Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Plain Bad Heroines

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

41 reviews

aseel_reads's review against another edition

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 absolutely adored the narrative style, having it break the fourth wall was super engaging. I liked the switch between the two time periods and having a mix of horror and the occult in it. I really enjoyed the rawness of the characters, especially merit and I liked how queer the book was. I think the ending could have had a more shocking event, which would have tied the story more holistically.

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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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barefootbetsy's review against another edition

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challenging 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 fun book to read! It’s long, but not longer than it needs to be and I quite enjoyed the meta-story style.

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jchinzi's review against another edition

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dark funny 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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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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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imcourtneymarie's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

1.75

If this book had been 50% shorter it would have been more interesting. I kept waiting for it to get better. There were a couple of tense moments when you could feel some of the goings on at Brookhants, but I wish I had added this to my DNF ages ago.

The best part was the Libbie storyline. I would’ve read a book just about her story and it would have been a thousand times more interesting.

Redeeming factors were some of the characters and that there was a chunk towards the end that were gripping.

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maryy_r0se's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-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

“Don’t find yourself regretting this. You’re much too young to haunt your own life.”

In the early 1900s, a series of gruesome deaths occurrs at the the Brookhants School for Girls. Speculation runs rampant that these deaths are somehow connected to The Story of Mary MacLane, a radical new book that has several of the students transfixed. Headmistress Libbie Brookhants and teacher Alexandra Trills are stuck trying to protect the girls (and trying to protect themselves.) In present-day, Merritt Emmons’ book about Brookhants is being adapted into a movie starring queer superstar Harper Harper and former child actress Audrey Wells. The women go to Brookhants to film and find its history is still alive.

This book was incredibly ambitious, and to me it more than succeeded. Despite being over 600 pages, I found myself wishing it was even longer because I enjoyed it so much and would have loved to learn even more about the school’s lore. The narration style and use of footnotes was so unique, and I fell in love with the characters (Audrey and Libbie were my personal faves!) After hearing this book somehow combined gothic, horror, comedy, and dark academia (and had all sapphic main characters), I had very high expectations, and I was elated to find that this book surpassed them. The tone is very unique and it certainly takes some getting used to, but I had such a fun time with this one.

(Aside from the content warnings mentioned below, this book also has a lot of horror surrounding wasps, so if you have any sort of wasp or bee phobia you may want to tread carefully!)

Content Warnings