I was really looking forward to this – it promised mystery, multiple narratives and meta-fiction. The prologue was atmospheric. The set-up intriguing. I wanted to find out what happened next. But then I got distracted by my inordinately busy life, set the book down for a week or two and when I came back to it, it was an utter puzzle. And somehow I failed to quite engage with my early enthusiasm. It became a chore to remember which character came from where and what they were supposed to represent. And with so many unreliable narrators and such a heavy level of meta, I was not able to connect with the characters. At the end of 640 pages, I didn’t feel that I knew who any of them were and more importantly, I wasn’t particularly bothered. I just wanted to get to the end. This was an example of a book that I desperately wanted to like and which ended up feeling like a chore.

I think that a problem here was that I had heard a lot about The Miseducation of Cameron Post but I’ve never read it and so when I spotted the chance for a review copy of Plain Bad Heroines, I jumped at it. Every so often I think to myself that I should try to diversify my reading and this seemed like an opportunity. But although I could admire the ingenuity and complexity of the story, I just … didn’t feel an interest. It felt like one of those books where the narrative danced up close and then just as you thought you had the rhythm, the tempo changed completely. The problem was that I found the historical fiction chapters infinitely more interesting than the contemporary sections and as the novel wore on (and it wore on for a good hundred or so pages longer than necessary), it became far more focussed on the trio of ‘celesbian’ Harper Harper, former child star Audrey and ‘Not Like Other Girls’ wunderkind author Merritt. And I couldn’t stand any of them.

It’s extremely possible that I just read this at the wrong stage in life. I’m a sleep-deprived new-ish parent (I’ve been doing it for four years but only been wrangling two for the past six months). This is a significant part of why I didn’t feel able to knuckle down and focus in a way that might have helped me keep the thread of the story better – I read for ten minutes here, ten minutes there and rarely for whole hours which I suspect that this book needed. But there’s also the non-monogamy angle which I was never going to get on with – the headmistress of Brookhaven may be considering betraying her long-term partner while in the modern day Harper Harper is in an open relationship while also pursuing Merritt. Merritt is fine with Harper’s girlfriend but is consumed with jealousy at the idea of Harper working with Audrey. As an unabashed monogamist, I neither understand nor am interested in reading about polyamory and I don’t really engage with the dilemmas faced by fictional characters who pursue it. It’s not a moral thing, I just think it’s a bit tedious. And the various plot lines around jealousy meant that some supposedly grown women stomped around acting like petulant teenagers and really, who wants to read about that?

I think what frustrated me with Plain Bad Heroines is that I came to this book with the intention of enjoying it and what I got was what my grandmother would have called a ‘knotless thread’. The two dead girls from the prologue were mere plot devices. So was the next dead girl. We never find out what wunderkind Merritt’s book was actually like. And what even was the whole mystery? That wasps can be kind of scary? To make matters worse, every so often Danforth would break the fourth wall with phrases like ‘and just as the story’s tension reaches fever pitch’ which would leave me scratching my head because where was the narrative tension? The reader is here ordered to ‘calm down’ and there told to stop rolling their eyes and it just felt a bit … much for a book that even after six hundred pages had never seemed to actually get going. I had the idea that this was a comedy/horror novel but nothing ever happens which is particularly funny or frightening. So … what was the point?

The book felt like such a missed opportunity. Danforth is clearly an intelligent writer and yet she never really interrogates the significance of the plain heroine in literature. From Jane Eyre onwards (although really Agnes Grey came first), the idea of the heroine who does not fit in with conventional beauty standards has fought for its place in fiction. But so often the ‘plain’ heroine is still possessed with magnetism towards the male romantic leads (see Bella from Twilight, Katniss from Hunger Games, Anastasia Steele and more). The truer plain heroine is Merritt but she was also snide and alienates the reader. So is she then a plain and bad heroine? Danforth never really explains and Merritt’s plot line is never fully realised.

I would be quite happy for someone to come along and give a more positive counter-opinion for this novel. LGBTQIA+ representation in mainstream fiction is important. There were moments like the prologue where the book really did seem like it had potential. These occasional glimpses of a novel that I might have enjoyed more were tantalising, such as the intriguing question mark over Libbie’s fate. But the main feeling I had was disappointment. From one of my most eagerly anticipated reads, I was just relieved to reach the finish line.

