A review by cchomps
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What happens when you mix a cursed boarding school shuttered in 1902, a feature film production and the spirit of Mary Maclane, the honest-to-goodness early 20th-century writer who invoked the Devil, made profound feminist statements, and lusted for her much older professor in her debut memoir? Plain Bad Heroines, that’s what. By turns contemplative, satirical, touching, and terrifying, emily danforth has created a world that, while ominous and threatening, will seduce you to stay as long as you can. I have no idea how to describe this book in a way that will do it justice other than to say that it consumed me. You know those books that you just want to lose yourself in, that propel you to do your own outside research so that you can just steep yourself in the world? That’s what this is like. Complemented by laugh-out-loud funny footnotes thrown in, free of charge, the coy, captivating narrator leads willing readers on a captivating, atmospheric journey through obsession, the unknown, and more.
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