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2.73 AVERAGE
2.73 AVERAGE
Full review can be found on Instagram @TheYAReader.
I don’t know why more readers haven’t rated this book above 3 stars. Yes, there are offensive elements. It’s a psychological thriller. What did you expect?
I don’t know why more readers haven’t rated this book above 3 stars. Yes, there are offensive elements. It’s a psychological thriller. What did you expect?
dark
mysterious
tense
this started off strong with a gothic haunted house vibe but the twist was so ridiculous it ruined the whole thing for me
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
This review will eventually be featured in a Fall 2019 mini review roundup because I am struggling writing a full/lengthy review for this one without being too spoilery.
Sara Faring’s The Tenth Girl is definitely not the type of YA novel I usually pick up. I usually stray away from books with supernatural elements, but the hype for this gothic thriller set in 1970s South America had me hooked. After escaping from Buenos Aires, school teacher Mavi arrives at an isolated finishing school, where the teachers and students more and more start to show signs that they are possessed. As Mavi learns about “the Others” that inhabit the school, she learns that one particular spirit, Angel, may have information more than she bargained for.
I’m really glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to read The Tenth Girl. It was definitely creepy, but I was really invested in its mystery, as Mavi and the book’s second perspective, Angel, try to discover the mystery and secrets within the Vaccaro School. I was hooked from the get-go and right after finishing it, I wanted to shove this book in all of my bookish friends’ hands so we could discuss its entirety.
One of the reasons why The Tenth Girl has become such a hyped book is that, as promised by its synopsis, there is a haunting plot twist that most readers won’t see coming. The twist makes The Tenth Girl the type of book readers are either going to love or hate. I’m usually someone who hates when someone mentions that a book has a twist because I’ll be looking for it, but even with all the hints and Easter eggs in The Tenth Girl, it is so unpredictable. Looking back, I did find myself questioning some of the smallest details but I would have never predicted the ending.
While I still really enjoyed this book, even as I write this review five days after finishing it, I’m still on the fence about how I enjoyed the twist. Without being too spoilery, on the one hand, I was actually really digging the gothic horror setting! I rarely read books in this genre, but I found myself really enjoying Sara Faring’s writing style and world-building. Sara Faring’s writing was a little heavier than what I am used to, finding myself not being able to blow through the pages and having to pay attention to each sentence, but it allows readers to better understand the characters and their motivations while also setting the eerie setting. That being said, the twist bends the genre a bit. While I love how I wasn’t able to correctly guess what happened, I’m not sure it fit the story/genre that well. I’m also someone who loves to have all the answers at the end of a story (sorry imagination) and I feel like I had so many questions still at the end.
This review will eventually be featured in a Fall 2019 mini review roundup because I am struggling writing a full/lengthy review for this one without being too spoilery.
Sara Faring’s The Tenth Girl is definitely not the type of YA novel I usually pick up. I usually stray away from books with supernatural elements, but the hype for this gothic thriller set in 1970s South America had me hooked. After escaping from Buenos Aires, school teacher Mavi arrives at an isolated finishing school, where the teachers and students more and more start to show signs that they are possessed. As Mavi learns about “the Others” that inhabit the school, she learns that one particular spirit, Angel, may have information more than she bargained for.
I’m really glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to read The Tenth Girl. It was definitely creepy, but I was really invested in its mystery, as Mavi and the book’s second perspective, Angel, try to discover the mystery and secrets within the Vaccaro School. I was hooked from the get-go and right after finishing it, I wanted to shove this book in all of my bookish friends’ hands so we could discuss its entirety.
One of the reasons why The Tenth Girl has become such a hyped book is that, as promised by its synopsis, there is a haunting plot twist that most readers won’t see coming. The twist makes The Tenth Girl the type of book readers are either going to love or hate. I’m usually someone who hates when someone mentions that a book has a twist because I’ll be looking for it, but even with all the hints and Easter eggs in The Tenth Girl, it is so unpredictable. Looking back, I did find myself questioning some of the smallest details but I would have never predicted the ending.
