austinghelms 's review for:

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

3.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I went in expecting Grady Hendrix camp—and got something far more serious, visceral, and unnerving. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls hooked me early (even if the audiobook narrator took a little getting used to). This is horror with teeth.

Reading it during my Under Pressure season, I couldn’t miss the parallels to The Bell Jar or Book Club for Troublesome Women—teenage girls hemmed in by societal rules, their lives dictated to them before they even have a say. The vivid, often brutal depictions of spellwork and childbirth left me unsettled in exactly the way I think Hendrix intended.

Unexpectedly, my favorite character was Hagar, the gruff household cook whose arc was both surprising and deeply satisfying.

As for the audio—sometimes I appreciated the narrator’s full-throttle emotional range, especially in primal, charged moments. Other times, it felt like I was being forced to experience her version of the story. It’s a performance that won’t work for everyone.

This is my second Hendrix, and while I didn’t find the camp I anticipated, I didn’t miss it here. This one is for horror lovers who don’t mind things getting very, very uncomfortable. Not for the squeamish.