Grady Hendrix is a drop-everything-and-read author for me. ‘Witchcraft for Wayward Girls’ is another absolute belter of a book, and quite possibly his finest work. It contains the most realistic, visceral description of the violence of childbirth that I've ever seen or heard. The book also illustrates how these young girls and women were treated in the homes. It's a really engaging read which evokes the full gamut of emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute but the ending was precious.

I’ve read almost all of Grady Hendrix novels and for me, his books are a mixed bag.
This one though, this one is definitely one of his better books.
His style of writing seems to follow the same cadence, starts off as a slow burn and gradually builds the tension. It doesn’t always work as if the story doesn’t have enough interest, you can be easily distracted, but that’s not the case here.
It contains elements of horror, mystery & suspense, and packs a real emotional punch.
The characters are interesting, have depth and are believable, even if not relatable.
It all combines to give us a stellar read from this author. Would definitely recommend, if you’re on the fence with Grady Hendrix, I’d definitely give this one a go.

Witchcraft For Wayward Girls was my first Grady Hendrix read, and it won't be my last as I devoured this book. Hard hitting, emotional, and yes, full of horror, yet I don't know what was more horrifying the gory descriptions of the witches and childbirth or the reality of the maternal homes for unwed mothers.
Grady writes female characters so well, and I was incredibly emotionally invested in the girls' story.
Set in the 70s, the story focuses on Neva, who, after falling pregnant at the age of 15, is sent to a home for unwed mothers and renamed Fern. When she meets the other girls there, she forms a friendship, and this is their story. A story of resilience, female friendship, and ultimately self-discovery. Witchcraft For Wayward Girls does an excellent job at highlighting the treatment of these young girls and their children, the misogyny, racism and lack of support system in place for women who became pregnant unmarried.
It makes for a compelling, important read and really made me think about women's reproductive rights even recently, it seems quite timely. Yes, there are bits that made me quite squeamish, and yes, it is classed as horror but in a scarily realistic way. I'd definitely recommend this one and think it's brilliantly written.

Wow! This book is EVERYTHING.

I really didn’t expect such an emotionally charged book from Grady Hendrix. His books usually pack a punch, but this was a full body-blow, a full-on mind-blower of a book.

It’s 1970 and ‘Wayward Girls’, young un-married teens who become pregnant and therefore are considered a shame and embarrassment to themselves, their families and society are secretly ripped away from their lives to Miss Wellwood’s establishment in Florida, to give birth, give up their babies for adoption and then told to ‘forget this even happened’ and get on with their former lives.
Whilst there, they have to remain anonymous and are even given ‘Garden Girl’ names. They are shamed at every turn, restricted in their movements, diets and minds with very minimal kindliness shown, unless they can form tenuous, short-lived bonds with the other girls.

The main protagonists are Fern, Rose, Zinnia and Holly. All different characters but with a shared feeling of righteous rage at the way they are treated. Rose is the most openly rebellious, but she is called ‘a sanctimonious hippy’ by the social worker and this is just one of the terms used to degrade and belittle the girls.
Holly’s story is almost too unbearable to read. I think her character epitomises the hopelessness of these girls most succinctly.

Miss Parcae, the librarian from the book mobile which visits fortnightly, seems to be the only person who shows any consideration for the girls situation. She passes Fern a book ‘How to be a groovy witch’.
At first, Fern is unimpressed with the book and its seemingly innocuous spells for beauty, love and household. But when the bored girls try out a spell to pass on Zinnia’s sickness to their uncaring doctor with dramatic effect, the girls soon realise that this book might be a key to help them out.

Without giving away any more spoilers, the girls become drawn deeper into Miss Parcae’s world. And I’ll just say that this book doesn’t quite take the ‘witch’ route which seems favoured in most contemporary witchy-based fiction!

This book is harrowing, to say the least. But it’s non-stop electrical excitement from start to finish.
A definite early contender for the book of the year.

First of all I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of Grady Hendrix and was excited for his new novel. Even though this is a horror it isn't scary enough that you want to hide the book away (which I have done with other horror novels).

I did think that it was quite a slow start to the story but understand that it was just to build up the environment the girls were in, then when the witchcraft finally started it seemed to go from 0 to 100 very quickly and was chaotic at times in the best of ways.

I think the only disadvantage is that I wanted more of the conflict between the witches as it seemed to be resolved too quickly for me but this was a minor disadvantage as I did enjoy the book as a whole.

That's my first Grady Hendrix book, but definitely not the last. This guy really knows how to write. 

