Thrilling read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read a digital arc in exchange for my feedback.

I was a big fan of Emily M. Danforth's debut novel, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, but even if I wasn't, Plain Bad Heroines is a book I would have picked up. A haunted school and manor, a movie about strange historic deaths filmed where they happened, and an historic curse that raises it's head again, and it's sapphic as hell? Absolutely sign me up! It wasn't exactly the story I expected, but it was so much better. This book is a masterpiece. I should warn you; I have a lot to say about this book, and this review is going to be long.

It's 1902, and Clara and Flo are two teen girls attending Brookhants' School for Girls. In love, and obsessed with a memoir released the year before, the girls are found dead, their bodies found clinging together after being attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets, a copy of The Story of Mary MacLane lying beside them. More strange, mysterious deaths linked to the book follow, leading to the school's closure. In present day, a movie is being made about the two girls' deaths and the supposed Brookhants curse, The Happenings of Brookhaunts, based on a book of the same name, written by wunderkind Merritt Emmons when she was 16. The movie is to star the it-girl and "celesbian" Harper Harper and former child star Audrey Wells as Flo and Clara respectively. But when the filming starts, on the very location the deaths took place, strange and disturbing occurrences begin to arise, and it looks like the curse hasn't yet run it's course.

This book is mad, but it's utter genius. There is so much going on in this book, it's difficult to describe, but I fell in love with it from the very first page. Surprisingly, considering the focus on the deaths of Clara and Flo, this isn't a story that's about them. In fact, the story starts with their deaths. But it's a story that is completely immersive and so gripping, I absolutely couldn't put it down.

I absolutely adore the way this story is written. It has an omnipresent narrator, whose identity is never revealed. And this narrator is telling us the story, talking directly to the reader, with their own social commentary and witty remarks, and footnotes sharing with us more information or giving us a nudge and a wink, or maybe some foreshadowing. The storytelling is brilliant, and I fell in love with it immediately. But as we are told, we're being told the real story, not the story the supposed reader thinks they know about the deaths of Clara and Flo. We are being told the story of a story of a story about sapphic girls who were obsessed with a book and died. Or we're being told the story of how the movie, The Happenings of Brookhants, was made, which is based on Merritt's non-fiction title of the same name, about two queer girls who died horrific deaths, who were obsessed with the book The Story of Mary MacLane - while also being told the actual story of their deaths. (And at the same time, a book is being written about the making of a movie based on a book telling the story of two girls who died who were obsessed with a book.) Have you got all that?

It's brilliant. It really is just brilliant. There are so many layers to this book, so many stories, so many characters, so much going on. We get two timelines, one starting in 1902 with Clara and Flo's deaths and the years that follow, mostly following Principle Libbie Brookhants and her long-time partner (Miss) Alex(andra) Trills, who also teaches at the school. Libbie was married to the school's founder, and now lives with Alex at Breakwater - or Spite Manor, as it's more commonly called - on the same land as the school. She and Alex are trying to untangle the mysteries of the several deaths taking place on school grounds, all seeming to be linked to the book The Story of Mary MacLane, a scandalous but popular memoir written by a young woman, full of her inner thoughts and desires around her attraction to women. A book that has a cult following at the school, started by Clara and Flo, who started the Plain Plain Heroines Society - a book in which they saw themselves refelected in. There are also flashbacks to Libbie and Alex's own teen years, the events of which play more of a part than they themselves know. Then we have the present day timeline, following Harper, Audrey and Merritt, before and during the making of the film. Merritt is on board to answer any questions Harper and Merritt might have, and to help them with accuracy in portraying Clara and Flo and their story. But the focus here is more on the relationships between the three, and is kind of the romance aspect of the story. What I loved about the book is how all three see each other - both as artists and as people - against how they see themselves. All three are plagued with self-doubt, and yet, for the most part, have great admiration for each other. As time goes on, their relationships change and grow, and it is all very queer and wonderful. Also as time goes on, the curse raises it's ugly head.

Looking back over the story, I'm not sure the present day timeline was needed. Or, at least, when it comes to the horror story, I'm not sure it was needed. I don't think it adds much to the story of the curse; they don't start filming until over half way in, and when they do, it's jumps forward in time often, strange things are mentioned but not seen, the curse - or is it? - playing out in various ways that aren't all on the page. And that was one of the things I was most looking forward to when I picked Plain Bad Heroines up, how the curse was going to scare the crap out of everyone making the movie. That's not to say things don't happen, they do, and they are messed up and disturbing. But even so, I was never fully scared by what happened in that timeline.

