Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is rooted in real - not supernatural - evil. It explores the villains and wrongdoings of 1970s homes for pregnant teens - the predatory adoptions, lack of bodily autonomy, the unscathed the young (and old) men who impregnated them, the societal norms that forced shame on young girls without the information to protect themselves. Of course, wayward girls like Fern, Holly, Rose and Zinnia would turn to a mysterious book about witchcraft for solace. And since this is a Grady Hendrix book, of course the witchcraft is real. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is another solid horror book from Hendrix, who is an expert at weaving horror tropes with social commentary. Lots of body horror throughout - though strangely the most nauseating descriptions were of natural things such as a very, very, very long section detailing a complicated birth. While I appreciated this title, it didn't keep me as captivated as his other works.

I’m a big fan of Grady Hendrix’s books so I was very excited about this one and really didn’t even read the description first and went in blind. It tells the story of a teenage girl who gets pregnant and is sent to a home for “wayward” girls in 1970. Fern and the girls she meets have differing stories of how they got into this situation and some are worse than others. But they meet a Bookmobile librarian that gives them a book that might change their situations.

I was honestly expecting more horror and paranormal. As a woman who's had a child, this unfortunately is more real life horror. Unmarried pregnant women were treated like crap in this time frame and there were and are still really awful ways young girls find themselves pregnant. The witch aspect wasn’t as much of the villain as the adults and society these girls lived in. Overall it was an interesting read but not my favorite of Hendrix’s books.

This author deserves all the praise they get. Every book is different but maintains the humor and heart. Will buy upon release. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read early and let people know it’s coming.

I usually end up waiting until closer to pub date to get around to ARCs, but as soon as I was approved for this one, I dove right in.

When fifteen year-old Neva finds herself pregnant, her family takes her to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida. Renamed for anonymity and prohibited from sharing her name and other details of her life with the other girls, Fern makes friends and settles into the daily life at this home for wayward girls. When a librarian offers her a book on witchcraft and spells, the girls initially just want to take morning sickness away and give it to an unsympathetic doctor, but when it actually works, they’ll find themselves deep into something they don’t understand.

Though this isn’t my favorite Grady Hendrix book, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I appreciated the backdrop and story of this often forgotten part of American History, when young girls were sent away, convinced to give up their babies, and then plopped back down into their lives like nothing ever happened. There is a fair amount of body horror, particularly related to childbirth, which is one of the things that skeeves me out the most, but it’s appropriate and adds to the horror story of these young women. Sometimes, the real stuff is more horrifying than the paranormal stuff, and I love it when horror touches on that.

It’s out in January, the perfect start to your 2025 year of reading!

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a captivating book set in the suffocating heat of St. Augustine, Florida in 1970. Unwed mothers sent to the Wellwood Home are concealed from society to give birth, compelled to use fake names, pressured into giving up their babies for adoption, and then expected to move on as if nothing happened. After striking up a conversation with the bookmobile librarian, one of the young women is given a book about witchcraft. The young women, who have been deprived of all of their autonomy, decide to reclaim some of their power not realizing that there is a price to pay. The tension in the story is expertly crafted, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Fern a young pregnant girl in the 1970s sent to a home for wayward girls in Florida . She plans to have her baby and go back home and everything will be normal again . Until the day she checks out a book about witchcraft from the book mobile . Things start to change . Full of thrills, horror , suspense , horror and emotion this book is absolutely Unputdownable ! you will love and empathize with the fully realized characters . . 10s across the board

This book hooked me in from the very beginning and kept me hooked the entire time! This was my first by this author, I really, really enjoyed it!

