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A review by kaitie_reads
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
๐ F*ck the Patriarchy
๐ฉธ An Important Message
๐ Devastating
๐ฉธ Historical Fiction Vibe
๐ Slow-Building
I'll be honest, I really wasn't sure about this one for a long time. It's a very slow-building story. However - and this is a big - however - by the end, I felt such a profound mix of heartache and undeniable burning rage.
We start out in the year 1970 with the story following Neva, who is brought to a home for pregnant teenage girls, where she can hide from the public eye, have her baby and then return to a "normal" life. We quickly see the injustice of this situation. The manipulation, lies, and deceit that they used on these children is horrific.
Then, there is the witchcraft. I'm still confused about how Grady Hendrix used witchcraft as a plot device because he uses a lot of stereotypical explanations of witches - which is rooted in misogyny - and the witches are meant to help, but they are also deceitful. This portion of the story didn't feel refined, and while ultimately playing a part, it wasn't the part I was anticipating.
Which brings me to: I'm not sure if this story was a story that should've been told through the words of a man. While Hendrix does a wonderful job of delicately handling the actual injustices that these girls faced, I'm still hung up on the witchcraft. The witchcraft is the only part of this story that is supernatural and horrific, so it feels like it's used to keep the story under the horror umbrella vs. historical fiction... and it misses the mark.
The last 20% or so? Brilliant. I'm getting personal here - but as someone who became a young(er) mom (at 22), there is still SO MUCH misogyny in the labour & delivery ward. A lot of the treatment our FMC experiences is very authentic to how I was treated, and it made me rage. It also brings about this important message: that we can NOT go backward. The trauma and heartache that was thrust upon these young girls, who were often victims already, is devastating.
Overall, this was an important story, but I did find the delivery a little bit murky.
~
This is definitely NOT the story for anyone squeamish about pregnancy, medical intervention, labour, delivery, and loss. โ ๏ธ
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฐ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ช๐ท ๐๐ก๐ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ซ๐ธ๐ธ๐ด ๐ฒ๐ท ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ท๐ฎ๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐.
๐ฉธ An Important Message
๐ Devastating
๐ฉธ Historical Fiction Vibe
๐ Slow-Building
I'll be honest, I really wasn't sure about this one for a long time. It's a very slow-building story. However - and this is a big - however - by the end, I felt such a profound mix of heartache and undeniable burning rage.
We start out in the year 1970 with the story following Neva, who is brought to a home for pregnant teenage girls, where she can hide from the public eye, have her baby and then return to a "normal" life. We quickly see the injustice of this situation. The manipulation, lies, and deceit that they used on these children is horrific.
Then, there is the witchcraft. I'm still confused about how Grady Hendrix used witchcraft as a plot device because he uses a lot of stereotypical explanations of witches - which is rooted in misogyny - and the witches are meant to help, but they are also deceitful. This portion of the story didn't feel refined, and while ultimately playing a part, it wasn't the part I was anticipating.
Which brings me to: I'm not sure if this story was a story that should've been told through the words of a man. While Hendrix does a wonderful job of delicately handling the actual injustices that these girls faced, I'm still hung up on the witchcraft. The witchcraft is the only part of this story that is supernatural and horrific, so it feels like it's used to keep the story under the horror umbrella vs. historical fiction... and it misses the mark.
The last 20% or so? Brilliant. I'm getting personal here - but as someone who became a young(er) mom (at 22), there is still SO MUCH misogyny in the labour & delivery ward. A lot of the treatment our FMC experiences is very authentic to how I was treated, and it made me rage. It also brings about this important message: that we can NOT go backward. The trauma and heartache that was thrust upon these young girls, who were often victims already, is devastating.
Overall, this was an important story, but I did find the delivery a little bit murky.
~
This is definitely NOT the story for anyone squeamish about pregnancy, medical intervention, labour, delivery, and loss. โ ๏ธ
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฐ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ช๐ท ๐๐ก๐ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ซ๐ธ๐ธ๐ด ๐ฒ๐ท ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ท๐ฎ๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐.