i could have done without the witchcraft honestly??? like i get it but if ur looking for a witch book this isnt really it. its a pretty strong historical fiction that has some truly horrifying elements - none of them having anything to do with magic. it felt like something that either needed to be cut or delved into wayyy more 

the birthing scenes were so unbelievably horrifying and the husband stitch made my stomach roll. i really respect the way he wrote the birth scenes and was cognizant that he was writing about a child. mrs wellwoods birth was much more horror than ferns. hers was horrifying because of her treatment and was treated with a more clinical perspective, which i appreciated since a white man writing that about a young girl could get weird fast. i felt that grady hendrix did such a great job exploring the dehuminization of women and the feeling of powerlessness that comes with having no control over your life and your body. 

i do wish we would have gotten more of hagar and even maybe a pov from mrs wellwood. i think hagar should have had a bigger character arc and backstory other than casual racist comments by other characters. 

my other thought was that all of the girls responded very similarly after giving birth. even if there were deliberations beforehand, all of them desperately wanted to keep their babies once they were held. i just think it would have been nice to acknowledge that not all women want to be mothers or have an immediate connection with their baby. 

overall i really enjoyed this story and it did make me physically cringe multiple times. there were a few things i could have done without/some things that couldve gone deeper but this book was really though provoking and a great intro to grady hendrix.