Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

30 reviews

sandrakruse's review against another edition

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

4.0

Kinda slow for the first half, but then it really picked up speed. I did find the ending quite rushed, though…

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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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solenekeleroux's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious medium-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


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cristinareading's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense 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? No

5.0


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banrions's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-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

COOL OKAY I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS IN MY BODY AND I’M GONNA NEED AT LEAST A WEEK TO FIGURE THEM ALL OUT.

I think this book was written directly for me to hit like, most of my buttons, and I’m FURIOUS about it and I need to own this book immediately.

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spamsbyjam's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5


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themixedpages's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-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

5.0


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erinsbookshelves's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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violet_pages's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious slow-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

3.75


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whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦."

In 1902, Flo and Clara are found dead in the woods on the grounds of Brookhants School for Girls. Over a century later, a film crew have arrived to the tell the story of the curse surrounding Brookhants, but what if the narrative is still being written?

Plain Bad Heroines is gross and scary and so very queer. I was living for it 👏 I have never read a book like this one before, the imagination that Danforth has to create a story this rich, is just astounding. The book is written in 3rd person, with a narrator that is always breaking the fourth wall and addressing the reader directly. I loved this about the writing, it felt like a story just for me.

I mentioned this book is gross. I'm talking dead wasps in your mouth gross🤢 Although, the story was pretty slow in pace, and coming it at 619 pages, I'm not surprised. Saying that, all of the narrative felt like it had a purpose, and the slowness of the writing, in my eyes, built the tension so that the creepy and the gross parts hit even harder.

I became so attached to the three main characters, Harper, Merritt and Audrey. Yes, they all had their flaws, but I was rooting them, as they protected each other and grew together. This book wasn't the dark academia I had been craving, but it did have a love triangle, so that's a win in my eyes💁🏻‍♀️ The lesbian and bisexual representation in Plain Bad Heroines is incredible. There are atleast three F/F relationships focused on in the narrative, all set in different timelines. 

I recommend that you go into this one knowing that you have the time to dedicate to it. And if this review didn't quite sell you on it, just know that there are illustrations dotted throughout. I loved this, it added that little extra to the narrative.

Thanks so much to Borough Press for the gifted copy. This is out in the UK on the  4th of February! 


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