It’s the summer of 1970 and Fern arrives pregnant, scared, and alone at a home for Wayward Girls in St. Augustine, Florida. Under the watchful eye of Miss Wellwood, Fern and her peers are scrutinized every minute of every day as they bring their unborn children to term. The end game? Once they’ve been born, give up their babies for adoption. Then they can return home as if nothing ever happened.

This all changes when the driver of the bookmobile provides Fern with a special book. This book has the potential to put power back in the hands of the girls and maybe even allow them to change their destiny. However, as with most things that are too good to be true, there is a catch.

I finished this book a few weeks ago and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. I initially marked this as a four-star read, but after sitting with it, I downgraded it to a three. Grady Hendrix is a writer I absolutely love and he’s also someone I have high standards for. I thought the execution behind this one was good, not great, and I would think this could benefit from being a bit tighter on page count.

The mistreatment that these young women went through is inexcusable. The shame and disgust with which they were treated is something that I wish we could leave in the past, but unfortunately, it looks like those attitudes about women and teenage pregnancies are hard to break, especially with the current state of American politics, which in turn informs beliefs on a wider scale. While these homes no longer exist, the gradual rollback of women’s rights these days makes these practices feel like they could happen again, if those in power had their way.

In terms of pure horror, I’m not sure how this stacks up with Grady’s other work. This feels more in line with social commentary (which is totally fine) than it is focused on the supernatural aspects of witchcraft. That being said, in terms of terror, there is a particular scene in which a character is giving birth that is so descriptive and unsettling that it makes up for the lack of chills provided by the women of the covenant. It’s a moment that will stick with me for sometime.