When it comes to the horror, I was much more interested in Libbie and Alex's timeline. The deaths, and the strange things that are happening, and not really knowing what's real and what's not. While ghosts are mentioned occasionally and briefly, we never actually see any. But there's definitely something there, though I feel "ghost" is too specific. There is a presence, an atmosphere, inexplicable things that don't make sense. And there's a whole question, for me, around it all. I was never really fully sure on how the curse worked. Is it just a curse, or is there something more? (And is the goddamned narrator involved?! Who is the narrator, and how are they able to know so much about both timelines as if they were there?!) Is the curse the cause of the weird and strange things happening, or does the curse affect the mind, and make you think these things are happening? This is never discussed, they're just my musings as I was reading along, for both timelines. But I love the fact that I don't really know! Even when you do know, you still don't really know, but I'll come back to that.

I only found out towards the end of the book that Mary MacLane is real. She was a 19-year-old bisexual woman who published her memoir The Story of Mary MacLane - which was originally titled I Await the Devil's Coming, but renamed by the publisher - in 1901. The book that connects everything in Plain Bad Heroines - that took it's title from the text - actually existed. And I really wish I knew before I read the book! I thought it was another element to the story that Danforth have created, but I think it would have added an extra layer of fear to the story if I had known beforehand that the book that is linked to a curse, that spans over a century, was real! Like, what is up with this very real queer book that is leading to the freaky deaths of queer women?! If I had known that going in, it would have given me the same spooky fascination and level of fear that horror movies that have their own "curses" that strikes during the filming do - which is what happens in this book, in the making of the movie of The Happenings of Brookhants! (The layers people, the layers!)

(As an aside, it feels to me like part of Plain Bad Heroines is about making people aware of this memoir of a queer historic woman that has been forgotten and erased. Which is funny, because the narrator of Plain Bad Heroines tells us that Libbie and Alex were mostly left out of Merritt's book about what happened at the time, yet they're both majorly involved in the actual events of 1902 and after, and affected by the curse.)

Plain Bad Heroines is one of those stories that is kind of open ended. We get some answers, which we get told very quickly towards the end, but they just lead to more questions. I am definitely one of those people who prefer definite answers, whether it's movies or books. Part of the excitement of the scare for me is finally realising what the actual freaky crap is. So this was kind of frustrating for me. I still have "what" and "how" and "why" questions. There are details of certain events we weren't given. We get truths, but not everything. Things are so much bigger than anyone could ever imagine, but just how big exactly? I would so much rather have these answers. But I have to say Plain Bad Heroines has left me thinking. Honestly, I cannot stop thinking about this book, and all the moving pieces, and how they intersect, and the possibilities of what the answers could be. It's actually really epic, and I guess I am kind of thrilled at imagining what was actually going on, so I guess this is one time I don't mind too much.

I have to mention deliciously queer this story is. I can think of maybe seven named secondary characters that show up semi-regularly who might not be queer, but even that I'm not 100% on, in that their sexuality is never discussed one way or another. But everyone else is. Clara and Flo are, I believe, lesbian. Libbie is bisexual, and Alex is lesbian. Harper is a lesbian, Audrey is bisexual, and I believe Merritt is, too (I don't think it mentions how she identifies). Libbie's friend Sara is into women, Harold Brookhants, school founder, is gay, Harper's friend Eric is gay, Bo Dhillon, the director of the movie, is gay. There is even a very minor character, a crew member, Kai, who uses they/them pronouns. It just beautiful to see such a large cast of main characters, and every single one of them is queer. It's brilliant.

Danforth has done such an incredible job with this story. There are so many stories, so many threads, so many moving parts. It's so well plotted, it boggles the mind how she managed to make everything to work so well. It's one of those stories you want to immediately start reading again as soon as you finish, to see everything with hindsight, how intricately woven the story is, and maybe any tiny clues I might have missed before. I do think there's the story might just be a little too long, and the pacing was off a little in the present day timeline - as I said, the filming doesn't start until past the halfway mark.