Firstly, I have to talk about the elephant in the room. Yes, Grady Hendrix is a man, and he wrote a book about young girls in very vulnerable situations (being not married and pregnant in the 60/70s) and about witchcraft, two very feminist topics. I was a sceptic about this, but I love books about witches too much to miss out on such a book. And the way he wrote the characters and the real horror of this book (patriarchy, of course) was beyond my expectations. There's no judging, no preaching, instead he shows situations that were too common in those times. 

This book is a real slow burn, but mostly I didn't feel it. And the payoff was really worth it. The only issue I have with the plot is that there could be a little more witchcraft. I don't want to spoil anything, but I just wish that we had a spell or two more. But I enjoyed the way witches are portrayed in this book. 

I also loved the characters. All the girls are different from each other, they're stuck in the same place and waiting for the same fate, but each one has a different story and different dreams. I usually hate reading about teenagers because their actions annoy me, but here I had no problems even when Fern was acting really stupid. Other than the girls in the House, there are a few adults, almost all of them an example of how patriarchy uses women to destroy other women. 

Except for Miriam and Hagar, which I wish we could get more of. 

I have to mention the horror aspects of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. Most of the horror scenes are body horror, there are gory descriptions of childbirth and some other stuff that's too spoilery. So be aware of that. There are some other more witchy horror scenes, and there are a lot of feelings of hopelessness created by the biggest horror ever - the patriarchy. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I already know that it will be one of my top books of 2025. I recommend it to anyone who's not squeamish.

All the stars! What an exceptionally powerful novel this was.

I have read from Grady Hendrix before, so I’m familiar with his fun and campy form of horror, but of all his books the premise of this one sounded like it would be the most for me. And I was so right!

The history this novel is built upon is horrifying. The hardship, the trauma, the grief, all of it so very real, so when we say horror, that’s part of the deal. It’s not the Only horror, but it’s the horror that hits the hardest. And rightly so. And then Grady comes along and tops it off with a witches coven and magic to reclaim the power that’s been taken from these young unwed mothers… Yep, yes please!

It’s the emotional impact of this one that I find the most astounding. I knew Grady could tell a great tale, that wasn’t in doubt, but the emotion in this one is impeccable. The pure rage I felt as I was reading is true testament to just how well it’s written. Grady has created these girls and women that feel so very real to me, and I was utterly devastated right along with them, because their pain is my pain. That in itself is witchcraft; I’m calling it; Grady is a witch. He has the power to write how it feels to be in a situation that he cannot possibly have first-hand experience of. He’s (clearly) not a pregnant teen, yet he somehow pulls this off. And with such impact, I’m reeling.

The topics here are important, the emotions and message powerful, and yet it’s never heavy handed. It is so fundamentally about women, that for it to come from a male author and still feel so empowering is remarkable.

Stunning work, and huge congratulations to Grady for pulling off the impossible.

I highly recommend this one folks. This one is going to stay with me for a very long time.

This was phenomenal, start to finish.

Fifteen and pregnant in 1970s North America, Neva is sent to a home for 'wayward girls' - an anonymous boarding house for parents to send their underage pregnant daughters to so they can give birth, surrender their child to an adoption service, and then go home 'like it never happened'. And do these young girls get any choice in this? Of course they don't. So when Neva comes across a little magic, well, what's a girl to do?

This is very much one of those horror novels where the true horror is the societal norms of the time and the baked-in lack of agency for these young women. Oh there's witchcraft too, and some fantastic hints of cosmic horror, but the terror lies in these young girls staring down a life path they have no choice but to walk. Hendrix doesn't shy away from any of it - not the body horror that comes with the pregnancies, not the fact of what really happened to some of these girls given their very young age, not the way that every authority figure contributes to this gruesome cycle. I also wasn't expecting a male author to do such a phenomenal job writing a cast of young women but he does so incredibly. Everyone feels deeply authentic and individual.

Oh, also the end of this book had me sobbing my heart out in all it's bittersweet beauty, so there's that, too.

An impeccably researched, heart-wrenchingly brutal, gripping horror read!

4.5 ⭐️
This is really quite a special book. Harrowing, raw, and incredibly touching.

It’s 1970 in Florida, and here we follow Fern, a pregnant teenager who is being forced to live and work in a home for unwed expectant mothers. A home that strips you of your rights, your needs, and your voice, a place that expects you to give up your baby at the end of your pregnancy. But Fern is not alone. She’s one of many young women there facing the same fears and anxieties over what is best not only for their own lives but also their babies. Fern bands together with her fellow expectant friends and creates the most incredible and life-changing bonds.