Definitely a book for library purchase. Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Being approved to read this in advance was such a fortuitous opportunity for me, as we are having Grady Hendrix in attendance for a Southern Gothic Festival we are having at our library. I have been wanting to read at least one of his titles prior to his arrival. I love reading anything about witches, so I was thrilled to be able to start my Grady Hendrix adventure with "Witchcraft for Wayward Girls." The story started out as a slow burn, but I was quickly hooked into the storyline and the devasting lives of the pregnant teens at Wellwood House. Hendrix crafted the story well, pushing the reader in one direction (witchcraft is going to save the day and send retribution to the evil adults in charge!) then switching to another (the girls are doomed for using witchcraft!) to another direction still. It was an emotional rollercoaster, but a terrific ride nonetheless. This book is classified as horror, but the true horror depicted in this story is how these poor pregnant girls are treated, robbed of name, choice, and dignity.

This book was a surprise. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t even read the synopsis. I saw Grady Hendrix and said, “yes, please!”. That said, the beginning of this book was slow for me. There were numerous characters and it took time to build their relationships. Once it got going though I was invested. Those relationships run deep and carry the entire book. I appreciate this look back to our not so distant past to see what women had to endure. How much changed with Roe V Wade and in turn how much things have changed again in our current political climate. I do hope this book doesn’t serve as a prediction of our future. The end of this book had me in tears. Just beautiful. It’s well worth the read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, just wow!! Thank you Netgalley for this ARC! What a powerful read, Grady Hendrix is amazing! What these female characters go thru is unbelievable and heartbreaking at times. This book had me turning pages to know what happened next. My eyes were filled with tears at times because as a female I could relate to these girls and what they felt. This is a must read!

A cozy horror novel with a witchy librarian and teen girls trying to make sense of the times. One of the best parts of this novel is that the reader is never sure who the bad guy is - is it the other girls at the home? Or the nurse? Or the cook? Perhaps the librarian? This lack of clearly defined bad vs good characters keeps the plot moving and interesting and wonderfully complex.

Like many young girls in the 1960's and early 1970's, a pregnant 15 year old Nova is sent to a Home to quietly have her baby. Renamed Fern (all the girls are blossoming flowers in the Home's garden) the young mother endures abuse and indignities from the staff, which encourages her and her fellow unwed mothers to turn to a mysterious librarian, who promises power and freedom when they're at their most vulnerable. Groovy and at times chilling, Hendrix transports the reader into the deep south of the near past. A great read for the Halloween season.

What I expected and what I got with Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix were two different things. I expected delinquent teen girls meddling with magic and getting in over their heads. What I got was teen girls who society had sent away to deal with unwanted pregnancies. I saw teen girls who, when faced with little choice, turned to witchcraft to try and take back control of their lives and bodies. At times sad, hilarious, graphic, and suspenseful- this story delivered a little horror, a lot of heart, and plenty of suspense to make it a page turner.

This is my first book by Grady Hendrix, but won't be my last. I'm a sucker for witches, and this creepy gothic was perfect for fall. At times the plot got a little too grotesque for my taste, but I loved the complex themes of girlhood, motherhood, and power.

Absolutely fantastic Grady Henrdrix book! Spooky, horror, witchy. What more could you want?! This was a quick read and I loved that. There are a couple of birth scenes that may be tough for some but it didn't bother me. The characters were done so perfectly! There wasn't a part of this book I didn't like!

This was an interesting take on witchcraft and power. Would definitely recommend to grades 9-12. Would have really resonated with me at that age. Some of the plot was slow, but it did add to how slow time must have moved for the characters.

my first grady hendrix, and perfect timing for spooky season!! i must say i was taken aback from the writing style, and had heard mixed things about this author beforehand. i dont know if that messed with my head, but this wasn’t AS thrilling/captivating as i expected? i nonetheless enjoyed my time but its also simply the fact that this was a book outside of my comfort genre and i’d still recommend!

TW/CW: 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

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
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 knows she’s going to go home and 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.
Release Date: January 14th, 2025
Genre: Horror
Pages: 496
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Loved the writing
2. The story was so good
3. Characters were so flushed out
4. Reads fast

What I Didn't Like:
1. Book feels too long
2. Two graphic birthing scenes
3. Some parts were disturbing

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Since absolutely comical that all the parents have told everybody that the girls are away with an aunt. All an aunt.

