A group of pregnant teenagers at a home for unwed mothers in 1970 learn witchcraft. Sounds pretty awesome, right?

The home is miserable and emotionally abusive. They're slut-shamed constantly, made to work like Cinderella, and banned from doing anything entertaining. There's a ton of horrific medical abuse. The girls are all given fake names and banned from telling each other their real names or anything about their real life. They all - every one of them - obey this absolutely, with the exception of a few slips. (VERY improbable!) Their babies are sold to adoptive parents. Girls who want to keep their babies are threatened with everything from homelessness to being locked up for life in an asylum until they give them up. But then one of them gets a book on witchcraft...

Based on the premise, I thought this would be about the girls banding together to get revenge on their abusers and forge better lives for themselves.

Haha nope! It's 80% pregnancy/abuse misery, 15% pregnant girls being exploited by witches, and 5% MAX pregnant girls doing anything for themselves including revenge.

I am not big on pregnancy in fiction. I did love the premise, but I assumed it would more about pregnancy being the thing that trapped the girls in a bad situation, and less about the physical details of pregnancy. It is EXTREMELY about the physical details of pregnancy. It has the most graphic birth scene I have ever read, and that includes in literal guides to childbirth.

I was really surprised by how little witchcraft there is. It doesn't even get introduced until about a quarter of the way in, when one of the girls gets a book on witchcraft from a librarian who is also a witch. Then there's a ton of time before they actually try a spell. Then, after they do a very successful spell - that they even use a blinded study on to make sure it's not a coincidence - all but one of the girls lose all interest in witchcraft and there's no more spells for ages. I think there's only three spells done in the entire (long) book.

Given the emphasis on how incredibly bored the girls are and how much they hate the people running the home, AND that the one spell they master is a very versatile one (Turnabout - give something you're experiencing to another person), this seems less in-character and more like Hendrix really didn't want to write the witchcraft, much as an erotica author might think, "Oh God, not another sex scene."

The afterword mentions that the first two drafts of the book did not have witches. That explains a lot. The book is mostly an expose on the horrific injustices done to pregnant teenagers pre-Roe (very earnest - Hendrix got the idea because this happened to two women in his family - but bordering on misery porn as a reading experience), plus tacked-on witches.

The witches/witchcraft elements are very inconsistent, as if Hendrix didn't know exactly what he wanted to do with them. The book on witchcraft has the kind of sisterhood and female empowerment rhetoric that was what I expected Witchcraft for Wayward Girls to be about, but the librarian-led coven (which wrote the witchcraft book) is a rag-tag group of basically homeless women who mostly seem pathetic and whose only interest in the pregnant girls is using the most powerful one for their own selfish ends.

Sometimes witchcraft seems very powerful, sometimes it seems useless. The pregnant girls are mostly not interested in using it, and have no imagination in terms of what they might be able to use it for. At one point they have spells they could use to turn invisible, fly, etc, and they don't even bother to try them because there's no spell that fits a very specific goal they have -- without even considering trying out the magic they do have as part of an overall plan to accomplish their goal! They keep saying it's pointless to do magic because it can't get them money and a home, but some of the spells actually could do that, if they were willing to say invisibly rob a bank.

In general, the depiction of witchcraft is very negative. Most of what we see involves exploitation, self-mutilation, and general misery. The pregnant girls are miserable, but the witches are also miserable. The Magical Negro cook who helps out the white girls (the one black girl renounces witchcraft very early on) uses magic to fight the witches, but doesn't consider herself a witch and thinks magic is evil (I guess except the magic she uses? very inconsistent!)

The overall attitude to witchcraft is both inconsistent and annoying. The end implies that it's a metaphor for female empowerment, but nothing in the rest of the book supports that. Most of the time, the witches are evil or pathetic or both. When the protagonist finally has her baby, she thinks that bringing life into the world is the REAL magic that puts witchcraft to shame BARF FOREVER.

If you want a book where teenage girls get revenge and the upper hand, 99% of the book is not that. Also, the word "pregnant" is used about 5000 times, or maybe it just felt that way.

I generally like Grady Hendrix on women's issues, but WOW was this one a miss.

Content notes: Told not shown child sexual abuse. Upsetting depictions of medical abuse, emotional abuse, misogyny, slut-shaming, self-mutilation, and forcibly separating mothers from babies. THREE extremely graphic and horrifying birthing scenes. An absolutely classic Magical Negro. Pervasive and graphic pregnancy details.

