Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

12 reviews

sistersula's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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nickoliver's review against another edition

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

4.0

I’m usually not good at picking up bigger books, so I’m quite proud of myself for finally having done it with this one. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it also had some parts that really annoyed me.

The atmosphere in this book was honestly great. Especially the scenes that were supposed to be creepy really were. Not necessarily in an ‘I am going to have nightmares about this’ way, but I will definitely not be able to look at wasps the same way anymore. (Not that I’d liked those aggressive fuckers before, but now even less so.) I was also grossed out a few times, but it wasn’t gratuitous or just there to gross you out.

While the book didn’t put me in a reading slump - which part of me was worried about just based on its sheer size -, it was rather slow-moving and sometimes didn’t have a pay-off. You would wait like 300 pages just for the movie to start being shot, and then you didn’t even get to experience it up close and personal. It was a bit frustrating how much on the outside you were kept sometimes - especially when it came to the movie, because the build-up to it was so detailed and loving that it made it all the more frustrating how we only got glimpses afterward.

It didn’t help that the cast of characters didn’t completely work for me. Basically, there were two different timelines: the present, where they shot the movie about Brookhants and its curse, told from the perspective of three women (Audrey and Harper who were in the movie, and Merritt who wrote the book the movie was an adaptation of). And the past, set in 1902, which told the story of what exactly had happened. Those chapters had two POVs: Libbie, who was the principal of the school, and her lover Alex, with whom she lived with and who also worked at the school.

For the most part, I preferred the past chapters just based on the fact that it felt like there was more happening there and some scenes in the present just didn’t interest me. But also, I really didn’t like Merritt. She was very judgmental, jealous, and just overall unpleasant - she felt like a 80-year-old woman stuck in the body of a 21-year-old with the way she dismissed people immediately based on completely unfounded grounds. And while I was supposed to believe that she changed and, more importantly, became friends and lovers with Audrey (who she’d hated at first sight for no discernible reason), I didn’t get to see that. All of a sudden, she and Audrey liked each other, without there being a believable build-up (or any build-up at all, really). While not every chapter was obviously told from her perspective, she was always there, and that just sullied the present chapters for me at times.

What made Merritt even more unbearable was the writing in her chapters. It was so cringey that it made me feel embarrassed. It’s possible that that was on purpose to emphasise Merritt’s personality, but it just felt like the writing of an edgy teenager trying to be cool and unfazed. Outside of Merritt’s chapters, the writing was sometimes awkward and cringey too, but it just went really off the rails in her chapters.

All main characters, by the way, were sapphic - Harper and Alex were lesbians, Audrey and Libbie were bisexual, and Merritt I wasn't sure about (she was only shown being interested in Harper and Audrey) -, and the relationships were very focal in the story. Though, again, they weren't developed much on-page, at least when it comes to the chapters set in the present. That was disappointing. But Libbie and Alex's relationship was explored a lot, and I was generally just thrilled to read a book that was so distinctly about queer women and put the men on the sidelines a little bit.

The side characters were okay. They weren’t incredibly fleshed-out, but they had just enough meat on their bones that you could call them characters. However - and I don’t know if that was because there were simply too many characters or if it was because they weren’t developed enough -, there were a few people I kept mixing up with each other. Specifically ones in Harper and Audrey’s lives. I kept forgetting the relationships they each had with their mothers - I think that was also because it was kind of a similar one? Harper and Audrey both also had a queer male best friend, and I could not keep those two apart in my brain to save my life. I would be in Harper’s perspective waiting for Noel to show up just for Eric to make an appearance, because he was her best friend and not Noel. It didn’t help that they were very similar in personality (pushovers with kind of a bad influence and zero empathy) and had a seemingly identical relationship with their respective friend.

The story itself was intriguing, yet also confusing at times - especially in the latter half of the book. I was suddenly confronted with plot twists and reveals that I wasn’t even aware I was supposed to expect (for example, everything involving
Hanna and Madame Verrett
caught me way too off-guard to have made any lasting impact on me), and there were some characters whose importance and place in the story I didn’t really realise until way later when Danforth literally spelt it out for me.
Maybe I am just stupid, or maybe I was expected to see some sort of mystery, but none of those things had the intended effect on me - I was mainly just confused and couldn’t keep up.

Now, let me go back to the writing again. The book had an interesting format - it was told from a narrator after the fact, and you were very much made aware that what you were essentially reading was a book. As in, the narrator was the actual author of the story, and they inserted themselves into it frequently. They often addressed the readers and made certain quips about themselves, the latter of which honestly didn’t land that often. For example, when the narrator promised something, why should that have mattered to me? I didn’t know who they were in relation to me or the story. I didn’t know their personality or how likely it was that they would keep or break a promise. So I didn’t like those parts. I honestly think it would’ve been more interesting if the narrator had hinted throughout the book who they were, exactly - not necessarily with a reveal at the end, but just little hints to keep it interesting. I also wasn’t a fan of how the narrator kept telling me how I was supposed to feel. For example, at one point, Merritt and Harper went on a date, and beforehand, the narrator said, ‘I bet you’re exciting to see the date and what happened there!’, except it happened right after I spent an entire chapter reading about Merritt being judgmental and nasty to Audrey, so why should I have wanted to read more about her? And that happened several times, where the narrator told me to feel or act a certain way about something, and it almost never lined up with what I actually felt. And that made it just annoying.