This book deals with feminism, coming-of-age narratives, pregnancy, loss, grief, rebellion, motherhood, and even witchcraft. The writing is flawless, and Hendrix strikes the perfect balance between the real and the supernatural, the funny and the serious. His female characters, as always, are drawn beautifully. They’re fully realised and dimensional, and you as a reader cannot help but empathise with them and invest in their stories. I feel like I’ve felt all the feelings reading this book, and that’s quite something. Ultimately, this is a very powerful novel, in more ways than one.

A huge thank you to @netgalley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. This was an absolute pleasure to read and review!

It takes a huge amount of guts for a male author to write a book centred around the female experience, sexism, prejudice and the suffering of women but I’m all about men standing with women and bringing awareness in male dominated fields (horror)
This wasn’t written in a way that the suffering of women was entertainment like other horror books, this placed the emotions, intelligence and power of the girls at the forefront.
With a witchy element which dives deep into culture and folklore, I really found this ticked all the boxes for me.
I am a bit sad about the personality traits that were written for the one character we know is black, but we need to listen to black women first and foremost to hear their opinions on this before commenting ourselves.

The magical element was so interesting, I loved that it felt ancient and earthy and bigger than us. I really devoured this and enjoyed every second. The horror was interesting because it came in the form of body horror - giving birth. This is a normal female experience which gives the book a lot more meaning and makes it very socially relevant and I do hope that it makes people uncomfortable and leads them to think deeper about this subject in real life.
This book also explores found family, parental relationships, police corruption and the harm that people of power in community organisations can cause, so I do think it is a very important read.

Grady Hendrix has done it again!

4 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2025/01/27/review-witchcraft-for-wayward-girls-by-grady-hendrix/
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Not for the faint hearted

I’m very much enjoying this author at the moment and although, I own up that this wasn’t my favourite book by him, it was a compelling read. I will just say that this is a little bit harrowing in parts and also possibly triggering for some people.

Set during a sweltering summer in the 1970s this story takes a good long look at the treatment meted out to young girls who found themselves compromised (pregnant). This was an age where a girl that becomes pregnant is a source of deep shame, a ‘thing’ to be hidden away until the pregnancy is over and the baby adopted. Then they can return home and never speak of ‘it’ again. Fifteen year old Neva (soon to be known as Fern) is one such girl. Driven to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida by her father she is to be secreted away until her pregnancy reaches its natural conclusion. Neva’s father is livid with his daughter to the extent he doesn’t even wish her goodbye after depositing her.

The other girls at the home are of varying ages and stages of pregnancy and Fern soon becomes firm friends with a few of the others. Life at the home is dull. The girls are expected to clean and wash the house itself, they don’t receive any education and most of their time is spent watching old films and playing cards. Their food is monitored and dietary restrictions imposed to control weight etc. Basically, they have no say or control of anything that is happening either to or around them and they’re kept in the dark about everything.

Fern is a keen reader and looks forward to the arrival of the mobile library. This is when things start to spice up a little, the girls find themselves in possession of a witch’s spellbook, a grimoire if you will, and when they achieve success with their first attempt at casting a hex they start to think of other ways that the book can help during their incarceration.

What I really liked about this is, first and foremost, the writing. Hendrix writes in such a way that you’re almost immediately hooked and although at first I began to wonder if this was going to include any ‘witching’ or fantasy aspects once our little coven eventually forms things escalated quite quickly.

I enjoyed the friendship between the girls and the way they ground each other. It’s sad in a way that they had such high hopes, little realising just how very little real control they actually had. They had their minor rebellions but at the end of the day they were children and the adults around them were capable of so much manipulation and lying to achieve their end goals.

To be fair, life at the home wasn’t abusive as such but the treatment they received at the hand’s of some of the adults was incredibly harsh and utterly judgemental.

If I had any little niggles it would probably relate to the witches and their portrayal. In some respects I think this was handled really well, their lifestyle quite grim and constantly on the move to avoid detection, but, at the same time I think I would have preferred it if their aims had been more by way of helping the girls – rather than helping themselves. Although, perhaps this is just a statement of fact in that all the adults involved were capable of manipulating these young women for their own gain and things did have a way of working out eventually.

Now, I mentioned above that some of this is harrowing – and I’m not joking. There are a couple of quite explicit ‘birthing’ scenes that might not be for everyone. Also, some of the ‘sacrifices’ that the girls were required to make to pay the price for their witching was also particularly gruesome. You have been warned.