My first book by this author! I really liked this. I don’t read a lot of “witchy” books and I loved this

Set in a group home for pregnant teens, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a story of hope, sisterhood, and the dark powers all women possess. It wasn't the strongest of Hendrix's works, in my opinion, but it definitely adds to his mastery of giving an authentic female voice to his protagonists.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

“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.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First off, thank you @berkleypub for the free gifted copy of Hendrix latest release! #berkleypartner

Grady Hendrix is one of my favourite authors and that is because he is able to write strong, powerful, dynamic, and complex female characters so well. All while weaving an engaging, horror novel that manages to not take itself too seriously, but also poke at societal issues around misogyny and race.

Witchcraft for Wayward Witches delivers fully on those aspects, but in a more serious tone than I have seen in his other works. Yes we still have the comedic elements to lighten the very dark mood but they are fewer and farther between than what we saw in My Best Friends Exorcism, Southern Book Club, or How to Sell a Haunted House.

I have a theory that it could be because this story may hit closer to home for Hendrix. He stated that the book was inspired by family members who were sent to these Maternity homes when were teenage girls.

“I tried to understand what they had been through, but I couldn’t wrap my head around how scared and isolated they must have felt. I tried to imagine what it was like to have a child but not know if they were alive or dead, sick or well-and I couldn’t.”

This is, in my opinion, Hendrix’s darkest novel yet and it is my favourite.

If you do pick it up I highly suggest checking out the content warnings first and if you would like to know more you can swipe right for the synopsis!

“We weren’t girls. We were never girls. We were witches.”

This book took me in from the beginning and it never let up. A story about unwed, pregnant teenage girls and their treatment by society - family and others. Being shipped off to a home to have their babies in secrets, the mind games to get them to give up their babies - some are willing,others are not. It really takes you through all the emotions and the author was just brilliant with showing us the complexities as seen from multiple points of view. And then through in some witches, or another set of people trying to take advantage of kids in a vulnerable emotional state. Th story is told perfectly, with the right amount of detail, characterizations and an interesting plot.

I feel like, as much as I want Grady to be hit after hit, there are moments when misses sneak in. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls follows a group of pregnant teens in the 70s, all sent by their parents to spend the duration of their pregnancy "with an aunt upstate" or "helping an ailing relative" -- in actuality, they're hidden away at a group home in Florida. The summer Bookmobile introduces them to a mysterious librarian and an even more mysterious book.

When it was good, it was excellent. But when the chapters slogged this one felt every bit of its 500 (!) pages.

› Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at Wellwood Home in St. Augustine Florida. She's 26 weeks pregnant. The Wellwood Home is where "unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened". Miss Wellwood is very strict and the doctor that helps care for the girls is judgemental and gaslight them when they don't feel well. Fern meets many other girls here and forms friendships with Rose, Zinnie and Holly.

On a hot summer day, the bookmobile arrives and a librarian helps them choose a few books each, giving a spellbook to Fern. Could these spells be real? Who wrote the book? Will they be able to learn magic?

› I do want to warn you, that there is a lot of talk about pregnancy and graphic childbirth scenes. Told from Fern's perspective, this is a relevant story considering the current climate in the United States and the conversation around women's rights. A lot of the horror in this book comes from how women were treated in the 1970s (and honestly it looks like we're going back to that time sadly).
APPEAL FACTORS
Storyline: character-driven, issue-oriented, tragic
Pace: medium
Tone: emotional, heartwrenching, high-drama, nostalgic, suspenseful, thought-provoking, magical, challenging, dark, bleak, haunting
Humour: dark humour
Writing Style: well-crafted dialogue
Character: authentic, awkward, brooding, complex, flawed, likeable, mischievous, quirky, relatable, sarcastic, strong female, unlikeable, well-developed, diverse
Racial Representation: Multiracial

Read Alikes:
The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
Foxfire

› Final Thoughts
• Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a dark, emotional, and powerful book about motherhood, feminism, witchcraft and abuse of power. These "wayward girls" are really children and this experience destroys their childhood. With strong female characters who build unlikely friendships, this thought-provoking book teaches us that using magic comes with a cost.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Amazing as always, Mr. Hendrix. Obsessed is an understatement! Grady writes female characters so incredibly well, and this one is no different. I was rooting for all the young women, and I empathized so much with Neva's journey.

Witchcraft or Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix is a moody, slow-burn novel with shades of The Craft. The story follows a group of pregnant teenage girls sent to a group home to await the births of their babies. As they bond and navigate their challenging circumstances, they stumble upon witchcraft, setting the stage for a dark and eerie exploration of their newfound powers and some sweet revenge.

However, it takes about 30% of the book for the witchcraft element to even appear, which slows the pacing considerably. While the premise is intriguing, the story felt flat to me, lacking the gripping energy and action I expected. If you’re a fan of Grady Hendrix’s signature style, you’ll likely still enjoy the atmosphere and tension, but it may not hit the mark for every reader.

For me, it wasn’t as strong as some of his other works, but if you love slow-building stories with a focus on mood and character, you might find this one worth the read.

