Scan barcode
A review by emilypoche
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
3.0
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix is yet another in the list of titles by the author that blend horror, wit, and deeply detailed settings. Set in a home for unwed pregnant teenagers in 1970s Florida, the girls have to content with the powerlessness of their situation until a mysterious book presents them with a solution to all of their problems; witchcraft.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: pregnancy complications, birth trauma, adoption trauma, mentions of child sexual abuse, mentions of racism, gore.
As always, Grady Hendrix writes immensely readable works. The details are vivid and the descriptions of characters and the frequent moments of gore are intense. The book’s moments are so cinematic and reading these books you really feel like they’d adapt so easily to the screen. I think, especially in this case, they read a lot like American Horror Story seasons.
The issue that plagues Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is that it has all the subtly of a sledgehammer. All of the “adults” are mustache-twirling levels of evil. The other girls than the main ones are vapid. The motivations are deeply one-note and the themes are repeated without a shred of nuance. It’s not that Hendrix isn’t making some good points about agency, especially in groups of young women treated with disdain. It’s that there is nothing unexpected, nothing thematically interesting. I think that in all honesty, a few more scenes that moved the plot along and a little less time spent making points about motherhood would have done well to strengthen the narrative.
As beautiful as Hendrix’s descriptions can be, they can drag. This is especially evident in the descriptions of labor and the pregnant bodies of the girls. Sure, it underlines the body horror of giving birth. But at a certain point it just goes beyond
deeply evocative imagery and enters into somewhat indulgent editing.
The bottom line is that for fans of Grady Hendrix, this will be no disappointment. It’s funny, gross, and rich in imagery. It reads like a movie. But it does suffer from bloated descriptions and heavy-handed messaging. 3/5 stars.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix is yet another in the list of titles by the author that blend horror, wit, and deeply detailed settings. Set in a home for unwed pregnant teenagers in 1970s Florida, the girls have to content with the powerlessness of their situation until a mysterious book presents them with a solution to all of their problems; witchcraft.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: pregnancy complications, birth trauma, adoption trauma, mentions of child sexual abuse, mentions of racism, gore.
As always, Grady Hendrix writes immensely readable works. The details are vivid and the descriptions of characters and the frequent moments of gore are intense. The book’s moments are so cinematic and reading these books you really feel like they’d adapt so easily to the screen. I think, especially in this case, they read a lot like American Horror Story seasons.
The issue that plagues Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is that it has all the subtly of a sledgehammer. All of the “adults” are mustache-twirling levels of evil. The other girls than the main ones are vapid. The motivations are deeply one-note and the themes are repeated without a shred of nuance. It’s not that Hendrix isn’t making some good points about agency, especially in groups of young women treated with disdain. It’s that there is nothing unexpected, nothing thematically interesting. I think that in all honesty, a few more scenes that moved the plot along and a little less time spent making points about motherhood would have done well to strengthen the narrative.
As beautiful as Hendrix’s descriptions can be, they can drag. This is especially evident in the descriptions of labor and the pregnant bodies of the girls. Sure, it underlines the body horror of giving birth. But at a certain point it just goes beyond
deeply evocative imagery and enters into somewhat indulgent editing.
The bottom line is that for fans of Grady Hendrix, this will be no disappointment. It’s funny, gross, and rich in imagery. It reads like a movie. But it does suffer from bloated descriptions and heavy-handed messaging. 3/5 stars.