While I still really enjoyed this book, even as I write this review five days after finishing it, I’m still on the fence about how I enjoyed the twist. Without being too spoilery, on the one hand, I was actually really digging the gothic horror setting! I rarely read books in this genre, but I found myself really enjoying Sara Faring’s writing style and world-building. Sara Faring’s writing was a little heavier than what I am used to, finding myself not being able to blow through the pages and having to pay attention to each sentence, but it allows readers to better understand the characters and their motivations while also setting the eerie setting. That being said, the twist bends the genre a bit. While I love how I wasn’t able to correctly guess what happened, I’m not sure it fit the story/genre that well. I’m also someone who loves to have all the answers at the end of a story (sorry imagination) and I feel like I had so many questions still at the end.
This is a pretty long story but YA standards. I became absorbed quickly in the tale of a young woman named Mavi who is running from her past to teach at an isolated boarding school with a odd history. There are some kind of spirits haunting the rooms at night and they start to affect the teachers and the nine young female students. We learn quickly that there should be a tenth student and the mystery of her identity becomes a main focus of the story. Also in the house is a quirky cast of characters to the point they almost feel like characters in an Agatha Christie who done it novel. There is another character named Angel who isn't exactly what she seems. Doesn't this sound intriguing? Well it was and the writing was lovely, if a tad long winded. However the last quarter of the book changed everything. Literally it was out of left field and extremely over the top and suddenly all the earlier pages really meant nothing. I had read through some earlier reviews of the book which weren't flattering and I can truly say that at three hundred pages in I was baffled by the negative feedback. I was engrossed. Until I was suddenly shocked out of state. I need to make up an alternative ending to this one in my head and forget the published version.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
I really wanted to love [b:The Tenth Girl|42642111|The Tenth Girl|Sara Faring|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547925656l/42642111._SY75_.jpg|60088872] by [a:Sara Faring|17694905|Sara Faring|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1525763183p2/17694905.jpg], the synopsis peaked my interested immediately and it just sounded so good. A Gothic horror novel set in a spooky, secluded old house surrounded by ice? Sign me up. Unfortunately this book just didn't completely work for me.
First of all I just think that The Tenth Girl was much too long, I think if the author could have made it 100-150 pages shorter and more concise, it would have really helped the pacing. As it was, it was a pretty slow burn until you get to around the last 150 pages. I didn't mind the slow burn, but I think it made things a little less creepy than they could have been. It was definitely a very atmospheric novel though, and I even started to feel claustrophobic while reading it! The huge, isolated mansion with spirits called the Others made for one creepy setting which I really enjoyed.
I thought The Tenth Girl would be straight up Gothic horror with supernatural elements, but it also ends up being science fiction which kind of threw me for a loop. I'm not sure how I feel about the author mashing the two together, and the ending got a little confusing. While the characters were trying to comprehend things, I was having an equally hard time. However, I ended up really enjoying the actual ending and it was satisfying.
Final Thought: For a young adult debut novel, The Tenth Girl was still pretty impressive, and it did manage to hold my attention until the very end. Even though I didn't love it like I had hoped, I would definitely still read another book by Faring. The execution wasn't perfect, but there were enough good elements to this book that I still enjoyed it. It was also super unique and unlike anything else I've read which was a plus for me.
I really wanted to love [b:The Tenth Girl|42642111|The Tenth Girl|Sara Faring|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547925656l/42642111._SY75_.jpg|60088872] by [a:Sara Faring|17694905|Sara Faring|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1525763183p2/17694905.jpg], the synopsis peaked my interested immediately and it just sounded so good. A Gothic horror novel set in a spooky, secluded old house surrounded by ice? Sign me up. Unfortunately this book just didn't completely work for me.
First of all I just think that The Tenth Girl was much too long, I think if the author could have made it 100-150 pages shorter and more concise, it would have really helped the pacing. As it was, it was a pretty slow burn until you get to around the last 150 pages. I didn't mind the slow burn, but I think it made things a little less creepy than they could have been. It was definitely a very atmospheric novel though, and I even started to feel claustrophobic while reading it! The huge, isolated mansion with spirits called the Others made for one creepy setting which I really enjoyed.
