The humid, insect-filled woodland atmosphere of St. Augustine, FL is the perfect setting for this novel about unwed teenage mothers who are sent to a home to prepare for the birth and adoption of their babies. Set in the 1970s, the story involves a small group of girls who are give assumed names and cared for under the guidance of a nurse, doctor, and head mistress. When the bookmobile librarian gives one girl named Fern a magazine about witchcraft, the girls begin to think about revenge on their caretakers. The girls sneak into the woods at night and find a small transient community of witches and hippies. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is an engaging read that will make for an entertaining TV series or movie.

I was really looking forward to kicking off the spooky season with a good horror book but unfortunately this one was a letdown. The book was still decent, and it was a quick read. I did enjoy the historical fiction aspect of the book, particularly its portrayal of the mistreatment of pregnant, unmarried teens in the early seventies. However, I don't think this book should be classified as horror or thriller. The story lacked anything eerie or truly suspenseful. The idea of witches and a home for unmarried pregnant teenagers had great potential, especially with the addition of Miss Parcae but this book didn't live up to it.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Berkley Publishing Group for giving me a copy.

This feels like a big swing for Hendrix, compared with some of his more recent titles. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a straightforward horror story, lacking the camp and humor we are used to from the author. The book feels very much like an homage to 1970s era Lois Duncan and similar female peers of her generation. In fact it's almost as if he's channeling Duncan and what might be her reaction to the overturning of Roe V. Wade if she were still alive. There's a lot of meat on the bones here, specifically larger themes of modern feminism to explore. Not my personal favorite of Grady's ouevre but I still enjoyed every minute.

I’m a Grady Hendrix fan and was so excited when I saw Witchcraft for Wayward Girls was announced! This book felt less scary than some of his previous works. Although there were some creepy and gory moments, the horror in this story comes more from the terrible treatment and lack of autonomy the characters had to suffer through before taking matters into their own hands by turning to witchcraft. This is not my favorite by the author, but I had a good time with it. 3.5 stars.

4.25. Well done, one of Hendrix’s better ones. Brace yourself for a lot of outrageously unjust treatment of 1970s unwed teen mothers and for body horror and graphic childbirth scenes. But the witches and their craft are just fantastic.

I was so thrilled for the opportunity to read this book ahead of pub date. Grady Hendrix is one of my favorite go-to authors for off the wall B-rate type horror. (Not knocking his writing I enjoy his stuff!) He's taken me on some wild rides in previous work, so I was expecting all sorts of bat-sh*t crazy, witchery hocus-pocus, shenanigans.
"Witchcraft for wayward girls" was MUCH more subdued than any other Hendrix book I've read. Most of the crazy was focused on the poor treatment of pregnant ,unwed teens in the early seventies. There are witches involved but not to the degree I assumed, based on previous work.
Overall, the novel is an easy read and may perhaps be a nice suggestion for a new reader of Grady Hendrix....sort of easing one into his unique world.
Since it is an easy read and the bond formed with the young girls is makes total sense I give this one a slid 3 stars.

I am a hardcore Grady Hendrix fan and this book didn't disappoint. Not only did it hit a nice horror level but it was the horror of real life that really stuck with you on this one.

In 1970, Fifteen year old Fern is pregnant and abandoned by her dad at an unwed home for mothers in Florida. There everyone is told what to do, what to eat, and every aspect of their lives controlled. . Even the fact that they are not allowed to keep their babies. They are shamed by medical personnel and everyone they meet. Fern and her friends discover 14 year old Holly is pregnant with her pastors baby who has repeatedly raped her, and he is going to keep the baby, and Fern has to return home to him after she gives birth, Holly has tried to tell many authority figures what he’s doing but no one is listening. Nothing happens to any of the men who got the girls pregnant, no stigma, no blame, it’s all the girls fault. The girls anger and feeling of futility rise until they meet a woman who shows them how to become a witch and get back at those who are controlling their lives. As witches they feel powerful, until they learn nothing comes without a price, and this one is steep.
I feel Hendrix has created Fern brilliantly, her thoughts and actions, how she felt as she was going through labor without a kind word, is and not told what’s going on. He exposes the horror and cruelty of how unwed girls were perceived. I loved it.

I love a good Grady Hendrix novel! What a way to start off the spooky season. I wasn’t quite sure where this was going, but turned out to be way deeper in meaning than I expected to be. My heart goes out to Fern and all the girls like her, great read.

Another Grady Hendrix for the win. Always interesting storylines and this one was no different. So glad I could read it early in time for spooky season. The characters were deep and complex and interesting and I was turning the pages eager to find out what happened next.