All told, this was a quick read, I was hooked almost instantly and was keen to discover what was going on, I was even more intrigued to discover how things would pan out and in that respect the ending is both what you would expect and at the same time a little bittersweet. Some definite food for thought here though and I’ve found myself thinking of this often since completing it.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls has a really interesting premise: a pregnant teen in 1970s America grappling with societal judgment and finding solace and power in witchcraft. The author does a good job of capturing the era's mood, and the exploration of witchcraft traditions is fascinating.

However, while the individual pieces and themes are strong, the novel doesn't quite come together as smoothly as I'd hoped - It felt a bit disjointed at times, with the main threads of the story running alongside one another rather than cohesively together.

Despite this, the book has a chilling atmosphere, and there are some scenes that are definitely not for the faint of heart.

Overall, a good read with a lot of potential. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of historical fiction, horror and gore.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pac Macmillan and Tor Nightfire for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was very nervous going into this one, as its a book about the treatment of women, female oppression and teen pregnancy but it is written by a man. Whilst I still have my reservations about it being written by a man, I have to say that it was very well written and researched. Hendrix describes the fear and hatred that has always been forced on women with great detail and care. His way of wording some sentences really packed a punch, they had me scoffing and gasping out loud. He did not shy away from how disgusting unwed, pregnant, teenage women were treated in the 1970's. The witchcraft element wasn't the scary part of the book for me, it was the extremely horrific scenes of child birth. It is not pretty, easy or nice. Im glad Hendrix didn't pretend that it was a walk in the park for the sake of the book. But the scenes were genuinely gruesome and definitely put me off having children even more. The topics discussed in this book are, of course, extremely heavy. Even more so after the overturning of Roe Vs Wade. The writing has you gripped and very emotionally invested, making you unable to put the book down.

I really enjoyed the found friendship that develops throughout. I am glad that it didn't end with every woman having a man and their lives being lived for others. I think it came to a good conclusion and I specifically liked the final letter written by Neve/Fern to her daughter. The characters all had a different personality which helped you keep track of what name belonged to who. With so many girls coming and going it was hard to keep track of every single character.

There are a few things I wasn't keen on with this book. Number one being the constant description of the teenage girls being naked. Whilst I understand it added to the witchcraft elements every so often, I felt it was very over done and unnecessary, especially with one of the girls literally being 14. Number two is that I feel the book actually could've been even more powerful without the witchcraft. I understand the point of showing that the girls had to resort to such extreme measures for help, but sometimes the magic felt a little thrown together and thrown in. The final thing I wasn't keen on, that I can put into words, was the fact that occasionally it would switch from being focused on Fern in the third person but switch to other people in the same chapter. It was nice to have the other snippets of what was going on, but I think they should've been their own chapters instead, because it was easy to get a little confused.

Overall, I did enjoy this dark, powerful and shocking book. It certainly brings very important topics to the front of your mind and has you thinking about it even after finishing. Whilst occasionally you could still hear the fact this was indeed written by a man, Grady Hendrix did a brilliant job of highlighting this oppression and doing such an important topic justice.

Thank you to NetGalley & Pan Macmillian for an earc of this book. All opinions are my own.

Finally, a new Grady Hendrix book! Hendrix writes very well, with engaging stories, great character interactions, and a "funny" twist of something supernatural and peculiar. However, this wasn't the Hendrix book that engaged me the most. In fact, I found it difficult to get through, and I ended up in a bit of a reading slump halfway through the story. Maybe I read the book at the wrong time? I missed more of the supernatural, more magic, more of the strange, weird, mysterious witches. The fact that the head witch was a librarian was fantastic! But I missed more of this part of the story. The majority of this book is about a group of teenagers who get pregnant out of wedlock, hidden away in a house until birth, and then sent home again without their children and without answers (i.e., wayward girls). This is probably written very historically accurate, and I admire Hendrix for focusing on this topic. In fact, I think he has done a remarkable job writing so authentically from the perspective of young girls. He nails both pregnancy and childbirth well! But it was a bit too "tame" for my taste. As I said, I wanted a bit more action and more horror elements in the story. All in all, an okay story, but not a highlight for me - unfortunately.

I love Grady Hendrix and have read every book released, this book did not disappoint! It had everything a horror reader could ask for, witchcraft, mystery, cult like behaviour and troubled characters. It was well crafted and thought out. I loved the characters and found myself rooting for them. Highly recommend!

“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.’ 

I think I have a new favourite Grady Hendrix book.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a book that encapsulates the fury that it is to be a girl dismissed. Set in a stifling 1970 Florida, Fern is a teenage girl sent to a home for unwed teen mothers. A home that strips the girls of their rights and even their names. Add in creepy doctors and nurses and so very very much religious hypocrisy.

