The Year of the Witching

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because yes, the prophet’s son, indoctrinated from birth by the most evil misogynist in the history of bethel’s religion is of course The Wokest Man in Town™ on a mission to save The Women. i mean, to support immanuelle to save the women. and he likes her because she can read and she wants to fight the witches’ curse. we love an independent woman! true evil, immanuelle realized now, wore the skin of good men.”so what happens when immanuelle is faced with the prophet himself, fully aware of his crimes and how consciously he has committed them? how does she deal with a tyrannical, virulent, and violent abuser; a rapist, a pedophile, and a murderer? The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Henderson, Alexis. The Year of the Witching. ACE, 2020. Kindle.

ETA: I'm changing the rating I gave this book from a 3 to at least a 4 because I just can't get it out of my head. A dark, dramatic tale of oppression and rebellion, ideology and morality, with a complicated, appealing protagonist caught in a Handmaid's Tale nightmare . . . a fine addition to the body of feminist fantasy works, a great read. LOUISA MORGAN, author of The Age of Witches Ezra is the character I assumed would be a predictable “bad boy” love interest, however I was fortunately wrong and there’s a lot of depth to his character. There’s an emphasis on his family, his religion and his relationships with multiple people on top of Immanuelle which I thought added to the storyline really well. A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut. 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

Born on the fringes of Bethel, Immanuelle does her best to obey the Church and follow Holy Protocol. For it was in Bethel that the first Prophet pursued and killed four powerful witches, and so cleansed the land. This book will haunt your dreams.”—Christina Henry, National Bestselling author of Aliceand The Ghost Tree Intrigued by the journal, Immanuelle becomes focused on discovering the truth behind her mother's life. The more she digs, however, the more she stands apart from the rest of her society. It becomes clear that the history of Bethel isn't as clear-cut as the leaders try to make it. The novel is broken up into five sections and is narrated in the third-person past with a focus on Immanuelle. In “Beast,” the midwife, Martha, delivered her daughter’s child. When the baby was born, Martha said that her name was to be Immanuelle. This pleased the dying mother, who said the curse the witch in the woods had told her about was nearly complete.

Fascinated by and fearful of the secrets the diary reveals, Immanuelle begins to understand why her mother once consorted with witches. And as the truth about the Prophets, the Church and their history is revealed, so Immanuelle understands what must be done. For the real threat to Bethel is its own darkness.Immanuelle is an outsider amongst the group. She is accepted for the most part, but no one is really warm and fuzzy towards her. 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. While these arguments are certainly necessary to the plot, it felt as though there were times when Henderson was unsure how to end them. This does not hurt the story, but it does feel as though it trips over its own feet here and there. My rating is purely selfish (driven by my love for Ezra 🙈). The last 30% was nail bitingly intense. The fate of our characters hanged in the balance. I was ready to raise hell and make sure the rating would suffer just as much if anything were to happen to him. Immanuelle tries to follow holy protocol and confess all her sins, however, she is lured into the forbidden Darkwood where she is gifted a diary from the woods inhabitants. This diary is written by her long deceased mother and immanuelle is fascinated but also frightful of the confessions of her mother and her consort with the witches.