Saying all that, though, I hugely enjoyed the experience of reading. The writing is so compelling, the narrator has such an incredible voice, that I didn't really mind that I wasn't completely terrified like I hoped to be. So with that, while I don't really feel like the present-day plot was really needed in the great scheme of the story, I absolutely adored reading about those characters, who they were, how they were seen, and their relationships with each other, as well as the historical story.

Plain Bad Heroines really is a triumph of a book. It's epic and clever and completely enthralling, and the most sapphic book I've ever read. I highly, highly recommend it. It's definitely one I'll pick up again and again.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit, a fire, use of both soft and hard drugs, alcoholism, mention of suicide, a mental asylum, abuse of a patient, and attempted rape.

DNF at 25%

Sadly, this book was not my cup of tea.
To say it was different than what the blurb promised me is an understatement. I was expecting a spooky, gothic novel about a boarding school, with past and present timelines interwoven in the plot. And while I did get the latter, I just didn't get the spooky, gothic feel.

I was so confused by the narrator starting this book and that feeling didn't go away while reading that 25%. It could be blamed on the fact that I'm a non-native speaker, but it just didn't fit the bill for me.
I couldn't focus on the plot and was confused about who I was reading about or what was happening for about 75% of the time.

While I believe this book will definitely appeal to some readers, it missed the mark for me.

Unfortunately I had to give up on this one. I hadn't realised the wasps would be such a significant motif, and honestly didn't know I had that much of a problem with them! It was just too unpleasant for me - I like a thriller but a psychological one, rather than one involving wasps. Just not for me! Nice writing style, though.

“I am a selfish, conceited, impudent little animal, it is true, but, after all, I am only one grand conglomeration of wanting...” - Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth.
•
•
Review//Thank you to Harper-fiction and Netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.🌹
•
•
Plain Bad Heroines is an adult historical/ modern day comedy horror featuring a haunted boarding school, sapphics, and a movie gone wrong.
•
Plain Bad Heroines is told in the past- which tells the original story of Brookhaunts, and focuses on deaths caused at the school, and the lives of Libby Brookhaunt and her female lover- Alex- and in the present- with the POVs of Audrey, Harper Harper, and Merritt. Merritt wrote a novel on Brookhaunts which is being made into a movie with Audrey and Harper Harper as the lead actresses. The present focuses on the three girls interacting, their lives, and the production.
•
I loved how gloriously SAPPHIC and feminine this novel was. All the characters like women and there’s monogamous and polyamorous relationships between them at the heart of the novel. Every character can be considered morally grey and so human- it was fun to read them make terrible decisions.

The writing is also phenomenal and I tell you- Emily M Danforth builds worlds that come alive on the pages. I enjoyed the comedy horror aspects and I liked that some parts even made the hair on my arm stand up.

The atmospheric writing around brookhaunts was wonderful. It made me feel trapped inside with the characters.
•
Unfortunately- while there’s no doubt the novel was enjoyable, I didn’t love it. The pacing felt off. We spent too much time in the past compared to the present- I liked the beginning ( with the deaths and mystery). However once we get to Libby’s characters we stick with her character for the remainder of the book. I was just not a fan of Libby. She made such bad decisions and it infuriated me. I began to dread her chapters.

What really soured my overall enjoyment was the ending. We get over 500 pages of a big build up and the result was so disappointing, I’m still angry about it.

•
•
Nonetheless, I will hold my hands up and say Plain Bad Heroines is a good novel. Not everything about it was for me but. I think if you enjoy morally grey girls who like to kiss each other, quieter ghostly mysteries, and creeping boarding schools- Give the book a shot. Who knows, what I didn’t like- you may love. I do further think it would make a good movie!
•

This is an incredibly difficult book to describe, but I really, really enjoyed it. Multiple timelines, queer desire, female relationships, curses and haunted boarding schools.

It has incredible slow-build and slow drip feed of information as the mystery unravels and I revelled in every single page.

I adored The Miseducation of Cameron Post, but this was on a whole other level.

This is a big book. To be avoided if you like straightforward or quick reads. That said, this split time/narrative novel was not hard to read, so I did get through it surprisingly quickly. My preferred timeline was the 1900s one- lush, creepy, evocative and disturbing, the Brookhaunts School deaths and intrigue, relationships and mysteries were more my bag. I probably would have read it as a standalone novel. But the modern day storyline, of the modern day efforts to film a movie of the mysteries that happened at the old girls school, was engaging in its own way. Queer rep, spooky mysteries and body-horror are the three themes that I would highlight. If that is your sort of thing, this book is written for you.

