Review by Booklist Review
Neva, 15 and pregnant in 1970, is brought in secrecy to the Wellwood House in Florida, a maternity home by name but a prison in practice, a stand-in for such homes that proliferated across the U.S. and Canada between 1945 and 1973. Once admitted, Neva is renamed Fern--to protect her from the shame, she is reassured, that ends after she gives birth. Abandoned, alone, struggling to access information about what is happening to their bodies, and angry at being told they alone must pay for their sins, Fern and her roommates--Zinnia, the only Black girl there; Rose, a hippie; and Holly, a molested 14 year old--are given a copy of How to Be a Groovy Witch by the bookmobile librarian, and their lives are changed forever. Told from Fern's perspective, this is an original and nuanced addition to the witch cannon. However, it is the clear, accurate, and intensely visceral body horror of pregnancy and birth laid bare that may catch readers off guard. Another stellar novel from Hendrix, a perfectly constructed story that has a strong emotional core, compelling plot, unforgettable characters, and 360 degrees of terror. For fans of horror that empowers the powerless as written by Gwendolyn Kiste and Gabino Iglesias and by Tananarive Due in The Reformatory (2023).
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Scares take a backseat to interpersonal drama in the fun latest from bestseller Hendrix (How to Sell a Haunted House). Neva is only 15 when she's dropped off at the Home for Unwed Mothers to weather the final months of her pregnancy among strangers. In 1970, there's nothing more shameful than being an unmarried, pregnant teenager, and the mistress and doctors of the home, who rename her Fern, treat her like trash. With only the tentative friendships of the other pregnant girls, Fern turns to a book from a traveling library for comfort: How to be a Groovy Witch. The book initially seems silly, but when Fern and her friends try a spell, the magic actually works, giving them a shred of power in their helpless situations. They initially dabble in only minor magic, like a spell to relieve their morning sickness--until one of their makeshift coven reveals the danger she and her unborn child are in. Now Fern must weigh protecting her friend with the dark price of witchcraft that might destroy her. The fantastical horror elements are uncharacteristically few and the pace occasionally drags, but Hendrix perfectly captures the girls' youth and loss of innocence, as well as the power of their friendships. This is sure to be another hit for Hendrix. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, Jabberwocky Literary. (Jan.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Hendrix's (How To Sell a Haunted House) new novel features Fern, formerly known as Neva, a 15-year-old girl sent to a home for unwed mothers, in order to give birth to her child in secret. In 1970s Florida, Fern is considered a fallen woman and must bide her pregnant time away from her friends and family, so she can hide her shame. Fern is absolutely miserable at the home and wants a distraction. When a mobile library visits, the librarian gives her a special book that will change her life. As Fern reads that book about magic and gets to know the adults in charge of the home and her new housemates, who have each landed there in different ways, she learns that witches, often demonized by society, might not be the problem after all. The novel's witches and witchcraft help categorize this book as horror, but Hendrix also delves into how people do horrific things to each other, like providing misguided help, pushing opinions on others, and controlling the bodies of women. VERDICT Hendrix offers an utterly engaging commentary on society and why things are viewed as right versus wrong, along with a generous dollop of magic.--Tegan Beese
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Hung out to dry by the elders who betrayed them, a squad of pregnant teens fights back with old magic. Hendrix has a flair for applying inventive hooks to horror, and this book has a good one, chock-full with shades of V.C. Andrews,The Handmaid's Tale, andFoxfire, to name a few. Our narrator, Neva Craven, is 15 and pregnant, a fate worse than death in the American South circa 1970. She's taken by force to Wellwood House in Florida, a secretive home for unwed mothers where she's given the name Fern. She'll have the baby secretly and give it up for adoption, whether she likes it or not. Under the thumb of the house's cruel mistress, Miss Wellwood, and complicit Dr. Vincent, Neva forges cautious alliance with her fellow captives--a new friend, Zinnia; budding revolutionary Rose; and young Holly, raped and impregnated by the very family minister slated to adopt her child. All seems lost until the arrival of a mysterious bookmobile and its librarian, Miss Parcae, who gives the girls an actual book of spells titledHow To Be a Groovy Witch. There's glee in seeing the powerless granted some well-deserved payback, but Hendrix never forgets his sweet spot, lacing the story with body horror and unspeakable cruelties that threaten to overwhelm every little victory. In truth, it's not the paranormal elements that make this blast from the past so terrifying--although one character evolves into a suitably scary antagonist near the end--but the unspeakable, everyday atrocities leveled at children like these. As the girls lose their babies one by one, they soon devote themselves to secreting away Holly and her child. They get some help late in the game but for the most part they're on their own, trapped between forces of darkness and society's merciless judgement. A pulpy throwback that shines a light on abuses even magic can't erase. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
