Wow, such a wild! I absolutely loved the girls. Rose truly has my heart with her uprise and overthrow the system hippie mentality. Fern/Neva was a beautiful soul. The twists made me the gasp. The ending made me happy and a little teary-eyed. Overall, this was a wonderful read. I know it says it's almost 500 pages, but I flew through them, determined to see how everything turned out and the witches. Such a page turner, I was fully invested!

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

Had an amazing time reading this. I really liked the characters and the way the story was told. Definitely have to check out Hendrix's other works after this one.

Wayward Girls was my second Grady Hendrix read (first was Southern Book Club…) and boy, did I fly through this! The book takes place in 1970 and follows fifteen-year-old Neva, who is unwillingly placed in a home for unwed mothers. Her name is taken away, she’s told what she can and can’t eat, and she is forced to undress and be touched by a hateful male doctor. During this time she and her newfound friends discover the world of witchcraft- a tool that they want to use to change their circumstances.

Something about his writing style just sucked me in immediately. I agree with other reviewers saying that the beginning is slow, but I didn’t mind that. The account about what it was like to be a teen mom in the 70’s was very interesting to me. Then when we get into the witchy stuff, it all felt true to how teen girls would react. The librarian being a witch and giving Fern a witchcraft book was hilariously on point- and I say that as a librarian whose profession receives similar accusations.

What readers should know going in- There are some extremely graphic scenes of birth, and throughout the book there are mentions of child rape. The setting of the book is based in misogyny and racism.

What I loved in this book was how it wasn’t really a book about witchcraft, but about teen girls who must grow up too quickly in a time of sexism. They’re discovering their own ability to be independent and take action against the misogynistic system they’ve experienced. The hopelessness these girls feel is its own horror in Wayward Girls.

This book was slow and I didn't find that I cared much about any of the characters. There wasn't much witchcraft. It got a little better towards the end, but there were a lot of questionable tropes used. It felt very men writing women. Not for me.

They called us fast girls, loose girls, wayward girls. In the summer of 1970, Fern arrives at the Wellwood house, fifteen, seven months pregnant, and alone. Abandoned by her family, Fern sets out to have this baby and go back to her normal life. All of that changes when the traveling librarian recommends a book, a book about witch craft. What follows is a tale of taking power back, finding yourself, and found family throughout the toughest of times.

Pros: Rose, Zinnia, Holly, Hagar and Miriam and the majority of the girls at Wellwood house. I found each of them fascinating and absolutely resolute in themselves. This was a stunning foil to Fern who was inconsistent in her hopes and dreams as she developed. I loved that the ehad witch was the librarian. I found that the fight towards the end being between the lesser of two evils (the system or the witches) was really dynamic but also, really hard to read. To be stuck between a rock and a hard place (magic aside) is not fun. The descriptions of pregnancy felt spot on.

Cons: I hated Fern. Not through the entire book but there was so much of it where I wanted to yell at her. Hendrix writes this poor fifteen year old girl so well and it kills me that so much of the book is spent on her being wishy washy. That being said, I liked disliking her. It worked for me and it kept me reading to see if she would learn or just stay the same.

Overall, a solid Hendrix book full of magic, mayhem, the harsh reality of horror we face every day, and women being controlled by the system and how to break out.

I cannot thank NetGalley enough for approving this ARC. I’m a massive fan of Grady Hendrix and have read all his published works. The first 50% of this book took me a while to get into admittedly, but it brings you in so close to these girls. A home of “wayward” unwed soon-to-be mothers. Along with recent trends in horror related media, Hendrix hits the nail directly on the head with such a strong and steady hand. The last half of this book had me in its grips. How much I came to care about this characters crept up on me so fast it felt like it happened in the background without me knowing. I wouldn’t rank this high on a “Scary Grady Hendrix” scale, but thats not what draws me into his books in the first place. This was such a delightful read but does get heavy at times. I look forward to owning this physically next January!