"Kids in Ohio were getting shot by the National Guard. Kids in Los Angeles were breaking into houses and killing everybody they found."
How are they mentioning these two different events that took place so far from one another? August 1969 was the Charlies Manson deaths and May 1970 is the Kent State shootings. Some of the girls were already so far along pregnancy that they would have had their kids well before May 1970, but it's not mentioned.

Miss. Parcre is smart. She gives them a taste of the magic and shows up to say that she'll help the girls understand more of the book if they pledge their obedience to her.


Wow Holly actually said something. Turns out Holly's been molested by the Reverend Jerry since she was 8 years old and no one has believed her despite telling her mother, her father, and her sister. Then the Reverend lied and said somebody else in her choir class got her pregnant. And everyone believed him because they love him. Oh my God and his wife Helen would help prepare Holly for Reverend Jerry before he would sexually assault her. Plus now Reverend Jerry wants to adopt the baby and Holly is worried when the baby turns eight that help continue the cycle of abuse to her child. What a real piece of work.

“You’ll look like this one day,” she said. “They hate us enough . Don’t let them make you hate yourselves, too.”
What a great line. And it's so true. Why judge somebody because they've just gotten older and their body has changed everything is inevitable.

Trying to understand why now Zinnia is now against the book just because a glossary is there, but wasn't bothered standing around a fire naked and doing a blood oath denouncing God.

I found the section of Fern thinking about Holly being sexually assaulted by the Reverend and thinking about her bleeding very uncomfortable. Sometimes I wonder about why the author writes these things. Honestly I don't think a girl would wonder these things about a girl being sexually assaulted. It's not like Holly chose to have sex at 8 years old so it would be weird that Fern would be thinking about it in that way.

Thought it was great that Rose put up a fight about not giving birth to Blossom just because the doctor wanted her to get it over with. This is how a lot of hospitals run things. The doctors always want to have the baby early they say it's to protect the baby but for thousands of years women have been giving birth up to the point of when the baby's ready to come out. Suddenly in the last 100 years babies have to be told when to come out just because it's convenient for the doctor. It did make me sad though that Rose's water broke in the middle of that argument because she had such a valid point. It's hard to say though if roses point was more about that she didn't want to have the baby right now because she was scared she wasn't going to get to keep Blossom or if it was more about the principle of it.

We all knew that Rose wasn't going to get to keep her baby but the fact that they said she was incompetent and unable to think logically because she wanted to keep the baby is like such a witchcraft way of thinking. How like back in the days if you sunk you weren't a witch but if you floated you were a witch so it's a no win situation. Of course if you sunk you died but you were proven not a witch. Poor Rose all she wanted was the baby.

Miss. Wellwood is cursed with pregnancy at 50 plus years old but we also find out that she had previously been pregnant once before. When she was 28 she was pregnant to a man named Charles who she was swindled into believing was a traveling salesman but was actually a man who fixed the pipes at the church. She decides to not keep the baby so she goes to Columbia and never thinks about the baby again. I just confused cuz it says that they were going to get married but her father said he wouldn't honor the marriage so that's why she decided to not keep the baby and get married. I mean she was almost 30 it's not like she was destitute. I know it was a different time so it was weird to get pregnant outside of being married, but I found her life a little odd. If she was going to get married what did it matter if she was pregnant? She wouldn't have baby outside of wedlock.

I wish it was more explained why Hager knows magic...spells and stuff. She says that she grew up in the area and just knows. I grew up in an area with tractors but do you think I can just turn one on and off I go baling hay - nope. There's a part of me that was disturbed by this because I started wondering if because she's Black that's why she knows magic but then that felt wrong for the author to include. Like there's this stereotype (The Magical Negro) that all Black people know magic and help save the day. I'm hoping the author isn't implying that here but feels odd that the two Black characters are the ones that know magic.

