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mar's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
i usually get frustrated with audiobooks longer than ~8 hours, but I listened to the 19.5h of this one no problem and enjoyed it!! it's slow, but also really captivating and does a great job of building up the tension and creepiness, though it's sadly a little lacking in payoff in the end - I found the ends of both narratives a little abrupt and unsatisfying in different ways (genuinely finished it and went huh. more people should've died :/ or at least get traumatized a little more :/ FJDKGNKF) but overall I did have fun. the characters are compelling, if not always likeable, and the snarky omniscient narrator is excellent. in conclusion i love messy horror sapphics
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, and Grief
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
violet_pages's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Vomit
Minor: Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Grief
thesincoucher's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
I want to pat myself on the head because I thought I didn't have the ability of reading a book longer than 400pp anymore. It helps when a book is as awesome as this one so not all the credit goes to me. Before I forget I want to give a shout-out to one of the characters that doesn't even have a line in the book, Lily Strichtfield, who, when told about the messy business of the movie, said Hell No and went on to live her life in a normal way. Not all heroes wear capes!
Things that I really loved about Plain Bad Heroines:
- The narrator: I love when the narrator is a separate character and this one gave a lot of flavor to the book. This was the best way to tell this story, without a doubt. I'm a huge fan of footnotes on novels so they added more brownie points for me.
- This is the story of a book inside a book and very much aware of that and I love that fully awareness. I loved that Danforth knows her characters and uses them to maximum effect to tell this story.
- The story is the sapphic story of my dreams involving a boarding school and a horror movie and the people who are trapped there. This kind of books make me so happy because they were not there when I was growing up (or at least, not in easy reach) and now I have so many to choose from.
- There were moments deliciously atmospheric. Danforth knows how to write gothic horror well.
- This book was chunky but it did very much feel like it needed to be. It tells a whole story and when you finish it, you feel satisfied with it. I cannot ask for more.
I have the Miseducation of Cameron Post but now I'm putting it higher in my reading pile.
Things that I really loved about Plain Bad Heroines:
- The narrator: I love when the narrator is a separate character and this one gave a lot of flavor to the book. This was the best way to tell this story, without a doubt. I'm a huge fan of footnotes on novels so they added more brownie points for me.
- This is the story of a book inside a book and very much aware of that and I love that fully awareness. I loved that Danforth knows her characters and uses them to maximum effect to tell this story.
- The story is the sapphic story of my dreams involving a boarding school and a horror movie and the people who are trapped there. This kind of books make me so happy because they were not there when I was growing up (or at least, not in easy reach) and now I have so many to choose from.
- There were moments deliciously atmospheric. Danforth knows how to write gothic horror well.
- This book was chunky but it did very much feel like it needed to be. It tells a whole story and when you finish it, you feel satisfied with it. I cannot ask for more.
I have the Miseducation of Cameron Post but now I'm putting it higher in my reading pile.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization
unboxedjack's review against another edition
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Violence
ghostbird's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Grief
Minor: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
keatynbergsten's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was an excellent book to start off my year with. I really enjoyed almost every aspect of this book. I particularly loved how it crossed genres between historical fiction, horror, and comedy and how seamlessly that was done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Violence
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
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
"๐๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ."
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 ๐ 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 gross๐คข 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 eyes๐๐ปโโ๏ธ 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!
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 ๐ 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 gross๐คข 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 eyes๐๐ปโโ๏ธ 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!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Grief
caidyn's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
CW: death, homophobia, injuries, deception
All I wanted was a creepy horror book and this delivered for my spooky season. Even better it has: sapphic love stories that are explicitly queer, historical gays, ghosts, a narrator who loves to interject with footnotes. It just brought me so much joy and it's a hard book to explain.
At its base, there's a movie being made about a book that was written, a book based on history. The movie involves a superstar, Harper Harper, who's gay. Then there's the author of the book, Merrit, who's involved in the movie's making on some level. And then there's Audrey, the daughter of a horror star, who's getting back into acting. Then, on another level of the book, there's the historical story about two girls, Flo and Clara, who die at their school, Brookhants, in a tragic accident and were definitely in a queer relationship. Add on top of that the headmistress, Libbie, has her own story and queer relationship with her "gal pal," Alex. Then there's the school itself and all the things that have occurred there.
The book is deliciously layered together to create this sweeping story that doesn't feel quite done even when you close the book. There's something more, something left out. It just feels like there's more to the story. I thought the book could have been longer to have more of a wrap-up, but I did enjoy this book so much. It was a great read and I need it on my shelf.
All I wanted was a creepy horror book and this delivered for my spooky season. Even better it has: sapphic love stories that are explicitly queer, historical gays, ghosts, a narrator who loves to interject with footnotes. It just brought me so much joy and it's a hard book to explain.
At its base, there's a movie being made about a book that was written, a book based on history. The movie involves a superstar, Harper Harper, who's gay. Then there's the author of the book, Merrit, who's involved in the movie's making on some level. And then there's Audrey, the daughter of a horror star, who's getting back into acting. Then, on another level of the book, there's the historical story about two girls, Flo and Clara, who die at their school, Brookhants, in a tragic accident and were definitely in a queer relationship. Add on top of that the headmistress, Libbie, has her own story and queer relationship with her "gal pal," Alex. Then there's the school itself and all the things that have occurred there.
The book is deliciously layered together to create this sweeping story that doesn't feel quite done even when you close the book. There's something more, something left out. It just feels like there's more to the story. I thought the book could have been longer to have more of a wrap-up, but I did enjoy this book so much. It was a great read and I need it on my shelf.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, and Mental illness
isnotacrayon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug use and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Fatphobia and Dementia
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