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2.73 AVERAGE
2.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lost interest in the characters. Tried multiple times to finish and kept falling asleep
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Tenth Girl crafts such good atmosphere. From what I’ve seen of own voices reviewers, the indigenous people plot line is insensitive, but I can’t tell if it was international commentary in light of the twist or nor. Also, the indigenous people named are made up but only one letter off from a real people of the area, which seems close to what happened with indigenous tribe Twilight. Unlike others, I didn’t hate the twist. So overall I feel mixed about this book and land middle of the road on it.
It was too long and the surprise at the end was not great. I am not a fan of "it was all a game/simulation!" This falls into the category of "It was all a dream!" And I am not a fan of that kind of trope. It has to be done fantastically for me to overlook it. There were a whole lot of other tropey things that I didn't think was executed well also. And because it was too long, it felt really boring in the middle of the book. There were pockets that I enjoyed and enjoyed the writing.
This book was...interesting. The atmosphere and writing were great and the premise (spooky boarding school) had promise. I was enjoying the first couple hundred pages, then wondered where the story was going for about another hundred more. Then came the twist, one that made me roll my eyes and heave a giant sign of disappointment. It wasn't the kind of twist that gives you chills up your spine and think "YESSSS!" - rather it was an out-of-left-field twist that left me wondering if I wanted to bother finishing. I decided to power through the last few pages because I'd made it this far, right? Wrong. The actual end of the book might have been the worst part...if it hadn't been for the cringe-worthy "mythology" of the Zapuche people in the book. They were described as "savages" and the plot includes a "sacrifice a girl to the gods" trope that feeds into the narrative of the "uncivilized natives." I did not like the handling of the indigenous storyline in the book and wished the author could have made a few changes to make that part of the mythology a bit less stereotypical and more nuanced.
I'd be interested in giving the author another chance, though, as the writing was good and Faring does a good job building atmosphere in the book, even though the book, unfortunately, didn't ever drift into "scary" territory for me.
I'd be interested in giving the author another chance, though, as the writing was good and Faring does a good job building atmosphere in the book, even though the book, unfortunately, didn't ever drift into "scary" territory for me.
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book felt slow and I kept anticipating a big twist and then when the twist came, it felt cheap and anticlimactic. The atmosphere was wonderful, and if it had remained a true Gothic horror novel I think I would have liked it better.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A really nice example of how to have a huge twist that doesn't dismantle everything that came before.
Too much language for me to enjoy entirely though.
Too much language for me to enjoy entirely though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt