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2.73 AVERAGE
2.73 AVERAGE
MIND BLOWN!! I’m so not quite sure what just happened! I enjoyed this story and then the plot twist climax was OMG! I was not expecting that ending. As I think back through the story, I see so many clues that connect to the ending. This was such fresh writing that I’m excited to see more from the author.
Was reading with a bookclub and the members who finished it warned the rest of us of many problematic issues throughout
Chilling and eerie from beginning to end. The perfect book for blankets and a tea!
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read this book for a book club and will say that had it not been for the group, I would have DNFd this book.
The actual storyline was okay and the writing was interesting enough, and this would have probably been a 3 star read if not for the absolutely rampant anti-Indigenous sentiments in this book.
This book takes place in Argentina in the seventies, and the entire premise is that the land of a boarding school has been cursed by an Indigenous tribe. There are very detailed problems with this and the entire story follows through on this trope of savage Indigenous peoples cursing and sacrifices little girls.
I would not be able to give this book above a 1 star rating in good conscience because of this racism.
The actual storyline was okay and the writing was interesting enough, and this would have probably been a 3 star read if not for the absolutely rampant anti-Indigenous sentiments in this book.
This book takes place in Argentina in the seventies, and the entire premise is that the land of a boarding school has been cursed by an Indigenous tribe. There are very detailed problems with this and the entire story follows through on this trope of savage Indigenous peoples cursing and sacrifices little girls.
I would not be able to give this book above a 1 star rating in good conscience because of this racism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry
Whether it was the book or my current mood- I’m not sure but I could not read this book. I didn’t connect with any of the characters, the sadness was pervasive and I was not enjoying myself.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was very not good....
January pick for the #WickAndJaneBookClub on Instagram
I don't know if this book was read by any indigenous people before it's publication, but I really wish it had been. Or if it had, that publishing and/or the author had taken these claims to heart and edited a lot of this book. There were so many problems with this book and most of them are because of the massive amounts of anti-indigenous rhetoric that this book is full of.
Mavi is on the run from the Argentinian government because her mother is a leftist. Angel is an other haunting the De Vaccaro finishing school. Between these two POVs we are to unravel the mystery of the De Vaccaro school. Angel is never gendered by themselves in this book so I won't refer to them with any male or female pronouns.
So the premise is that the De Vaccaro family are colonizers from Italy that came to Argentina and decided to take land from an indigenous group, the Zapuche. (Pause: The Zapuche are fictional, but in real life there is a native group of Argentina-Chile called the Mapuche. I don't really know what to do with this info but it was weird that these fictional native people are so closely based to real life native people.) The De Vaccaro family steals the land and makes their gigantic school to help young rich girls finish their education. But after this happens, the native people retaliate. A sickness of some sort descends on the house. In order for the colonizers to be saved though, a Zapuche daughter must be sacrificed.
Using the misaligned trope that indigenous people sacrifice their own daughters is wrong. There was some other stuff about the whole ritual and what happened between the De Vaccaro's and the Zapuche, but basically it was all bad and used many stereotypes of indigenous people to make them purposefully look bad. All these people wanted was for the people who LITERALLY STOLE their land to leave. Also there were several instances of the word "savage" being used in reference to the Zapuche people, and that's also just a no. If you don't understand someone's culture, that's not an excuse to label them as lesser or primitive or savage.
On top of all the anti-indigenous rhetoric this book is FULL of, there was also a very lovely anti-Semitic remark thrown in, because apparently we need all the discrimination.
"...in case you are thinking that we were Nazis. But we aren't Jews, either, God forbid."
Yay for casual anti-Semitic remarks. This was made by one of the young girls at the school.
Besides this the whole plot was just boring?? And the twist at the end was weird as fuck and made the whole indigenous storyline unnecessary. Like it could've been replaced with anything else and the plot would've been the same. In other words, there was no reason for how anti-indigenous this book was.
I cannot wait to unhaul this book.
January pick for the #WickAndJaneBookClub on Instagram
I don't know if this book was read by any indigenous people before it's publication, but I really wish it had been. Or if it had, that publishing and/or the author had taken these claims to heart and edited a lot of this book. There were so many problems with this book and most of them are because of the massive amounts of anti-indigenous rhetoric that this book is full of.
