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soobooksalot's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ahh, a book that makes you want to drink dirty martinis!
The Witches Of Moonshyne Manor brought the fun to my Spooky Season reads!
But even more than that, author Bianca Marais wove in issues I wasn't expecting. And they worked beautifully - gender identity and expression, aging, dementia, feminism (a dog named for RBG!), sexual expression, and holding on to what's theirs.
I completely enjoyed the writing style, the atmosphere, the characters (eight witches, introduced at the beginning so we can refer until we're used to who's who) and the recipes for potions, spells and bevvies!
Simply put, this is a treat of a read - no tricks! Recommended.
The Witches Of Moonshyne Manor brought the fun to my Spooky Season reads!
But even more than that, author Bianca Marais wove in issues I wasn't expecting. And they worked beautifully - gender identity and expression, aging, dementia, feminism (a dog named for RBG!), sexual expression, and holding on to what's theirs.
I completely enjoyed the writing style, the atmosphere, the characters (eight witches, introduced at the beginning so we can refer until we're used to who's who) and the recipes for potions, spells and bevvies!
Simply put, this is a treat of a read - no tricks! Recommended.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Dementia, and Alcohol
bookforthought's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor was the perfect read to transition from summer to autumn, with its witchy vibes, delightful characters, and a healthy dose of patriarchy smashing!
I have to admit, it took me a while to fully get into this as we are plunged into Moonshyne Manor in the midst of a crisis, meeting (almost) all the sisterhood members in close succession. I needed a few beats to remember who was who, but once I did, I soon became really attached to them. I loved how each witch had a special talent and an affinity for a different type of magic (plants, animals, inventions, seduction…) and how different all their personalities were.
It also quickly became clear that there was more, much more, lurking beneath the surface, with multiple risks for the sisterhood and old secrets coming to light. The author did an excellent job of spreading the clues around for me to pick up like tiny breadcrumbs drawing the trail to that beautiful ending. There were quite a few things I hadn’t seen coming, so I was very pleasantly surprised, but also kept wanting to read to finally understand how all the pieces fit together.
The alternating POVs worked really well to help me see things from the different sisters’ perspectives, and I liked how smoothly it all flowed: even though at times the writing was slightly repetitive, these sections were never prevalent and were improved by developments further down the line.
This book was so many things! It combines some of my favourite things, like witches, heists and secrets, as well as some tropes I love such as found family. It also tackles a wide range of themes, like ageing and the relationship between older and younger generations; the importance of friendships and family; love and forgiveness; and, above all, sisterhood. Mix them all together, sprinkle in a good dose of humour and magic, and you have a great, heartwarming, autumnal witchy read!
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this book as part of the blog tour organised by Random Things Tours and Harper360. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Transphobia, and Police brutality
Moderate: Dementia and Grief
Minor: Death
amandalorianxo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a great modern day witch story centered around a group of women in their late 70’s / early 80’s. This story is more than just about a group of women who are behind on their mortgage payments. This revolves around sisterhood, abandonment, death, ageism, sexism, tinges of racism, gender identity and sexual identity as well. This does sometimes felt a little too “woke” when it came to dialogue / certain scenarios when Persephone is brought into the story (the teenager who immerses herself with this group.) I’m glad Ursula is not painted as someone who needed to be redeemed too. But a good palette cleanser if you don’t want anything to horrifying but still in the spooky / witchy realm
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Alcohol
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor is delightfully satisfying and subversive, ideal for when you want to see the patriarchy get what it deserves. The plot involves men named Cotton Mather, Will Stoughton and John Hathorne (recognise those names from your history class on the Salem Witch Trials?) trying to illegally seize the home of six eighty year old witches who are in the gin distilling business, and turn it into a theme park called Men’s World. In other words don’t go into this book looking for subtlety and nuance. That’s very much not the point.
I love a positive depiction of older women and these six are total badasses, the sort of woman I want to be when I grow up. I love their sense of sisterhood and the way they began to mentor the younger generation. There are some serious threads woven into this book including dementia and the trans journey of one witch. But these are balanced by elements of pure fun, like a magical heist and a flaming spectacular variation of billiards.
If the rise of anti-woman ideas and policies has you fuming this story will be a welcome catharsis. Read it. And then join Ursula, Queenie, Ivy, Ruby, Jezebel, Tabitha and Persephone by doing your bit to dismantle the patriarchy.
I love a positive depiction of older women and these six are total badasses, the sort of woman I want to be when I grow up. I love their sense of sisterhood and the way they began to mentor the younger generation. There are some serious threads woven into this book including dementia and the trans journey of one witch. But these are balanced by elements of pure fun, like a magical heist and a flaming spectacular variation of billiards.
If the rise of anti-woman ideas and policies has you fuming this story will be a welcome catharsis. Read it. And then join Ursula, Queenie, Ivy, Ruby, Jezebel, Tabitha and Persephone by doing your bit to dismantle the patriarchy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Dementia
Moderate: Transphobia
onmalsshelf's review against another edition
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I’m a bit stuck on how to rate this considering I almost DNF’d it 5 times.
After loving the feminist, witchy book The Change early on in 2022, I was excited to pick up this octogenarian take on witches. Sadly, it wasn’t a winner for me.
I do like that Bianca made a departure from her previous writing projects as each author deserves to flex their skills in different ways.
So many POV changes that all occurred on the same day that made this a bit muddled. I think that the constant POV changes were not needed and that this could’ve been a little shorter. For how long this was, it took too long for the plot to pick up and come together.
Additionally, I’m a bit unsure on how to feel about the play on dementia/Alzheimers here.
After loving the feminist, witchy book The Change early on in 2022, I was excited to pick up this octogenarian take on witches. Sadly, it wasn’t a winner for me.
I do like that Bianca made a departure from her previous writing projects as each author deserves to flex their skills in different ways.
So many POV changes that all occurred on the same day that made this a bit muddled. I think that the constant POV changes were not needed and that this could’ve been a little shorter. For how long this was, it took too long for the plot to pick up and come together.
Additionally, I’m a bit unsure on how to feel about the play on dementia/Alzheimers here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
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