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haleysversion's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Classism, Rape, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Suicide, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Biphobia, and Outing
thekatreturns's review
adventurous
dark
funny
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
4.75
I adored this book. I won’t say too much so as not to spoil it, but it was my favorite read of the year. It feels like a rebuttal to the way that horror stories are often told, but beyond being a statement about the world, it is frightening, engaging, and deeply, darkly funny in its own right. The main cast is almost entirely lesbian and bisexual women who are distinct and flawed and real and so interesting to watch interact. That said, unless I missed something, the main cast is all white Americans with some degree of class privilege. The class aspect is intentional and absolutely commented upon, for what that’s worth, and the supporting cast is racially diverse, so that’s why I marked “it’s complicated” for diversity. I knocked a half point off because I wanted more worldbuilding out of the ending, for what was revealed then to be discussed as it relates to the previous events of the book, but the very last chapters were immensely satisfying nonetheless. I would highly recommend this to horror fans of all kinds, metafiction fans, those who like stories interweaving the past and present, anyone into Fraught Female Friendships, and those who just love really wonderful-in-all-their-flaws queer woman characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, Death, Suicide, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual content, Misogyny, Outing, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Violence, Racism, Biphobia, Car accident, Pregnancy, Murder, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Insects, specifically yellowjackets, feature heavily in this book. They are included in nearly all of the horror elements. For me, graphic=extremely unavoidable, long, plot crucial elements. moderate= plot or thematically relevant, but don’t stand out as particularly graphic. Minor=not described in detail.mariebrunelm's review
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
Plain Bad Heroines (PBH) came with a host of Instagram friends' recommendations, which made me wary because of the hype. But what a delight when, a few dozen pages in, I realised the hype was completely justified!
PBH follows two main timelines of sapphic women caught in the webs woven by a book and the deaths it seems to have inspired. In 1902 three girls are found dead at B's school for girls. The cause seems to be an attack of yellow jackets, but the girls' morbid obsession with Mary MacLane's diary throws a shade over this simple explanation.
Today between Hollywood and Rhode Island, writers and actresses become embroiled in a movie project with a twist.
This was a festival of sapphic extravaganza, mysteries, a touch of dark academia and a very sarcastic narrator. I loved every page of it and savoured the gorgeous edition I found second-hand, complete with illustrations. A new favourite!
Rep: Sapphic relationship.
PBH follows two main timelines of sapphic women caught in the webs woven by a book and the deaths it seems to have inspired. In 1902 three girls are found dead at B's school for girls. The cause seems to be an attack of yellow jackets, but the girls' morbid obsession with Mary MacLane's diary throws a shade over this simple explanation.
Today between Hollywood and Rhode Island, writers and actresses become embroiled in a movie project with a twist.
This was a festival of sapphic extravaganza, mysteries, a touch of dark academia and a very sarcastic narrator. I loved every page of it and savoured the gorgeous edition I found second-hand, complete with illustrations. A new favourite!
Rep: Sapphic relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Outing and Sexual assault
Minor: Vomit
lisa_m's review
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Vomit
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