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A review by cortanasreadingnook
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
My thanks to Penguin Random House for sending me a complimentary copy through Edelweiss! I was very excited for this book since it’s my first by this author so I had high expectations. Out on January 7, 2025!
My first thought upon seeing this book was its blurb being highly similar to The Butterfly Circle by Caroll Leoson, a book I loved in 2023 (also highly recommend this). I had no idea that the US popularized homes for pregnant women and teenagers out of wedlock in the 1940s and that they were run by churches/nuns/religious sects due to the stigma of pregnancy among “troubled women”. Witchcraft and magic aside, it was very informative as a non-American on the experiences of unwed women forcibly institutionalized for unplanned or unsupported pregnancies.
MEN NEED TO D!E MORE
This book was honestly so emotionally draining and it’s precisely why it took me a few days to absorb the sledgehammer that battered me when I finished this. This story was marketed as horror, AKA the everyday lives of women. This book is a painful and stark reminder of how hateful society is towards us. We have always been the victim of men’s sick behavior but somehow we are the ones paying for it. I don’t know what’s more horrifying when I was reading this: the injustice of the girls’ circumstances, the forced institutionalization and the abusive environment that they were subjected to, or how misogyny is so deeply rooted in the strengthening of the patriarchy that men have collectively decided to condemn women for their lack of self-control and bigotry, blaming their corrupted mentality on our bodies and our identities.
We are NOT baby-making machines for men. Stick your dicks somewhere else, TYSM!
There is SO MUCH to unpack in this book. I have poor expectations in men writing stories about women, but I can say that he’s definitely done ample research in creating Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. It’s a heavy and painful book. Please see TWs/CWs above before reading this. The author has carefully handled these themes, but it put me in a depressive state so BE WARNED (read it though I hope y’all get me)
My first thought upon seeing this book was its blurb being highly similar to The Butterfly Circle by Caroll Leoson, a book I loved in 2023 (also highly recommend this). I had no idea that the US popularized homes for pregnant women and teenagers out of wedlock in the 1940s and that they were run by churches/nuns/religious sects due to the stigma of pregnancy among “troubled women”. Witchcraft and magic aside, it was very informative as a non-American on the experiences of unwed women forcibly institutionalized for unplanned or unsupported pregnancies.
MEN NEED TO D!E MORE
This book was honestly so emotionally draining and it’s precisely why it took me a few days to absorb the sledgehammer that battered me when I finished this. This story was marketed as horror, AKA the everyday lives of women. This book is a painful and stark reminder of how hateful society is towards us. We have always been the victim of men’s sick behavior but somehow we are the ones paying for it. I don’t know what’s more horrifying when I was reading this: the injustice of the girls’ circumstances, the forced institutionalization and the abusive environment that they were subjected to, or how misogyny is so deeply rooted in the strengthening of the patriarchy that men have collectively decided to condemn women for their lack of self-control and bigotry, blaming their corrupted mentality on our bodies and our identities.
We are NOT baby-making machines for men. Stick your dicks somewhere else, TYSM!
There is SO MUCH to unpack in this book. I have poor expectations in men writing stories about women, but I can say that he’s definitely done ample research in creating Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. It’s a heavy and painful book. Please see TWs/CWs above before reading this. The author has carefully handled these themes, but it put me in a depressive state so BE WARNED (read it though I hope y’all get me)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment