I am a fan of Grady Hendrix, but this book fell a bit flat for me. I'll always read his books, but I really hope he gets back to juicy characterization and truly horrifying moments. For some this will be right up their alley!

WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS is a gripping horror novel that forces readers to accept some of the realities young girls faced when they were forced to live at homes for unwed mothers. From the beginning, to the last chapter and acknowledgements, Grady Hendrix had me holding onto every word.

Wow, this is without a doubt my favorite Grady Hendrix book to date! This book does an excellent job of revealing the historical horrors that have plagued women for decades, while also highlighting how powerful female friendships can be amidst trauma. While any 500-page book can have parts that feel a little dragging, overall this book was an intriguing read with dynamic characters that’ll tug at your heartstrings from start to finish

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Pub for my e-ARC of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
📚 believe reading can be powerful
👶🏼 would do anything for your baby
👩‍🏫 enjoy learning about new things
🧙 love paranormal books

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid...and it’s usually paid in blood.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

Another 5 star read from Hendrix! I loved absolutely everything about this story! I was honestly surprised with how fluently he was able to write about girls, pregnant girls at that, and everything they went through and experienced, to such an extent. As a mom to two, I’ve been there twice, so it was nice to see it written realistically. I also enjoyed the entire setting of the home and the girls. They all felt like real people, and I can imagine that girls like this definitely existed at some point in time. The witchcraft was also very interesting as well. I liked that the book took a lot of twists and turns that I simply never guessed. Overall, I enjoyed the historical accuracy of it all and really learned so much about these homes where girls were forced to give up their babies. I highly recommend!

LOVED MORE THAN ANYTHING! THE BEST OF THE BEST! I absolutely loved Hendrix's newest book - it was so smart and engaging and I never wanted it to end. He beautifully and expertly crafts a story that feels so real - my favorite part of the way that he writes. I absolutely loved the characters and the way Hendrix made the setting a character in and of itself. This is going to be one of my 2025 favorites for sure!

I loved this book. All of the characters are memorable, the story harrowing. I felt myself praying and cheering for all of the girls. I cried and laughed. The dialogue was fantastic!

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a slow burn suspense with a dash of horror/fantasy/magical realism thrown in about a "home" for pregnant girls whose children will be taken from them and who turn to witchcraft as a way to take back control. The majority of the "horror" in this one is in the way these girls are treated at the home, by their families, by the men who impregnated them, by society, etc. But there are a few creepy bits in there.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for the electronic copy.

Grady Hendrix's latest is an incredible story about remarkable girls. Set in the 1970s before Roe v. Wade, maternity homes are one of the only options for unwed mothers. They go there once they're visibly pregnant, have their baby, give up their baby for adoption, and go home as though nothing has happened. The way in which Hendrix writes about pregnancy and birth is impressive and graphic. When Fern and her friends (all renamed after flowers when they enter the Home) come across a book about witchcraft, their entire lives change. They realize that by vowing to devote themselves to witches, they can transfer Zinnia's morning sickness to their insensitive doctor, give Miss Wellwood (the owner of the home) excruciating pain following Rose's heartbreaking separation from her baby, and might even be able to save Holly from going home to the reverend who raped her. There are so many layers of complexity in this story, and they're at satisfying and horrifying in their own way. I found Grady Hendrix's acknowledgements at the end to be especially illuminating. Highly recommended!

Grady Hendrix’s Witchcraft for Wayward Girls was my most anticipated read of 2025, but lucky for me I was approved for a e-arc by @netgalley and @berkleypub . I read this book back in September and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

The story revolves around a group of pregnant teens sent by their families to a home for unwed mothers in Florida. Scared, abandoned, and judged by loved ones, they are unsure of what to expect. Traumatized by abuse and abandonment, they are hidden away and their voices silenced and ignored to endure the horrors of pregnancy on their own. But soon the local book mobile pulls up and the odd librarian hands them a book on witchcraft and there is a glimmer of hope that they can find a way to help themselves and seek retribution against those taking advantage of them.

This book is completely different from anything Hendrix has done and I loved it. Gone is the camp, but some humor remains, in this thought provoking novel. Anyone who thinks books are not political, should read this. It is set a few years before the passage of Roe Vs Wade, when there were no options for females who find themselves in the family way. Ambitions can be lost, the hope of keeping a child left up to their parents, and the young and abused forced to carry their attacker’s child. There is a lot to think about here and it is an intentional commentary on our current national political debate.