Mavi is on the run from the Argentinian government because her mother is a leftist. Angel is an other haunting the De Vaccaro finishing school. Between these two POVs we are to unravel the mystery of the De Vaccaro school. Angel is never gendered by themselves in this book so I won't refer to them with any male or female pronouns.
So the premise is that the De Vaccaro family are colonizers from Italy that came to Argentina and decided to take land from an indigenous group, the Zapuche. (Pause: The Zapuche are fictional, but in real life there is a native group of Argentina-Chile called the Mapuche. I don't really know what to do with this info but it was weird that these fictional native people are so closely based to real life native people.) The De Vaccaro family steals the land and makes their gigantic school to help young rich girls finish their education. But after this happens, the native people retaliate. A sickness of some sort descends on the house. In order for the colonizers to be saved though, a Zapuche daughter must be sacrificed.
Using the misaligned trope that indigenous people sacrifice their own daughters is wrong. There was some other stuff about the whole ritual and what happened between the De Vaccaro's and the Zapuche, but basically it was all bad and used many stereotypes of indigenous people to make them purposefully look bad. All these people wanted was for the people who LITERALLY STOLE their land to leave. Also there were several instances of the word "savage" being used in reference to the Zapuche people, and that's also just a no. If you don't understand someone's culture, that's not an excuse to label them as lesser or primitive or savage.
On top of all the anti-indigenous rhetoric this book is FULL of, there was also a very lovely anti-Semitic remark thrown in, because apparently we need all the discrimination.
"...in case you are thinking that we were Nazis. But we aren't Jews, either, God forbid."
Yay for casual anti-Semitic remarks. This was made by one of the young girls at the school.
Besides this the whole plot was just boring?? And the twist at the end was weird as fuck and made the whole indigenous storyline unnecessary. Like it could've been replaced with anything else and the plot would've been the same. In other words, there was no reason for how anti-indigenous this book was.
I cannot wait to unhaul this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood
Minor: Antisemitism
I suspect that the The Tenth Girl is going to be a very polarizing book. There is a twist at the end I did not expect, and I think some readers will dislike that twist, while others will love it. Unfortunately, I can't really tell you what factors might make you likely to appreciate what this book is doing without spoiling things! If you really want to know, there will be a spoilery section below where I get into what the twist is, what it means, and why I think it is so smart and thematically brilliant.
For now, what I can say is that this debut novel is being billed as a gothic thriller set at a girls boarding school in 1970's Argentina. I really loved it, but I don't know that this is something that will necessarily work for typical readers of mysteries or thrillers. For some it will, but I think to really appreciate what this book is doing, you need a particular set of reference points. Ones which I had, but other reviewers I know did not. But again, spoilers!
In general, I can say that this book is atmospheric, creepy, engaging, and includes some horror elements. It follows a young teacher beginning at a girls boarding school in Patagonia, in a house built by colonizers on land that formerly belonged to the Zapuche, an indigenous people in Argentina. The book is own voices for the Latinx representation and includes actual mythology from the Zapuche, a real life group. It is also peppered with stories from the author's family members, recalled from living under oppressive rule in 1970's Argentina. That mythology is rich and unusual, which makes this book feel quite unique and gives voice to a group of people not previously known widely.
The teacher is trying to escape the Argentinian government, but it seems that she may have gotten herself into an even more dangerous, disturbing situation, where "The Others" present an ominous force. There are going to be a whole bunch of content warnings listed below as well, so recognize that this is quite a dark and violent book.
That said, I'm going to move on to talking about why I think this book is doing something important and why I love it more the more I reflect on it, but also why this may not be the book for everyone.
The big twist we find out at the end, is that the school is not real. It is a virtual reality RPG video game that allows players (the Others) to upload their consciousness to a closed system where they interact with AI NPCs (non-player characters) and earn points by haunting and possessing them. So here is the thing: some readers are going to hate this and feel like it's a cheap attempt at a sci-fi'ish twist that wasn't well-planned. I would beg to strongly disagree, BUT I do think that to appreciate the brilliance of what the author has done here, you really need to have some experience playing RPG video games and have some familiarity with discussions of morality and ethics taking place in the gaming world. Both of which I have!
As soon as I realized what was going on, a whole lot of things clicked into place for me. The school is basically set up like a horror RPG and a lot of the things that feel strange through the story, make perfect sense given that context. The way the house changes, the dangerous and hidden paths to make it to new, important locations, the fact that the Others ganged up on Angel at one point etc. Even the way that the prologue is written reads like a video game intro setting the stage. I think the author must be very familiar with these sorts of gameified experiences, and quite intentionally build the house to reflect that.
