Helen Power's Reviews > Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

The title says it all.  This is a collection of 15 short stories about magic and witchcraft, but it’s a lot more than that.  Each of the stories uses fantasy elements as a metaphor for real life experiences and social issues.  I was attracted to this anthology because it was touted as being a diverse anthology, and it does not disappoint.

There are some recurring themes that are worth mentioning, but I’ll avoid any spoilers in this discussion.  This book definitely has literary merit.  Some of the short stories deal with overcoming the oppression of being a woman – how “witches” were viewed historically (and even in present day).  There are common themes of “growing up” and maturation, overcoming fears and obstacles, coming out as LGBTQ+, and becoming an adult.  This is a must read for any teenager who just happens to like magic. (So basically all teenagers).

This anthology is captivating and breathtaking, with some stories making my skin tingle and others making me tear up (just a little).  Some stories had me holding my breath in anticipation, and others had me whipping through the pages, desperate to find out what would happen next. But as with any anthology, a few of the stories didn’t quite work for me.  But that’s the thing with short story collections – there’s something for everyone—and I guarantee that most young adult readers will find at least one story that speaks to what they’re going through in their own lives.

Since it’s a book about witches, there are some tropes that I hadn’t even realized were tropes until I noticed them popping up in multiple stories.  The trope of three sisters being witches, or the “spinster” witch trope. This anthology does a decent job of breaking through these stereotypes and surprised me as an avid fan of all things witchcraft related.  I couldn’t quite tell if the recurrence of these tropes served well to link the stories in the anthology or if it was catering to the presumptions that many readers have about witches.  Either way, I was hooked.



My favourite stories were “The One Who Stayed” by Nova Ren Suma, “Daughters of Baba Yaga” by Brenna Yovanoff, “The Gherin Girls” by Emery Lord, and “The Heart in her Hands” by Tess Sharpe.  I had a hard time whittling down this list to only four! Any of these short stories would make a beautiful, best-selling full-length novel.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves reading stories that use witchcraft and magic as a metaphor for real-life experiences.

*Thank you to Harlequin Teen and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!*