by Alex E. Harrow (Amazon's #57 Best Book of 2022) ★★★★☆
Like in her first book, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, author Harrow sets her novel at the turn of the 20th century. The three Eastwood sisters -- James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna -- come together to join the New Salem suffragist movement. But when they realize that the cards are stacked against them in those misogynistic times, they realize they have to tap into their knowledge and power of old magic to level the playing field.
Despite featuring witches that can perform magic, this lacked some of the “magic” that made The Ten Thousand Doors of January my favorite book of 2019. While it reminded me how much I still really love the way Harrow writes, her story plodded along a bit at times, and I never connected as closely with the Eastwood sisters as I did with January (perhaps because none of them had an amazing dog like "Bad" in The Ten Thousand Doors?). That being said, if I think about The Once and Future Witches separate from my expectations and in comparison to the other books I read, it definitely deserves a place on this list.
Previous Best of 2020: #13 - The Shadows
Next Best of 2020: #11 - Dear Edward