The knocking on the door - does Nurse Kent think that both phones are on a different lines? Why would she think if the phone downstairs doesn't work the one in the office would?

Okay okay there is a very graphic birthing section for Fern. I don't want nor need to read about her 15 year old vagina being exposed and cut. Also also reading about the episiotomy made me hurt so badly. Ferns whole birthing section just felt weird to me knowing this man wrote about a young girls body in a way at times that felt kind of sexual. The doctor then gives Fern two extra stitches so her "husband" won't know she gave birth. Ew.

Well now we know that Fern is an unfit parent - keeping the name Charlie Brown for her daughter. What a bad name. Seriously, I mean Charlie is a cute girls name but Charlie Brown. No.

Fern is suddenly having a change of mind in wanting to keep Charlie. I'm kind of hoping that Miss. Parcae will show up and Fern decides to go with her to keep the baby and then they get Holly too.
No Fern turned into this stone faced person that did sign her daughter away and didn't want to help anyone.

Another birthing scene only this time with Holly that's 20 pages long. That's insane! Not all of the births need to be graphic. I guess the author was trying to show the differences in birthing that Fern and Holly had; Fern's was very sterile and clinical while Holly's was raw and animalistic. In any case it was way too long and honestly boring to me. We don't need 20 pages of someone giving birth, we know what birth entails.

In the end though it was nice because Holly actually got to go away with the coven and keep your baby. I'm happy she got the happy ending she needed. Plus we find out that with her powers she was able to get Jerry to admit to what he did to her and other girls.

Final Thoughts:
When I say I was hooked on this book I am not lying. I hung onto every word that was written. I was enthralled by the story and drawn in with the characters. This has to be my favorite Grady Hendrix's book written.

There is so much commentary in this book and heavy subjects that happen within it. The author talks about how women are the ones that pay the debt when pregnancy happens but the men continue to have the same life with no disruptions. And this is so true. Who pays the price when a woman gets pregnant? Certainly not the man they can just take off with no ties. I can't even imagine being pregnant at that time when men could deny paternity and just label you as some kind of slut who's trying to lie about who the father of her child is. It made me sad though when the author pointed out that things had changed with these houses because Roe had come into play and now we don't even have that anymore so are we doomed to repeat our mistakes and have these houses returned for women who have nowhere to go and cannot take care of a child, but are forced to give birth?

My heart broke for the characters. I felt for them with each chapter that happened and everything that happened to them I felt so terrible for them. Not only are they forced to give birth to these children they may or may not want but then they're also forced to work in this house up to two weeks of giving birth. Then rushed to the hospital to give birth in the most unhumane way possible.

So I will say that there was some things that did bother me about this book.
• The book is way too long. There was just too much filler that I felt could have been removed. The book felt like it went on and on for no real purpose.
• Reading about these young girls 14, 15, 17 being exposed so many times and naked kind of got on my nerves. Like we get it one time you can just say they're naked two times but when we're up to like the 20th mark of reading about them being naked it felt disturbing.
• The birthing scenes kind of bother me in ways they were described. Sometimes they were drawn out too long and sometimes they were so graphic to the point where they felt almost pornographic to the young characters. I wasn't comfortable with this in moments because it was a male writing about these young girls. I just feel like some of it could have been cut. I didn't need to read about a 15 year olds vulva being exposed to a crowd of people - it felt very wrong. And yes I know she was giving birth and this is the clinical term for a woman's anatomy, but the way it was written seemed off and not clinical feeling, almost like a why would the author write that in kind of feeling.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Fantastic characterization, shockingly visceral body horror, lovely flourishes of prose, timely themes regarding reproductive freedom -- an absolute home run for Grady Hendrix fans and a perfect example of horror fiction written with wide appeal.