Thank you Berkeley Publishing group and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls focuses on a group of girls sent to a home unwed pregnant teens set in the 70’s. It explored all the heavy themes that woman faced then, and still do to this day depending on their location. It showcases how women are just regarded as vessels for men, like they are supposed to sit around waiting for a man to dictate their lives. Grady Hendrix is a master at painting a picture and I could vividly picture the girls and the setting, feel their emotions alongside them. If you have read any of Grady Hendrix’s other works I would 10/10 recommend picking this one up as well.

True rating: 3.5

My feelings on this book are a bit mixed. Hendrix is one of my favorite current authors, and I’m always excited to see a new release from him. This book particularly piqued my interest due to the cover and title. And it certainly kept me interested - there’s a lot of Grady goodness in here. However, from beginning to end there were many things that just didn’t sit well with me, and ultimately I walked away a bit unsatisfied. Here are a few of the things that bumped me the most:

-Fern is a baffling and somewhat frustrating character. She seems to make the worst decision at every turn, and her motivations are inconsistent in a way that reads more as plot convenience than complexity of character.
-Miss Parcae is possibly the best character in the book, so it was very difficult to root against her, especially when Fern was being annoying.
-Although it’s clear he tried to give them some fullness of character, Hagar and Miriam were still a pretty blatant example of the Magical Negro trope, which is disappointing.
-For a book that seems to be in some ways a reaction to our current political climate and the struggle for reproductive rights for women, it seems to come down firmly in the “womanhood = motherhood” camp.
-There seemed to be a lot of padding which did drag the book down at points. Also, it wasn’t very scary.

All in all, for a male author who is usually very good at writing female protagonists, this came across as a book about being a woman written by a man. Hoping his next book is a return to form!

This one was horrifying in many ways. It wasn’t exactly what I expected going into it, but overall I did enjoy it. I loved the dark, witchy theme which is a lot of the reason I requested this book.

I loved how Hendrix used the topic of treatment of unwed, young mothers to craft a story mixed with witchcraft and the injustices that occurred back in the day. One thing I wish it had was more of the witchcraft and a little less of the pregnancies. Sometimes I felt like the witchcraft was mostly in the background compared to the story of the girls and their changing bodies. I can see how he wanted to use real life examples to create a lifelike horror though. This book definitely made me fear child birth more than I already did

I devoured this book! Hendrix blends the very real horrors girls have experienced in these Homes for Unwed Mothers with the horror elements of the story. There are a lot of tough topics involved so readers should check TW/CWs.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
by Grady Hendrix
Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
This one comes out in January, and I recommend you get as soon as you can!
In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).
Triggers galore: Language, teenage pregnancy, use of slut, toxic family relationships, abortion (attempt), physical abuse, child sexual abuse, abusive family, gaslighting, grooming, cancer, depression, anxiety, racism, sexism, misogamy
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…
I liked: What I Liked: the writing, the story, the characters were well flushed out and it reads fast. However, I did feel like the book was too long. The graphic birthing scenes were too much for me and in general some parts were very disturbing.
You decide what works for you. This is truly a horror book.

Thanks to Berkely & NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Am I the only one missing the OLD Grady Hendrix? The one who was scary but also really funny? The last few books have been really really really dark and un-fun. This one is no exception.

The premise is a good one: teenage unwed mothers in 1970 are housed in a private home for "girls in trouble," and ruled by Miss Wellwood, an uptight spinster who regulates their lives with an iron fist, assisted by a trying-to-be-cool "social worker" and a creepy OB/GYN who loves to restrict the girls from the evils of salt and sugar at mealtimes. When the Bookmobile comes, it's a lifeline to Fern (all the girls are given temporary, flower-based names while at Wellwood House), and she finds herself caught up in witchcraft. But this is no fun, sexy, "Practical Magic" style trip! It's not long before things get very serious, and while Hendrix does a good job of drawing comparisons between choices of bodily autonomy in the realm of witches vs. the real world, the scenes depicting the "big ending" feel overblown and a bit trite (and they go ON and ON, not dissimilar to the treatment of How To Sell a Haunted House, in which I felt like I was no longer entertained, but being put through a mill of head-destroying violence and hallucinations.

This book isn't bad, exactly, it's just kind of difficult to take. I enjoyed the historical parts about what it was like to be a pregnant teen in the pre-Roe era (not fun), but I would ask Grady to please ease off the gas pedal when writing his denouements. Bring back some of the laffs pls.

