A gritty and visceral look at the fate of young, unwed mothers in the early 70s combined with a touch of magical realism at its finest. One can't help but be moved by the fear and frustration of the protagonists while also being shocked and horrified by what they go through. Given the opportunity to rage against the injustice laid upon them, what lengths are they willing to go to for justice or revenge? Not necessarily for the queasy of stomach, but beautiful storytelling all the same.

I never thought I would give a Grady Hendrix 2 stars but here we are and I'm very sad about it. I was so excited for this book, the cover is gorgeous and the premise sounded so good but I really had to push myself not to DNF. It was such a long book with not a whole lot going on except for pregnant girls whining a lot. I can appreciate a male author doing a lot of research to write from a pregnant teenager's perspective but overall this book was such a drag. I was excited to get to the witchy parts almost halfway through but even then I was disappointed by them. The most horrific part about this whole book was the birthing scenes.

This was a bit tough to get through with the political climate in the US right now, but it was extremely timely and needed. It does sound a little weird that a male horror author is going to tackle teen pregnancy, but I trusted Grady Hendrix to handle it appropriately and he did not disappoint. This novel was equal parts heartbreaking, interesting, intriguing, and terrifying. I also love the role the librarian played. I sincerely hope every person picks this up as there is a lot to learn from it.

I have many thoughts about this book. Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite authors. I love his writing and especially love his craziness. This one fell flat on the crazy. This was very safe considering it's a Grady Hendrix novel. I give him props for writing a book about teenage pregnancy and birth. The witchiness was pretty normal, nothing extraordinary. Overall, it kept my interest throughout, but I'm a little disappointed.

The audiobook was very good. I really enjoyed the narrator; she was a perfect fit for Fern.

*Thank you partners @berkleypub and @prhaudio for the #gifted e-galley, hardcover copy, and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.*

Hendrix hasn't disappointed me yet! I love the variety in his books – my two favorites are still My Best Friend’s Exorcism and Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. There’s a good amount of levity and humor to mix in with the horror and scares. This book is very different. It’s heavier and has a different tone than his previous books (at least of the ones I’ve read!)

This story reminds you of the power librarians and books hold. One book of the occult from a librarian changes the course of the lives of the girls at the Wellwood Home for Wayward Girls. Hidden in St. Augustine, Florida, there is a place to send the girls who “grew up too fast” and are soon to be unwed mothers. It’s the 1970s, and we meet an interesting group of girls. Everything they do is planned out and told “it’s what’s best” for them and their unborn children.

Our main character, Fern, is fifteen, scared and unsure. We stay in her POV, and Hendrix does an incredible job really making her come to life. What the girls experience is heartbreaking and upsetting. This is very character driven, and the horror elements don’t really come into play immediately – at least not the witchcraft. I feel like this is perfect for those who want some lighter horror and also enjoy some historical fiction!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free ARC! Everything I read from Grady Hendrix, I absolutely love. This book was disturbing and frustrating, but it was very much meant to be. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls follow a group of girls in 1970 who have been sent to a special home because they are pregnant. This was where a lot of my frustrating came from because the people running the home treat them horribly and control every aspect of their existence. So, naturally, when a librarian offers them a book that could solve all of their problems and give them back control, they take it. Once this book started to pick up the pace, it did not stop. I had so much trouble putting it down!

Grady Hendrix novels have been polarized, some people love them and some don't.

I have read a few and find myself hooked at the beginning and then somewhere it falls flat.

This book had me hooked on the first chapter, he writes such intriguing stories with very interesting premises. Not to mention the covers are always exceptional!!!!

I liked this novel more than his Final Girls novel, I say this knowing I am new to the horror genre and everything is subjective.

My favorite book of the year just entered the chat!

Ok, ok…I know it’s still January, but this is seriously going to be a hard one to beat. Not only did I love the book from cover to cover, but it hit me in the feels so hard at the end that I was in actual tears. I don’t cry often from reading, so for a book to do this, it means a lot.

I’ve long been a fan of Grady Hendrix’s writing style and his ability to bring characters to life. Wayward accomplishes this so well, as the story unfolds through the eyes of a group of girls who have been rejected by everyone. I’ve known that homes like these existed back in the day, but being side-by-side with those living through the rejection and shame that goes along with the terrifying fact of being a young pregnant girl was so heartbreaking at times that I had to put the book down for a breather.

