Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Where Sleeping Girls Lie

Its book is very well written and compelling but the pacing is so slow that it feels like nothing actually happens until you’re halfway through. Then the last 20% is breakneck speed where everything is happening. I was really absorbed into to the story, but the way it wrapped up left me disappointed, not in the way that everything resolved but rather the delivery. I definitely enjoyed this book overall and thought that while the subject matter was dark, it was an important story to tell. I like dark academia that actually addresses the ways in which educational institutions fail their students.

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a_libra_library's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Dear Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

You have just become one of my new auto buy authors.

This book is full of suspense, mystery and a true look at what dark academia means in young adult fiction. To critique and comment on educational institutions and the system and structure.
The audiobook was amazing as well, I love when extra production is put into an audiobook to make them more engaging.

If you love a story that keeps you guessing, full of puzzles and anagrams and unreliable narrators then this is the perfect book to recommend. This is so much more than a YA mystery thriller and I hope that anyone picking this title up can see that once they're done.

Also there is a cute animal sidekick so, bonus points.

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mariecaat02's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Where Sleeping Girls Lie had been an anticipated read for me but I was ultimately disappointed. I didn’t hate it, there were a few elements that I liked but I had enough issues with it that I couldn’t rate it any higher. I think the author was trying to tell an important story about rape culture and misogyny but it just wasn’t executed that well for me. There are various reasons for that but I’ll start with the pacing. It was interesting for about the first 25% or so but the middle of the book was soooo slow. I think the author was trying to give more time with the characters and to build up tension but there were so much random and mundane stuff happening that I couldn’t even tell where the book was going for a while it was just so drawn out and overwritten. It did pick up in the last section of the book and I was compelled to actually finish it but the ending was so messy. There were so many things going on that all had to be tied up at the end and a few of the big reveals felt so contrived to me that I wish the author spent more time with those things instead of all the filler in the middle of the book. This book also did the thing I hate in mysteries and thrillers where very vital information about the protagonist’s backstory and motivations is kept a secret from the audience until it’s convenient to reveal and it almost never works for me and unfortunately that happened with Sade’s character. I won’t say what it was but it felt really cheap to me to hide Sade’s motivation for everything because it’s such a tonal shift for her character and the story and it doesn’t make sense why the audience wouldn’t get to know that earlier in the story. I can appreciate the message the author was trying to get across but it didn’t work for me. Honestly the only thing that I consistently enjoyed what Baz’s character he was a delight. Aside from that, this book was kind of a flop for me between the messy plot and craft issues.

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

Look, if the ACOTAR girlies can act like absolute asshats and weaponize their corny ass ww fragility in saying "ThiS BoOk SavEd My LifE, YoU CanNoT CriTiCiZe iT Or You'Re BuLLyiNg Me!", then I CAN DO THAT ABOUT THIS BOOK. IT'S MY GOD GIVEN RIGHT AS AN INSUFFERABLE VIRGO SUN. I truly couldn't give one flying fuck if anyone hates or dislikes this book because it was poignant, infuriating, and spoke to my soul in a devastating way.

This young adult dark academia novel brings you on an intriguing journey of mystery and not knowing who to trust! We meet Sade Hussein on her first day at Alfred Nobel Academy, as she arrives a month late into the semester and is chastised for it. We come to find out she has experienced great loss in her family prior to arriving, while she has been seeing visions of someone from her past and frequently hearing a voice, "You shouldn't have come here." Her house sister and roommate, Elizabeth Wang, shows her around the campus, and then shortly after, a student goes missing at ANA. Sade begins to uncover clues and break rules to find out what really happened to her classmate. She befriends Baz (Basil), the "unholy trinity" (which honestly made me think of Glee lol) which includes April, Persephone and Juliette; August Owens, who is April's brother, and Jude, August's bestie.

