It’s a queer, entertaining romp with a gothic flair and some genuinely scary moments, full of twists and turns, genre call backs and black and white illustrations. It’s impossible to describe how delightful and yet totally creepy this book is without giving any more away. Is Hollywood exploiting them, or is there something even more sinister going on? As the author of the book and the two stars are thrust together strange things keep happening all around them. One hundred years later a bestselling book about the school inspires a horror movie adaptation, which will be filmed on the grounds of what remains of Brookhants. Not long after they meet a gruesome death and Mary McLane’s book is banned, but students continue to die, and Mary McLane’s book seems to have something to do with it. In 1902, two girls at the Brookhants School for Girls founded the Plain Bad Heroine Society in honor of their favorite writer the scandalous Mary McLane. Danforth | Posted by: Hannah Lackoff on OctoBook Review: Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. But I do think the longer length helped solidify the characters and the setting’s sordid history.Patten Free Library > Uncategorized > Book Review: Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Sure, it could have done with a bit more editing length-wise. And it must have gotten under my skin (in a good way), because I found myself thinking about it a lot even when I wasn’t reading it. It was so atmospheric, I felt like I was there experiencing the story instead of just reading it.

It’s difficult to put into words, but I’d describe it as a time-hopping horror (part Gothic, part modern), peppered with tongue-in-cheek humor. You’ll probably never read another book quite like it again.

It picks up in a whirlwind of spooky sapphic vibes! It’s 600 pages you can read in a weekend, a supersized Slurpee that will satiate you and leave behind a sugar high. (The first 150 or so pages start off a little slow.) But once you get past that mark: this story is truly an experience. Plain Bad Heroines, a queer historical meta-novel by Emily Danforth with at least a dozen layers of formal flourish, is joyfully and delightfully middlebrow I say this with reverence in my tone and adoration in my heart. When you first start reading, it takes a moment to settle into the rhythm of this book. Order on Amazon | Support local bookstores Plain Bad Heroines: My Thoughtsįirst off, it’s important to note that this book is long: about 600 pages in total.

Plain bad heroines review