I don’t want to waste a minute of sharing the plot because this is a story that begs you to just start and come along for the ride. There are ups and downs, tension, heartbreak, and joy. Take this as your sign to join Fern in sharing her story.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls takes a look at teen pregnancy in the 70’s and how girls at that time weren’t able to make their own choices. It’s a stark difference from how teen pregnancy is handled today which made for a very interesting and sometimes brutal read. While I thought this book was powerful in that regard, I have to admit that I was hoping for more horror. Grady managed to scare me with his previous novel (How to Sell a Haunted House), but this book didn’t have the some effects that I was looking for. I also felt like the witchcraft aspects were tame and wanted to see more. All in all, this is a decent read (one that DOES take some time to get into) and I think fans of the author will enjoy this one.

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am able to admit that if I haven’t particularly liked 2 out f 2 books by an author, then maybe I’m not the one to critique the book. No more Grady Hendrix for me. While I can give this 3 stars, I try to only read 4 or 5 star books. If I give it a 3, at least I finished it. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I have several books by Grady Hendrix on my e-reader, and for reasons I can’t fathom, they remain unread. That all changes now. My friends—Witchcraft for Wayward Girls popped my Grady Hendrix cherry, and there’s no going back. See what I did there? No? Keep reading; you will.
I know several of my readers here at Midlife Rewrite followed me from my romance book reviewing days. Hi, guys! Love ya, mean it! You all know the golden rule of romance books, so help me educate our non-romance readers. Say it with me: The one rule of genre romance is that there must be a HEA (happily ever after) or a HFN (happy for now) ending. If a book calls itself a romance and lacks a HEA or HFN, it’s lying to you. That’s it. That’s the rule. Not up for debate. If you disagree, go fight with your mother.
Now, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is genre horror, and guess what? Horror has rules, too. According to IngramSpark, there are five key elements every horror novel needs: memorable characters, an ideal setting, suspense and pacing, themes and symbols, and—most importantly—fear and uncertainty. Where romance needs a HEA, horror needs fear. But that fear doesn’t have to come from a bloody slasher tormenting sleeping teens with his hedge-clipper fingers. If that’s why you’ve held off on reading horror, fear not! Or, well… maybe do fear, but not necessarily the gory kind.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls blends horror, thriller, suspense, gothic fiction, and a dash of supernatural/paranormal fantasy into one spellbinding book. Set in the 1970s, our protagonist, Fern, is sent away from her simple schoolgirl life to a home for unwed mothers in St. Augustine, Florida. Her dream of playing the lead in the school play disappears because she and her crush had clumsy teenage renedezvous that resulted in a pregnancy. Naturally, he moves on unscathed while Fern pays the price. Of to the home she goes.
The rest of my review is on my Substack: Midlife Rewrite

✨Review✨

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix📖🎧

No book has ever made me cry as much as this one did. I started off crying, I found myself sobbing in a panic in the middle, fighting through tears to read the words on the pages toward the end. Then because I didn’t cry enough, at the very last section I found myself a complete mess again.

This book was an absolutely outstanding emotional read.

I must admit I was a little surprised to see that Grady Hendrix was writing about underage pregnancies, however this was extremely well researched. I learned things that I maybe didn’t need to know but now I do and so I’ll just bury that information for now.

The audiobook- was one of the best I have ever listened to. It completely immerses you in the story. I felt like I was there with this girls every single second.

Highly recommend listening instead of reading this one.

If you get past the first page without crying, good job you’re stronger than I am.

📆Release date: available now


✨Read this if you like✨
🧙‍♀️Witches
🏡Found family
🪄Magic
😭Strong emotions
🌪️Plot twists
🔪Revenge
💪Strength
…if you like to cry 😭

It’s going to take me awhile to recover from this read.

To Grady Hendrix- outstanding job.

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they sent them away to the Wellwood home in Fl under the eye of Ms Wellwood. But they were in fact, just girls. Fifteen year old Fern arrived, terrified, alone and six months pregnant. Where there are many other girls just like her. There she meets Rose the hippie, Zinnia a musician and determined to marry her child’s father, and Holly, who is mute and pregnant. When Fern meets a traveling librarian and receives an occult book about witchcraft the power finally lies in their hands for once, but there’s always a price to be paid.

