The Year of the Witching

I love witch books and overall I thought this book was okay and I can see why people would love it, but this had three issues for me. Two I think are unique to me and the other is a general criticism.

My first issue is that I felt this skewed too YA for my particular tastes. The main character is an older teen girl and I just don't care about reading the drama that comes along with that. This book didn't center on that teen drama, but is endemic to a teen girl growing up in a religious society in a household that enforces those ideals who happens to be interested in a boy from a different segment of society.

My second issue is the same issue I had with The Handmaid's Tale. I don't want to read fiction about religious societies that oppress women. It is too close to real life and I would rather read non-fiction with actionable items than have it incorporated into a fantasy book.

My general criticism is that I felt the book was kind of slow for the first 90% and then sped up and got real crazy in the last 10% and then ended. I wanted more witchcraft throughout the book and more world-building in that direction rather than reading about the Romeo and Juliet nature of her relationship with the secondary character.