This was absolutely wild. As a huge fan of both contemporary fiction and historical fiction, this blend was an absolute hit for me. The characters were so interesting, the mystery so captivating and the writing just brilliant! Loved this!

I think this is a sharp edit away from being a great book. It's obviously trying to do something big, and in many ways it succeeds, with its brilliant characters, wonderful settings and compellingly woven narratives. It's just a bit too long, though, and feels like it would have really benefitted from being tightened up to allow all of its excellent aspects to really shine.

New favourite book, I think so!! Sometimes you read a book that is just perfectly written to cater to all your tastes and this is that book for me!

This is an adult sapphic gothic horror work of metafiction about a story within a story within a story. We follow two schoolteachers in the 1800s when a series of deaths occurred at the Brookhaunts School for Girls, and then we follow three women years later as they produce a film about the events at Brookhaunts.

I can definitely see why the reviews are so polarising. This is a long, very slowburn, winding, non-linear gothic horror but I loved this complex, tangential structure. The book goes off onto unclear paths, telling stories that don't seem to be linked to the main two stories, before bringing it back later and everything clicks into place. Footnotes and comments from the unnamed author who is telling you about these two stories fill the book and added such an interesting element that added a lot of unexpected humour to the book. This tangential structure created such a sense of history and power to the events that happen, there is just such a presence to all of the horror elements because of all this work building the setting and characters around it through this masterful structure.

The atmosphere builds slowly, gradually immersing you in this creeping and haunted world, one where neither you or the characters know what's real and what's imagined, which is my favourite kind of horror!! The horror elements are fantastic - this has a lot of bug-related horror, specifically yellow jackets, so if you are not a fan of bugs (like me), you might be very creeped out by this!

It's also SO GAY OH MY GOD. All of the main characters are sapphic (bi and lesbian rep) and there's also a poly relationship which I don't think I've seen any reviews mention?! And all these characters are so wonderfully written, I can usually choose my favourites but I'm really struggling to with this!

Plain Bad Heroines is humourous and queer and horrific and uneasy and atmospheric and was just an absolute delight to read. Definitely a new favourite of mine!

This was a really enjoyable read overall, but I have to say some parts of it were much stronger for me than others.

Emily Danforth has certainly created a highly ambitious book, with the dual narratives providing an interesting framework. The narrative voice she's created - an unnamed, extra character with omniscient viewpoint and definite quirks of their own - is a great positive of the book for me, and something really unusual in contemporary fiction, but I know some people were divided on this.

I found the 1902 narrative compelling, mysterious and creepy, with a genuine sense of dread about it that really digs into the gothic roots of the book. With echoes of the same kind of vibe as Picnic at Hanging Rock, there is a definite sense of something otherworldly happening.

While the ending of this narrative struck me as quite weird, it was still a great section and felt complete.

In contrast, although the modern section of the narrative definitely had moments of building up atmosphere, this was too often undercut with "scooby gang" revelations of what was causing the issue. While intriguing, sometimes, this section often felt like it was sacrifing being creepy to being clever, and the book was the worse for it in my view. The issue with having an omniscient narrator here, distanced from the characters, also showed itself in this section, as none of the characters in this section came across as particularly likeable to me. I didn't really enjoy spending time with these characters for much of the book.

In the middle section, especially, the contemporary scenes genuinely felt like they were dragging everything out and really slowed the pace. The ending here, too, very much seemed to just drift off without us having answers. Also, there was very much a "gotcha" twist in this section that was kind of a let-down for me.

Overall, it's an ambitious book, beautifully written, with some genuine tension, but falls short of being that awesome five-star read for me.

Oh how excited I was to read this book. I've read mixed reviews before but the whole setting, the premise, the idea behind it all sounded SO intriguing that I would have bought a copy if I hadn't received this surprise arc.
I'm now kind of glad I didn't.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad book. It does what it does perfectly well, the writing is quirky and engaging and the mystery does draw you in. There's a reason why the book does have a lot of fans. That I cannot count myself as one of them has very subjective reasons, though I do think that some of my criticisms are more universal in nature.

