This is definitely is my top 3 of best Grady Hendrix books! I was immediately drawn in from the very first chapter & just kept wanting to know more about Fern and her story within Wellwood house. Once witchcraft became involved, the story really took off and I almost felt like I couldn’t put it down. There were so many heartbreaking moments in this horror novel shockingly & I felt the ending was done pretty perfectly. I will definitely be picking up a physical copy to add to my Hendrix collection when this releases! Thank you NetGalley & Berkley publishing for the early release.

DNF @ 20% - I just don't think this is for me. Very slow burn, will try another Grady Hendrix in the future for sure.
Wish I liked this one - I also heard there is graphic birth scenes and I'm not sure that would bode well with me.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC ❤️

Wayward girls a.k.a. girls that managed to get pregnant in their teens without being married. For Fern and the girls under the care of Miss Wellwood, everything they say, do, and eat are all carefully watched. When the girls meet Miss Parcre, they pledge allegiance to her to learn witchcraft and how to use it. As the girls see what the witchcraft can do, they get bolder. However, what will it cost them in the end?
Growing up in the 80s, I knew of some girls like Fern and the other "wayward" girls. You would hear about them moving to a "private school" and then returning several months later or the next school year. As a librarian, I love Grady's inclusion of the book mobile and the librarian that has all the answers that the girls didn't know they needed. Grady's books are not for the queasy. This book contained a few graphic scenes of childbirth.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is January 14, 2025.

I have loved reading Grady Hendrix for a long while now and was so excited to hear a new book was coming! Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.
I will start off by saying that this is not like Mr. Hendrix previous books, this is not to say that this book is any less brilliant; as a matter of fact I had to sit with the story for a few days before I could calm my emotions and gather my thoughts . Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a feminist rallying cry, it is a reminder that in our not so distant past we women were treated poorly (to say the very least) we had no rights without a father or husband, and any transgression from perfect good girl could have gotten you in major trouble, and if it were major trouble that gets you sent away. This is that story. The story of feeling hopeless, helpless and powerless, the story of how being stripped of everything will either make you crumble or make you rage hot with indignation. Hang on tight!
Mr. Grady is the king of descriptive writing, and boy can he make you feel like you are there, you are walking through the halls, you are smelling the smells, you are feeling the sweat drip down your back from the humidity and most importantly you are feel the impotency of the girls, I swear I couldn't breathe during some key moments..
I don't want to go on, you enjoy the tale, the story is solid, it moves quickly, it will move you, it is scary and cringy and I loved every moment of it. I received a Kindle edition and I will be purchasing the hard cover as soon as it comes out, I'd like to read it again, flipping through pages.

As a Grady Hendrix fan, I was eagerly awaiting his newest book, and he has once again delivered an original, thought-provoking, and disturbing (in a good way) read.

The book tackles teenage pregnancy from a 1970's viewpoint, and does a good job in covering all the possible opinions these girls faced at that time. It also talks about most of the ways these pregnancies might have happened: good, bad, or horrifying. Just about any trigger warning around the trip from conception to birth is applicable, so proceed cautiously.

It is difficult for a male author to write in a female voice, especially about this topic, but Hendrix does a good job. I think his descriptions of childbirth are more graphic than a female might write, but this isn't a bad thing.

I'm still trying to process how I feel about this book, and look forward to being able to discuss it with others. As a librarian, I wasn't wild about the portrayal of one of the antagonists, but access to these girls was so limited that making her a librarian made sense. I am also looking forward to hearing from witches about how witchcraft and covens are presented.

Overall, enjoyable but perhaps a little long.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

Grady Hendrix cannot go wrong. This one was a bit different, but still good. An interesting premise.

Possibly Grady Hendrix’s best work. A fascinating book that combines horror of the supernatural and the very real. An excellent, upsetting book that show cases female rage and oppression.

Wow, this one blew me away. I've read every Grady Hendrix book. Some I've loved, some have let me down. This one took a bit for me to warm up to, because tonally, it's easily the least horror of his horror novels. It comes across more as a coming-of-age novel, with likeable but powerless main characters, cruel adults, and a streak of supernatural here and there. Where the real terror starts is how this book reads in a post Roe-versus-Wade world: how these girls are controlled and punished for their pregnancies, and how that cycle is perpetrated on the next generation. I wasn't certain how I felt about this one while reading it - it kept be hooked, but I kept waiting for it to get "scary". Nah - the real scares are in our country right now. Hendrix knew that.

