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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
rishel'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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death
emilysquest's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
This book is GREAT FUN and highly recommended for folks who like: female queerness & interqueer politics, female-dominated casts of characters, ghost stories & gothic fiction, horror tropes, Edward Gorey style grotesqueries, triads over dyads, fin de siècle girls' boarding school fiction, LA noir(ish), creepy-New-England-in-the-fall, and interlinked past-and-present narratives that parallel and reveal one another.
Edit: Also a little surprised by all the reviews citing a slow pace—this book zipped along for me; I couldn't put it down. And I loved the discursive (but not really discursive) narrator and the characters' messy inner workings. But these things are, of course, subjective.
Edit: Also a little surprised by all the reviews citing a slow pace—this book zipped along for me; I couldn't put it down. And I loved the discursive (but not really discursive) narrator and the characters' messy inner workings. But these things are, of course, subjective.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Infidelity, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Rape and Suicide
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is one of my favourite reads of the year so far. It combines so many elements that I enjoy: a story within a story, illustrations, footnotes, queer female characters, a enigmatic narrator and a map at the beginning. It's a really strange, imaginative book, with a lot of different ideas woven together but I thought it worked so well. I loved how it moved between the historical and contemporary storylines and I found it completely immersive. There were some brilliantly unsettling parts. I didn't imagine that wasps or apples could be so creepy. I'm not really a horror fan but I've discovered a few exceptions to that rule over the past few years, like Wilder Girls and Shirley Jackson's work and this reminded me of those books in parts.
It's over 600 pages and the first 200 are fairly slow but it built until I found it compulsively readable. I've seen mixed reviews, I think largely due to its length and meandering style but I was having such a good time I didn't want it to end. I borrowed the ebook from my library but I think I'll buy a copy in the future because I definitely want to re-read it one day.
It's over 600 pages and the first 200 are fairly slow but it built until I found it compulsively readable. I've seen mixed reviews, I think largely due to its length and meandering style but I was having such a good time I didn't want it to end. I borrowed the ebook from my library but I think I'll buy a copy in the future because I definitely want to re-read it one day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Death of parent
francesturpin's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror and Sexual assault
stillreadingat4am's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
camkiwi's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
4.0
This book both surprised me and disappointed me in a few ways. The plot of the story -and its concept as a whole- is interesting and intrigued me enough to read all 600+ pages of this story. However, there were some parts that I really disliked and kind of pulled me out of the flow of reading. For example, some of the dialogue/social media bits of this book are very much written like an older adult trying to use internet slang/sound like a "hip" young adult which really just didn't work for me. In addition, the readers of the book are referenced all throughout this story in a sort of fourth wall break, and this element of the story seemed a bit misplaced at times and pulled me out of the story. The book overall had good wlw representation and it truly felt like a sapphic-centered gothic story. There were also clever bits mentioned in some parts of the story that tied in much later. It had a nice creep factor and ambience to it. But as a whole, this story felt as though it was trying to weave too many threads together, which in turn created some unsatisfying endings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexism
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
reading_between_the_trees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A beautifully frightening and mysterious sapphic masterpiece. The historical story within the present day story gave the actor and author characters such a rich additional dimension, and upped the slow burn spookiness a level. I listened to this on audio and thoroughly enjoyed it even as a person who does not usually read horror/thrillers. The narrator was great and the characters were extremely well developed; they are the kind of people that still frequently think "______ would do/like that" as I go about my day months after reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Fatphobia
ohwowbee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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 book was an absolute ball! From the very first pages I was invested and enthralled by the tone of voice, the cast of characters, and the unfolding of the plot.
It is set in part in 1902, and the years immediately following the tragic death of two girls at Brookhants School for Girls. From there; we hop, skip and jump timelines seamlessly to the present day, where our Three Heroines, Harper, Merritt, and Audrey are involved in the production of a film based on those past events. Horrifying shenanigans ensue.
Danforth creates a cast of characters who are all selfish, flawed, and wonderful. And there is nary a heterosexual in sight!!
It’s been a long time since I’ve devoured a 600+ page book, but here we are.
It is set in part in 1902, and the years immediately following the tragic death of two girls at Brookhants School for Girls. From there; we hop, skip and jump timelines seamlessly to the present day, where our Three Heroines, Harper, Merritt, and Audrey are involved in the production of a film based on those past events. Horrifying shenanigans ensue.
Danforth creates a cast of characters who are all selfish, flawed, and wonderful. And there is nary a heterosexual in sight!!
It’s been a long time since I’ve devoured a 600+ page book, but here we are.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, and Rape