Review: Toil & Trouble Edited by Tess Sharpe & Jessica Spotswood

Anthology

Format: ebook

Rating: 3 Stars

How I Got It: NetGalley

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Supernatural

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations.

Bold. Powerful. Rebellious.

A bruja’s traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch’s healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane.

From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women’s rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored. 

Review

***I received this book via NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

I was pretty excited about this collection. I have liked Jessica Spotswood's Cahill Witch Chronicles and there aren't a lot of witch books/stores out there. But I ended up rather disappointed.

Short stories are incredibly hard to write, in my opinion. It is a particular skill set which not all authors have. I have not read most of these authors longer works so I can't speak to their writing more broadly. 

A lot of the stories came across as pushing an agenda. I'm not offended by the content, but it is annoying to me when things feel forced. I think it's like when a major issue/event happens and then popular shows need to have a similar story line to "address" it. You can do a PSA without feeling like a PSA. 

There were a few stories I did enjoy reading. Jessica Spotswood's and "Death in the Saw Tooths"-sorry I can't remember the author's name-were both interesting. And they made me want to read more like a full length novel of those stories.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this, but I don't want to just dismiss it. One of the things about an anthology is that it exposes you to a large amount of authors/stories. Most likely you'll find something you like and maybe you'll find a new favorite author.

Thanks for reading!

Holly