Hendrix cloaks all of this in the guise of a well constructed horror novel. And a really good one at that. Yes, there is witchcraft as the girls clumsily play around with spells, but it’s only a metaphor for claiming control over their lives and bodies. The horror created here comes not from witches but from the adults and their greed and lack of compassion and even from pregnancy itself. Pregnancy is the perfect vehicle for body horror- these young girls bodies are changing in a myriad of ways and that can be terrifying to the uninformed and there is one particular scene in this book that I will be thinking about for years to come. This book both infuriated me and broke my heart and most of all it made think- a lot. Hendrix’s beat work to date.!

I had a really hard time getting through this one. As you can see, it took me over a month and a half to read. In my opinion, it didn’t need to be almost 500 pages long. Thankfully I was able to get my hands on the audiobook to help out with the last 150 pages! Highly recommend the audio for this one! I was also hoping to have more witchcraft since I thought that was what a majority of the book was supposed to be about?

I loved learning about all the girls and watching them navigate pregnancy during an extremely challenging time period. My heart quite literally broke for these girls. And yes, they are GIRLS 😔
It made me so happy (given the circumstances) that they were able to go through this experience together.
This was such a tough book to read and puts so much into perspective about society today. I thought Grady did a phenomenal job expressing the mistreatment of women in this story.

I would recommend this one if you enjoy
•covens/witches
•found friendship
•contemporary horror? (Not scary)
•magic

3.5 stars rounded up to 4!

This teetered on absolutely perfect for me, but I think there was a bit too much going on, and some things weren't as fleshed out as I wanted.

This had me hooked from the beginning. I cannot relate to the experiences of the wayward girls - I'm not even a mother - but I think any woman CAN relate to being treated like an idiot, like you don't know best, because you're a young lady, and what do young ladies ever know when there are men in the room? That is a distinct kind of rage, and Hendrix managed to wrap it up perfectly in a spooky, witchy story for the girlies.

I really loved this and so many other people will too.

Thank you @berkley.pub @prhaudio & @netgalley for my complimentary digital and audio copies. All opinions expressed are my own.

In this narrative, set in 1970, young girls labeled as "wayward" or "loose" are sent to a home where they give birth in secrecy and have their babies adopted, while their families attempt to erase the incident from memory.

Fifteen years old and pregnant, Fern arrives at the home feeling scared and isolated. Soon she meets Rose, Zinnia, and Holly, three other girls in similar situations.

Under the strict supervision of Miss Wellwood, the girls' lives are meticulously controlled. However, everything changes when a librarian gives Fern a book called 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘷𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩. Curious, Fern and her friends experiment with the spells in the book, discovering new powers. However, this newfound power brings significant risks and consequences.

I both read and listened to this one. The audio is flawlessly narrated by Leslie Howard, Hillary Huber, and Sara Morsey. I enjoyed both the digital and audio versions, though I admit to hitting the 45 second forward button a few times during the narration of the labor sounds near the end of the book.

MY THOUGHTS: I enjoyed this story, and found it more engaging than the last two Grady Hendrix books I read. Although I'm not typically a horror reader, Hendrix's intriguing storylines tend to draw me in!

The book begins with the inclusion of quotes reflecting 20th-century attitudes towards unwed mothers. Hendrix's vivid portrayal of pregnancy struggles is so authentic that I would have thought a woman had written it if I hadn’t known better! The storyline is captivating, and I was emotionally invested in the girls' fates, even sharing in their fear as they confronted authority figures and witches. While there is minimal gore, the birth scenes are graphic. The conclusion is interesting and realistic. Read (or listen to) this if you enjoy dramatic stories with a slight horror element.

4.25 rounded down.

What to even say about a book making statement after statement about women, rights, treatment, friendship, while celebrating and introducing magic?

Fern, and the rest of the girls at Wellwood House, are wayward. They come to the home to give birth, then return home to pretend as if it never happened. I loved the girls, their personalities and how they spend their time at Wellwood. Then, Fern meets a librarian and everything changes. In a very big way. This is where the tone of the book changes and it feels like a natural shift.

Advanced reader copy provided by Berkeley and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

This review pains me so much to write but Grady did not deliver with Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. I adore Grady’s books and his weird ideas but being 4months postpartum- I am not the right audience for a story about Maternity Homes in the 1960s/1970s right now.

This book felt so different from Grady’s other books. With less horror and more…historical fiction / ‘magical realism’. It was almost as if the ‘witchcraft’ was a side plot and didn’t feel ‘complete’. All the while the story of the maternity homes and the girls took center stage, making this read more like historical fiction than anything else. Personally, my emotions cannot handle the abuse and stigma these girls suffered, and even though Grady always throws a little fantasy into the mix it just felt too ‘real’ for me. Which if you think about it, makes this a great book, since great books should give you BIG emotions, no matter how uncomfortable they are. Knowing that Grady probably wasn’t exaggerating much with how they were treated, and especially as I was reading this snuggling one of my newborn twins, I’m just not in a place to be reading this book. So, take my review with a grain of salt.


