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A review by caidyn
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
CW: death, homophobia, injuries, deception
All I wanted was a creepy horror book and this delivered for my spooky season. Even better it has: sapphic love stories that are explicitly queer, historical gays, ghosts, a narrator who loves to interject with footnotes. It just brought me so much joy and it's a hard book to explain.
At its base, there's a movie being made about a book that was written, a book based on history. The movie involves a superstar, Harper Harper, who's gay. Then there's the author of the book, Merrit, who's involved in the movie's making on some level. And then there's Audrey, the daughter of a horror star, who's getting back into acting. Then, on another level of the book, there's the historical story about two girls, Flo and Clara, who die at their school, Brookhants, in a tragic accident and were definitely in a queer relationship. Add on top of that the headmistress, Libbie, has her own story and queer relationship with her "gal pal," Alex. Then there's the school itself and all the things that have occurred there.
The book is deliciously layered together to create this sweeping story that doesn't feel quite done even when you close the book. There's something more, something left out. It just feels like there's more to the story. I thought the book could have been longer to have more of a wrap-up, but I did enjoy this book so much. It was a great read and I need it on my shelf.
All I wanted was a creepy horror book and this delivered for my spooky season. Even better it has: sapphic love stories that are explicitly queer, historical gays, ghosts, a narrator who loves to interject with footnotes. It just brought me so much joy and it's a hard book to explain.
At its base, there's a movie being made about a book that was written, a book based on history. The movie involves a superstar, Harper Harper, who's gay. Then there's the author of the book, Merrit, who's involved in the movie's making on some level. And then there's Audrey, the daughter of a horror star, who's getting back into acting. Then, on another level of the book, there's the historical story about two girls, Flo and Clara, who die at their school, Brookhants, in a tragic accident and were definitely in a queer relationship. Add on top of that the headmistress, Libbie, has her own story and queer relationship with her "gal pal," Alex. Then there's the school itself and all the things that have occurred there.
The book is deliciously layered together to create this sweeping story that doesn't feel quite done even when you close the book. There's something more, something left out. It just feels like there's more to the story. I thought the book could have been longer to have more of a wrap-up, but I did enjoy this book so much. It was a great read and I need it on my shelf.
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, and Mental illness