The Year of the Witching

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She gets her dead mother's journal from one of those witches and learns that her little town is in for a hot mess. She starts kinda poking around and realizes that she might have to be the one to save the town. I do not know if I would bother because to be honest...the town is full of turds and a crazy ass preacher man. Content Warnings: Sexual assault / rape of a minor, blood, gore, animal death, childbirth, death during childbirth, body horror, menstruation

It’s been a minute since Stephen King put out a short story anthology. But in 2024 a new one containing some original works is getting published just in time for summer. Even the book title “ You Like It Darker,”suggests the author is giving readers something more. This book is not a fast paced book (hence the small deduction in rating). I also hoped that the ending would give me more “silent Hill” (the movie) than the ending that actually happened, but it was still good. This was slow-paced but alluring with its dark themes. Immanuelle Moore kept her silence for years, trying to stay head above the water, living at the outskirts with her disgraced family because her mother’s disobedience ruined their family name, suffering from poverty, obeying the rules of their community. Prophet’s each word is the law because he’s holly man even though he is the pure definition of sexual predator seduces under aged girls and having a heavenly polygamous marriage life (Prophet reminds of a mean and ruthless cult leader but as the society keeps the silence and obeys the rules nothing can go wrong!?) This novel is a gripping work of fiction that deserves a place on every horror reader’s bookshelf. It isn’t only the writing, however, that sets it apart. It is the subject matter itself. The prophet….man I hated that man with every fiber of my being. When a society or a community perceives one as the leader, how far are they manipulated into thinking that he’s allowed to do wrong with no consequences? Abuse of power was a heavy theme in this one and it really did hurt to read. How does Bethel expose the hypocrisy of the prophet and all who stand by him?This book will haunt your dreams.”—Christina Henry, National Bestselling author of Aliceand The Ghost Tree

As those four phases start to occur, Immanuelle tries to find a way to save the society even though it may coast her own life but what if her sacrifice doesn’t change anything? What if the government system they accepted and the holly rules declared by their Prophet were corrupted, distorted and unhealthy for those women’s lives who have been massacred without fair judgment. Sometimes to build something new, you need to tear down everything apart! A haunting, unique read I couldn’t put down—a story that cuts to the heart.”—Tamora Pierce, #1 New York Timesbestselling author of Tempests and Slaughter Slow burn horror crossed with a powerfully feminist coming-of-age novel . . . this book will haunt your dreams. CHRISTINA HENRY, author of The Lost Boy 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.Dude who makes most of the plot happen in this feminist novel. LOTS of people complained about Ezra on my Goodreads updates for this book, and I think I’m going to disappoint some of you by saying that there’s nothing especially awful about him as a character personality-wise because, as with most characters in this book, I never got a really strong sense of his personality. I mostly just take issue with his role in the story instead. Bone-chilling and breathtakingly beautiful…storytelling at its finest." – Rena Barron, author of Kingdom of Souls I received an Advanced Readers Copy from Edelweiss and Ace in exchange for an honest review. All opinions included herein are my own. The Year of the Witchingtells a universal, timeless story about women's power.” – O, The Oprah Magazine

This is a fantasy that’s different than most others I’ve read in the genre. It’s definitely an adult fantasy, so keep that in mind when making comparisons, but I feel like it still had a differing tone. Much of the plot moves like historical fiction, likely based on a specific historical time period (I am bad at identifying stuff like this), even though this world is an invented one. The inhabitants of Bethel are terrified of all things magical and actively shun it. So the only time that Immanuelle is able to access magic is primarily when she ventures outside of her community. As a result, I think many of the non-magic portions of the book felt slower comparatively, which led to an uneven pacing at times. The imagery of this book was amazing!!! I could literally picture everything, as dark and disturbing as they were, in my head. As much as I loved it, it felt like Henderson focused more on this aspect than giving us more in the plot. The story was amazing, but I just needed MORE. I can’t explain it exactly, just know that I needed MORE.

in terms of atmospheric set dressing and imagery, this book is a delight; dark and brooding and dangerous. lots of blood, violence, and other disturbing imagery keep you on your toes and serve its branding as horror rather well. Except for “ The Outsider” (2018) King has been releasing crime novels and adventure books instead of true horror in the past few years. Known mostly for his terrifying early supernatural novels such as “Pet Sematary,”“It,”“The Shining” and “Christine,” the 76-year-old author has diversified from what made him famous starting with “Carrie” in 1974. firstly: this book was not for me. loved the prose, but disliked almost everything else. now that we’ve got that out of the way... The Year of the Witching is 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 Times bestselling author of The Belles series