I’ve really enjoyed everything from this author and this did not disappoint.
It was fun, engrossing, dark and atmospheric with good pacing which makes it read quickly. The characters felt very realistic and I found myself rooting for the girls in the story
Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

3.5 stars


To be honest, I was expecting a bit more horror, but apart from one particular scene, the most horrific thing here is the way these children were treated.
Awful stories of teens, how they got pregnant, and the roll on effect from that.
There's some witchy business, but my favourite part is the bonds that form between these girls, and the lengths they go to for each other.
Quite touching really.

Wow. I don’t know what was more horrifying. The witch part, those calling themselves ‘carers’, or the child birth.🧙🩸🦴

I need you to understand what they did to us when we were girls. That's the important thing you have to remember. We were unsocialized girls, fast girls, loose girls, emotionally immature girls, girls who grew up too fast.
We were girls. That's what they called us in their articles and their speeches and their files: bad girls, neurotic girls, needy girls, wayward girls, selfish girls, girls with Electra complexes, girls trying to fill a voil, girls who needed attention, girls with pasts, girls from broken homes, girls who needed discipline, girls desperate to fit in, girls in trouble, girls who couldn't say no.

After getting pregnant at 15, she is sent to a Home in disgust and secrecy and renamed Fern, disconnected from her previous life until she gives birth.

Set at the start of the 70s, Hendrix is always masterful at showcasing the issues of the time. From the stigma surrounding pregnancy, racism, religion and morality, the changing values and increasing violence, the health system, the failing support system…

Per usual, Hendrix’s writing is addicting. Even though the true ‘witchy’ part doesn’t get introduced until page 116, there is a constant horror at the treatment of the girls, the attitudes and the perceptions of their changing bodies.

Their bodies reshaped themselves with each passing minute, their bellies becoming bloody cauldrons brewing babies-dendrites blossoming like slow-motion fireworks, cells filling with triacylglycerols, placentas filtering oxygen from red blood cells. All of it happening in the dark, hidden away inside them.

Should a man be writing about experiences only women have?
Personally, I don’t think authors should be limited to narratives otherwise stories that need to be told won’t be. It is clear that he has done a lot of research.

At the start, I was disgusted by the way Fern described her own body. After finishing the book, I believe this is deliberate. There wasn’t enough communication, information, or sharing.

"Knowledge is a kind of power, and the knowledge you find in this book will help you find power inside yourself. Power is not a material possession that can be given. Power is the ability to act and that must always be taken, for no one will ever give that power to you.
Those who have power wish to keep it, and those who want power must learn to take it?"

This wasn’t an edge-of-your seat, gritting your teeth all the time horror, yet it was a more realistic horror; a portrayal of the realistic nature of a dark part of American history which isn’t that far in our past.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire for providing me the best PR box I have ever received (check out my Instagram and TikTok) in exchange for a review!

Love love loved it!! I knew I would there isn’t a Hendrix book I haven’t loved yet and I think this may just be my new favourite !!

I enjoyed this read. It si perfect for the upcoming Halloween season and I really loved the plot

It is dark and funny and gave me a St Trinians school of horror vibe.

This is the first book by this author and i like the writing style. It is an easy to read tale which made me laugh at times.

The girls were fun and I saw a little of my younger self which made me both cringe and laugh.

its a fun book

Unfortunately not for me I struggled to connect with the writing style of this one. Intriguing premise and good execution , I just did not connect with the story.