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A review by mindthespines
Madam by Phoebe Wynne
2.0
Madam was one of the strangest books I've read in a long time but not in a particularly exciting way. The gothic elements were gorgeous, especially the tumultuous, grey environments reflecting the increasing madness of the protagonist. I liked Rose to begin with and I really enjoyed the progress with the girls in the Latin classes but I have to admit I skimmed the second half of the book.
When she did 'find out', her first thought wasn't 'how do I stop this?' which I thought was incredible. She only had to be told to keep it a secret because of a non-disclosure contract and the threat against her mother. Which, honestly, is ridiculous in itself. Why would a school with an insurmountable amount of money need to hire a random, barely-connected-to-the-school teacher who has shown no inclination to supporting sexist values and whose mother was a hardcore feminist activist? There would be a thousand other options before hiring someone they'd need to threaten into secrecy.
The irony is that the purpose of the school was barely hidden. Every page was 'We're not supposed to talk about that!' before the girls revealed all Rose needed to know (or apparently not, since it took half a book to put the pieces together).
I don't even want to get into the whole Anthony-Clarissa ordeal. Rose's comment of 'It must be difficult for a man in a girls' school' tells you all you need to know.
Overall, I felt it had potential and the vibe was almost enticing but the plot and unbelievable characters just didn't cut it.
Spoiler
Really, the progress of the plot just became too unbelievable. I was expecting some kind of magical/bizarre element to make sense of the horror aspects in the first half of the book. Some thoughts I had: Is this a training school for vampires, spies, or assassins? It soon became blatantly clear that the girls were being taught misogynistic values for marriage and every time I assumed Rose had realised that, too, she carried on her week confused and angry -yet somehow not angry about the blindingly-obvious bigger picture.When she did 'find out', her first thought wasn't 'how do I stop this?' which I thought was incredible. She only had to be told to keep it a secret because of a non-disclosure contract and the threat against her mother. Which, honestly, is ridiculous in itself. Why would a school with an insurmountable amount of money need to hire a random, barely-connected-to-the-school teacher who has shown no inclination to supporting sexist values and whose mother was a hardcore feminist activist? There would be a thousand other options before hiring someone they'd need to threaten into secrecy.
The irony is that the purpose of the school was barely hidden. Every page was 'We're not supposed to talk about that!' before the girls revealed all Rose needed to know (or apparently not, since it took half a book to put the pieces together).
I don't even want to get into the whole Anthony-Clarissa ordeal. Rose's comment of 'It must be difficult for a man in a girls' school' tells you all you need to know.
Overall, I felt it had potential and the vibe was almost enticing but the plot and unbelievable characters just didn't cut it.