I will say that for a man, Grady did a great job of capturing pregnancy, and the writing is as wonderful as ever. But with a slow first half, less horror, & a harder to digest topic (for me), I just didn’t love this book. I’ve also been advised to not listen to this on audio, as there are childbirth scenes that are difficult to listen to.

I’m still a huge Grady fan and will read anything he puts out; but this one was just ‘too’ on the mark for me!

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is out now! Huge thank you to Berkley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my:

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The horror in this novel is the horror of womanhood and real life. Patriarchy punishes those who choose to venture outside their narrowly defined roles as teenage girls. The home treats them like sinners and whores while the men and boys, their co-conspirators in their sexual sin suffer no consequences. People worry about how these sinful girls will ruin the futures of those males they tempted. The so-called good people in this book are the monsters. They have no compassion for the girls. Nothing but judgement.
This book moved me to pity because we are entering a conservative religious era as a country again. We will go back to a world that shames women for being sexually active and they will be the only ones who suffer any price and will be blamed for tempting men and ruining men's lives. It isn't pretty. Hopefully it's not longer the reality.

I have SUCH a book hangover after finishing this one a few days ago. I've thought long and hard about what I think made this one so good. To me, the horror elements are less about the witching and more about the horrors these “wayward girls” had to endure. They had no bodily autonomy nor free will in decision-making. Hendrix did such incredible work here with generational and religious traumas. He paid excellent care to the labor, delivery, and postpartum process. My thoughts are LARGE. The scope of this story is huge and it‘s so astoundingly good.

I'm familiar with these homes for pregnant girls from way back in my childhood up thru my teenage and young adult years. I can remember vividly that from time to time we would have guest speakers at church. These were women (and men) that ran these homes. They would come to speak about the great care these girls got, the counseling, the medical care, and how oftentimes, they would choose to give their babies up for adoption. These homes were an "alternative to abortion" and they were a place that saved babies' lives. Staying in these homes, I learned, allowed these young women the chance to learn life skills that they so obviously needed and gave them (and their families, mind you) privacy. So they could make decisions about their future without the prying eyes of the public, staring at them because they were young and unwed. Then, the church passed the offering plates so collections could be made to donate to these homes, to further their mission. When I was in college, I needed volunteer hours in my nursing program, and I visited one of these homes to see if I might volunteer there. I didn't end up choosing that particular place, but I will never forget my experience there.

Anyway, I'm sure that these homes of today are hugely different from the home Hendrix wrote about. In the 1970's, teen pregnancy was much more scandalous than it is today. To their families and most of the people these girls came in contact with, the horror was that these girls allowed themselves to become pregnant. They were dirty and unclean. Loose. Sinful. To the young women featured in this story, the horror was being sent away and subjected to awful things at a time when they needed guidance and unconditional love, and not being given any say in the matter. To me-the reader-all of this is the horror element here. Yes, there are witches in the story and there is some suspense and tense times during some of their scenes, but it is worth discussion about who posed the most threat to these young women: the adults in charge or the witches in the woods.

I am a labor/delivery/postpartum nurse, so I tend to read books about pregnancy and childbirth and the postpartum time with a clinical eye. I can't help it. And even though the childbirthing scenes in this book are graphic and hard to read, I was astounded at how accurate and well-done they were. There is birthing inside of a hospital and outside of the hospital, and they were both so accurate. I won't go into details here because I don't want to spoil anything, but these were definitely births that took place back in the 70's and I could tell Hendrix did a lot of research because I completely forgot it was a male that was creating these experiences for us to read.

I could talk for hours about this one. I wish I had buddy-read it with someone. Because I'm just left with so many feelings after finishing it. I LOVE the way we are able to spend time with these young women as adults-long after their times in the home-and I loved that he explored the lasting effects situations like these had on the pregnant young women and the children that were adopted by other families. I've really had to sit with this for a few days before moving on to my next read.

This book is full of trauma, grief, regret, uncertainty, abuse, and the patriarchy. There's also a lot of yearning for the ability to make choices for one's self. It's heavy and emotional and heartbreaking, but there is also a lot of Grady Hendrix in here. There is dark humor and friendship and found family. It's really fantastic. It really seems like this subject matter meant something to the author.


I would like to thank Berkley Publishing for sending a review copy my way via NetGalley. I wanted to fly thru this one, but I couldn‘t; I had to take it slow, to absorb it, to think about the harms here. In fairness to the large scope of what Hendrix wrote.