I thought the mystery was well-paced, with readers rooting for Sade to uncover as much as she could with the clues that she stumbled upon. If I knew morse code, I would have much more quickly decoded the message Sade found early on with the mysterious box. However, it was fun for me to simply discover information as Sade did, and I felt both her and Baz's frustration and excitement wane a bit as they ran into seemingly dead ends. I appreciated a lull in the investigation here and there, because it rang true to life! This mystery both pulled me in with every new clue, kept me guessing of who was trustworthy or not (truly I was questioning everyone and even Sade at one point, because I was like 'honey buns, are *you* an unreliable narrator?!'), and had me thinking maybe there would not be clear cut answers by the end!

The way Sade's past trauma and loss impacted her current mental health state was of paramount focus, which makes sense. I found this investigation to be a bit of a coping mechanism and distraction for Sade, as she had her own hidden agenda (her original focus at ANA) and this felt somehow like something she *could* control, or at least have some semblance of it. So many parts of her life were not chosen by her, but trying to figure out this missing persons mystery felt like a tangible way to grasp onto control. Though you are not clued into Sade's backstory until much later in the book, you have an inkling that losing her parents only scratches the surface.

Sade begins as a loner, and as someone who is apathetic towards actually developing genuine friendships. The narration lead me to believe she had zero interest in friends, so didn't take it personally when Elizabeth didn't seem extremely keen on being her mentor and/or friend. However, this arc of friendship and building connections was so lovely and fascinating to me. I think Baz and his guinea pig Muffin stole the show for me; Baz is either pan or gay (I forget, please forgive my ADHD brain), and while an array of sexual orientations, ethnicities, abilities, genders, etc. is bare minimum/baseline expectation in media to represent the world we actually live in, I am always appreciative of a cast like this, representative of so many identities <3 Anyway, Baz is so clever and made me giggle a few times, and Muffin was adorable. Free all of the animal testing subjects! Why are we even animal testing anymore!? Good lorddddd.

The undertones of romance between Sade and a few other characters were interesting. Sade's friendship with August develops over their hobby of swimming, and August brings her to the new swimming facilities that the school is building for the swim team. I felt they were much more compatible than Jude, who actively pursues her. Jude is also August's best friend, and he was described by many as a fuckboy, and acted accordingly. I appreciated that FAI showed his charm and wit, because it's important to show how people fall for these facades, these "charming young men." The sapphic pining between Sade and Persephone was so subdued; I LOVED IT! Persephone is lesbian, has turned down many boys at ANA multiple times, including Jude, who said some truly vile things to her. I found the dynamic between S + P to ring true, as they talked around their feelings, rather than directly about them to each other. It rang true to teenage longing to me.

The overarching commentaries and messaging about misogyny, rape culture, standing up to a corrupt administration, and more are important, and I only hope that one day, these elitest institutions either no longer exist or they make vast improvements to protect their students, especially the marginalized ones. Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé wrote another engrossing dark academia story (I did feel fully immersed in this academy!) about how oppressive systems continue to silence and gaslight the marginalized while protecting bad behavior. My take is: burn it all down! However, I'm really proud of Sade and her new friends <3

Content Warnings

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

Insightful, gripping and completely unputdownable! Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s Where Sleeping Girls Lie is a mystery-laden powerhouse of a novel, with a dark academia style premise that packs quite an emotional punch.

Tackling themes of grief, rape culture and toxic masculinity, Àbíké-Íyímídé’s emotionally nuanced (and character driven) prose deftly explores the rather disturbing reality of institutional privilege and the trauma inflicted when those privileges—and the power connected to it, is abused.

Told in third person, we follow new girl, Sade Hussein, who has no idea what to expect at the prestigious, Alfred Nobel Academy—the elite and respected boarding school she’s just enrolled at. But, one things for certain—she never expected her roommate to go missing on her first night. Or for rumours to point the blame in her direction, leading to interest from the most popular clique in school-The Unholy Trinity.