I thought The Tenth Girl would be straight up Gothic horror with supernatural elements, but it also ends up being science fiction which kind of threw me for a loop. I'm not sure how I feel about the author mashing the two together, and the ending got a little confusing. While the characters were trying to comprehend things, I was having an equally hard time. However, I ended up really enjoying the actual ending and it was satisfying.
Final Thought: For a young adult debut novel, The Tenth Girl was still pretty impressive, and it did manage to hold my attention until the very end. Even though I didn't love it like I had hoped, I would definitely still read another book by Faring. The execution wasn't perfect, but there were enough good elements to this book that I still enjoyed it. It was also super unique and unlike anything else I've read which was a plus for me.
THE TENTH GIRL by Sara Faring was October’s YA book from Unplugged Book Box (full contents of the box pictured below). I had not read many reviews on this one, but had fallen in love with that cover, so was excited to read this one!
THE TENTH GIRL begins with Mavi in the 1970s. Mavi has arrived on an isolated island to teach English at a school for privileged girls. The school was previously shut down under somewhat mysterious circumstances and the family that owns it has decided to get it back up and running. The house is isolated both by the setting and by the weather, surrounding the house with snow and ice. Mavi isn’t exactly the English teach she is claiming to be, but neither is the house exactly what it seems at first either. There are elaborate over the top meals, but strict rules to stay in your room after dark “or else”. Interspersed with Mavi’s stories are chapters from another perspective. Angel lives an existence outside of Mavi’s reality, but it isn’t entirely known at first what this means.
This is another book that left me with very mixed feelings. The pace is slow. It gets categorized as a “psychological thriller with a haunting twist” according to the Goodreads blurb, but for me the thriller aspect fell a bit flat. I liked the gothic vibes and the haunting atmosphere, but the pace was a little too slow to be a true thriller. I thought the author developed the world well and had some beautiful descriptions. The twist isn’t one that I saw coming, though I think looking back there were some clues that kept it from coming completely out of nowhere. Still, it left me with questions and a bit of a struggle to buy into the reality of how things ended.
There was a lot to like in this story and it definitely kept me reading to see what was going on, but the novel felt long and I think that it could have been shortened and tightened up. I would definitely give this author another shot in the future though!
THE TENTH GIRL begins with Mavi in the 1970s. Mavi has arrived on an isolated island to teach English at a school for privileged girls. The school was previously shut down under somewhat mysterious circumstances and the family that owns it has decided to get it back up and running. The house is isolated both by the setting and by the weather, surrounding the house with snow and ice. Mavi isn’t exactly the English teach she is claiming to be, but neither is the house exactly what it seems at first either. There are elaborate over the top meals, but strict rules to stay in your room after dark “or else”. Interspersed with Mavi’s stories are chapters from another perspective. Angel lives an existence outside of Mavi’s reality, but it isn’t entirely known at first what this means.
This is another book that left me with very mixed feelings. The pace is slow. It gets categorized as a “psychological thriller with a haunting twist” according to the Goodreads blurb, but for me the thriller aspect fell a bit flat. I liked the gothic vibes and the haunting atmosphere, but the pace was a little too slow to be a true thriller. I thought the author developed the world well and had some beautiful descriptions. The twist isn’t one that I saw coming, though I think looking back there were some clues that kept it from coming completely out of nowhere. Still, it left me with questions and a bit of a struggle to buy into the reality of how things ended.
There was a lot to like in this story and it definitely kept me reading to see what was going on, but the novel felt long and I think that it could have been shortened and tightened up. I would definitely give this author another shot in the future though!
Set in two different times we follow the two main characters of each. There were many confusing moments that came to light when a twist in the story was revealed. Written well and if you are like me your curiosity of what’s going on will pull you into inquiry. It seems to be open for a sequel, but the main plot does resolve. I may need to read this again to gain more insight now that I know how it ends to catch any small details lost to the first time reader.
Read this if you love: Interior stories that match exterior covers, USS Callister, and twists audiences will either love or hate.