This book was a wild ride. Honestly when this book started I was a bit apprehensive of a male author taking on the topic of the mistreatment of young, unmarried pregnant women in the 60’s and early 70’s, and the mistreatment of women during childbirth and the stigma that went with it, along with essentially brokering babies. Also encompassing what they were feeling during the whole thing. It’s not something you see often especially with the graphics of childbirth. *Don’t come at me I’m not saying it can’t be done, I’m just saying it’s not always done well* But he did it with such detail and grace, and really highlighted this part of history that isn’t really talked about much. I thought it was fantastic. Of course he sprinkled a bit of intensity in there that was crazy but this definitely wasn’t just your typical “thriller/fantasy/historical fiction ” this was in a class of its own. It even made me cry a few times. This is a must read.

Review of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

I absolutely love Grady Hendrix. I was so excited to be approved on NetGalley to read this book. It was so good. It did not disappoint me at all. I can’t remember the last time that I enjoyed the characters in a book so much as I did this one. I was so invested in the main character and her friends I couldn’t put the book down. I loved the entire set up and storyline. It’s clear extensive research was done on this book and it was perfection in my eyes. It’s probably tied with my best friend’s exorcism as my favorite book by this author with honorable mention going to the final girl support group.

Synopsis:

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid...and it’s usually paid in blood.

This book was a gripping and intense read. The darker themes were handled with depth and complexity, making it both unsettling and thought-provoking. The atmosphere was immersive, and the storytelling kept me hooked until the very end. A haunting yet compelling read that lingers long after you finish.

Thank you so much @prhaudio for the ALC & @berkleypub for the eArc!

This is a story about girls being girls.

I’m super torn on this one bc it absolutely accomplishes what it sets out to do… but I did not necessarily enjoy the ride. I think teen pregnancy is just not a trope that I love, but the writing was immersive and compelling enough that I stuck it through anyway- with mixed results. I think if you’re someone who enjoys both witchy things & reading about pregnancy this could definitely be a fit for you!

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls falls outside of what I would consider my typical reading genres, but my curiosity got the best of me starting with the cover. This is the first book that I actually had to set down and take a break from in a bit. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was a lot more horrific than I imagined. The way these girls were treated in the home was terrible. Young, unwed mothers abandoned by their families in a home that takes total control. They control what and how much they eat and drink, how they dress, how they spend their days, what they’re called…everything..then they have the baby and are expected to just give up any and all rights, go back home to their family and pretend that none of it ever happened. Absolutely absurd and the girls had enough. They cross paths with a traveling librarian who passes along a book of witchcraft. But what the girls don’t understand is that this magic comes with a very steep price.
Like i said above, this is outside of what I typically read, but overall I thought it was well written and interesting.

It's witchy & feminist, taking on a difficult topic, but Grady Hendrix manages to pull it all off for an incredible story. I could not put this book down and read long into the night, desperately rooting for these girls as they try so hard to take back power in a world that tries to strip it from them at every turn.

TL;DR: No one balances heart, humor, and yes, HORROR, like Grady, and Witchcraft is no exception: a truly scary and emotionally impactful story about a group of young women who decide to form their own coven and take back control of their lives. It’s “Wicked” fun, and I guarantee this one will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. It’s the perfect book to kickstart an incredible year of reading.

As one who doesn’t generally read much Horror, Grady Hendrix is my major exception and one of my favorite authors.
When @BerkleyPub gave me a chance to read his latest novel, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls (out today!) I jumped at it.
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Really quick synopsis of an almost 500 page book; 15 year old Fern is pregnant and her father drops her off at a home for unwed mothers in the middle of Florida. We come to know and love Fern and the other residents, while hating the home’s director, doctor, and almost every man mentioned. The home is so oppressively strict that the girls jump at the only chance they see to take back a little power in their own lives. It just happens to come in the form of witchcraft.
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Hendrix is known for horror novels and I am not sure what is the most horrifying aspect of this story, witchy ways, childbirth descriptions, or the way young pregnant girls were treated in 1970 and before. There were some truly creepy scenes with scary knocks on doors, storms, and such, but it wasn’t the horror I expected. Hendrix does write very graphic, descriptive scenes that might make some readers queasy. I thought they gave it a very legitimate feeling. I was already so deeply involved with these girls and all they were dealing with, it seemed just right to know all the nitty-gritty details too.
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This was a a very feminist, f#%* the patriarchy book. You will read it and find little cause not to feel the same way. Yet the bonds these young girls formed, the strength they found, and lessons they learned were priceless.
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The humor I have always loved in Hendrix’s books was still there, just much much more subtle and hidden at times by the sad plight of these girls. The director’s revolving names for her “garden of girls”, the girls bumping into each other often with their bellies, and the cook’s attitude never failed to lighten things for me with a small chuckle.
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I loved it. I can’t wait for everyone to read it.