charles

I tore through Witchcraft for Wayward Girls in a day—it’s an incredibly compelling read, with layered characters and a story that’s both gripping and unsettling. Beyond the narrative itself, there’s some heavy thematic material here, especially when considered against the backdrop of current events, making it all the more resonant.

Interestingly, while this is marketed as horror, the horror elements are sporadic. There’s a slow build-up to anything supernatural, followed by a particularly graphic scene that seems to signal a full shift into horror—only for the novel to ease off the gas again for long stretches. It never loses momentum, but it reads more like dark fantasy with horror elements rather than a straight-up horror novel.

One of its greatest strengths is the immersive atmosphere. Hendrix paints a vivid picture of Wellwood House—you can practically feel the oppressive Florida heat and the claustrophobic unease of the girls’ situation. Without diving into spoilers, this is absolutely worth a read, both for the story itself and the broader conversations it invites.

Going into Fourth Wing, I knew I wasn’t the target audience, but with all the buzz, I wanted to see what it was about. Early on, the book set up a lot of compelling elements—family mysteries, shifting alliances, a brutal training school, political tension, and, of course, dragons. It felt like there were so many directions the story could take.

But as things progressed, most of those threads took a backseat to Violet’s relationship with Xaden. It’s not the relationship itself that didn’t work for me, but rather the relentless focus on it—so much introspection, so much longing, with little to balance it out. The world and its complexities started to feel secondary, which was disappointing given how much potential was there.

That said, I absolutely see why this book resonates with so many readers. If you love highstakes romance with a fantasy backdrop, this delivers exactly that. I just personally wanted a broader view of the world rather than such a tight zoom-in on the relationship. Maybe the sequels will expand on that, but for now, I don’t think this series is for me.