Witches Save the World – Hags, Harridans, and Hexes Gone Right by Rebecca Buchanan (Editor)

Witches Save the World – Hags, Harridans, and Hexes Gone Right by Rebecca Buchanan (Editor)
Publisher: Gorgon’s Gaze Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Poetry, LGBTQ, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Hags. Harridans. And Hexes.

The witch is a complex figure. Hero? Villain? Victim? Practitioner of a nearly-forgotten faith or just misunderstood? An elder who should be respected but is instead reviled? Or the member of an oppressed ethnic or sexual minority?

Witches of every sort appear in this anthology, and its companion volume, Witches Save the World: Covens, Cauldrons, and Curses Gone Right. In some tales and poems, the witch embodies the primal forces of balance and karmic retribution, or they act in support of social justice, defending those who cannot protect themselves. Or they act in defense of Nature, calling to heel the corrupt governments and corporations that would strip the world in the name of power and profit. Or they are caretakers of their communities, mending minds and bodies, sometimes at the cost of their own freedom or even their own lives.

These are witches who do what must be done, because someone has to save the world.

Not everything can be described in black and white terms.

Madison had recently moved from Minneapolis to a rural community in that state for her first job as a new teacher and was struggling to make friends in

“Minnesota Comfort.” The plot twist in this tale was delightfully scary and made the beginning even better once I went back to reread it. There’s definitely something to be said for being surprised like this, so I will be keeping an eye out for what Ms. Thynes comes up with next.

Honestly, I wish I had enough space to mention a dozen stories here instead of only a few of them. I adored almost everything in this anthology, and it was incredibly difficult to narrow down my list while writing this review. With that being said, there were a few pieces that I thought would have been even stronger with a little more development, and “Weather Witch on the Main Portal” was one of them. As much as I liked Ebbie and Fletcher, I was a little puzzled by why they were the only witches who were trying to figure out why the magical storms had become so strong and why certain supernatural things in their universe that had been dormant for so long were now active again. These seemed like topics that should have interested every witch affected by them instead of just two of them. Had the explanation for this been longer, their adventure might have been my favorite one in this entire book as I thought both of these characters were well written and memorable.

“The Weaver’s Song” showed how a witch taught her students to repair cracks in the earth through music. So much attention was paid to the world building here that I nearly felt as though I were visiting another world while I got to know Nora and Opal as they made their dangerous walk home. This was an excellent example of how quickly a setting can feel three dimensional and how important it is to create characters that are equally well rounded.

This is the second instalment in a duology that does not need to be read in order.

Witches Save the World – Hags, Harridans, and Hexes Gone Right made me yearn for Halloween. Reading it was a treat!