What I love is, because you don't know from the beginning that this is a VR game, you have the chance to be horrified at what is happening to the characters. There are great discussions about the morality of the choices made by the Others as part of the gaming experience (this is something Angel wrestles with frequently) and near the end, Mavi (the teacher) even asks the very pertinent question of why anyone would create a loop entirely based on the torture and trauma of women and girls. This book takes a pretty strong stance on significant philosophical issues discussed in the gaming community.
Does it matter if you make moral choices in a game? Is it okay to use a game as a place to let loose dark urges? RPG's typically allow for a range of choices, moral, violent, and otherwise, and those decisions impact your character in various ways. Personally, I have always followed a pretty strict code of in-game ethics when I play as a character, but others feel it is fine to murder, torture, sexually assault, engage in infidelity etc. because it doesn't matter if it's a game. This book engages with those questions in a powerful way, adding to that the increased stakes given the advance of artificial intelligence (AI) and specifically, engages in the ways that parts of the gaming world promote toxic masculinity and the normalization of violence (sexual and otherwise), particularly in gendered ways.
Okay! So half of this review and discussion includes spoilers, but I thought it was really important to talk about what this book is doing and why I find a lot of value in it. The one thing I can say more generally, is that part of what it does is tackle toxic masculinity and the ways that can present in aspects of Millennial culture. Sorry if that is vague but I think it is the best I can do without spoilers! I know this won't be the book for everyone, but I definitely think there is an audience for it and I think it is a fantastic debut.
Content warnings in this book include violence, death, depictions of blood, dark magic, possession, spirits/ghosts, torture, sexual assault, violence towards children, pedophilia. Maybe more, but those are some big ones!
For now, what I can say is that this debut novel is being billed as a gothic thriller set at a girls boarding school in 1970's Argentina. I really loved it, but I don't know that this is something that will necessarily work for typical readers of mysteries or thrillers. For some it will, but I think to really appreciate what this book is doing, you need a particular set of reference points. Ones which I had, but other reviewers I know did not. But again, spoilers!
In general, I can say that this book is atmospheric, creepy, engaging, and includes some horror elements. It follows a young teacher beginning at a girls boarding school in Patagonia, in a house built by colonizers on land that formerly belonged to the Zapuche, an indigenous people in Argentina. The book is own voices for the Latinx representation and includes actual mythology from the Zapuche, a real life group. It is also peppered with stories from the author's family members, recalled from living under oppressive rule in 1970's Argentina. That mythology is rich and unusual, which makes this book feel quite unique and gives voice to a group of people not previously known widely.
The teacher is trying to escape the Argentinian government, but it seems that she may have gotten herself into an even more dangerous, disturbing situation, where "The Others" present an ominous force. There are going to be a whole bunch of content warnings listed below as well, so recognize that this is quite a dark and violent book.
That said, I'm going to move on to talking about why I think this book is doing something important and why I love it more the more I reflect on it, but also why this may not be the book for everyone.
As soon as I realized what was going on, a whole lot of things clicked into place for me. The school is basically set up like a horror RPG and a lot of the things that feel strange through the story, make perfect sense given that context. The way the house changes, the dangerous and hidden paths to make it to new, important locations, the fact that the Others ganged up on Angel at one point etc. Even the way that the prologue is written reads like a video game intro setting the stage. I think the author must be very familiar with these sorts of gameified experiences, and quite intentionally build the house to reflect that.
What I love is, because you don't know from the beginning that this is a VR game, you have the chance to be horrified at what is happening to the characters. There are great discussions about the morality of the choices made by the Others as part of the gaming experience (this is something Angel wrestles with frequently) and near the end, Mavi (the teacher) even asks the very pertinent question of why anyone would create a loop entirely based on the torture and trauma of women and girls. This book takes a pretty strong stance on significant philosophical issues discussed in the gaming community.
Does it matter if you make moral choices in a game? Is it okay to use a game as a place to let loose dark urges? RPG's typically allow for a range of choices, moral, violent, and otherwise, and those decisions impact your character in various ways. Personally, I have always followed a pretty strict code of in-game ethics when I play as a character, but others feel it is fine to murder, torture, sexually assault, engage in infidelity etc. because it doesn't matter if it's a game. This book engages with those questions in a powerful way, adding to that the increased stakes given the advance of artificial intelligence (AI) and specifically, engages in the ways that parts of the gaming world promote toxic masculinity and the normalization of violence (sexual and otherwise), particularly in gendered ways.
