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2.73 AVERAGE
2.73 AVERAGE
I SO wanted to really love this book. I read House of Salt and Sorrows and was definitely in a "spooky" read. This was definitely a let down though. The parts that were spooky, were awesome and had me involved in the story. When it wasn't, I found it hard to pay attention. I also wasn't a fan of the alternating timelines, I found it a bit difficult to define "when" I was listening other than always flipping back to the start of the chapter. DNF'ed at 36%.
This book was freaking awful... plain and simple.
The characters are so one dimensional with almost zero character development. The "plot twist" was boring and the freaking hardcover gives it away if you take the dust jacket off which ALMOST EVERYONE DOES WHEN THEY READ A DAMN HARDCOVER!
But seriously this book was so damn underwhelming from the plot to the writing that I have no idea how I actually finished it.
The characters are so one dimensional with almost zero character development. The "plot twist" was boring and the freaking hardcover gives it away if you take the dust jacket off which ALMOST EVERYONE DOES WHEN THEY READ A DAMN HARDCOVER!
But seriously this book was so damn underwhelming from the plot to the writing that I have no idea how I actually finished it.
Rounding this up from 2.5, because it WAS unique and had a great atmosphere. However, it was wayyyy too long. I got about halfway and started losing steam, so I was mainly read-skimming through the second half of the book. I honestly didn’t miss much, because a lot of the story is just descriptions of things that don’t need describing. (And weird similes—please tell me I’m not the only one who noticed those??)
Then, I got to the twist, and there was still a bunch of story left, which was asinine. You can’t drop something like that on readers and STILL have so much to say! Not after all the meandering beforehand. I pretty much had enough by then, so I looked at spoilery reviews to get an idea of what happens at the very end rather than trying to decipher it from skimming.
The sad thing is that I actually didn’t mind the twist. It just needed to have come a lot sooner, so I would have still been invested in finding out how the twist is resolved. I think this book had pacing issues, and would have benefited from a tighter edit.
Then, I got to the twist, and there was still a bunch of story left, which was asinine. You can’t drop something like that on readers and STILL have so much to say! Not after all the meandering beforehand. I pretty much had enough by then, so I looked at spoilery reviews to get an idea of what happens at the very end rather than trying to decipher it from skimming.
The sad thing is that I actually didn’t mind the twist. It just needed to have come a lot sooner, so I would have still been invested in finding out how the twist is resolved. I think this book had pacing issues, and would have benefited from a tighter edit.
Well, this book was utter nonsense.
Nothing made any sense. The character motivations made no sense. The twist was so absolutely out of left field, such a total deviation from genre. Like, yeah, no one saw the twist coming because the twist is SURPRISE! YOU'VE BEEN READING IN A TOTAL GENRE THIS WHOLE TIME.
This is not a horror novel. Honestly, most parts weren't even very scary. It tried, oh boy, did it try occasionally, but for the most part I spent all of it wildly confused. Just wondering what in the hell was actually happening? Literally nothing made sense.
So as a horror, this book fails, miserably, on all counts.
Now if it'd been a sci fi book and pitched itself that way from the start, well, it would still be not super great, but the ending had some interesting concepts.
I'd give this 2 stars, but it gets one for deceiving me when I picked up the book and not mentioning that it was super racist towards indigenous people. Seriously the whole curse thing was gross, but other reviewers have gone into that (which I wish I'd seen before I bought/read this book) far better than I could.
Anyway, it's dumb and nonsensical and I basically hate it.
Nothing made any sense. The character motivations made no sense. The twist was so absolutely out of left field, such a total deviation from genre. Like, yeah, no one saw the twist coming because the twist is SURPRISE! YOU'VE BEEN READING IN A TOTAL GENRE THIS WHOLE TIME.
This is not a horror novel. Honestly, most parts weren't even very scary. It tried, oh boy, did it try occasionally, but for the most part I spent all of it wildly confused. Just wondering what in the hell was actually happening? Literally nothing made sense.
So as a horror, this book fails, miserably, on all counts.
Now if it'd been a sci fi book and pitched itself that way from the start, well, it would still be not super great, but the ending had some interesting concepts.
I'd give this 2 stars, but it gets one for deceiving me when I picked up the book and not mentioning that it was super racist towards indigenous people. Seriously the whole curse thing was gross, but other reviewers have gone into that (which I wish I'd seen before I bought/read this book) far better than I could.
Anyway, it's dumb and nonsensical and I basically hate it.
First read: 4*
Revisited 11.3.2020: 1*
I didn't engage with this as critically as I should have while reading it the first time, going through and updating my BookRiot tracker I realize that there were problems with this that I should have picked up on. If you choose to read this, please do actually think about the tropes that are being employed and how, and engage with why that is.
Revisited 11.3.2020: 1*
I didn't engage with this as critically as I should have while reading it the first time, going through and updating my BookRiot tracker I realize that there were problems with this that I should have picked up on. If you choose to read this, please do actually think about the tropes that are being employed and how, and engage with why that is.
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Ever since BookExpo, and probably before that too, I've been looking forward to The Tenth Girl. I'm not normally one for ghost stories, as I'm the biggest scaredy cat, but Faring takes us on a mysterious journey that will hook any reader. The Tenth Girl is deeply atmospheric and descriptive. It's like watching a banner unfurl before your eyes as you take in the detail. The setting comes alive and with this mysterious psychological thriller it will haunt you. The strength of this book lies in its ability to transport, thrill, and captivate. I barely took any notes besides exclamations and shock because I was so immersed in the story and the twists and turns. The Tenth Girl is a story of different time periods, ghosts that span decades, tragedy, and conspiracy.