As usual, Grady Hendrix does not disappoint. If this novel is quieter than many of his others, it's only because it's slowly digging deeper under your skin. The horror here is sharp and raw, and ruthlessly real, which makes it all the more potent.

I may have squealed jumped and double checked when the publisher approved my request for the newest Grady Hendrix. I love how bizarrely weird and spooky his books can get and wondered how he would take something so horribly sad in our past (Weyward Girls) and make it into a spooky (or witchy) type of book.

Well, for me, it never did take that darker turn into magic or witchery. It was light on that part and heavy on the emotional lives of these teenage pregnant women.

It would be hard to not be affected by sharing this history even if it’s a fictionalized account of one such house. But I was slightly disappointed that it didn’t get “more weird” and creepy. (I know I know, I’m weird lol) .

Bottom line, it was the girls stories that kept me reading not the thrilleresque storyline that never came to be. Perhaps that’s me being silly going into it thinking it was darker than it would be.

The darkness was in the horror that happened to these girls. Ugh. My heart.

One thing about me, if it’s witchy, I will read it. I was immediately drawn to this book based on the title and that amazing cover, add that with the fact that I’ve loved a lot of this authors previous work and I was sold.

This is probably my fave book by this author yet! It’s a longer book IMO but it doesn’t really feel like it, it’s so fast paced and I found myself flying through the pages.

4*

Grady Hendrix is a staple of his genre and for good reason. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls brought the perfect blend of eerie supernatural elements against the evils of the world we know and blurred the lines between them masterfully.

Following Fern and her new friends in a home for unwed mothers in Florida, the girls must face the consequences of their actions and the actions that others have forced upon them.

'Witchcraft for Wayward Girls' takes readers into a setting that's all the more horrific for proximity to real, historical events. 15-year-old pregnant Neva is left at a home for unwed mothers until her condition has passed. While there, Neva - now going by the moniker of 'Fern' - goes on to meet other girls in similar situations to her. Despite the strict conditions, Neva is able to forge bonds with some of the other residents of the house, and when the friends are given a book of magic, their situation spirals out of control.

The essential hallmarks of a Hendrix book are certainly present - mundane horrors mixed with something more otherworldly, strong bonds of friendship between the major characters, and a certain wry humor that helps balance some of the darker moments. While somewhat less horrific overall than some of his previous titles, Hendrix still spins a frightening, tense book, particularly as the story hurdles towards the end. The compelling setting and characters will pull readers in long before any of the witchcraft starts to take effect.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley for an advanced copy to review.

This was sadly not the book for me. I was super excited for a new Grady Hendrix title and it sounded like perfection however, it just fell flat.

Thoroughly disappointed by this read.

What I expected to be a clever, spooky read of wayward girls getting their power back in a sense was ultimately an over simplified, drawn out read that leaves much to be desired.

In the beginning. I empathized with the characters and wanted somehow for their presumed endings to end happily. And while they had each other, this quickly became trauma after trauma. The first half of the book was compelling in a sense, but plots changed, character's personalities & motives change, and we come out with a confusing execution despite an interesting premise.

I can't understand Fern's decisions (which I get, she's 15 and overwhelmed, so give her some grace), but the use of token black characters and the Magical Negro Trope made her decisions and their outcomes 10X worse.

I don't think we leave these characters better than we find them. While I can commend the author's themes of choice and the need for women and girls' to have it, that message gets lost somewhere along the way with hysterical librarians, problematic caregivers, and characters of colors having to pick up the pieces.

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

As someone who is afraid of childbirth, this book was true horror for me. It feels particularly terrifying to read about pre-Roe America in the era of post-Roe America. I loved and hated the characters. Sometimes their choices and inner monologues made me want to SCREAM, but I also could see how they made the best choices they could under absolutely impossible circumstances. The way they were ignored and overlooked and ridiculed at every turn for something none of them knew a single thing about broke my heart and again made me understand why they thought the way they did. It starts off a little slow, but this gives you a chance to really get to know the characters and feel their helplessness. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it as long as you don’t get too squeamish over descriptions of childbirth.