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A review by joyceheinen
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
Grady Hendrix is my guy, my horror guy. I love how he takes on these standard horror tropes and flips them upside down. He did it before with demons, vampires, zombies and a haunted house. Now it’s witches. And I think this is my favorite Hendrix so far.
We meet a fifteen-year-old girl, who is send to a home for wayward girls. Basically teenage pregnant girls are being send there to have their baby in secret, give it up for adoption and move back home and act like it never happened. When she arrives, she is given the name Fern. She is not allowed to tell anyone what her real name is and where she is from. There, Fern befriends three other girls: Rose, Zinnia and Holly. When Fern receives an occult book about witchcraft from the local librarian, she becomes obsessed by it. And believes their might be a way to get away from this. But witchcraft comes with a price.
The horror element is minimal, in the way that it’s not very scary. But there is some body horror. Especially focused on pregnancies and giving birth. If that makes you squeamish, just be warned. The books is mainly scary because of its social commentary. Because wayward houses were an actual thing, for teens who were troubled or out of control. And the goal was to redeem them and eventually return home as a bettered person. But most important, no one could ever know about it. In “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls”, it’s a home for pregnant teenagers to have their baby, give it up for adoption and leave again to continue their lives like nothing every happened.
In Hendrix’s author’s note he acknowledges that as a middle aged, childless man he probably isn’t the best choice to write this book but based on family revelations he wrote to understand these homes and the people who would have been sent to them. I personally think he did an amazing job and praise him for giving empathy understanding. It’s kind of amazing this book, which has a great debate on women’s rights, was written by a man. And this proves again what a great author Hendrix is. The book was only a bit too long for my taste.
Like I said, this is my favorite Grady Hendrix so far. And I was a bit skeptical, because reviews were very mixed. I’m glad it turned out to be such a success.
We meet a fifteen-year-old girl, who is send to a home for wayward girls. Basically teenage pregnant girls are being send there to have their baby in secret, give it up for adoption and move back home and act like it never happened. When she arrives, she is given the name Fern. She is not allowed to tell anyone what her real name is and where she is from. There, Fern befriends three other girls: Rose, Zinnia and Holly. When Fern receives an occult book about witchcraft from the local librarian, she becomes obsessed by it. And believes their might be a way to get away from this. But witchcraft comes with a price.
The horror element is minimal, in the way that it’s not very scary. But there is some body horror. Especially focused on pregnancies and giving birth. If that makes you squeamish, just be warned. The books is mainly scary because of its social commentary. Because wayward houses were an actual thing, for teens who were troubled or out of control. And the goal was to redeem them and eventually return home as a bettered person. But most important, no one could ever know about it. In “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls”, it’s a home for pregnant teenagers to have their baby, give it up for adoption and leave again to continue their lives like nothing every happened.
In Hendrix’s author’s note he acknowledges that as a middle aged, childless man he probably isn’t the best choice to write this book but based on family revelations he wrote to understand these homes and the people who would have been sent to them. I personally think he did an amazing job and praise him for giving empathy understanding. It’s kind of amazing this book, which has a great debate on women’s rights, was written by a man. And this proves again what a great author Hendrix is. The book was only a bit too long for my taste.
Like I said, this is my favorite Grady Hendrix so far. And I was a bit skeptical, because reviews were very mixed. I’m glad it turned out to be such a success.