I probably wasn't in the correct head space for this book but then again, is there ever a good time to read a book about forced births in teens? I mean, I know it's a reality for many but I have the empathy without the trauma of reading about it. My apologies for not leaving a review sooner.

Grady Hendrix is by far the best horror author I've had the pleasure to read. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a horror novel triumph, exploring the fear of unwed mothers having no control of their own lives or bodies. I love how Hendrix writes women. There's an understanding there that's not typical for men who write female characters. This book hit me square in the gut. It made me laugh and cry. It's complex and completely captivating.

Hendrix gives us effective and affecting social horror from the unique perspective and strong voice we have come to expect, and another deeply empathetic look into women's lives.

Haven’t Loved a Grady Hendrix since Bookclub guide to slaying Vampires. But this one landed right up there with that one. It was so good. Social horror is the best Horror and nobody understands how fucked people really are like Hendrix does. This is disturbing and gut wrenching but it is soooo worth the read.!

thanks Netgally for the ARC

WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS by Grady Hendrix wasn’t just a read, it was an experience that reached straight into my soul. Grady Hendrix has outdone himself with this one, weaving a story that is fierce, funny, painful, and profoundly resonant. It meant the world to me.

I have every edition of Grady’s books signed, and I never miss his panels in NYC, but this one? This one hit differently. I even have a special bound copy just to hold onto the magic a little longer. I recommend it to everyone, but especially to women who’ve ever felt dismissed, underestimated, or burned at the stake for being too much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC, this book will stay with me for a long time.

A bit historical fiction, centered around the homes for pregnant teens in the early '700's, a bit of witchcraft and a lot of found family "Witchcraft for Wayward Girl," is another great read from Hendrix.
While the supernatural horror is a bit more tones down than in some or his previous books, the societal horror is ramped up to 100. Young girls, shipped far from home as fast and promiscuous, ruining their lives with their easy ways and hidden away until their shame can be buried in the past is the real horror here.
The witches? A little extra fear just add some spice to their already fraught lives. The librarian/witch reeked more of desperation than terror to me... the social worker was the real villain imo. And I would have loved to see Hagar and Miriam more fleshed out. Knowledgeable and strong, they could have been much stronger characters, but were relegated to a couple savior moments, and never really allowed to shine. Though I did hate when Hagar defended the home's owner after the girls' witchcraft went a bit awry. Maybe they didn't mean to make it go quite so far... but they too had been ill used and were desperate for some turn about, and it seemed after years of watching young mothers come and go, Hagar could have had a bit more sympathy... but alas.

I went into this a little apprehensively, but hopeful after my last experience with this author.
I definitely was not disappointed this time. Thoroughly enjoyed everything about this book.

Another great title by Grady Hendrix. Because this depicts such a niche experience in women's history, I was worried that it would be very surface level. I'm glad that I was pleasantly surprised by the dignity the author presented the story with.

I enjoyed this book although it is not my favorite by Grady Hendrix. I feel like the trope of the girls in the school house is a little overdone and I would’ve appreciated more Magic and character development.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls explores the dark history of homes for unwed mothers from the American past and the power dynamics that were at play. Roles get reversed and those without power get a chance at it, though with a cost. Hendrix skillfully weaves multiple threads and manages to make people complicated - neither good, nor evil, but people, often trying to do what is right.

Ya’ll I just vibed with this book. I felt for the girls in this home. I wanted to scream at most of the parents and/or baby daddies. I loved the sisterhood/witchy coven vibes. It’s emotional, thought provoking and definitely shows that we shouldn’t let history repeat itself 👀 The audio was amazing and helped me zip right through this one. Definitely my fave @gradyhendrix to date

So I actually gave this book a 3.8 but rounded up. I didn't hate the book but I didn't love it either.

This is my first Grady Hendrix book (I've had 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 sitting on my desk for the longest) and I'll read more of his books.
The book was didn't seem all over the place, and had just the right amount of horror to be considered a "horror" book. This is a book that I would love to see adapted into a show (preferably American Horror Story but they already had a season about witches).

So, this book is about a group of girls who are sent to live in a home down in Florida. This particular group of girls are unwed teen mothers, and everything they do is controlled by the adults running the home. What they eat, what they do during the day and even what they talk about is controlled by the house mother Ms. Wellwood.
The book follows Fern, Rose, Zinnia and Holly. Rose is determined to escape and keep her baby, while Zinnia is determined to also keep her baby and marry the father. And then there's mute Holly, who doesn't talk at all. And as you can see, they are all named after flowers, as they are not allowed to tell each other their real names or where they are from.
One day, Fern meets a librarian who gives her a book on the occult. The girls first find it fun but then it gets serious. When it begins to get too serious for them, they want out of the coven but they find out the hard way that it's not always easy to get out of something you signed up for,

As I stated above, I really appreciated the character development and the overall writing style of this book. It did not go the way I thought it would (pregnant teens + witchcraft) but I appreciated how it ended. At first it felt like it was a ton of characters but they each played a role in the book;

I recommend reading this one and I will definitely be reading 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 very soon!