At times The Tenth Girl is delightful, unsettling, and I would seriously reconsider reading this before bedtime. Not only does it have the capacity to have you hearing echoes and imagining lurking eyes, but it will absorb you until you emerge bleary eyed hours later. There's so much I want to discuss, but part of the thrill is experiencing the story first hand. Faring weaves us into The Tenth Girl with this dual perspective story. Mysteries, secrets, and whispers will grip you.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/blog-tour-review-quotes-the-tenth-girl-by-sara-faring/
Ever since BookExpo, and probably before that too, I've been looking forward to The Tenth Girl. I'm not normally one for ghost stories, as I'm the biggest scaredy cat, but Faring takes us on a mysterious journey that will hook any reader. The Tenth Girl is deeply atmospheric and descriptive. It's like watching a banner unfurl before your eyes as you take in the detail. The setting comes alive and with this mysterious psychological thriller it will haunt you. The strength of this book lies in its ability to transport, thrill, and captivate. I barely took any notes besides exclamations and shock because I was so immersed in the story and the twists and turns. The Tenth Girl is a story of different time periods, ghosts that span decades, tragedy, and conspiracy.
At times The Tenth Girl is delightful, unsettling, and I would seriously reconsider reading this before bedtime. Not only does it have the capacity to have you hearing echoes and imagining lurking eyes, but it will absorb you until you emerge bleary eyed hours later. There's so much I want to discuss, but part of the thrill is experiencing the story first hand. Faring weaves us into The Tenth Girl with this dual perspective story. Mysteries, secrets, and whispers will grip you.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/blog-tour-review-quotes-the-tenth-girl-by-sara-faring/
Read more at between-the-shelves.com!
I received an ARC of this book at Book Con, and I’m so glad I did! Honestly, I needed a day to process this before writing a review, because oh my goodness. There’s so much here to process! I don’t want to go too much into it to avoid spoilers, but there’s a major twist here that you (likely) won’t see coming. And it absolutely changes the entire book.
At the beginning, I struggled getting into this because it was incredibly slow moving. The first half was really slow moving, actually. It was very atmosphere and Faring spends a lot of time building up the atmosphere surrounding this school, but I wanted something more to happen. Now, I’m wondering if I re-read it that I’ll catch more hints toward the ending. This is definitely a book that lends itself to a re-read, even if you know what’s coming.
Though I found the plot lagging, the characters were compelling (even if I didn’t always know what was going on). Mavi and Yesi especially helped to build the world as well, pulling us into this really odd school. I also really enjoyed that this was based in Pantagonian myth instead of something European. It made the story all the more compelling.
The creepy, haunting nature of this book makes it the perfect fall release. Keep it in mind when building your October TBRs because it will be out just in time!
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I received an ARC of this book at Book Con, and I’m so glad I did! Honestly, I needed a day to process this before writing a review, because oh my goodness. There’s so much here to process! I don’t want to go too much into it to avoid spoilers, but there’s a major twist here that you (likely) won’t see coming. And it absolutely changes the entire book.
At the beginning, I struggled getting into this because it was incredibly slow moving. The first half was really slow moving, actually. It was very atmosphere and Faring spends a lot of time building up the atmosphere surrounding this school, but I wanted something more to happen. Now, I’m wondering if I re-read it that I’ll catch more hints toward the ending. This is definitely a book that lends itself to a re-read, even if you know what’s coming.
Though I found the plot lagging, the characters were compelling (even if I didn’t always know what was going on). Mavi and Yesi especially helped to build the world as well, pulling us into this really odd school. I also really enjoyed that this was based in Pantagonian myth instead of something European. It made the story all the more compelling.
The creepy, haunting nature of this book makes it the perfect fall release. Keep it in mind when building your October TBRs because it will be out just in time!
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
The twist should have been the premise honestly.
This is the kind of book where you like where it goes in the last 75% or you don't. I think the twist is clever and intriguing, but it is poorly executed and so many things that came before it just don't make sense to me. I think it would have been an interesting idea to explore and get into if it had been the entire hook of the story.
I liked the characters (even when things got weird), the mythology is really well done, I loved the setting and all the backstory, I liked the author's prose and I loved the gothic, bonkers atmosphere that just saturates most of the novel. And I don't read many YA novels like this -- that are this risky and ballsy -- and I really appreciate that. I want more books like this.
But that ending just threw me for a loop that I couldn't quite get over. Will be looking forward to more of what she writes in the future though.
This is the kind of book where you like where it goes in the last 75% or you don't. I think the twist is clever and intriguing, but it is poorly executed and so many things that came before it just don't make sense to me. I think it would have been an interesting idea to explore and get into if it had been the entire hook of the story.
I liked the characters (even when things got weird), the mythology is really well done, I loved the setting and all the backstory, I liked the author's prose and I loved the gothic, bonkers atmosphere that just saturates most of the novel. And I don't read many YA novels like this -- that are this risky and ballsy -- and I really appreciate that. I want more books like this.
But that ending just threw me for a loop that I couldn't quite get over. Will be looking forward to more of what she writes in the future though.
I'm a fan of gothic literature/horror and found the blurb great.
Even if this book is well written and there's a high creepiness factor unfortunately I was disappointed and couldn't connect to the plot and the characters
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
Even if this book is well written and there's a high creepiness factor unfortunately I was disappointed and couldn't connect to the plot and the characters
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.