Book Review: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

Grady Hendrix may not be new to you, but he’s new to me. My first foray into his writing, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls was a great introduction.

Set in Florida in 1970, Grady opens the book with a short bit about wayward homes prior to Roe and how they were the inspiration for this book. I immediately got Cider House Rules vibes and quickly swept into the story of the Wellwood House and the girls who found themselves there to stay. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on the story (no spoilers here), but to say the characters were believable and the story flowed. Cultural norms of the time revisited and don’t feel so far away today.

I gave the book 5-stars on my Goodreads for the quality of writing, the pacing (no lulls!) and the overall story that took me a few days to unravel from. I did feel like some of the characters could have been developed a little more, some got lost in the ensemble and made their role in the story a tad confusing-a minor detail, if I’m splitting hairs.

I think Witchcraft is a wonderful, thought-provoking read that many would enjoy and get a lot out of.

Books like this: Cider House Rules, other works by Grady Hendrix