Reviews with content warning for Death - Plain Bad Heroines

as far as ghost stories goes, plain bad heroines certainly has the intensity you would expect.

it also has exactly what you would expect from the backstory of said ghosts… so keep that in mind.

if you’re over gays dying in literature, maybe don’t read a book about a haunted girls boarding school. it’s sapphic. and haunted. there’s ghosts. at one point, they had to die. at least some of them, anyways.

now that that’s out of the way— i enjoyed this book. i am personally not a fan of slow paced books, which this certainly is, but i still couldn’t put it down. i needed to know the truth. and i certainly did find it.

the blending and constant shifting from past to present, the slow unveiling of the truth, made for an elaborate narrative that at once made you sure you knew exactly what was going to happen— and then left you speechless when your feet were knocked completely out from under you.

truthfully, i’m of the opinion it could have been accomplished in a shorter time, i don’t believe it needed to be quite so drawn out. but perhaps we would have lost something if it hadn’t been. i didn’t much care for the ending, but i also can’t deny it isn’t realistic. especially for the genre. it is.

but i would much rather know what became of our plain bad heroines than have been left guessing. i’ve grown rather fond of them.

(edit: i came back and changed the star rating on this to 4.75 and to say i literally CANNOT stop thinking of this book. if we had gotten a bit more for the heroines ending? it’d be a 5.)

Content Warnings

wellintendedbibliophile's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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writtenontheflyleaves's review

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth 🐝
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

🐝 The plot: In the early 1900s, two students at Brookhants School for Girls fall in love, brought together by a controversial memoir. Soon after, they die gruesome deaths, and they aren't the last before the school is forced to close. Over a century later, the school is reopened to become the set of a Hollywood film about the tragedies - but will our three young heroines survive the school's infamous curse?

I knew within about 20 pages of picking up this book that I was going to love it. There were so many elements that reminded me of my favourite books - the pulpy horror of Grady Hendrix, the buoyant characterisation and LGBTQ rep of Casey McQuiston, the metafictional playfulness of Jess Walter. From the very first page it was fun.

Given the fact that the cast of main characters is five-strong across two timelines, it's no surprise that the plot moves pretty slowly, but I felt like I knew who every character was and their place in the story. There was real defiance in the way they were written, a refusal to let them be beaten into submission either by society or the reader's expectations. I actually really admire Danforth for letting her characters go to uncomfortable places and win the reader over later - there is no character who is uniformly likeable throughout, and a lot of times they were at their most real when they were being most frustrating!

This is a five star read for me for sure, but I will say that the ending was a liiiiittle bit of a letdown. I expected more of a showdown with the forces at work throughout the novel, and instead I got zero resolution, just a partial explanation. And like, that's fine. But also I wanted some drama!!! Sue me!!

🐝 Read it if you like any of the authors I mentioned above and want to be creeped out while also enjoying the company of a cast of brilliant queer characters.

🚫 Avoid it if you want an out and out horror read (this is more creepy than horrific), if you hate unorthodox narration or spiky central characters (Merritt can be a... challenge...)

Content Warnings

kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This books is very long snd yet it feels like not much happened. I thought the different narrative threads were hard to follow and the ending was unclear. The second-person narration ended up being kind of confusing and condescending at times. Of course I appreciate sapphic MCs buy that just wasn't enough for me here

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rachelreadsrelentlessly's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved this book so much!

Oftentimes when I read negative reviews of books that I loved, I can often see where the reviewer is coming from and Plain Bad Heroines is no exception. A lot of people's main gripe is that this novel is slow. And it is. It's incredibly slow. But it is also strongly character-driven and I love that in books. As I was reading Plain Bad Heroines, I felt like I understood every character's fear and motivation. Danforth brings her characters to life and I felt everything our heroines did. When they were stressed, so was I. When they were scared, so was I. This connection to the heroines is what made this book work.

I also loved how atmospheric this book is. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's scary, but it's definitely spooky. Danforth did an incredible job of keeping the tension throughout Plain Bad Heroines. Her skill is not in jump scares, but instead in small, slightly eerie moments that have you questioning reality. I will say, if you have a fear of bees, yellow jackets specifically, maybe steer clear of this book.

Overall, I loved this novel. It's the first book of the year where I really felt truly in love with it. Please stop what you're doing and go read this ASAP!

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jchinzi's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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lolajh'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Very cool plot and the integration of fantasy themes into a modern setting, set with an unreliable narrator and FOOTNOTES. Back and forth time skipping with so many sapphic characters, a heap of them lesbians and I think I spotted a few butch lesbians too.

In the past timeline, a boarding school is deemed cursed after two young girls (they were lesbians too) went into the woods and were mauled to death by yellowjackets and seemingly spreading a curse of insanity and hallucinations that are driving people mad. Every single character’s backstory is explored, which I love, and the imagery in the horror scenes are so visual (I love that).

Then in the future, or present, timeline, three sapphic actors, one lesbian, one bisexual, and one not labelled that I think is quite lesbian-coded. These girls are all starring in a film about the history of the same boarding school and playing the lesbians at the beginning who died first from it as well as a depiction of their romance. Whilst these actors are working through the movie the curse set on the surreal events recorded to happen at the boarding school begin happening to them, so the mystery of the curse is found out by the reader and them at the same time as they discover it for themselves.

During this, the trio gradually fall in love, with all three of them, perfectly sorting out the jealousy that occurred when two of the people were romantically involved and one is left out. The time they all come together and romance all three of them is when their relationship really comes together.

Such a sick concept without the romance being the main plot of the story.

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