Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Plain Bad Heroines

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Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

84 reviews

jacemchale's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I really didn't expect to enjoy this book so much when I started it but now I think a piece of me will hold onto the story and all of it's characters.

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somelibrarychick's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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bethsreading's review

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dark funny 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? Yes

2.25

I had high hopes for this book but sadly it was ultimately really disappointing. It was a great concept, I loved the queer rep, the spooky cursed girls school, and the experimental haunted film set. However, in the end, this book was just a mess.

My main issue with it is that it needed some serious, brutal editing. It was far too long and the pacing was completely off. As a result, some parts really dragged, others felt completely irrelevant, and worst of all it was then impossible to built any proper tension. This is meant to be a horror novel and any scenes with scary content got lost in a surrounding sea of boring filler. The first 50% of this book was just set up and I think over half of it could easily be cut and you could still understand the characters’ motivations and the background for the shooting of the film. By the time we got to the ‘main’ part of the story where they’re filming at Brookhants, there wasn’t enough time to give many spooky specifics. There had been so much set up and it just fell flat. At one point they said: ‘Things kept happening all the time now at Brookhants. Who could even keep up to write them all down?’ You could?? Is this not a horror novel?? Is this not what I’ve read 400 pages of build up to witness?? It was so frustrating! Squeezing so many storylines into one super long book just didn’t work and none of them had enough breathing room. I think it would’ve worked much better as two books; the first one could be about the girls who died at Brookhants and the film being made, and then the second book could be about the origins of the curse and Libbie/Alex. Then we could get the depth that the author clearly wanted to give to each aspect of the story but the pacing and tension would’ve been so much better.

Sadly, I found the narrator to be particularly annoying. They use ‘Readers’ to address us and while this is a personal gripe, I don’t mind it being used when done well but in this context it felt out of place and awkward. The tone of the narrative voice was conflicting. It seemed as though they were both ‘above’ social media and gen z culture but also a part of it. There was a large focus on social media which I find is always hard to do well and in this case it was not great. The references felt a bit out of touch and a times cringey (they even used an emoji mid sentence at one point, which I hope was meant to be ironic but it did not land at all). It is important for it to be in there in the modern day storyline and some elements of it worked but many did not in my opinion.

My next problem is very small but I found it so unbelievably frustrating. Because this book was so long, the font was really small and that meant that the astrixs indicating footnotes were teeny tiny that I could never see them! I would get to the bottom of a page and see an unread footnote and have to go back playing Where’s Wally to try and find it, which completely ruined the flow of reading.

Overall, I was sad that this book wasn’t what I wanted it to be and what I thought it could have been. On paper it was exactly my sort of thing and could’ve been a new favourite. The issues with the book that I have focused on in my review overshadowed the good parts of the novel and I think that is in part out of frustration that it did not live up to my expectations. If you felt similarly about this book and you want a fantastic mystery thriller (with some genuinely scary parts too) that is also set in a secluded school, then please read the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson, I promise it will not disappoint.

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snowydaze'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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franklola's review against another edition

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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

4.0

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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...)

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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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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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lucyrosemack's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-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

this book was so fun to read! i looked forward to picking it up every day and i would give play by plays to friends about what was going on in the story. i love the characters, was genuinely creeped out several times, and i wish i could go back and read it all again right now for the first time. im glad i had a pen to take notes as i read because there were so many moments i would have to turn back to, adjust my point of view, etc., and my book is full of (mostly false) predictions for the plot.

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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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