulties faced by other group of women who live with and have sex with each other: "But don't say the lesbian community is incestuous. There's nothing wrong with women coming together and acting on their lust."

The supposedly revolutionary part of this group's practice is that this coven massages the whole body of their members on their ritual days, including genitals: "each of the Elements freely massaged their Fire women, never avoiding her breasts and vulva as massages did in Patriarchy." A coven that plays together stays together apparently...

However, as you might expect from the time period where in lesbian space projects toppled over the inclusion or exclusion of trans women, separatism rears its ugly head: "They must be talking about separatism again. Women got so political about it. Why think about men when you're on women's land?" You'll even get tired of hearing about the patriarchy (it's laboured) including the internalised patriarchy women bring into women's spaces. Maybe deciding wanting a tractor as patriarchal was a bridge too far...

The writing is pedestrian. Too many characters are introduced in one big swathe so you're constantly trying to remember who's had sex with who, and who's wearing the ridiculous ears. This impacts character development. I spent most of the novel finding Wren, the lead protagonist, annoying: "Wren never made art that challenged anyone. She thought living as a lesbian witch was enough." Wren thrusts herself onto flatmates who are not attracted to her: "Wren, you keep inviting me to do things I can't. It hurts both of us to tell you no all the time." Her flatmates are gentle about it, but do point out the way she is attracted only to women who are emotionally unavailable. It's manipulative, and I hated the ending as a result. We shouldn't reward coerced sex, even on the astral plane.

The author writes in the acknowledgements that this is an 'psychedelic lesbian feminist pagan utopia novel', and that is exactly how I would describe this book. I just felt that it dragged for too long, with too many conversations between the girls and not enough 'psychedelic' vibes for my taste. Contrary to other reviewers I didn't have any problems connecting with the characters or remembering who they were (although I did write notes in a piece of paper in the begining, but I do that all the time). I felt it was an okay book and I had fun while I read it. Also, justice for Wren and Robin was a bit of a POS.

The premise of this book sounded so interesting but I did not like any of the characters; they all seemed to speak on witchy things like an early 2010's indie film. The writing style of the author was intriguing and honestly kept my attention, but the no plot and dialogue was just not for me.

Alright, thank you so much to netgalley for this arc.
This book wasn't as good as it sounded, in fact It wasn't good at all. The writing was shallow and honest very annoying, it had a lot of potential but it threw it away. It just was objectively not that good to me.

This reads like a badly written and developed fanfiction - no descriptions whatsoever, most of the novel seems to be boring dialogue, the writing about feelings and motives feels like that of a third grade student. The premise was highly intriguing - lesbian feminist witches, i was so excited to love this novel - but the execution is extremely and insurmountably lacking.

A fast and fascinating read. I've recently become interested in the history of separatism and the women's land movement in the US (with its many issues, including transphobia and the predominance of white, middle-class women in these groups), so I was already curious about the world of this story. I feel that the writer draws you in very quickly, establishing and explaining the structure of this alternative community while also engaging you with the characters' personal stories and journeys. I found Wren's relationship with her mother and subsequent romantic connections especially interesting.

DNF

I just couldn't get into this one. I had to fight to pay attention and eventually i had to just admit defeat. I don't know if it was the writing style, the story or what but it clearly just wasn't for me.

DNF unfortunately, really disappointed. I wanted haunting and heartfelt, but got melodrama and missed potential. This book was a big disappointment for me. What promised to be a fun yet emotional exploration of feminism and gay witches (!!?!) ended up feeling forced and, frankly, a bit cheesy. It was hard to take the story seriously. I kept hoping it would turn a corner, but it never did…

I dnf'd this book. It was all over the place. The premise sounded amazing. A group of lesbian witches all living together??? But I was bored and confused rather quickly....

thank you so much netgalley, linda rosewood and beread ltd. for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ♡

i have never dnf'd an ARC before as i usually like to come to a final conclusion knowing i gave the author and proof an entire chance to prove themselves, but i really struggled with this. definitely needs more time and editing!

i was initially really drawn in by the cover art and the concept - i love queer reads and witchy vibes, but the structure and the writing are very chaotic and clunky. i had a really difficult time finding the entertainment/enjoyment due to how hard i was working to read it.

the eARC formatting quality also didn't help the overall reading experience - the chapters and sentences got broken up and spaced out a little strange.

key points to highlight:
- couldn't connect with the setting or the characters (confusing and flat)
- too much over explaining that broke the 4th wall for me
- it seemed like most areas for this were underdeveloped and the author was trying to figure it out as they wrote (needs more depth and grounding)

DNF'D 23%

this needs more editing. Pull this back and put some love into these characters... a group / coven of lesbian Witches buy a house and try to fix it up. The banter never stopped, I personally don't need a plot- but holy heck nothing happened except not funny banter from some 30something year old women. I had to stop because trying to keep each character straight in my head was giving me a migraine.

I loved the premise but I had a hard time keeping the characters straight or connecting with them. I think I needed a little more depth.

This book just was not for me I’m not sure if it was the setting but I just couldn’t connect with what I was reading I hope it does well

A Circle Outside was not for me. I was excited to read about a feminist coven and was hoping that this book would explore the different dynamics within the friendships of the members. I think, unfortunately, there were too many main characters and that because of that, the author wasn't able to develop them fully. I remember feeling quite overwhelmed trying to keep track of who was who at the beginning of the novel since so many characters were introduced at the same time.
While I enjoyed reading it more as I went along, I didn't really connect with the writing. It felt quite stiff at times.

While this one wasn't my cup of tea, if you enjoy feminist, queer or witchy elements in your books, it might be your perfect read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lightning Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was not for me. I wanted to read a book about lesbian witches akin to Juno Dawson's magnificent HMRC series, but the witch side of things was very much about taking drugs and arguing about goddesses and everything else was about the politics of setting up a commune and how patriarchal tractors are. The characters were not well realised or particularly sympathetic. The dialogue was stilted and the plot was unsatisfying.

They say never judge a book by it's cover, but I picked this up because the cover design caught my eye and the blurb sounded good fun! I often enjoy magical themes, and love when there's some feminism and queerness entwined into a story, but despite persisting to the end with this, it just didn't work for me personally. I found the majority of the characters abrasive and lacking depth, and a good amount of magical elements were confusing, I don't think the world building went deep enough for me to understand it/or invest in the story. It did pick up towards the end, but this one just wasn't for me. I re-read the blurb after finishing this to see what I might have misinterpreted, as it was darker, more fantastical, and not as comedic as I was expecting, but it is a fair description, probably just not to my taste. It's definitely subversive, and if you enjoy messy characters with feminist narratives (with a good smattering of sapphic sex thrown in) A Circle Outside might be for you!

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.