Okay! So half of this review and discussion includes spoilers, but I thought it was really important to talk about what this book is doing and why I find a lot of value in it. The one thing I can say more generally, is that part of what it does is tackle toxic masculinity and the ways that can present in aspects of Millennial culture. Sorry if that is vague but I think it is the best I can do without spoilers! I know this won't be the book for everyone, but I definitely think there is an audience for it and I think it is a fantastic debut.
Content warnings in this book include violence, death, depictions of blood, dark magic, possession, spirits/ghosts, torture, sexual assault, violence towards children, pedophilia. Maybe more, but those are some big ones!
Thank you, Netgalley and Imprint Publishing, for an advanced copy of The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring.
Fleeing an upheaval in her homeland in Buenos Aires, Mavi seeks refuge as a teacher at the Vaccaro School for Girls on a remote island off the coast of South America. Here, Mavi hopes to reinvent herself and hide from a past that destroyed her mother as well as her hope for a prosperous future. However, Mavi soon learns this new world is not one without obstacles. The school is almost completely isolated from the rest of the world, surrounded by ice, heavy mist, and freezing temperatures that make leaving impossible for most of her stay. The land is also part of a local legend that promises certain destruction unless a sacrifice is made, something Mavi and her fellow teachers try to overlook but soon feel the weight of when the students become sick and begin acting strangely. Education quickly becomes a minor concern as the school is turned upside down and Mavi realizes her safe place is not so safe after all.
Faring does a fantastic job of creating a truly haunting environment in which common elements and characters feel dark and dangerous. It’s easy to immediately get drawn into the picture she is painting, rapidly flipping pages to solve the many mysteries of the Vaccaro School; however, this momentum does not last. The plot begins to draaaaaaggggg as the story goes on and on with little-to-no new developments. I found myself seriously considering giving up, no longer dazzled or curious by the characters or events. I powered through, though, finally turning over the final card after reading 85% of the book, the big reveal, which simply fell flat for me. A confusing dud in which the whole plot was turned on its head, to be exact. The reader frustration was real and I was so done with Mavi, the mystery, the whole book.
Although I would not recommend The Tenth Girl to my friends, I would consider reading another novel by this author. She possesses a writing voice with great potential that I think could definitely create something magical.
Fleeing an upheaval in her homeland in Buenos Aires, Mavi seeks refuge as a teacher at the Vaccaro School for Girls on a remote island off the coast of South America. Here, Mavi hopes to reinvent herself and hide from a past that destroyed her mother as well as her hope for a prosperous future. However, Mavi soon learns this new world is not one without obstacles. The school is almost completely isolated from the rest of the world, surrounded by ice, heavy mist, and freezing temperatures that make leaving impossible for most of her stay. The land is also part of a local legend that promises certain destruction unless a sacrifice is made, something Mavi and her fellow teachers try to overlook but soon feel the weight of when the students become sick and begin acting strangely. Education quickly becomes a minor concern as the school is turned upside down and Mavi realizes her safe place is not so safe after all.
Faring does a fantastic job of creating a truly haunting environment in which common elements and characters feel dark and dangerous. It’s easy to immediately get drawn into the picture she is painting, rapidly flipping pages to solve the many mysteries of the Vaccaro School; however, this momentum does not last. The plot begins to draaaaaaggggg as the story goes on and on with little-to-no new developments. I found myself seriously considering giving up, no longer dazzled or curious by the characters or events. I powered through, though, finally turning over the final card after reading 85% of the book, the big reveal, which simply fell flat for me. A confusing dud in which the whole plot was turned on its head, to be exact. The reader frustration was real and I was so done with Mavi, the mystery, the whole book.
Although I would not recommend The Tenth Girl to my friends, I would consider reading another novel by this author. She possesses a writing voice with great potential that I think could definitely create something magical.
Well, at least I finally understand why people are furious at this book! Also, it's basically recycling the plot of three Black Mirror episodes, which is annoying.
I understand the nature of twists. I do. I'm not necessarily saying that the marketing for this book should have hinted at the Big Reveal, but I also don't think that they should have so heavily marketed this book as a historical Gothic thriller when it is...........so very much Not That. There's a line. They not only crossed it; they sprinted across it until they could no longer see it. Therein lies the problem. Or one of the problems, at least.