I was ready to sell my soul for an advanced copy of this book and luckily I received one and my soul remains intact! The synopsis of this story sold me from the get-go. Young girls in the early 1970s who get sent to live down south in a maternity home when they find themselves pregnant. Add in witchcraft, a thirst for revenge, and a thirst for bodily and matriarchal freedom and I was hooked!! I read my print copy and simultaneously listened to the audiobook on @prhaudio and I thought the narration was done so well!

I will say that this book is longgggg! I feel like it could have been shortened some but I really loved the ending of this book. The epilogue was so powerful and had me tearing up at the thought of what these young girls went through with birthing their babies just to have them taken away and put up for adoption. It's heartbreaking and infuriating that this is something that many young girls and women really went through and still go through. I love that Hendrix had these young girls fight back for power and control.

For a Hendrix novel, I will say this book is on the tame side of horror compared to many of his other books. There is some body horror and I am grateful that I already gave birth to my three children before reading this or I may have been scarred after reading some of his birth scenes!

I do think this book is worth the read and I recommend picking it up today on pub day!! You are guaranteed a book that packs a lot of emotion, power, and resilience within it!

This is my second Grady Hendrix book and I loved it! This story takes place in the 1970’s and things get a little crazy. We meet girls that have found themselves in a not so great a predicament and are sent away. How my mind was blown on the ways things were handled in the 70’s era. This story is about friendship and resilience. I loved how Grady pulled me into this story, it was so hard to put this down once I started it. I highly recommend to anyone looking for the next addictive read!

A fantastic new novel from Grady Hendrix. They have a way of writing such well-rounded realistic characters put in horrible circumstances. One of the best books I've read in a while.

Not really sure how I feel about this. I think I'm going with 3 stars. It felt longer than it needed to be and the beginning was really slow to me. I wanted more intensity, more witchcraft. I guess because it was Grady Hendrix I was expecting more on page horror, I don't really know. The intense parts of the book were really good - everything from Holly's birth after - but it took too long to get to that point for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback. Grady Hendrix continues to have a magical Negro problem in some of his writing, but the rest of the setting was done really well.

Grady Hendrix has done it again. Just when you think he can't top his last book he does. I was leery about a man writing about not only pregnancy but teenage pregnancy in the 70's. Not only does this book dive into the horrors that teenage girls had to go through being unwed and pregnant but the supernatural element made this read magic. My first 5 ⭐️ of 2025. The magic, anger, frustration and perseverance the girls all go through and the way Hendrix writes each girl is 👩‍🍳 💋. This is a must read!

This was super interesting and I really enjoyed it! I haven’t read any of his books so I didn’t know what to expect. My friend said that she expected more of a thriller so she was disappointed. But because I didn’t know what to except, I really liked it! The magical aspects were cool and not over the top!

Hendrix has become such a reliable author, and this one is no exception - he writes women very well, in my opinion. My only quibble with this one is that there's a bit of a "magical Negro" business going on, subverted partially by the specificity of the characters but still there just a little bit.

LOVED!!! It's such a perfect mix of action-packed historical fiction and supernatural spookiness. I wanted it to be a bit scarier, but overall, great!

This book is perfect for any fan of Grady Hendrix who loves witchcraft. It was the perfect mix of horror, fun and exploring important topics

Grady Hendrix is my favorite *Historical Fiction* author I said what I said 🖤💅🏻. (Ok, Kristin Hannah is up there too 😊.)
.
“But wait?! Hendrix writes horror, thrillers, suspense, supernatural fiction!”
.
Ok, yes. And this book has all of that. But after this book set in the 70s, and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires set in the 90s, you cannot deny that the man is also an amazing historical fiction author.
.
His masterful descriptions totally embody an era. You feel like you’re there. He also highlights major social justice issues of the time. (Also, if you’ve ever been to a Grady Hendrix author talk, you know he researches his books like no other.)
.
.
This is a feminist book. It’s a book about pregnant teenage girls who have been fed the message that they are a shameful disgrace. They are carted off to a home for unwed mothers, where they are stripped of their power and bodily autonomy, shoved into this crevice of society. The adults who run the house strictly control every facet of the girls’ daily lives.
.
The girls have no power. That is, until it’s offered up to one of them in a book of spells and a witch willing to help. A group of girls begin to cast and turn the tables on the adults “in power.”
.
Unfortunately, the help of a witch is never free. There’s always a price to pay. But what lengths will the girls go to in order to protect each other?
.
.
I laughed, I cried, I cheered. This book broke me down and built me back up. It gave me all the feels 🥹🖤.
.
This is going to be in my top 10 of 2025! Thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for the eARC!
.
.
.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls - Grady Hendrix
5/5⭐️
.
.
.
TWs: talk of past SA; descriptions of childbirth.