So what's a girl to do when she has nothing left and vulnerable roommates she wishes to protect? Form a coven with the help of the weird travelling librarian of course!

Revenge is giving your creepy doctor a taste of your morning sickness with a spell and poisoning the pious headmistress with a magical powder.

While this one doesn't shy away from body horror and the horrifying reality of pregnancy, it definitely falls more into historical fiction with splashes of horror, so don't go into this one expecting full out horror.

The characters really shined in this one, the bond they form to protect each other was beautiful. I also loved how inclusive of other magic this book was, especially of root magic.

A book that doesn't shy away from the trauma and fury our characters feel, Hendrix did his research on this one to really bring the horrors of 1970 forced adoption to life. Unfortunately this book is especially terrifying in our current climate where women are losing rights everyday.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a reminder that women have always found a way to fuck the system and the people who oppress us, do so at your own peril, because we won't forget.

This one is going to stick with me for a while.

Listen, this was my first book by this author and I was expecting more horror? Like I know childbirth is horror to me, but I don't think it's considered as horror in general. I don't think the themes of this book was for me ether as I was just expecting more fantasy and witchcraft, and its my own fault for not reading into this book before applying for an advanced reader copy.

That said, I actually likes the start of the book more than the middle and the finish, I don't know why, maybe because I didn't know this book would be such a waste of time yet. I think the time the author has set this book makes it easier to kind of make this story like a story rather than an empowering message. At the end of the book I was just so done with it. Still give it a 3 stars as I still read it and there were some good elements to it, but yeah.

Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the arc, all opinions are my own

I must start this review by saying, I don’t think this book was for me. I did not like the writing style, the first quarter of the book had really slow pacing and i had a really hard time staying interested in the story. If there were more witchy elements in the book, I might have enjoyed myself more and felt more driven to pick the book back up after a break. I’m not someone who enjoys reading about pregnancy in the first place, so I could probably have seen it coming that a story about a house filled with pregnant teenage girls would not hold my interest.

Fern, the main character, was just not that interesting, and I think I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if we got to see the perspective of Rose. Her personality was actually interesting, and she had a very driven goal for the use of witchcraft.

I’m sad to say that by the end of it I was just glad i made it through the book. I don’t think i will be picking up another book by this author, and that’s totally fine. Not everything is for everyone.

*Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the arc in exchange for my honest review*

The book is set in a home for pregnant teenagers, where the mothers live isolated from the outside world until they give birth, and their babies are anonymously put up for adoption.

The premise and characters immediately appealed to me. The idea of a coven forming in such a grim setting sounded intriguing, and the addition of horror elements? Sign me up.
But instead of horror or suspense, all I felt was frustration. I had to force myself to finish the book, and if it weren’t a review copy, I would have DNFed it.

The coven’s rituals were initially the book’s strongest aspect for me. They felt atmospheric and immersive. However, as the story went on, I couldn’t help but wonder: What was the point of the magic? It gave me the impression that the girls could only be strong or enact change if they had access to witchcraft, which I found to be a sad and limiting message. Even worse, their spells only worked if the girls physically hurt themselves.

Eventually, the rituals also became unsatisfying. Most of the spells were focused on revenge, which I initially found somewhat justified, but in the grand scheme of things, the girls achieved nothing with them. The people they targeted didn’t change, and their situations didn’t improve in any meaningful way. Their tormentors learned nothing.

Where was the horror in this book? I couldn’t find it. Or does Hendrix consider childbirth to be body horror? The detailed description of the birth scenes of the teenage girls also felt deeply questionable to me.

The themes in the book are undeniably dark and serious, but the writing style often felt strangely lighthearted, as though the story was supposed to be humorous.

In the end, I found myself asking: What’s the point or moral of this book? What is it trying to say? That women are weak and need magic to stand up for themselves?

In 1970, we meet pregnant and unmarried 15 year old Neva who has been shunned by her family.
Neva is sent to a home, Wellwood House, for unwed mothers, and given the name Fern.
Having to make friends with other girls in the home as visits from anyone "outside" are forbidden, we meet Rose, Hope and Zinnia.
One day, a travelling librarian stops by, and offers Fern a book, one that promises answers, powers and even revenge. A spellbook...

Grady Hendrix is one of my favourite horror authors, and so I cannot tell you how excited I was to delve into this long awaited novel.
I wouldn't mark this as horror, but please check the content warnings as there are a few graphic scenes. It is a long book, and at times felt like a long book as it is a slow burn - but don't let that put you off, the nail biting scenes along with the emotions throughout absolutely make up for that.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.