Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix: REVIEW
Synopsis
It’s the summer of 1970 in the American south, and Neva is 15 and pregnant. Her parents send her to a home for wayward girls, where she is told to follow every strict rule, give up her baby for adoption once it’s born, and then return to her life as though nothing has happened. Neva and several of her new friends at the home aren’t comfortable with this plan, so when a mysterious librarian offers them a book of spells, they decide to use it to take control of their lives. But at what price?
My Review
Okay, this settles it. I’m a Grady Hendrix fangirl for life. This was the book of his that I was least excited for, since I’m not really into witchy books as a general rule, but I had the chance to pick it up, so I figured what the heck. And then I went and loved it.
Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely not a perfect book. There are some flaws in the details here and there, which I won’t get into because of spoilers, but I can cut Hendrix some slack for being a childless man writing about pregnant teens. He clearly did a lot of research. But what impressed me the most was the depth of his compassion for these girls that was palpable on every page.
In his author’s notes, he mentions that he decided to write this book because he found out that certain women in his life had lived this experience themselves, and you can tell that this was his love letter to them. There was never a moment when I thought, “Ew, a dude wrote this, how creepy…” On the contrary, there were many times when I thought, “Aw, a dude wrote this, and he’s being so respectful and uncreepy…” And that’s pretty much the highest compliment I can give!
Trigger warnings
I do suggest that anyone with sensitivities checks the trigger warnings before reading this. It gets pretty graphic in terms of things that happen to the body during pregnancy and birth, and… well, these are underage girls who all got pregnant somehow. For most of them, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Like I said above, it’s all handled with the utmost respect and compassion, but this is a horror novel. It gets dark, but not completely hopeless.
Conclusion
I don’t even know what else to say. Hendrix has a very comfortable writing style, and his characters are straightforward and believable. There’s a feminist message that’s easy to detect without feeling anachronistic or forced. There are a few chilling moments, a few tear-jerking moments, and lots and lots of uncomfortable “I can’t believe people treated young girls this way” moments. Overall, I had a good time reading it.
I was torn between a 4-star rating based on the few things that bugged me, or a 5-star rating based on how I felt at the end. I’m giving it 5 stars on Goodreads, but it’s probably more of a 4.5 all told. But this was the Hendrix novel I was least likely to enjoy. I desperately want to read the rest of his stuff now!
You can purchase Witchcraft for Wayward Girls here on Bookshop.org*
*As an affiliate, I will receive a small commission from any purchase made through this link. Thanks for your support!