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A review by snappy
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
2.5
I was falsely led to believe that this was gonna be a horror novel set at an-all girls boarding school. While the setting is technically correct, the school is actually only a long since closed down building. The book does have a dual timeline, and the one set in the past follows a couple of adults working at the school, but they mainly venture outside of the property anyways.
Towards the end of the book I was in a constant state of anticipation. Because, surely, there would be some sort of revelation connecting the two storylines. Alas, there was no such thing.
When it comes to the horror aspect, there definitely were some unnerving scenes and a general eerie vibe, but it was kinda lacking in substance. Would have loved to see the horror slightly elevated, if not at least been given any sort of climax.
The illustrations were great though, and added an extra creepy effect. Both the full-page ones, and the smaller yellowjackets fluttering across the pages.
The most exciting part, for me, was the dynamic between Harper, Audrey and Merritt. I initially despised the latter, but surprisingly grew to appreciate her. Their story, however, felt like it was building up to something greater, only to be met with a sudden time-jump, followed by a rushed and unconcluded ending.
While I didn't have a bad time reading this, it ultimately just felt underwhelming. I've seen other people criticising the length, but I didn't really see it as an issue. I was never bored, and flew through it at a decent pace
Lastly, I gotta mention the narrator. The majority of the comedy, though I hesitate to call it funny, came from this all-knowing narrator that addresses the reader both in the text and through footnotes (which drove me crazy!! the asterisks were so small I constantly missed them and had to scour the page for them). At first, the narration was a fun and an uncommon addition to my reading experience, but it grew tiresome pretty fast.
Towards the end of the book I was in a constant state of anticipation. Because, surely, there would be some sort of revelation connecting the two storylines. Alas, there was no such thing.
When it comes to the horror aspect, there definitely were some unnerving scenes and a general eerie vibe, but it was kinda lacking in substance. Would have loved to see the horror slightly elevated, if not at least been given any sort of climax.
The illustrations were great though, and added an extra creepy effect. Both the full-page ones, and the smaller yellowjackets fluttering across the pages.
The most exciting part, for me, was the dynamic between Harper, Audrey and Merritt. I initially despised the latter, but surprisingly grew to appreciate her. Their story, however, felt like it was building up to something greater, only to be met with a sudden time-jump, followed by a rushed and unconcluded ending.
While I didn't have a bad time reading this, it ultimately just felt underwhelming. I've seen other people criticising the length, but I didn't really see it as an issue. I was never bored, and flew through it at a decent pace
Lastly, I gotta mention the narrator. The majority of the comedy, though I hesitate to call it funny, came from this all-knowing narrator that addresses the reader both in the text and through footnotes (which drove me crazy!! the asterisks were so small I constantly missed them and had to scour the page for them). At first, the narration was a fun and an uncommon addition to my reading experience, but it grew tiresome pretty fast.