Reviews with content warning for Death - Plain Bad Heroines

I wanted to love this and the first few chapters were compelling. But the plot dragged on through the entire book. I don’t know if delaying the climax of the historical timeline worked well in amping up the tension in the modern timeline. And that tension of the modern timeline fizzled for me. I think I came to this looking for more horror than the book ever wanted to give me. The book did an excellent job of exploring the characters and relationships of diverse queer women. The atmosphere was also palpable and continuous. I found the overabundance of yellow jacket appearances and metaphor became hokey with its increasing prevalence. But my interest on the characters never waned. I’d say pick this up for a sprawling, sapphic character exploration rather than a tense mystery plot.

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thereadingoutlaw's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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flyingryndeer's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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thetinytrashcan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was beautifully written, I felt so drawn into both timelines and the characters involved in each of them. They were balanced perfectly and I never felt like one was taking away from the other. I loved so many of the characters, how human and flawed they were, how they made mistakes and felt like people. The writing of the book was amazing and I’ve annotated so many lines that I’ve gone through multiple packs of post it flags. The horror and thriller element was there but it didn’t feel like it was trying To scare you so much as share a story that could scare you at points. Overall everything about this book made me extremely happy and I’ll definitely be rereading and looking for new things now that I know the ending.

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my_forest_library's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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kalagallop's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Of the two timelines in the book, the characters in the present day are much more compelling and likable, while still being flawed. The ending is ambiguous in a way that is slightly frustrating, but the story was engaging the whole way through. I couldn’t put it down.

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