This book is almost as good as The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. Grady Hendrix is definitely my favorite horror author right now and this book solidifies it.

This had my full attention from start to finish. I felt like the story was really authentic to the time period, and that Grady did an amazing job of highlighting feminine rage and witchcraft. I love stories about Hecate, and was really excited to see her pop up in this and felt like that element was done well too. The horror of this was in how realistic it is. I loved the ending, and I felt like it wrapped up the stories of those girls in a really beautiful way. Definitely recommend.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Wow! This was the first book I actually finished by the author. Not only was this twisted and dramatic, but it kept my heart pounding. This is definitely one to look up triggers for if you are sensitive to graphic content and especially pertaining to the female body. My favorite part of this story, by far, was the book mobile. I think if you enjoy feminist type thrillers and bookish elements in your story this one will be for you.

Grady Hendrix's Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a great combination of setting and supernatural elements upsetting reality. Set in the 1970s, Fern, a nerdy and pregnant teenager, finds herself being driven in a hot station wagon to Florida in the summer by her upset father. She is uncomfortable for some many reasons. So, from the get go, Hendrix had me hooked and sympathetic towards Fern and the other Wellwood Home girls. Learning that the spark for his novel was a family member pushed me further into the story. As a horror fan, I wasn't surprised by certain tropes appearing.

Grady Hendrix did it again with the book Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. He created a world that had a touch of magic but felt very real. There was deep emotion and yet an element of horror and although I overall enjoyed this book it did become hard to read in a couple of different ways.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is set in 1970 when Fern, a pregnant teenager, is sent to home where parents send their pregnant daughters to hide them away until they've delivered the babies. Fern finds herself amongst girls of different color and social status, some who desperately want to keep their babies and some who don't. There are girls who plan on marrying the baby's father and there are girls who were sexually assaulted and yet none of the girls are truly listened to by the adults in the home.

And then Fern and her friends meet a librarian witch who wants them to unleash their powers. Only maybe the witches aren't necessarily the good ones either.

So begins a long journey of self discovery as the girls tap into their powers and learn more about their roles in the world. And it was a rough read. The birthing scenes were pretty brutal though the medical nature of them led me to not be as squirmy as I sometimes get with Hendrix's scenes of body horror. Though I haven't experienced labor myself I feel as though the scenes were well researched and viscerally real.

I thought Witchcraft was a good book and would recommend it to someone who wants a horror book with historical elements and a touch of magic.

A book that mixes the plight of unwed pregnant teens with a needed dose of feminism mixed with the magic of witches is Hendrix’s newest. Throughout these girls’ journeys, the reader witnesses the almost inhuman treatment they are granted due to their conditions. Witchcraft makes its way into the girls’ periphery because of one of them begin to question why every adult around her seems almost incapable of listening. The tone of Hendrix’s last few books including How to Sell a Haunted House seem to be more somber than his earlier books. While I miss the humor-infused stories from his first few novels, I still manage to fall in love with his newest. It is filled with heartbreak, hope, and a hefty dose of dark magic.

This is the third of Grady Hendrix's novels that I've read, and maybe my favorite. Not for his trademark humor, as the subject matter didn't really lend itself to that. No, I loved Witchcraft for Wayward Girls for its heart.

That being said, I had to push through the first two-thirds of the book. The final third, however, made it worth it. I'm not a horror fan, but I'll continue to make an exception for Hendrix.

As someone who’s thoroughly enjoyed Grady Hendrix’s previous work — from the satirical horror of *My Best Friend’s Exorcism* to the pulpy, heartfelt chaos of *The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires* — I came into *Witchcraft for Wayward Girls* with high expectations. Unfortunately, this one didn’t just fall short — it felt like a complete misfire.

One of the biggest disappointments was how the book squandered its witchcraft premise. There’s so much potential in the concept — teenage girls, a creepy reform school, buried secrets, dark powers — but Hendrix never fully commits to any of it. The supernatural elements feel underbaked and oddly detached from the plot, like set dressing rather than something integral to the characters or story. For a book with “witchcraft” in the title, there’s shockingly little actual magic, and what *is* there lacks any real weight or mystery.

What really took me out of it, though, was how unconvincing the teenage characters felt. Hendrix has done well in the past writing from the perspective of teen girls (*My Best Friend’s Exorcism* comes to mind), but here it felt like he was out of his depth. The dialogue reads like an adult trying too hard to sound young, and the emotional arcs of the characters never quite ring true. There’s a dissonance between how the girls *talk* and how they’re *supposed* to feel, and it makes the relationships feel shallow and inconsistent.

Tonally, the book also struggles — it never quite knows if it wants to be horror, satire, emotional drama, or YA fantasy. The result is a muddled story with pacing issues and characters who don’t feel grounded in any one world. The creep factor is minimal, and the stakes feel manufactured rather than earned.

Overall, *Witchcraft for Wayward Girls* feels like a novel that didn’t know what it wanted to be, and worse, didn’t do justice to its core themes. As a longtime fan of Hendrix, this one left me cold. Here’s hoping the next one brings back the heart, humor, and horror that made his earlier books stand out.