A review by ali_jenna
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Jessica Spotswood, Tess Sharpe

4.0

This is a great book. Read it.

Here is my personal ranking of them
1. Why They Watch Us Burn - Elizabeth May
powerful, well-written, this could have been a full book
2. Daughters of Baba Yaga - Brenna Yovanoff
cute but fierce
3. Death in the Sawtooths - Lindsay Smith
im really not sure why i liked this one so much i just did, it probably wasnt the best but i liked it
4. The Legend of Stone Mary - Robin Talley
mysterious and cool but then the ending was a bit odd
5. Love Spell - Anna-Marie McLemore
cool fairytale-esque style and fun magical realism
6. Afterbirth - Andrea Cremer
just overall well done
7. The One Who Stayed - Nova Ren Suma
very very sad, cool and dark, its a bit confusing until you get to the end and youre like damn
8. Starsong - Tehlor Kay Mejia
cute
9. The Gherin Girls - Emery Lord
nice story, this one is much longer than the other ones, i was a bit confused with the character dynamics
10. The Heart in Her Hands - Tess Sharpe
actually pretty good, but a bit cliché or something
11. Divine are the Stars - Zoraida Córdova
i was confused but i liked it anyway
12. The Truth About Queenie - Brandy Colbert
honestly just kinda boring
13. Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths - Jessica Spotswood
i didn't care enough about the characters it was just weird
14. The Well Witch
it was just gross, sorry, it was good, but just too much
15. Moonapple Menagerie - Shveta Thankrar
this story is on crack i don't know what happened it was so confusing

okay just read it.

almost all of the stories are very good
the whole book is about womens rights
many of the protagonists are of color
most of the protagonists are lesbian

great for we need diverse books


also magic. magic is cool