A review by pamshenanigans
The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's by Hanna Alkaf

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you to the publisher and the author for providing an e-ARC of this book. This, in no way, influenced my review. 

“Because all anyone ever asked me about was my pain. My body for their belief, a complete transaction”

Coming from Catholic schools for most of my life, the pull that this book had on me when I first saw the announcement was palpable. I just know I need to read it; made even more evident since it’s by Hanna Alkaf! I loved The Girl and the Ghost so I had high expectations jumping in on this one. Honestly? I was not disappointed! 

The story and plot itself were full of intrigue: imagine an all-girls school that has a sudden case of mass hysteria with girls literally screaming one by one. You’d be left wondering and wanting to fly through the pages because you badly need the answers pronto. 

Paired with the very imaginative and vivid writing, the horrific scenes play out like a classic Asian horror movie in my head as I was reading it, which I really enjoyed! 

While the pacing was pretty slow (for me), it painted a chilling and jarring picture of just how deep and messed up the real issue is at this school. Don’t even get me started with the irony of silencing screaming girls! This alone will rile you up and make you so angry because the adults who were supposed to keep these students safe and heard were the ones setting them aside to save face and uphold the school’s reputation for producing only the brightest students; the parents and guardians who were responsible for creating a safe space failed to protect them. That for the girls to be believed, there has to be something extreme and detrimental that has to happen to them first. That they have to be a victim first. That the shadows lurking aren’t always the ghosts we fear. 

Characters like the school’s counselor, Mr. B, were extra infuriating because they mask their judgment and backhanded comments with fake empathy. Because at least with Rachel’s obsessive and perfectionist mother, you’ll have obvious reasons to hate her. 

Also at the heart of this story are friends who’ve always been with the girls to show their support and to the friendships made along the way. It realistically displayed how friends can also disappoint us despite having their hearts in the right places. That sometimes we’ll have to sit with our issues and challenges alone before we can open up and trust again. 

I’ll have to say, though, that the ending wasn’t fully satisfying. While I’m glad to see character developments towards the end, I felt that with the level of frustrations that the story built up, it wasn’t able to fully realize the same level of satisfaction in having the real villains accountable. I feel like people would just set aside the girls’ account of the events and brush these off as accusations of hysterical runaway girls. 

But I guess that’s also the beauty of the ending, you’d just have to trust the girls’ grit, courage, and booming voices. 

If you’re going to pick this up (which you should!), prepare to be scared, engaged, and enraged! 
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