For one, and I cannot say this loudly enough: This book has NO place being as long as it is. More than 600 pages? Really? At least 200 of these pages are completely unnecessary and drag the story out so much that it made me consider dnfing multiple times. It feels like this book's in dire need of an editor. The first about 30% of the story are, and I am sorry to say this, mostly boring. It shines whenever we go back in time, learn about the eerie things happening to the girls and women of Brookhants at the beginning of the 20th century. Those parts were incredibly interesting and kept me on my toes. But then we switch to modern times where the events 100 years prior have been written down in a book that is now being adapted into a movie, and I just. I couldn't care less about the way the story there unfolds. I think that is mostly to blame on the characters.
All three of the main "plain bad heroines" aren't really as physically plain as the title suggests, but sure are plain when it comes to personality. I couldn't really tell you anything about Audrey other than that she's the daughter of an 80's scream queen, Harper isn't as deep as the story tries to make her out to be, and Merritt takes the cake as the most unlikeable of the three by far. Sadly not in the "written as unlikeable but really intriguing" kind of way. She just sucks, she's a horrible person, and her tragic past does not in the least make up for her outright creepy and nauseating behavior. The side characters exist but I couldn't even tell you one name.
The relationships between the characters are... there? While I loved how queer all these characters were, the wlw relationships were a big letdown. Merritt and Harper basically begin to flirt the second they interact for the first time but I've never felt any actual emotional connection between them.

The pacing is incredibly slow and would have immensely benefitted from cutting at least 200 pages. Where I expected some nice mystery and horror, maybe even dark academia, I got... lots and lots of talk about fame, social media, one of the girls basically stalking the other girl on instagram. The story set in the past had so much potential, too, although it focused on the wrong characters imo. It had some gothic feels but never lived up the inherent potential of it all. There wasn't any real horror in there, either. I wasn't interested in finding out more about the mystery, and I wasn't spooked at any point.

Still, while I didn't enjoy the book as a whole, it does have good parts. The beginning is SO atmospheric and I LOVED it and was so HYPED to read more! The illustrations and the yellow jackets all over the book where beautiful. The writing style is not bad either, though I personally don't like these gosspi girl-y types of narrators. This is just a personal thing though and I bet a lot of readers enjoy this writing style.

A 2 star read for me.

Stylish, clever, playful – but heavily outstays its welcome. Needed tighter editing 3.5 rating

I started this with a real sense of pleasure at the sharp, sardonic tone of the narrator, addressing the reader repeatedly, ‘Remember this name, Reader’ the scattering of footnotes, the literary games being played. Many clever games, literary nudges and winks are being played here. The author writes crisply and deftly. But, like the opening of this review, in many ways this seems to founder on itself as an exercise in style. Despite the promise, my feeling when eventually, exhaustedly, reaching the end, was of something which spent far too long going round in a repeated buildup of same again, same again episodes of sexual longing, gothic spookiness reiterations of a century and more lurking curse, plus an overly done book within a book within a book, film within a film ‘aint’ that clever.

The games, the darkness, the menace, the playing with the medium of the novel reminded me a little of Marisha Pessl’s Night Film, but unlike that, this seemed to have run out of steam in its ending, rather than ratcheting up to a satisfactory ‘wrap’

The basis of Plain Bad Heroines is a book which really existed, published in 1902 by a wild, shocking, somewhat narcissistic teenager Mary MacLane – surely a forerunner of the everywhere-influencer. Maclane’s ‘The Story of Mary MacLane’ became an influential book on young girls with passions for their own sex.

Danforth’s book creates a repeating story of a curse around this book. A series of deaths occur, in 1902, in a girls’ boarding school. There are rumours about two of the girls, that their feelings for each other are forbidden and unseemly, and all may not quite be as it should be, with a couple of the teaching staff. Their seems to be more than a whiff of daner and the diabolic involved, creeping rot, poisonous plants, deadly insects, miasms of of underground fungal seepings………….

And then, in the twentyfirst century, a writer, has researched and written a book about all these happenings. And a noirish film is being made, set in the actual school (dilapidated, abandoned) The director, however, is not just making a film involving actors playing the parts of those long dead people, but is doing something more manipulative, a film within the film about the whole process. And spookiness seems to be happening – IS happening, so that what is real and what is merely ‘the film’ blurs

I would absolutely have loved this had the narrative dynamic been more central. The problem was that the same kind of events happen over and over, not really driving forward differently from what went before. Tension, rather than winding more tightly, became like elastic which loses its stretch.