This is a such a powerful book that will stay with you after you've finished reading. It starts off slow in 170 as we meet teenage Neva, on her way to a home for pregnant, unwed mothers in Florida. After her angry father hastily drops her off, she meets Miss Wellwood, the puritanical owner of the home, who renames her Fern. All the girls are named after flowers and never referred to by government names. Their time at the home isn't something to be remembered. They'll deliver their babies at a hospital as Jane Doe and sign the rights over to adoptive families. Then, return to their lives and names as if nothing ever happened.

If they even think about keeping the babies, they're guilt-tripped by the social worker, who also works at the home. The girls work for room and board and are put on strict diets by the uncaring doctor and Miss Wellwood. During the summer, they're visited by an old librarian driving a bookmobile. The librarian provides Fern with a book about witchcraft, which Fern and the other girls (Holly, Rose, and Zinnia) read through and attempt spells.

When their first spell works against the doctor, the girls start to delve deeper into the book. However, they realize that spells have serious consequences and everything comes at a price. This book is masterfully written and the characters will haunt you for a long time, particularly Holly. I would highly recommend this book.

Any time Grady Hendrix publishes a new book, I am sure to read it. While I did enjoy this one, I feel it did not have the "punch" that his previous books have. It does not ride the horror train as do most of his, and does not have the same viscerally sinister tone. Nonetheless, I would recommend it to any Grady Hendrix fan; they can form their own opinions.

I am a huge fan of Grady Hendrix. Anytime he releases something, I read it. His last couple of books have been really good in terms of creep factor. Hendrix has a way of making me look over my shoulder while I’m reading. This is something that I have come to expect from him. But it was different with this book. Though still a horror story, it didn’t have the elements needed to make it truly scary. It was a surprise but in the end a good one. The story kept me intrigued and I grew to care a lot about the characters. I even cried at the ending. Overall, a solid 3 stars for me with this one. Not what I was expecting but still enjoyable.

Devoured this in two days. All I can say it absolutely yes please read this! Soooo entertaining and relatable. Be ready to cry!!

I couldn’t let go of the book. I think I read it in a couple of sittings. It’s exciting and keeps you on the edge of your seat. All of Grady Hendrix's work is superb and I haven't found a book of his I haven't loved. This book follows unwed mothers who find witchcraft to cope with the pain they have felt from their families and loved ones.

Set in the 1970s, pregnant teen Neva Craven - swiftly renamed Fern - is sent to the Wellwood Home for Unwed Mothers in Florida to have her baby and adopt it out in secrecy. She bonds with rebellious Rose, cautious Zinnia, and perceptive Holly over their unfair treatment and powerlessness. When Miss Parcae, the bookmobile librarian, offers them the chance to change their situation by practicing witchcraft, Fern eagerly accepts, unaware of the horrifying consequences it could have for her soul.

Grady Hendrix follows up How to Sell a Haunted House with a highly feminist historical horror novel that is difficult to read, given the political climate in which it will be published. The central horror revolves around how Fern and the other girls - who, as the opening and closing chapters reminds us, were children - are stripped of control over their names, their bodies, their living situations, their daily routines, their medical decisions, their meals, and the futures of their babies. Adults force them into doing what they think is best with little regard for the girls' wishes or feelings. Compared to that, the threat presented by Miss Parcae and her coven of witches falls flat and feels almost trivial. Hendrix doesn't quite manage to mix trauma with horror and reality with the supernatural as well as, say, Tananarive Due's The Reformatory.

Although I am a long-time fan of his work, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls left me feeling queasy and out-of-sorts. Perhaps that is the point in a post-Dobbs world, but trauma and pointed sociopolitical statements have always stripped the fun out of horror for me. On a more personal note, the librarian antagonist was disappointing. We have enough trouble dealing with book bans without also being vilified as witches, thank you.

Grady Hendrix fans will read Witchcraft for Wayward Girls anyway, but only hand this one to readers who want a heaping dose of politics to go with their horror.

CW: Two extremely graphic and one moderately graphic birth scenes, two moderately graphic scenes of self-mutilation, child sexual abuse.

