mark monday's Reviews > The Witches

shapeshifting little boy and his morbid, chain-smoking grandmother mount a vicious and deadly campaign against a group of feminist wiccans who only want to rid the world of toxic pests. this was a tough read, emotional and grueling. Dahl clearly empathizes with the spiritualists - who function more like a kind of pagan PTA than anything remotely threatening - and the many disabilities that plague these brave and independent ladies. hair loss and baldness, challenges with the digits of both hands and feet, not to mention the existential trauma of being empowered women in a misogynist, ableist world that constantly favors and rewards young, able-bodied, privileged males and the females who enable them. I really appreciated Dahl's focus on the head wiccan - an admirable leader, a superior organizer, and even a talented singer/songwriter. reading what happens to her, and to the rest of her peers, at the hands of the story's two villains was exceedingly painful. but that's life, right? life is cruel to outsiders and I admire the author for taking such a realistic view of their terrible sufferings. people, let's do the work and learn to do better!