I certainly would want to read more by Danforth, but really hope that she, or her editor, is able to be more ruthless with cutting out what in the end seemed a bit self-indulgent

The layers to this novel are incredible. Danforth introduces us to the Brookhants School for Girls in 1902, immediately setting the scene with a tragedy and already foreshadowing the curses, bad luck, and omens yet to come. She then whisks us into the present day, to the world of Hollywood, where a film about the school and its misfortunes is being created. And we already know all about cursed Hollywood films, don’t we? So it’s a story about a story, which, in turn, turns out to be set in motion by another story. As I said - layers.


In 1902 we follow the headmistress and her fellow teacher and live-in ‘companion’ (note: lesbians) after the tragedies begin to strike the school. We’re allowed to see these unfold before hearing of how the women met, how their relationship developed, how the school was inherited, and, ultimately, how the curse was wrought upon the land.


We then meet our three plain bad heroines who are involved in the film production of Brookhants - two actress and an author, all with deep back stories, all uncertain of power of the location, and all deliciously queer.


Danforth has done something powerful with her LGBT characters here. I’m probably reading the wrong books, but it’s rare to see a queer character who hasn’t just been thrown in for diversity or effect, like the gay best friend or the token couple. These women were real, fleshed out, in love. It was really gorgeous to read.


Our narrator is a character within herself. With her cutting comments, sarcastic observations, and numerous footnotes, she becomes a presence in herself; an all-seeing eye with an almost unstoppable mouth. Her caustic social and political remarks coupled with her side comments made for a truly memorable and unique narrator.


Despite an almost palpable level of tension building throughout the novel, I was disappointed in the ending of the present day storyline. There was ambiguity, which I can appreciate in a finale, but I felt it could’ve packed a better punch than the one I received. The 1902 storyline ended miraculously, which meant this one paled in comparison. But, really, it didn’t ruin much of my enjoyment overall. I think this novel is one for the journey rather than the destination.


I really did like this. Please recommend (or write) more lesbian ghost stories.


“My bright smile haunts no one. I shoot no opaque glances from my eyes, which are not like the sea by any means. I have never eaten any viands, and my appetite for what I do eat is most excellent. And my voice has never yet, to my knowledge, been full of tears.

No, I am not a heroine.”

I read this book a while ago but for some reason the publishers approved me for the title over a year after it was first published so I will write this review to the best of my memory.

Plain Bad Heroines follows Harper, Audrey, and Merritt - three young women who are part of a film crew returning to Brookhants School, an infamous school in the early 1900s for a series of mysterious deaths and a curse, to reenact the past for an ambitous high-profile film. Past and present start to intertwine as cursed items start to reappear and haunted events start occurs, leaving our protaonists unsure if they are truly cursed or it is one elaborate plot for an authentic film.

I think the marketing around this book was slightly misleads for some reason I thought it would follow only the historical timeline at Brookhants school but actually the majority of the book was set in modern times. However we do see some flashbacks of the past which were definitely my favourite parts of the plot!! In the past we follow Brookhants School students Flo and Clara who are madly in love with each other, as well as completely obsessed with The Story of Mary MacLane, the scandalous debut memoir by 19 year old MacLane. A few months later they are found dead in the woods, with the book lying next to their intertwined bodies. As bodies start to pile up at Brookhants school and rumours of a curse are abound, the legend of Brookhants is built. We also follow some of the teachers, who were definitely my favourite relationship in the book!

I did also really enjoy the representation of sapphic culture in this book and how it doesn't shy away from some of the more problematic/gritty elements. It just felt another part of the book

My main criticism of the book I think (other than the annoyingly pretenious main characters) was the plot, not a lot happens and I really enjoyed the spooky elements and some of the build-up but there was no real payoff leading to a disappointing ending.

i was desperate to see what danforth had written to follow up on ‘the miseducation of cameron post’. plus that sarah waters endorsement on the cover was always bound to get my attention

jumping between the story of an early 1900s all-girls boarding school with a deathly curse and the modern-day hollywood adaptation of that story, this is a book full of heroines: some plain, some bad, some plain bad, most queer. it’s a beast of a book and very unruly, but so captivating and tinged with delicious gothic drama. i absolutely loved it – far more than ‘cameron post’ – and won’t stop thinking about it for a good while yet!