What I did like about the writing, though, were the footnotes. I’m generally a big fan of footnotes, and the ones in here were often very entertaining. Admittedly, there were a few that were so random and unnecessary that I laughed more out of disbelief than actual amusement, but overall, they made the story more entertaining. The only part I mildly disliked was how tiny the asterisks were that led to the footnotes - I often didn’t realise there was a footnote at all until I was at the end of the page, and then I had to spend several seconds just hunting for the asterisk to figure out what the narrator was commenting on.

So, overall, I liked the story. It didn’t completely use all its potential - the writing could’ve been better at times, some of the characters could’ve been fleshed-out more, and parts of the story were too confusing to be enjoyable. The narrator also didn’t let us up and close as much as I would’ve liked, especially in the present chapters. But it kept my intrigue and didn’t put me into a reading slump, which bigger books nowadays often do, and the creepy scenes were done really well. Wasps definitely feel even scarier now. 

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sauvageloup's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

glad to have read this, because the concept is fresh and interesting, and I need to read more wholly sapphic books. but it tried to do too much and didnt pull it off.
this review on tumblr by flying-elliska has all my thoughts well said:
https://www.tumblr.com/flying-elliska/672822130083233792/and-now-for-sapphic-reads-time-the-sequel-tm?source=share

pros:
- the setting was a fleshed out character in itself and I loved that. the orchard apples, the tower, the orangerie, the beach, etc.
- I liked the story of the original woman, simone, who lived on the land.
- some imagery was definitely creepy and disturbing, especially eating wasps.
- the main characters were interesting, and I liked that they became a poly triad rather than a love triangle.

cons:
- too many characters, too much rambling, too meta, too plotty and just too long.
- I never really got truly creeped out. it just didnt sink deep enough into that and there wasnt enough real danger. the deaths were distant and over fast. didnt feel that sad at any of them.
- more interesting to see more flo and Clara for sure.

a different read for sure and I'm glad I read it, but disappointing and a bit slow too.

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thekatreturns's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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

4.75

I adored this book. I won’t say too much so as not to spoil it, but it was my favorite read of the year. It feels like a rebuttal to the way that horror stories are often told, but beyond being a statement about the world, it is frightening, engaging, and deeply, darkly funny in its own right. The main cast is almost entirely lesbian and bisexual women who are distinct and flawed and real and so interesting to watch interact. That said, unless I missed something, the main cast is all white Americans with some degree of class privilege. The class aspect is intentional and absolutely commented upon, for what that’s worth, and the supporting cast is racially diverse, so that’s why I marked “it’s complicated” for diversity. I knocked a half point off because I wanted more worldbuilding out of the ending, for what was revealed then to be discussed as it relates to the previous events of the book, but the very last chapters were immensely satisfying nonetheless. I would highly recommend this to horror fans of all kinds, metafiction fans, those who like stories interweaving the past and present, anyone into Fraught Female Friendships, and those who just love really wonderful-in-all-their-flaws queer woman characters. 

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penofpossibilities's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

1.0


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decie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

honestly a little bit offended nobody told me about this book. dark academia that isn't pretentious? contemporary and historical storylines that are beautifully woven together? a witty, self-aware narrator? sapphic characters EVERYWHERE in a book clearly written FOR sapphics? yes pls. it's sharp, fast, and kept me up at night. so. fucking. good.

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lisa_m's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book was unlike anything I have read before. I was bored sometimes and sometimes I didn't know what exactly the author was trying to do but all in all I did really enjoy it. I think if you want to read this book you have to like the creepy vibes it has. It is not a horror of creepy book at all but it does have a few creepy aspects throughout the book. It is creepy but also just a lot of talking and descriptions of film production, meetings and just day to day activities.. 

I think the only way to enjoy this book is to just take the time and not expect anything to happen. It will take you on a ride through different times, perspectives, stories and deaths.

This book was definitely weird. In a good way but still quite strange..

And also suuuper queer! Like pretty much every important character was a queer woman. I enjoyed that but it got to a point where it was a bit ridiculous (but also it fitted into the story perfectly and made total sense)

My favourite thing about this book is the formatting. I love the different fonts and especially the footnotes! (I love to see footnotes in books)
Also the illustrations are amazing! The yellow jackets were so cool and gave the book that extra something.

The narration was interesting but I did really enjoy it. It felt like a weird friend writing down a story for you and also like some Jane Austen esc writing. 

My biggest problem was the length of the book. Especially in the middle it got quite boring and I wanted to quit a couple of times. Also the ending confused me. I mean it is a kind of open end and you can keep thinking about it which is cool..?
I don't think the book could have been shorter and still be the same. The whole feeling came from the whole mixture of it all. Still I get that this is definitely not for everyone.

There are also so many different perspectives. There are quite a lot of jumps between time and people. Also it's kind of about a movie about a book about a legend about a book.

I would say reading this is definitely an experience - and one you have to want. If you want to read a very sapphic book that is also a bit spooky and has some great illustrations: this is the book for you. Be warned though as it is very slow paced and it has a LOT of unanswered questions at the end.

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birdieblue's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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.)

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wordwilderness's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad slow-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

4.5


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nefariousbee's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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