This review pains me so much to write but Grady did not deliver with Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. I adore Grady’s books and his weird ideas but being 4months postpartum- I am not the right audience for a story about Maternity Homes in the 1960s/1970s right now.

This book felt so different from Grady’s other books. With less horror and more…historical fiction / ‘magical realism’. It was almost as if the ‘witchcraft’ was a side plot and didn’t feel ‘complete’. All the while the story of the maternity homes and the girls took center stage, making this read more like historical fiction than anything else. Personally, my emotions cannot handle the abuse and stigma these girls suffered, and even though Grady always throws a little fantasy into the mix it just felt too ‘real’ for me. Which if you think about it, makes this a great book, since great books should give you BIG emotions, no matter how uncomfortable they are. Knowing that Grady probably wasn’t exaggerating much with how they were treated, and especially as I was reading this snuggling one of my newborn twins, I’m just not in a place to be reading this book. So, take my review with a grain of salt.

I will say that for a man, Grady did a great job of capturing pregnancy, and the writing is as wonderful as ever. But with a slow first half, less horror, & a harder to digest topic (for me), I just didn’t love this book. I’ve also been advised to not listen to this on audio, as there are childbirth scenes that are difficult to listen to.

I’m still a huge Grady fan and will read anything he puts out; but this one was just ‘too’ on the mark for me!

AMAZON | GOODREADS | BOOKSHOP |★★★

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is out now! Huge thank you to Berkley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.  If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.