The genius of Grady Hendrix is back! Set in the 1970's Florida. "Wayward" girls were often sent to group homes to await the resolution of their "problem".  The young ladies spent countless hours being worked as hired help, but a night the girls become bored. The girls meet Ms Parcae (a mobile librarian), and the girls boredom and curiosity leads to some hilarious horrors. What starts out as what appears to be a harmless charm leads to more sinister acts.  Delivered only as Grady Hendrix can, this is a wonderfully campy horror novel.  Hendrix also brings to light some of the social injustices of the seventies, including racism and the Vietnam war in a way he can only deliver.

5 stars

Grady Hendrix taught me more about giving birth than I ever thought I would know. His vivid imagery will forever stick in my mind and I will never forget this story.

Hendrix has a way with words and crafts stories that suck you in and make you forget you are reading a story and not living through it. I always think that he can never outdo himself but then he goes and does it.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a strikingly and hauntingly visual story about women who fight with all they have to protect what is theirs no matter the cost. If you’re a fan of Grady Hendrix, Witchcraft, and strong female characters, then this novel is for you.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this amazing ARC and, thank you to Grady Hendrix for blessing us with yet another phenomenal story.

Grady Hendricks has a way of sucking you in! He makes you care about the Characters like they are your friends. The plot was very well thought out and this book had a satisfying ending.

Thank you so very much for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Hendrix's upcoming release. He has been one of my go to authors for years. I was lucky that another one of our staff was able to grab an ARC as well. We had several passionate discussions, as well as google history lessons. This book will definitely inspire conversation, although I didn't feel it was horror like his previous novels. Horror in that fact that the subject matter is horrific, just not in the revenge/get what's coming to you way I wanted.
Overall I enjoyed this book. I was heavily invested in the main characters, was sweating heavily at the descriptions of Florida and the home, and by the second half felt the book was unputdownable. I appreciated that Hendrix spoke of his family's past history with these "homes" and was happily surprised that he got input for some of the female heavy topics. Those labor and delivery scenes were brutal. As a mom of two boys, they were spot on, visceral. I'm so glad this book will be out there, read, and discussed. Sadly its topics are still very relevant.
I only have two less than positive takes from the novel. One, I wish there had been more of a blood-soaked, violent revenge from the girls. I felt quite let down that the priest only had to spew his truths to the congregation later. Although I do see how redeeming it was to have Fern not kill him... Two, I dislike that the librarian had to be so selfish and come across as almost evil. I had high hopes she was giving the girls knowledge and power for good and not for such selfish reasons. Well maybe she wasn't selfish, but scary as hell! We aren't that scary!
All in all, as I mentioned in the beginning I loved this novel and I can't wait to recommend it to my patrons.

This book really hit home. My mother was one of those ‘wayward’ girls who ended up in a home for unwed mothers forced to give her daughter away. Fortunately, we found my sister when I was pregnant with my own daughter, and we have been in relationship with her ever since. But I remember my mother saying to me three days after my daughter was born: “Now imagine having to give her up.” I still cry thinking about it.

Yes, I cried a lot while reading this book because as a woman, it felt very real to me. Also, needless to say, it brought home just how much Roe v. Wade helped change this situation.

So take real girls, hiding from the public eye, in the final months of their pregnancies, in the heat of a Florida summer without air conditioning, and all manner of restrictions on every thing from their diets to their clothing, and you can see where a little desperation might creep in.

And then a book about witchcraft is handed to 15-year-old Fern by a seemingly innocent librarian, and things begin to change. But what is the cost? And how do you balance the good of those suffering against that cost?

Hendrix pulls it all together exceptionally well in his amusing Southern Style and wraps it all up just as well. I really enjoyed getting to know Fern, Rose, Holly, and Zinnia (assumed names, of course, because they weren’t allowed to use their real names) as well as the other characters who were all very well delineated. Not only is this book about witchcraft and the supernatural but it speaks to some very real issues that should have stayed in the past but could well be a real threat again.

I've only read the Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix and not his other books, so I can only compare to that one. The writing style is similar, easy to read and follow, visceral when it needs to be (and sometimes just for shock factor, which I think works in this setting / story.) I do think the story dragged / the pacing was slooow in some places. The witches don't show up until deep into the book (40% in or something like that.) I was enraged a lot when I was reading at how these girls were treated. Grady really captured how messed up our society was (and still is in some places!) I'm actually kind of shocked at the fact that a man tackled this subject matter; I think he did a fantastic job and mostly felt real. Part of me questions why / if a man needed to write a story about pregnant teens, but that didn't stop me from appreciating the book. So overall, mixed feelings but the story was captivating for the most part. 3.5 stars