I found this novel, quite different from what I normally pick, enjoyable and refreshing, sexy and fun, full of fun characters and various plots. Working several plots in different timelines in one novel can be tricky but Danforth executed that well - it was seamless and I didn't mind jumping from the early 1900s to 2000s. The characters are well-written, although some have a bit more depth than others - I found Merritt had more meat than Audrey or Harper for example. The writing was surprisingly pleasant (I got worried at the beginning with a few sentences ending in "TBH") and I personally like the way the "Readers" are addressed throughout by the omniscient narrator, which adds to the gothic atmosphere of the novel. Some chapters could have been skipped and the novel made slightly shorter.

Lastly, the illustrations by Lautman were a delight, they had a vintage feel and suited the novel very well.

I'm not sure how i feel about Plain Bad Heroines.
I really loved certain parts of the book as they were so much fun!
Sadly there were also parts that I really didn't like and made the book drag.
I think Plain Bad Heroines would have been much better if it was shorter.
Thank you netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

An ambitious read practically fizzing with Gremlin Energy, I loved this book and devoured it earlier in the year when I was on holiday. The early parts are especially good as the atmosphere builds, and I love how the multiple threads of narration are enough to keep you guessing almost until the end. I do, however, feel that the climax was a little rushed? This is only a minor complaint, though- I would stil very highly reccomend it for anyone who wants a sapphic horror story that doesn't skimp on the atmosphere, drama, or, indeed, the WASPS.

In meiner ganzen Lese-Historie habe ich niemals ein Buch wie "Plain Bad Heroines" gelesen! Das Buch (von Mary McLane) im Buch (von Merritt Emmons) im Buch ist ein Plot, den ich bisher noch nie gelesen habe. Das hätte leicht verwirrend werden können und ich muss ehrlich zugeben, dass ich dieses Buch vor allem lesen wollte, weil es sich um ein queeres Buch handelt.
Letzteres ist es auf jeden Fall. Es gibt sehr viele homo- und bisexuelle Menschen im Buch. Besonders gut haben mir dabei die Liebespaare der Vergangenheit, also im Brookhant von 1902, gefallen. Viele von uns vergessen gerne, dass Queerness keine moderne „Erfindung“ ist. Es gab schon immer Menschen, die nicht heterosexuell waren, die nicht cis waren. Emily M. Danforth stellt das gut dar.
Das Buch war auch nicht verwirrend, wie von mir befürchtet. Zu Beginn eines jeden Kapitels wird fett hervorgehoben, aus wessen Sicht berichtet wird. Vergangenheit und Gegenwart knüpfen zudem überraschend nahtlos aneinander an. Außerdem wird Mary McLanes Buch nur in Auszügen in Plain Bad Heroines eingebaut, sodass keine dritte Handlung eröffnet wird.
Gut gefallen hat mir, dass das Buch wie ein Sachbuch geschrieben ist, man könnte meinen, man hält eine Biografie in Händen. Unterstrichen wird dies einerseits durch den etwas distanzierten Schreibstil. Die Erzählerin hat sowohl den Leser*innen als auch den Heldinnen des Buchs einiges an Wissen voraus und erzählt das Buch so, wie ich eine Geschichte erzählen würde, die ich zwar interessant finde, die mich aber nicht persönlich betrifft.
Noch viel mehr als das, lassen die Fußnoten das Buch wie ein Sachbuch wirken. Teilweise handelt es sich dabei um (fiktive) Quellenangaben, manchmal werden Aussagen im Buch weiter ausgeführt.
Toll geschrieben war auch die Dynamik zwischen den Personen, also einerseits zwischen Merritt, Audrey und Harper und andererseits zwischen den Personen zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts. Durch diese Dynamik und den Schreibstil war ich als Leserin permanent „on edge“. Die ganze Zeit rechnete ich damit, dass etwas Furchtbares passieren würde.
Für dieses Buch wünsche ich mir unbedingt, dass es ins Deutsche übersetzt wird. Es ist ein Buch, so anders als alle Bücher, die ich bisher gelesen habe. Dass es noch dazu sehr queer ist, macht es umso besser. Also: lest dieses Buch!