I was desperate to fall in love with this book. In theory, this is everything I should of loved: a thriller set in a boarding school with dark academia tones and this book looking at issues such as trauma, toxic masculinity, female rage, queerness as well as trigger warnings that the author reference in her foreword and on her website (https://www.faridahabikeiyimide.com/wsgl-content-warnings). This includes death of family member, murder, sexual assault & rape culture, suicide, anxiety & emotional abuse and misogyny.

You see, this book is a heavy hitter and I had such high hopes for this.

And this just didn’t work for me. The pacing is so slow and I lost interest over the mystery given to us. There was no urgency and I stopped caring. I don’t mind a slow burn of a mystery thriller, but there has to be hook, a whether that be the storyline, the pacing or a character, that keeps me coming back. And it wasn’t here for me.

I sense this is a me issue as I have seen reviews from other readers who love this. And I might try this again at a later date. But, not for me, sadly.

Wow wow wow. I LOVED this book. I absolutely adored Ace of Spades and this was even better. I was gripped right from the start and thought the mystery aspects were so well done. I didn't see any of the twists coming and was gripped throughout. The pacing was fab, even though this book is almost 600 pages, it didn't drag once so I think that's a real testament to Faridah's talent to make a book that long so engaging. I loved the characters, the setting, the plot, everything, ugh I just adored this. Overall, this book was absolutely incredible, I will be recommending to everyone. Thanks so much to the publisher for the early copy.

This was great. Full of twists and turns. Thought the characters were compelling and the story kept me gripped. The story was harrowing at times. Definitely will be recommending to everyone!

I loved this book! A girl starts boarding school and her room mate goes missing on the first night. I loved the dark academia theme and it was quite aq creepy story full of unfolding secrets. I loved it!

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé's first novel blew my socks off, so my expectations of Where Sleeping Girls Lie was somewhere in the stratosphere. I can only imagine the pressure on the writer to deliver something equally powerful! In some ways WSGL is a very different beastie to Ace of Spades but although it lacks the shock-factor of AoS in many ways it's even stronger.

I love thrillers, and I love good characters with a well-drawn arc and it's sometimes hard to juggle those two factors in YA crime, but Àbíké-Íyímídé has worked hard to create funny, sympathetic characters who learn and grow while they are finding out who killed who and why. It makes the book a bit longer than the average YA thriller, but you need space to get to know everyone.

Sade Hussein is the new girl at Alfred Nobel academy. She arrives already loaded down with trauma and secrets, then on day one her room-mate vanishes without a trace. She teams up with the sweet, eminently huggable Basil Dos Santos (and his guinea pig sidekick) to find out what happened to her - and the trail leads her to a horrifying confrontation with her own past. But amid the horror there's also found family, in-jokes, a dash of romance and a fresh take on dark academia school tropes.

I can also really relate to people constantly mispronouncing Sade's name.

Thanks Netgalley for giving me a chance to read this book before publication.

Where Sleeping Girls Lie" is a novel about Sade, a girl who starts attending a new boarding school. On her first night, her roommate disappears and Sade discovers herself surrounded by dark secrets. The book is written exceptionally well and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a fan of the author's first book and this one did not disappoint me either. It is definitely a page-turner and a must-read for those who enjoy dark academia, boarding schools, and stories filled with dark secrets.

This beast of a book had me hooked. Such a creepy story which kept me guessing all the way through. I thought it was brilliant

This was a phenomenal read.

I love a boarding school book and this one, with a disappearance and mystery to solve was right up my street. I loved the characters, especially Basil who made me laugh, was caring, determined and a little clueless. Him "liberating" a guinea pig and trying to hide it in his room was one of my favourite bits of the book.

Sade is a brilliant character and I really loved how her story progressed. There were some real shocks for me and moments that had my jaw on the floor.

A brilliant read. I'll definitely be recommending this one to everyone!

I would like to start this review by saying that Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé's 'Ace of Spades' is an incredible book and easily topped my list in 2021. I have been eagerly awaiting her follow up so very excited to read 'Where Sleeping Girls Lie'. We have so many themes which are a winner for me here - dark academia, a boarding school setting, mysterious motivations, corrupt characters, disappearances... It was not quite the winning formula to work for me this time around.

Sade is the new girl at Alfred Nobel Academy and after less than 24 hours, her room mate is missing in mysterious circumstances. Something is definitely wrong with this school and its corrupy underbelly with many secrets left to expose. We have the boys on the swim team who rule the school, we have the school mean girls, known as the Unholy Trinity, and we have a protagonist who has a few secrets of her own.

I enjoyed the key beats of this story. The revelations and twists are really exciting. However, the pacing, particularly in the middle, drags and it feels frustrating how long we have to wait for real pay off. So, while I enjoyed this, it does not reach the heights of 'Ace of Spades'. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Closer to 3.75 stars.

Faridah has such a clever written craft that I couldn't wait to pick up her second release (Out 14th March 2024). This is an intriguing, compelling and fast paced read that will further cement Faridah as one of the best YA authors around today.

Faridah strikes again with a, this time, very creepy thriller that kept me up at night because I simply couldn't put it down. It's such an atmospheric read and Sade's voice so compelling, with a slightly horror-y twist that kept me hooked right to the end. Faridah takes swipes at institutional racism, sexism and misogyny through this book, telling a gripping story with an unforgettable cast of characters. She is really cementing herself as one of the most exciting authors writing in YA.

This is a fascinating mystery. A brave girl unravelling secrets others would prefer to keep hidden. The story is set in a British private school, where all the buildings are named after famous people, particularly scientists. There was something about this that was just so effective at bringing the school to life. It was a fantastic setting for this story.

