Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Plain Bad Heroines

Classic example of one storyline is better than the other. I loved the 1900's storyline, but the modern one just didn't wrap up in a satisfying way and it didn't really have a climax either.

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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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lisakey's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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nenaveenstra's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.0

I've read this book twice now, and both times I was enamored with its spooky atmosphere, its intricate storylines and its vibrant characters. And its gay-ness, of course.

Plain Bad Heroines follows two stories set at the same place but over a century apart. We follow Libbie Brookhants and her lover's perspective on creepy things evolving on her property and its boarding school in the 20th century, and a set of queer women involved with the making of a movie about said story in the 21st. The former creates a chilling frame to set the tone for the latter.

This is by no means a perfect book, but I did enjoy reading about fictional lesbians in the early 20th century dealing with, yes, scary things, but with life, above all. The ends they have to go to live their life the way they want to. And then the way the movie-making was set out to be. It could've been very corny, but it wasn't. It was super creative and I ate. It. Up.

This book is quite long, and I think it suffered for it a little bit. It felt like the author didn't quite know which story she wanted to tell - wanted to tell too many stories at once - and some storylines felt to drag on while others were rushed. I wonder if it would've done this book good to focus on the present storyline, and only keep some highlights from the 1900s.

Anyway. If you feel like being swallowed up in a gothic universe for about 600 pages, I would recommend this book. It's not super scary, so don't go into it expecting that, but it's so much fun.

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