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itzbrianna's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
“But the thing about grief was that even one hundred good days were sometimes weighed down by an overwhelming guilt of forgetting.”
Where Sleeping Girls Lie is a riveting mystery that takes place at Alfred Noble Academy (ANA). Sade, the protagonist, joins the academy to start her junior year of high school after being homeschooled. On her first night there she makes friends with her roommate Elizabeth, but it’s short lived once it’s revealed that Elizabeth is missing.
This novel is a slow burn mystery that takes its time leading up to the climax of the story. Every so often, my own theories of what happened to Elizabeth changed as we learn that ANA has way more secrets than a missing girl.
Faridah perfectly weaves the process of trauma and grief in the characters journey so much so that I felt it heavily at times while reading. I enjoyed how this book kept me guessing and though the reveal was a bit predictable, the execution made it all worthwhile.
In terms of character development? Not as strong as I would’ve liked. Naturally we get most of Sade because she’s the protagonist, but the other characters who seemed to be her partners in crime aren’t as fleshed out as I would’ve liked.
The pacing? It started fast for me and then seemed to slow down a lot around the middle. And then picked up right at the very end. It seemed A LOT could’ve been cut out to make this book a bit shorter to help with the pacing.
Overall, I enjoyed this and would read again to see if I feel the same way. If you enjoy descriptive storytelling in a dark academic setting, then def read Where Sleeping Girls Lie.
Where Sleeping Girls Lie is a riveting mystery that takes place at Alfred Noble Academy (ANA). Sade, the protagonist, joins the academy to start her junior year of high school after being homeschooled. On her first night there she makes friends with her roommate Elizabeth, but it’s short lived once it’s revealed that Elizabeth is missing.
This novel is a slow burn mystery that takes its time leading up to the climax of the story. Every so often, my own theories of what happened to Elizabeth changed as we learn that ANA has way more secrets than a missing girl.
Faridah perfectly weaves the process of trauma and grief in the characters journey so much so that I felt it heavily at times while reading. I enjoyed how this book kept me guessing and though the reveal was a bit predictable, the execution made it all worthwhile.
In terms of character development? Not as strong as I would’ve liked. Naturally we get most of Sade because she’s the protagonist, but the other characters who seemed to be her partners in crime aren’t as fleshed out as I would’ve liked.
The pacing? It started fast for me and then seemed to slow down a lot around the middle. And then picked up right at the very end. It seemed A LOT could’ve been cut out to make this book a bit shorter to help with the pacing.
Overall, I enjoyed this and would read again to see if I feel the same way. If you enjoy descriptive storytelling in a dark academic setting, then def read Where Sleeping Girls Lie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Violence
fkshg8465's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Took a while to get good, but when it did, it was really good. Hate books like this, but we need books like this. Need to keep exposing the light on toxic masculinity and toxic male privilege. Need to stop protecting boys behaving badly and start protecting our girls more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Misogyny, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexual harassment, Death, Murder, Child abuse, Stalking, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
purplepaste's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, and Suicide
naisdayz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm going to write a proper review on this later, but I just finished it and need to get some of my thoughts down.
Where Sleeping Girls Lie is, no doubt, a very important story. Men are assholes.
The execution fell a little flat for me, though. First and foremost, it's too long. Period. This could have easily been 150-200 pages shorter without losing anything significant. I shouldn't have to die from boredom while reading hundreds of pages without anything majorly relevant.
There were also many repetitions and overexplanations written down, which reminded me a lot of fanfictions I used to read (alias books that haven't been edited properly).
Some examples:
"The local town was close enough to the school that it didn't take them long to get there."
"It was weird that Sade didn't recognize her at first, given that she saw her on a regular basis. She realized that not only was this the first time she had seen Persephone on a weekend, but also the first time she had seen her out of uniform, which probably explained how long it took to figure out it was her in the first place."
Despite this, it also underexplains actual important stuff. I wish things would have been discovered rather than showed to us. Sade could have also used a few more brain cells, honestly -e.g. how come she didn't try the uv lamps earlier?
Once it does actually get going, it gets really intense and twisty fast, which I enjoyed. The author did a good job describing the grief and trauma Sade is going through.
There were also some really beautiful quotes in here (I'll quote some later).
Where Sleeping Girls Lie is, no doubt, a very important story. Men are assholes.