Here's the thing: this is a cool idea. I didn't hate the Big Reveal. I think it was interesting and called up some interesting - if cliched - questions. But I don't think that this is the sort of twist that should have been formulated into a novel. It would have worked really well as a long short story, or a novella, but not a 500-page novel. Frankly, it's ambitious and bold to craft a narrative like this even in the form of a short story, but it's just so...frustrating to read this as a novel. When you get to the Big Reveal, you kind of feel like you just wasted hours of your life, because nothing that you read mattered.
I don't have the energy to go into spoiler territory; I will say if you're interested in reading more, this 5-star review does a fantastic job of explaining the twist and why they appreciated it thematically, and while I totally understand where they are coming from and agree to an extent, I didn't really find that my appreciation of the philosophical themes brought up negated my negative reading experience.
Honestly, I thought this book was kind of a mess, with various disparate and disjointed elements failing to come together properly, with everything hinging on the Big Twist to carry it all through. It's just a messy thought experiment. The only positives are the writing, which is pretty good, and the atmosphere, which really makes you think you're wading into a Gothic thriller. I wish that's what this had been, because I really loved the historical setting, Mavi's background and experiences with the fascist Argentinian government, the oppressive nature of the school, and the odd personalities of the other characters. I'd love to see another book by Sara Faring that is just straight up Gothic horror, because she clearly knows how to write that. Shame she just...implodes all of that and renders it utterly meaningless with the Big Reveal.
Also, this is not my lane, but the portrayal of indigenous folks here.........big yikes. I 100% understand that the author was attempting to lampshade stereotypes but it doesn't work. At all. She just reinforces those stereotypes.
I was close to giving this a 3-star rating just because of the sheer originality and the subversion of expectations and because I didn't hate the slow-burn Gothic pre-twist bit, but the ending after the Big Reveal just dragged and dragged and was borderline nonsensical at times; it was the most frustrating 50 pages I've had to read in a while, so that was the nail in the coffin for me.
I understand the nature of twists. I do. I'm not necessarily saying that the marketing for this book should have hinted at the Big Reveal, but I also don't think that they should have so heavily marketed this book as a historical Gothic thriller when it is...........so very much Not That. There's a line. They not only crossed it; they sprinted across it until they could no longer see it. Therein lies the problem. Or one of the problems, at least.
Here's the thing: this is a cool idea. I didn't hate the Big Reveal. I think it was interesting and called up some interesting - if cliched - questions. But I don't think that this is the sort of twist that should have been formulated into a novel. It would have worked really well as a long short story, or a novella, but not a 500-page novel. Frankly, it's ambitious and bold to craft a narrative like this even in the form of a short story, but it's just so...frustrating to read this as a novel. When you get to the Big Reveal, you kind of feel like you just wasted hours of your life, because nothing that you read mattered.
I don't have the energy to go into spoiler territory; I will say if you're interested in reading more, this 5-star review does a fantastic job of explaining the twist and why they appreciated it thematically, and while I totally understand where they are coming from and agree to an extent, I didn't really find that my appreciation of the philosophical themes brought up negated my negative reading experience.
Honestly, I thought this book was kind of a mess, with various disparate and disjointed elements failing to come together properly, with everything hinging on the Big Twist to carry it all through. It's just a messy thought experiment. The only positives are the writing, which is pretty good, and the atmosphere, which really makes you think you're wading into a Gothic thriller. I wish that's what this had been, because I really loved the historical setting, Mavi's background and experiences with the fascist Argentinian government, the oppressive nature of the school, and the odd personalities of the other characters. I'd love to see another book by Sara Faring that is just straight up Gothic horror, because she clearly knows how to write that. Shame she just...implodes all of that and renders it utterly meaningless with the Big Reveal.
Also, this is not my lane, but the portrayal of indigenous folks here.........big yikes. I 100% understand that the author was attempting to lampshade stereotypes but it doesn't work. At all. She just reinforces those stereotypes.
I was close to giving this a 3-star rating just because of the sheer originality and the subversion of expectations and because I didn't hate the slow-burn Gothic pre-twist bit, but the ending after the Big Reveal just dragged and dragged and was borderline nonsensical at times; it was the most frustrating 50 pages I've had to read in a while, so that was the nail in the coffin for me.