I found this gripping and the story was unveiled really well. The clues dropped all made sense and came in a way that felt well paced. There were some really clever little clues left. The mystery grows deeper in such a well written way that it never felt that things happened for shock value. It always felt like we were just gradually pulling the curtain back on something increasingly horrific.

I loved the friendship between Sade and Basil. It just made everything feel so much richer having the two helping each other and it made sense as to Sade’s interest in the disappearance of another student given Basil’s existing friendship with her.

This book is quite dark and there’s some sensitive content covered so it’s one I would recommend checking content warnings for. This was a fascinating read, completely gripping and I’m excited to read this author’s previous work as this was the first book of theirs I had read.

A darkly mesmerising tale of privilege, power, and what lies beneath the surface of dark academia, Where Sleeping Girls Lie explores a modern upper-class academy through the eyes of Sade, a recent orphan and entrant to the school, who finds herself investigating the puzzling disappearance of her roommate, as well as navigating messy, queer love quadrangles and finding darkness everywhere she turns. While the middle of the novel turns somewhat sluggish, under Abike-Iyimide's hands, well-plotted turns help to craft an enjoyable, intelligent page-turner.

{AD|GIFTED} After her roommate goes missing on Sade's first day at an elite boarding school, Sade becomes embroiled in a sinister web of misogyny, corruption, and dark secrets. The more she investigates, the more she reveals the truth of a corrupt system propped up by powerful men and women. Themes such as sexual assault, rape, suicide, and grief are explored in sensitive and nuanced detail. The authentic portrayal of rape culture and abuse of power is devastating yet powerful. This is a story of female rage, girls screaming to be heard and believed. It's brutal and raw yet unflinchingly honest.

Lest you think this is too dark a book, there is also sapphic yearning, the incredible Baz, and a stolen guinea pig called Muffin. Found family is an important element of the novel and I loved how Sade finally found her people. Baz was my favourite character and he must be protected at all costs. I don't want to reveal too much about the book or characters as there are surprises and reveals best enjoyed without any foreknowledge.

Anchoring the story with a queer Black protagonist haunted by grief and loneliness, the author has produced another unforgettable mystery shot through with rage and vengeance.

Absolutely amazing!

This is the first of Faridah's books I've read and I'm obsessed. I think I'm going to have to give Ace of Spades a go soon.

Add this to your TBR right now!

Wow, wow wow!

Such a page turner. Finished this book really quickly.
Deffo a fantastic train read.

Oof what to say.
This book definitely exists in the ace of spades universe. This book tackles so many topics at once. Grief is a really big part of the story and how Sade resents herself and is made to feel like a bad omen by her family. Her mental health when she enters the school is Nooooott great. But we see her make friends, begin to socialise through her sleuthing adventures.

I love how Faridah makes such interesting sleuthy books. And how she makes the characters so inclusive from race to gender identify to sexuality. LIVE for AND LOVE THE REPRESENTATION .

Side note (We see this Muslim character who goes to this expensive ass rich school, not able to access halal food options. UMMM THAT gave me pause. )

Theres so many things as POC we go through which are reflected in this book. Such as asking to call us a simplified name ‘can I call you Sadie, I don’t think I can pronounce that’.
I’ve definitely saw myself reflected in the main character Sade.
This book deals with the sexual harassment triangle and how ‘boys will be boys’ mentality is very prevalent in rich society (obvs not just in rich society). It was so interesting to see which characters were complicit, and how status be and end all in this society.

Honestly it was a great read. Definitely can’t say everything I need too in this short review summary.

But read it!

Where Sleeping Girls Lie is an atmospheric mystery following Sade, a new student at a prestigious boarding school. It gives off creepy, dark vibes from the beginning, almost to the point that I thought there might be a supernatural twist. But it's truly just a contemporary story about power given to those who don't deserve it, and those willing to help them cover up their terrible deeds.

The story starts with a dead body, and rewinds 5 weeks to see everything that happens in the build up to that moment. We soon learn this isn't the only mystery within the story, as Sade uncovers more secrets of those around her, and we learn her own past.

Recommended to fans of YA mysteries and thrillers.

The dark academia vibes were incredibly vivid from the first few pages of the story, and stayed strong throughout the book, but I think it upset the pacing a lot. There were moments where the book felt very slow, and within a few sentences something dramatic had happened, and then it would revert to being slow again.

The characters all had incredible depth, and they hugely impacted the story, and enhanced the dark, mystery vibe of the book.

An addictive read that deals with some difficult, relevant issues and does so very well through the eyes and experiences of the well developed and relatable characters.

The school setting is a clever one to use and I loved the diverse nature of the novel, realistic in its portrayal of an eclectic group in a closed environment.

It does follow some fairly predictable lines along the way, but it's difficult to avoid that when approaching this particular subject matter. I think the one small thing is I felt it was a bit over long and I could have skipped a fair bit and still had the full experience. That is of course subjective.

This author is a brilliant writer who uses the narrative to get inside your head and really make you consider the themes they are exploring. For that reason I recommend this read.

Firstly thankyou to Netgalley for allowing me to read this arc.
I really enjoyed this book, not as much as Ace of Spades however, but it was still an interesting and mysterious read. I thought Sade was a fab character, strong, independent and I felt really close with her throughout the book. This book tackles some real world issues and I felt they were addressed and used in a way that's so powerful for the reader. I was seething reading some of the chapter by the pure audacity of a few of the male characters. The only issue I have with this book is it felt quite long, some of the chapters felt like filler to get to the crux of the ongoing situations. But overall a twisty, engaging read.