The execution fell a little flat for me, though. First and foremost, it's too long. Period. This could have easily been 150-200 pages shorter without losing anything significant. I shouldn't have to die from boredom while reading hundreds of pages without anything majorly relevant.
There were also many repetitions and overexplanations written down, which reminded me a lot of fanfictions I used to read (alias books that haven't been edited properly).
Some examples:
"The local town was close enough to the school that it didn't take them long to get there."
"It was weird that Sade didn't recognize her at first, given that she saw her on a regular basis. She realized that not only was this the first time she had seen Persephone on a weekend, but also the first time she had seen her out of uniform, which probably explained how long it took to figure out it was her in the first place."
Despite this, it also underexplains actual important stuff. I wish things would have been discovered rather than showed to us. Sade could have also used a few more brain cells, honestly -
Once it does actually get going, it gets really intense and twisty fast, which I enjoyed. The author did a good job describing the grief and trauma Sade is going through.
There were also some really beautiful quotes in here (I'll quote some later).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Lesbophobia
kaerene's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Not going to lie, I was a little intimidated by the small font and size of this book at the beginning but once I started reading and getting into the story of Where Sleeping Girls Lie that quickly changed. I really enjoyed reading this book although it felt super long at times. I felt the ending was especially long because it got to the point where so many tense things happened in succession that my brain was ready to be done.
With that being said, I really liked the rest of it. I was really intrigued with the characters and the mystery of it all. I had so many theories on who Sade was and how this mystery was going to be solved. And let me tell ya, my theories all ended up being wrong. So wrong that my jaw ended up on the floor when the big plot twist happened and I was the living embodiment of the shocked face emoji.
With that being said, I really liked the rest of it. I was really intrigued with the characters and the mystery of it all. I had so many theories on who Sade was and how this mystery was going to be solved. And let me tell ya, my theories all ended up being wrong. So wrong that my jaw ended up on the floor when the big plot twist happened and I was the living embodiment of the shocked face emoji.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Murder, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
stacym's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Violence, Drug abuse, Sexism, Drug use, Suicide, Rape, and Sexual violence
bookishbette's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Outstanding. Somehow even better than her debut when I truly thought it was impossible to top.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Suicide, Death, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Blood, Mental illness, Rape, Drug use, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Murder, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Racism, Stalking, and Addiction
naomidanae's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book has... a LOT to it. It feels similar to Ace of Spaces in a lot of ways - mysterious and unsettling. I felt by the end that there were almost too many elements. I won't list them all out, since some of them are kind of spoilers, but it's not just murder or someone disappearing or a creepy boarding school. It's that and more. I think had a few elements been removed, I'd have loved this book more. I do love the way Àbíké-Íyímídé is able to write a twist, though.
Some quotes:
"But the thing about grief was that even one hundred good days were sometimes weighed down by an overwhelming guilt of forgetting."
"Keep swimming. Or if that's too hard, at the very least, float."
Some quotes:
"But the thing about grief was that even one hundred good days were sometimes weighed down by an overwhelming guilt of forgetting."
"Keep swimming. Or if that's too hard, at the very least, float."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Rape, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, and Sexual content
lucy__342's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Where sleeping girls lie is a slow-paced mystery compared to Ace of spades being a fast-paced thriller. Sade is definitely one of my favourite MC to ever read about. I loved that the author subtly incorporated the mental health representation throughout without making it seem overwhelming. I thought the mystery was intriguing and the very, very slow-burn romance was just perfect. My only complaint would be that I think the book could have been condensed into probably 400pgs instead of the almost 600pgs. However, because I loved the characters so much I was happy to read the extra 100pgs. I will read everything this author writes. And I hope there is a sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
Minor: Lesbophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
bookishkellyn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Newly orphaned, Sade arrives at ANA and is sorted into a dorm house (kind of like Harry Potter), but the shenanigans that follow feel like HBO’s Euphoria at a boarding school in England. Just like the author’s previous book, the plot started out amazing but got confuddled after the ⅔ mark. The ending felt a little anticlimactic, and I was disappointed about the omission of the fate of some background characters. Overall, the characters and plot twists didn’t seem too far-fetched. The only truly unrealistic scene was when Sade got waist-length faux locs installed for only £80!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Drug use, Mental illness, and Classism
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Violence