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sandpiiper's review
3.0
i wanted to like this — lesbians, mentions of montana, all-girl’s school! but it was eh. i’m sure i would have enjoyed it a lot more if it was shorter, rather than the 600 page trek that it actually was. the concept of the book itself is really interesting — danforth does not fail to create layers and layers of plot and history in this book. she succeeded in writing a book about a movie about a book about an event (it was a lot) — but it just wasn’t super enjoyable following these plot lines. i didn’t care much for the writing style, especially the footnotes and fourth-wall-breaking narrator. anyway, a bit disappointed by this one, but i’m glad i finished it el oh el
rebekahard's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
3.25
gemmabenham's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
futurama1979's review
2.0
I wanted to love this book so fucking bad. It was absorbing, kept me interested, etc., but I don't think there was a single element - save one, which I'll get to in a second - that I can say I enjoyed completely. I was so excited to read this after adoring [b:The Miseducation of Cameron Post|40801157|The Miseducation of Cameron Post|Emily M. Danforth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531501951l/40801157._SY75_.jpg|16537207] and I have to say - as much as it pains me - that I'm a bit let down.
I'll get through the bad quickly so I can get on to the good. Things that weren't great:
- The pacing :( With a book that's over 600 pages, pacing is sort of more important than ever, and I felt like the nontraditional pacing of this one did it a disservice.
- The dialogue. This is probably my least favourite aspect of the novel. Even though the characters had (more or less) distinct personalities, their dialogue was written the exact same. I'm thinking specifically of the three protagonists, women from different ends of the country, completely separate regions, different backgrounds, etc., who didn't have distinct speech patterns at all. Every character was written - in terms of dialogue delivery and speech patterns - as the same person. It got more and more apparent as the novel went on and takes you properly out of the story.
- The backstory explanation for the curse. Some parts of it were really cool and fun New England horror, but it hardcore fell through for me in two places:
1. The introduction of psychics. IMO there just wasn't enough worldbuilding/detail/time put into that and it felt really gimmicky and a bit lazy.
2. [Specific story spoilers ahead, and TW for mention of sexual assault]
So yeah, quite a few strikes against it, and I had a few more minor issues that I'll skip over for the sake of brevity.
The one thing that I really did absolutely love was the Audrey/Harper/Merritt relationship dynamic. How it changed and evolved, how each of their one-on-one relationships with each other changed and informed their group dynamic, that was all really, really good. And I love love love a slow burn messy three-way romance. I guess I'll end this review on that good note, plus a warning: if you liked Cameron Post, don't read this looking for the same thing, or even something of the same quality.
I'll get through the bad quickly so I can get on to the good. Things that weren't great:
- The pacing :( With a book that's over 600 pages, pacing is sort of more important than ever, and I felt like the nontraditional pacing of this one did it a disservice.
- The dialogue. This is probably my least favourite aspect of the novel. Even though the characters had (more or less) distinct personalities, their dialogue was written the exact same. I'm thinking specifically of the three protagonists, women from different ends of the country, completely separate regions, different backgrounds, etc., who didn't have distinct speech patterns at all. Every character was written - in terms of dialogue delivery and speech patterns - as the same person. It got more and more apparent as the novel went on and takes you properly out of the story.
- The backstory explanation for the curse. Some parts of it were really cool and fun New England horror, but it hardcore fell through for me in two places:
1. The introduction of psychics. IMO there just wasn't enough worldbuilding/detail/time put into that and it felt really gimmicky and a bit lazy.
2. [Specific story spoilers ahead, and TW for mention of sexual assault]
Spoiler
The chapter where they reveal the story of Simone and the origin of the curse. For a book that is by most accounts really progressive, the 'innocent woman gets sexually assaulted and murdered immediately after she's introduced in the story' narrative was one I really didn't want to see, especially when her pain and murder was used as a plot device to explain a curse that went on to torment and kill literally ONLY (mostly) innocent queer women. Kinda left a bad taste in my mouth.So yeah, quite a few strikes against it, and I had a few more minor issues that I'll skip over for the sake of brevity.
The one thing that I really did absolutely love was the Audrey/Harper/Merritt relationship dynamic. How it changed and evolved, how each of their one-on-one relationships with each other changed and informed their group dynamic, that was all really, really good. And I love love love a slow burn messy three-way romance. I guess I'll end this review on that good note, plus a warning: if you liked Cameron Post, don't read this looking for the same thing, or even something of the same quality.
big_sword's review
4.0
Mike Flanagan you wanna adapt this. Mike Flanagan you wanna adapt this soooo bad.
meg_fox's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
nickoliver's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
kntaylor1216's review
2.0
I thought this book was going to be something much different than it was. I loved the separate storylines and how they all ultimately converged. I did find the author’s breaking the 4th wall and using text lingo to be distracting.
The illustrations in the novel are gorgeous, and I love that the book is read, like the book within the book. It’s a fun book, but I also thought that it was a bit weighted down at times with unnecessary descriptive paragraphs.
I think the book would’ve benefited from more focus on the other girls at the academy during the aftermath of the deaths of their classmates. That would’ve added some depth and roundedness to the novel.
Not the best, but definitely not the worst.
The illustrations in the novel are gorgeous, and I love that the book is read, like the book within the book. It’s a fun book, but I also thought that it was a bit weighted down at times with unnecessary descriptive paragraphs.
I think the book would’ve benefited from more focus on the other girls at the academy during the aftermath of the deaths of their classmates. That would’ve added some depth and roundedness to the novel.
Not the best, but definitely not the worst.