Tag: Witch Literature

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Posted on November 4, 2025 by - Book Review

It is the Summer of 1970, and, in St. Augustine, Florida, exists the Wellwood House, a home for wayward girls to be tucked away from public view so they can have their babies and then return to a “normal” life.

Run by the very very stern Miss Wellwood, each girl is stripped of her identity and, instead, given a botanical name to build a personality around.

This, chiefly, is the story of Fern, a fifteen-year-old girl who finds herself having been delivered to the Wellwood House by her irate father.

Fern navigates the massive change that has happened in her life, and makes friends with some very unlikely characters. There is Rose, a headstrong hippie type who is continually plotting a way to escape the home and keep her baby; Zinnia, a pianist waylaid by the pregnancy, but absolutely sure she will return to marry her baby’s father; and Holly, a fourteen-year-old scrap of a wild child.

Life in Wellwood House is very harshly controlled, and there are very few freedoms. One of said freedoms is a bookmobile that comes periodically. It is through this bookmobile that Fern gets her hands on a book of witchcraft, and then things change, drastically, for the girls.

I really really wanted to like this book, but I found it somewhat dreary and mundane. There were definitely sections of it that were riveting and suspenseful, but, by and large, it feel a tad flat for me. I’m sure it was intentional, but the pacing seemed to be very very slow. There was a ton of repetition followed by little sparks of chaos.

The character and story development were very well done, but I feel like there was a lot of other aspects where this novel could have excelled and fell flat. Mr. Hendrix is a fantastic writer, and sets a wonderful stage, but this one just wasn’t for me.

The Witch Haven (The Witch Haven #1) by Sasha Peyton Smith

Posted on September 7, 2022 by - Book Review

Apparently, I’ve been very drawn to witchy historical fiction over the past couple of years, and The Witch Haven has been an absolute treat to read. Set in 1911 New York City, this is the tale of Frances Hollowell; a young girl mourning the recent loss of her brother while trying to scrape by a meager existence as a seamstress.

Then the whirlwind begins.

Fending off a drunken attack, Frances’ sewing scissors end up in the man’s neck, killing him. The thing is, Frances has no idea how those scissors got there.

In the midst of being interrogated by the police for murder, two mysterious women show up in an ambulance to announce that Frances is gravely ill and needs to be whisked away to the Haxahaven Sanitarium: a clever ruse concealing a school for witches.

Thrust into a shocking new life, Frances begins learning the basics of domestic magic, but also begins to learn that there are other magicks out there: even one that may allow her to bring back her murdered brother.

The rest I will leave to the reader because it moves quite quickly, and there are many surprises along the way.

Ms. Smith really knows how to set the tone of a story. I often find it hard, especially in the intro of a multi-book series, to get into a smooth rhythm of character introduction, world introduction, and character/story progression. The Witch Haven, however, flowed quite well into a steady beat of what was going on and where it was going. I think the manner in which Frances was learning what was happening around her at the same time as the reader really lent itself to this endeavor.

In fleshing out the world of The Witch Haven, Ms. Smith did a very nice job introducing a wide variety of girls from very different walks of life as Frances becomes more and more familiar with Haxahaven. In this, as well, Ms. Smith builds a very strong sisterhood that, to me, will become the foundation of the subsequent books. Frances’ strong-willed personality really helps push the story in directions that become more and more thrilling, and opportunities for her to really build her magical knowledge.

Book two is slated to release in October 2022, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how much more Frances develops as a young witch.

Book Review: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Posted on August 13, 2020 by - Book Review

This book was provided to me by NetGalley in return for a fair review

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This book was an absolute wonder; a tale of women who tried, and women who dared. Women who took the rules and norms of an uncertain time in their hands and used the ways, the words, and definitely the will to attempt change an untenable situation.

Basically put, the Eastwood sisters are moderately fledgling witches who each set out, individually, from their horror of a home to find a better life in the city of New Salem. Each has their own motivation, and none figured their sisterhood would figure into their bigger pictures.

What pulls them back together is a promise for renewed magic and a strong danger with powers and wiles vastly unknown to any of them.

You have the stalwart Agnes, who finds herself working in a small factory, the studious Bella who satiates her craving for knowledge at a library, and the youngest, and wildest of the three, James Juniper, who embodies the piss and vinegar required to help pull everyone together to right the wrongs pushed on them by a male-dominated society.

In the unfolding of this amazing tale, Ms. Harrow presents an incredibly multi-faceted approach at the history of women and the ways of their folk, their mothers, their mothers’ mothers and the subtle wending of witchy ways.

Set in the backdrop of a rising suffragist movement. Very quickly, the Eastwood sisters, June most of all, pulls together a group of high-spirited compatriots to try to sort out the troubling storm brewing in New Salem and the apparent rise of one Gideon Hill.

What unfolds is a very heartwarming tale of determination and sacrifice; a grand story of rediscovering lost histories and unearthing the untapped potential in those who have seemingly lost everything.

This is definitely a book I will be revisiting. The characters are all rich, diverse and very relatable. The twists are all incredibly well-formed and exhilarating as well as heart-breaking. For every gain of self-realization, there also comes the heartbreak of the reality of choices.

I would not have changed anything at all.

Order your copy here.