Balancing new found friendship with the popular kids and a gruelling school schedule, Sade still can’t shake the wrongness to the school staff’s indifference to a missing student.

So, taking things into her own hands, she teams up with missing girl Elizabeth’s bestie, Baz, to find out what really happened. However, uncovering the truth is harder than it first appears, as the halls (and it’s students) are steeped in lies and secrets …

I absolutely loved this! The attention of detail was phenomenal and the intricately connected clues that propel the narrative were cleverly placed, keeping the suspense fabulously high.

Though I confess, it was the multilayered and depth filled characters and the way in which they navigate their pain and trauma that captivated me the most. Particularly protagonist Sade who,though guarded at first glance, was an incredibly endearing character with a slowly unfurling backstory of loss, grief and resilience that had me rooting for her every step of her journey.

I also adored the found family-esque dynamics and friendship that grows between her and pink haired cinnamon roll, Baz. His adorably chaotic nature really brought a lightheartedness to plot’s intensity and allowed us to catch a glimpse at what Sadie’s future may entail—with a network of love and support that will help heal the inner turmoil she has held onto for soo long.

Persephone and her character development was fascinating for very similar reasons, and I enjoyed the slow-burn friendship-turned romance that we experience between her and Sade, as they get to know (and trust) one another.

The ending wasn’t as straight forward and satisfying as I would’ve liked, but was a fairly realistic portrayal of how similar (real world) situations have been dealt with. The focus on many of the female characters and their individual paths to healing was a nice touch— underlining the importance of mental health services and support for survivors of sexual assault.

Overall, a powerfully poignant, Mean Girls style murder mystery (with queer and Muslim rep) that would work brilliantly as a book club pick, or to kick start discussions around power & privilege, racial discrimination and rape culture with teen/ young adult readers. Just be sure to check the TWs beforehand.

Also a massive thank you to Fritha at Usborne for the amazing proof.

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skylarkblue1's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

Representations: https://trello.com/c/rfNSpnhX/98-where-sleeping-girls-lie-by-faridah-%C3%A0b%C3%ADk%C3%A9-%C3%ADy%C3%ADm%C3%ADd%C3%A9

Thank you to Netgalley for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. I did also buy myself a physical copy of the book a couple chapters in as it was up for a bookclub I go to and they had copies already and I prefer to read physical where I can.

This book was astonishing. I loved it, but it's not a book you have a lot of fun with. I've yet to read Ace of Spades, it's on my physical TBR and I've just not gotten around to it yet, but reading this has made me really want to read AoS sooner!!

This book is exactly like pulling on a loose thread and suddenly the whole sweater unravels. It starts with a missing person mystery and quickly devolves into pulling mystery threads across the entire school. The tension is done delightfully, I think it's supposed to be slow paced but it absolutely read like it was fast paced. I was completely hooked from the first page onwards.
The way the book messes directly with the reader is wonderful, the codes and subtle misdirections are wonderful. I'd have loved code breaking to have more of a focus as it seemed like it was going to at first, but it feels pretty underutilized by the end. Also not entirely sure the author knows what an anagram is haha.

I loved the characters, they were complex and each got the right amount of attention I think. I did get confused a few times on who people were because there's so many characters but by the end I think I had a decent grasp of who was who (except some of the girls 😅). The ones that are meant to be disliked often had a lot more with them than just "hate this character for this reason", even including some ambiguous characters too which made quite a nice mix of a cast.

I honestly can't think of many actual core flaws with this, the only major point is I'm not entirely sure what happened with one of the main plot lines. There was a theory proposed about how it went, but I don't think in the end it was actually confirmed or not. Unless the proposed theory is what happened, pretty believable series of events that fits in well but does feel like we didn't get the full picture of what happened.

Just a note for anyone reading the physical UK copy (at least the first edition out) there's a few major typos especially towards the end. It doesn't make it incomprehensible but it is very noticeable.

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