Was I expecting to pick up a Grady Hendrix horror novel and find myself crying at the end? No, I certainly was not.


Told from the perspective of a 15 year old girl in a home for unwed mothers in 1969/1970 - this one doesn’t delve into the supernatural/horror genre until almost halfway in. Unless you count the treatment and inhumanity that these girls received on a regular basis…

Leaning more into women’s empowerment and regaining freedom than pure terror, Hendrix manages to create a storyline that is too close to the reality that could exist in the USA again if some have their way.

I found this to be a cautionary tale for those who choose to mess with women too much, lest they find themselves burnt at the stake (ballot box)

While I enjoyed this book, especially the relationships between the girls, I was surprised that there wasn’t much of the horror and gore that I love Hendrix for. The scariest part of this book was the detailed description of an episiotomy. The witches weren’t particularly evil, and I never felt sure if I was rooting for Fern to join them or resist them.

For a lot of this book it felt like a labor of love to get through. (Just realizing I wrote labor in a book about pregnancy lol) anyway there isn’t a lot of witchcraft in this book if that’s what you’re really looking for. It’s mostly about the baby scoop era before Roe V Wade. Also for an author who cannot have children, he made the childbirth scenes so graphic and gross and disgusting and horrible but in a good way. For the most part the birth scenes were the true horror of the book.

Readers should not go into this story anticipating anything even close to a semester at Hogwarts. This story of teen girls and witches goes much deeper than a casual glance at the cover would suggest. I was deeply moved by Fern's summer. Hendrix, like many greats before him, does an excellent job of hooking the reader with one plot (a witchy librarian and a coven of witches that haunt the woods) before it sinks in that there is a deeper message here (the witch hunt against unwed mothers that does well in an historical fiction setting but that we sees shades of in today's society). This novel is graphic in ways that may shock the reader and is delivered in ways that they may not expect and delivers a punch that transcends Hendrix's past work.

There were two really big selling points to this book. The first was the historical setting. It was set against an environment where the young women the story revolves around have very little voice or power in what happens to them. Therefore, the second part was very satisfying. The second part is that I love me some women's wrongs. Was some of what these young witches did cruel? Absolutely. However, a great deal of their cruelty was paying back what was being done to them. These young women were being victimized and taken advantage of over and over, and when they had some power of their own, it is only natural that they should respond by sharing the rage and pain that they were given. I can't condone all of it, but I liked a lot of it. Women's Wrongs 2025.

There is power in a book... Grady Hendrix works magic with his latest novel filled with witches, spells and of course a librarian! Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a page turner about teenage girls left without power and the will to find your own strength and tribe. Only Grady can combine the supernatural and the very real horror of teenage wayward girls which brought me to tears more then once.

This is my first Grady Hendrix book and I liked it but not sure I totally loved it.

The novel is set in the 1970s and opens with Fern being dropped off at The Wellwood Home for unwed mothers. Fern and the other girls are subjected to strict household rules, manual labor, excruciatingly uncomfortable visits with the house doctor and generally an air of shame around all their decisions. The only "nice" person in the house is the social worker who is focused on adopting out their babies so the girls can go back to a normal life. Fern makes friends with some of the girls like defiant hippy Rose, silent Holly, and new girl Zinnia. After encountering their local librarian who gives Fern a book on witchcraft the girls begin doing spells. However, this is where things really take a turn for the creepy. After successfully casting their first spell their librarian comes back for payment and she doesn't want money.

I'm not usually a fan of horror - horror adjacent sure but straight up horror no thank you. I was intrigued by the premise of this novel because it didn't sound super scary (and it wasn't) but there were definitely some unsettling moments and the home for unwed mothers itself was part of that. Or to put it another way the real horror were how those girls were treated by their families, by the home, by society in general. We get Fern's point of view when she goes to the hospital to have her baby and it feels like she's being dissected or experimented on. The tension building up with the witches and witchcraft drama just kind of fizzled out at the end.

The novel also really reminded me of The Patron Saint of Liars just with witchcraft.

Overall I liked this book and would probably recommend to patrons.

I loved this book so much. Amazing characters, a propulsive plot, and just a fantastic story. Excited to read other Hendrix books.

Witchcraft for wayward girls. , is the story of unwed young pregnant girls sent to a home to give away there babies. But in the woods are a coven of witches

Set in the 50s and centered around unwed, teenage mothers and witchcraft; themes: pregnancy/childbirth, friendship, resilience, and societal judgements; angsty, bleak, heartbreaking, horrific, gruesome, and tragic, but also beautiful, powerful, and inspiring; amazing character development; Hendrix obviously did his research well; loved all the real world references from the 50s too; a masterfully written, impactful, and engaging story that made me cry at the end.