Irreverent, clever and wholly original, this book feels like a revolution. I loved it and have been pressing it into the hands of all my closest relations.

In 1902 a scandalous book is linked to the deaths of several students at a girl's school.
120 years later, a film is being made, based on a best-selling book that covers the tragedy.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The modern narrative is split between three young women involved in the film.
Merritt is the writer of the book. Her debut was such a big hit - at a young age, too - and Merritt seems to be in some sort of limbo.
When filmmakers are interested in her book, Merritt isn't impressed with the script, or one of the actresses involved.

Harper is the hottest young thing right now, and can do no wrong. She's passionate about getting Brookhants story told, and is keen to star in and produce the film.

Audrey has been in showbusiness from childhood, and despite doing alright when she was younger, everything has fizzled since. She was excited to get the chance to play a minor character in the film, but isn't ready when she's pulled up to centrestage.

The narrative from 1902 is told from an omnipresent perspective, and follows the strange deaths of three girls in quick succession.

So, Dear Reader... I didn't get on with the writing style. It's just so slow and laborious. I found it hard to get invested, or stay attentive to what was going on (or not going on - nothing seemed to be happening).
I thought the use of yellowjackets throughout was clumsy and overused.
I don't know what this book was trying to be - it felt like it might be a horror, but it failed to build any atmosphere.
It might just have been a contemporary fiction with a paranormal twist, but none of these characters were likeable, and I couldn't get invested in their stories.

Overall, this book was not for me, but I can see it appealing to others.

A tricky book to know where to place - I wasn’t expecting the horror elements but I liked it. Gripping narrative with an original idea that actually helps you to buy into the reality of the stories being told here. Very enjoyable.

Plain Bad Heroines is a complex narrative through multiple timelines and characters. It has gothic spookiness, sapphic relationships, secrets, and intergenerational damage. I admit I struggled with the omniscient narrative voice because it comes across as condescending to the reader instead of being inviting. I didn't think the footnotes were necessary either because the information was all there in the text. Parts of the story were confusing, and I feel the overload of information hindered the storytelling instead of making it better. It's a shame because I thought the writing is clever and there are moments that left a mark. But all the superfluous stuff lessened the impact of those scenes. I was just relieved. when I reached the final page.

This kept me gripped from the start. I’d put this off for so long due to the size of it and I wish I hadn’t!! I’ve missed on our an amazing story and one which will leave me astounded for months to come

I was expecting to be a lot more creeped out by this book but surprisingly wasn’t. It’s pretty darn creepy at times and I had to keep going back to the section with the dolls to add pieces of the jigsaw together. Felt a bit long at times but really well written.

Well this book was definitely different from what I expected.
This book is told in multiple POV and in 2 timelines. It focuses on the story of a girls school that has some supernatural things happening and about a mysterious book that keeps showing up in relation to some dead girls.
The second timeline follows current times in which a director is creating a film based on past events.
I think I expected a much darker thriller but I did still enjoy it for what it was. It was definitely much longer than it needed to be and I'm not sure really how I felt about it

I can see how well this is written and wanted to love it but not in right headspace for it. I will come back to it eventually

DRC provided by The Borough Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book was not for me. I just could not connect with the characters and the pacing was not my favourite.

Plain Bad Heroines is sexy, creey and dangerous all at once, and so meta. This is great queer storytelling for teenage girls and upwards. Death and killer wasps lurk around every corner and there is so much passion and longing on the page. I can't wait to read Emily Danforth's next book. Delicious.

This book had everything I like on paper, but I couldn't get on very well with the narrative voice, which felt very obtrusive and cutesy.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK and HarperFiction for giving me a free Advanced Review Copy of Plain Bad Heroines in return for an honest review.

First of all: it has taken me SO LONG to get to this book, for which I can only apologise. I was given a copy of this book in August 2020, and has now just been published in paperback, so I am definitely way behind on this one!

Plain Bad Heroines first caught my eye with that stunning and very eye-catching cover — and the premise of a gothic horror really intrigued me too!

The story changes between 1902 and 2014. In 1902, two young students, Flo and Clara, are students at The Brookhants School for Girls. They become obsessed with Mary MacLane, a young author of a memoir — even starting their own fan club, The Plain Bad Heroine Society. Unfortunately, both girls are killed by an angry swarm of yellow jackets (or wasps), and more victims die soon after in strange circumstances. Fast-forward to 2014, and a book exploring the school's history is now going to be made into a horror film. The book's author, Merritt Emmons, is thrown together on set with the two stars: celebrity actor and 'it girl' Harper Harper as Flo and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara.