It was like being punched: a gripping and heart-wrenching story set in the mythical "good old time" when a pregnant teen was sent to Homes (sort of lager for unwed mothers) and they social stigma was more important than their well-being.
Fern is one of the "lost girl", she ends up in a home where there's no autonomy, no support, only power games and abuse.
Till she's given a book about witchcraft ...
This is not an easy story as some parts that are based on real stories are even more terrifying than the horror one. A story of power and what happens if victims get control on the narrative.
The horror part is excellent, the tensione and disturbing body horror.
Great read, well done
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Feeling a bit mixed on this one but I'll start with the positives. Great cast of characters! I got very emotionally invested in these girls (Holly was my fave) and loved that the story felt, to me, ultimately about freedom of choice. It focused a lot on power in oneself, in friendship, and in women supporting women, all of which I love! I think it’s clear from this novel and Grady’s body of work that he appreciates & respects women and is aware of our strength and the issues we have fought and continue to fight against, which I absolutely adore him for!! 😭🫶 The witchy scenes were fun and exciting and I absolutely loved the added insertions throughout the book from How to Be a Groovy Witch. That said, I wouldn’t say this is one of my fave Hendrix novels. My main complaint is that something felt missing for me, and I think it was that the book lacked the playfulness I look forward to and have come to expect in his books. I would have LOVED more witchy scenes and more horror that wasn't birth. There were a couple good ones but they felt few in comparison to the girls just living life, and most of the horror seemed to come from the horrible situations the girls were in and multiple gnarly birthing scenes. I get this book had a more serious topic but I know Grady can explore that while retaining his sense of fun and playfulness, and I just didn’t feel that in this. Unfortunately I’m left feeling quite a bit unsatisfied because of that. Overall I still think this is a good book, just not one of my faves of his. Still a solid read though and recommend to fans of stories about motherhood, female empowerment, & teens.

3.5 Stars

Thanks so much to Netgalley & Berkley Pub for the arc!

I just finished WitchCraft for Wayward girls by Grady Hendrix and these are my thoughts.

Being sent to Wellwood house away from your family, is how pregnant teens are dealt with in the 70s. No body autotomy for these girls. No say in their futures.. Frightened and alone, their choices do not matter and their babies… Put up for closed adoptions.. All their meals are planned down to the calorie. Made to drink disgusting drinks for their health.

It's no wonder that when a book of spells lands in their laps and their first spell works that these girls have something that cannot be taken from them…. But magic always comes at a cost…

This book threw me right into the middle of a fight these girls could not win. They don’t get to keep their babies.. They are gaslit and borderline abused.. My heart broke and my blood boiled.

I'm a Hendrix fan. I am totally biased already but this book was a touch away from his normal writing. It was less horror than normal but it felt more serious too. It was some beautifully well crafted writing and I felt a kinship with these girls who had no voice and no choice. It was a gamble for a male author to tackle a heavy subject like this but he did it with true class and for that I salute you!

The adults were all the baddies in this book in my opinion. I know the cook helped in her way but she still kept her distance from these neglected girls. These girls were treated like criminals for something that happened to them. The social worker was more for the parents collecting their stolen babies than the welfare of those poor girls. Horrible and you feel every single blow.

The girls don’t even get to use their own names. The owner of the home picks them. They work while they are there or the parents pay for their stay and it makes you wonder how much she makes off the adoptions. The witchcraft was the least scary thing in this book and that was epic in itself.

I found the girls all had these wonderfully written personalities and their bravery knew no bounds. I enjoyed the witchcraft parts the most. I was enthralled the most when Fern got that book from the mobile library. I had more questions about the group of witches but the ending of the book was done so well that I forgot I had questions.

It was a really clever way of writing a horror book with social concerns we as women have today.

4.5 stars. Brilliant! Bit more on the witchy stuff and it would have got 5.

CHECK THE TRIGGERS!!!

Thank you @berkleypublishing and @netgalley for my gifted copy! Out now.

#witchcraftforwaywardgirls #berkleybooks #gradyhendrix #horrorbook #horrorreader #newreleases #bookreview #bookblog #bookalorian #readervlog #bookreader #amreading #bodyhorror

3.75-4? idk im conflicted by the rating. i had a lot of problems with this. the witchcraft was unnecessary and underdeveloped. the horror was what these girls went through in the home and the coven and witches were thrown in just for fun. definitely the weakest element of this book. he did not do everything i wanted him to and fern was a really flat character but I want to believe it was on purpose. i liked the epilogue, but i can understand anyone who thinks it was too happy. i really liked the first third, it dragged a little in the middle and muddled some things up, and then the end moved quick as grady usually does. it was not what i wanted, but i don't dislike the book. i genuinely will never understand why he threw in a coven that he didn't explain whatsoever. the witches could have been so much different and so much better. still above final girl support group for me, and i think above horrorstor.