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A review by moonlitreading_
Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“Keep swimming. Or if that’s too hard, at the very least, float.”
Where Sleeping Girls Lie follows Sade (shah-day) Hussein as she enters boarding school after being homeschooled all her life. After only one night in the academy Sade’s roommate, Elizabeth, suddenly disappears. The school doesn’t seem to care about Elizabeth’s disappearance so it is up to Sade and Baz, Elizabeth’s best friend, to find out what happened. Only this investigation leads to a darker and sinister secret.
This book gave off a dark academia Mean Girls vibe in the beginning and I loved that!!! The beginning was good and intriguing. There was all this mystery surrounding Sade that made me really curious about her. The middle was slow for me but I did enjoy the academia and the little sprinkles of investigation and having all these unanswered questions. The book did pick up around 60-65% and everything started to connect together.
Reading this made me angry, sad, and then angry again. This book, its characters, and their stories might be fictional but they very much mirror our ugly reality. It deals with misogyny, toxic masculinity, rape culture, and how perpetrators of a certain demographic can get away from doing the vilest things.
I may not have loved this as much as Ace of Spades but Àbíké-Íyímídé once again did not miss in delivering such thought provoking messages.
Please check trigger warnings before reading!!!!!
Where Sleeping Girls Lie follows Sade (shah-day) Hussein as she enters boarding school after being homeschooled all her life. After only one night in the academy Sade’s roommate, Elizabeth, suddenly disappears. The school doesn’t seem to care about Elizabeth’s disappearance so it is up to Sade and Baz, Elizabeth’s best friend, to find out what happened. Only this investigation leads to a darker and sinister secret.
This book gave off a dark academia Mean Girls vibe in the beginning and I loved that!!! The beginning was good and intriguing. There was all this mystery surrounding Sade that made me really curious about her. The middle was slow for me but I did enjoy the academia and the little sprinkles of investigation and having all these unanswered questions. The book did pick up around 60-65% and everything started to connect together.
Reading this made me angry, sad, and then angry again. This book, its characters, and their stories might be fictional but they very much mirror our ugly reality. It deals with misogyny, toxic masculinity, rape culture, and how perpetrators of a certain demographic can get away from doing the vilest things.
I may not have loved this as much as Ace of Spades but Àbíké-Íyímídé once again did not miss in delivering such thought provoking messages.
Please check trigger warnings before reading!!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Grief, and Sexual assault