I read this as both an eBook (given to me by the publisher) and as an audiobook (purchased myself). I really loved the audiobook narrator, Xe Sands — she did a fantastic job and really gave life to the characters! The narrator throughout the book has a very tongue-in-cheek style of humour, which I thought Xe captured well, and when reading the eBook I definitely heard the story in her voice.

I loved all of the main characters in this book, from both historical settings and modern day. I think I most felt sorry for Alex, the partner of Brookhants School's headmistress in 1902. She seems to be most affected by the curse, and I think she deserved better! The relationship between Merritt, Harper and Flo were intriguing, being intertwined and a little messy. It felt like all three were a little out of their depth. Harper particularly gives an interesting commentary on the cult of celebrity and social media, with her every move tweeted and Instagrammed for everyone to see and comment on.

However, the book is really long at 623 pages, and I felt that it could have been cut shorter. The ending especially was a bit of a disappointment for me — it felt like it was building to a big crescendo which never happened. I was also a little confused by what happened and what was going on at the end, which was a shame as the rest of the book is incredibly well-written, with vivid scenes and incredibly atmospheric. While this is supposed to be a horror, I was left feeling dissatisfied and unsure how much of the goings on were real and how many were imagined.

Overall, I did enjoy Plain Bad Heroines and it's one that I think I would go back to in a few years time. I'm not sure I'd refer to it as a horror, but it's certainly an atmospheric story that pulled me in with all the mystery and goings on. The narrator of the story is also interesting with lots of pop culture references and humour that kept me interested throughout.

(Also, I only found out afterwards when I finished the book that Mary MacLane's I Await the Devil's Coming is a real book, not fictional, and that 'yellowjackets' are actually wasps, or perhaps hornets. Maybe this will spare somebody some confusion!)

I loved this! I wish there were more books like this when I was a young queer searching for characters I could see myself in!

A queer duel time line mystery Plain Bad Heroines had so much potential in my eyes but unfortunately it fell short.

The plot follows a couple of teenage girls at a boarding school and their relationship and untimely end. In the modern day a movie is being made of their story and follows the lead actors involved.

Where the book fails is its length. It feels immensely over written and hence the flow and pacing is off. There are numerous footnotes that are pointless to the plot and takes away from the reading process rather than enriching it. It is also littered with clichés that are then recognised and crisitised within the text.

The queerness while refreshing is overdone where every character you're introduced is queer. My problem with this a character's sexuality is mentioned even when it has nothing to do with anything. It seems to have been done to make a point than be authentic.

The older timeline is much more engaging and interesting. The pacing is swift and not over done. The modern timeline however is littered with text speak that feels unnatural to read. Internal monologues are lengthy and rambling. Characters all seem insecure when they speak and backtrack and repeat themselves multiple times. This becomes irritating rather than endearing.

Overall the concept of this book is far better than the execution. I'd highly recommend it if more time was spent on the older timeline.

This was a gothic, haunting and atmospheric story that I couldn’t put down. It was gripping and engaging the whole way through with a level of suspense and unpredictability that added an extra layer to the storytelling. It was a chilling read that has stayed with me since I read it. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Wow! Big fan of horror gothic stories with female protagonists and a mystery to undercover. and this one ticked all my boxes!

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

I loved and hated this book. I especially loved the part that was taking place in the present, with Harper Harper, the film industry, and queer love. I really did not enjoy the part of the book that played in the past, I thought it was boring and useless and I skim-read it. I know I am not being very fair but I was so bored, I did not continue reading this book for months even though I love Gothic novels and I love queer novels. Overall enjoyable, but the book is way too long, the footnotes get a bit annoying after a while (especially when reading an ebook) and I just did not care for Libby. At all. I loved the "Blair Witch Project" vibes the modern part gave me, I loved the tentative take on non-monogamous relationships and all the references to movies.

Overall enjoyable, but I wouldn't read it again.

3.5 stars

This book was a masterpiece,
It took me so long to read but it was so good.
The cigarettes after sex mention was my favorite!!

Queer, ambitious, and bursting at the seams with black humour - just the right three ingredients you'd need to concoct this kind of entertaining read :)