Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

10 reviews

idk_indigo's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This was a nice read, one I've had on my shelf for quite some time and I'm very glad I finally got around to reading it. I loved the length of it , honestly, it was a nice read for me to spend time on and it was a good book to pick up and put down. I was invested in it, but not to the point where I couldn't put it down, which, honestly I appreciated. 

It did drag at times, and the story itself felt both drawn out and unresolved, especially with

the two girls, Clara and Flo, who we meet at the beginning of the book; I felt their story was especially unresolved

. I also felt there was a bit much going on with the movie within a movie, made from a book, all within a book. It got confusing and seemed just too meta at times which detracted from the story. I almost felt like I didn't care about any of the MC's from this timeline. 

Is it the best book I've ever read? No, but I'm glad I read it! I'd be interested to read more queer/sapphic horror!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Biphobia, Drug use, Suicide, Stalking, and Abandonment

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

heather_harrison's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

⭐️ 3.5 stars ⭐️ 

I loved the gothic vibe, cursed school, sapphic rep and creepy wasps. But my god this could have been shorter. 

I found that while I enjoyed the two story lines, the 1900s was definitely stronger than the present day Hollywood. The ending looked like it was all going to interconnect, but it just fizzled out and was so disappointing. 

+ 0.5 because the trifle scene made my physically cringe and internally scream. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Stalking

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia, Dementia, Abortion, and Death of parent

decie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

honestly a little bit offended nobody told me about this book. dark academia that isn't pretentious? contemporary and historical storylines that are beautifully woven together? a witty, self-aware narrator? sapphic characters EVERYWHERE in a book clearly written FOR sapphics? yes pls. it's sharp, fast, and kept me up at night. so. fucking. good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Grief, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual assault, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Pregnancy

lisa_m's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book was unlike anything I have read before. I was bored sometimes and sometimes I didn't know what exactly the author was trying to do but all in all I did really enjoy it. I think if you want to read this book you have to like the creepy vibes it has. It is not a horror of creepy book at all but it does have a few creepy aspects throughout the book. It is creepy but also just a lot of talking and descriptions of film production, meetings and just day to day activities.. 

I think the only way to enjoy this book is to just take the time and not expect anything to happen. It will take you on a ride through different times, perspectives, stories and deaths.

This book was definitely weird. In a good way but still quite strange..

And also suuuper queer! Like pretty much every important character was a queer woman. I enjoyed that but it got to a point where it was a bit ridiculous (but also it fitted into the story perfectly and made total sense)

My favourite thing about this book is the formatting. I love the different fonts and especially the footnotes! (I love to see footnotes in books)
Also the illustrations are amazing! The yellow jackets were so cool and gave the book that extra something.

The narration was interesting but I did really enjoy it. It felt like a weird friend writing down a story for you and also like some Jane Austen esc writing. 

My biggest problem was the length of the book. Especially in the middle it got quite boring and I wanted to quit a couple of times. Also the ending confused me. I mean it is a kind of open end and you can keep thinking about it which is cool..?
I don't think the book could have been shorter and still be the same. The whole feeling came from the whole mixture of it all. Still I get that this is definitely not for everyone.

There are also so many different perspectives. There are quite a lot of jumps between time and people. Also it's kind of about a movie about a book about a legend about a book.

I would say reading this is definitely an experience - and one you have to want. If you want to read a very sapphic book that is also a bit spooky and has some great illustrations: this is the book for you. Be warned though as it is very slow paced and it has a LOT of unanswered questions at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kalagallop's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Of the two timelines in the book, the characters in the present day are much more compelling and likable, while still being flawed. The ending is ambiguous in a way that is slightly frustrating, but the story was engaging the whole way through. I couldn’t put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Sexual content

nefariousbee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Vomit, and Car accident

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Fatphobia, Racism, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've read this book twice now, and both times I was enamored with its spooky atmosphere, its intricate storylines and its vibrant characters. And its gay-ness, of course.

Plain Bad Heroines follows two stories set at the same place but over a century apart. We follow Libbie Brookhants and her lover's perspective on creepy things evolving on her property and its boarding school in the 20th century, and a set of queer women involved with the making of a movie about said story in the 21st. The former creates a chilling frame to set the tone for the latter.

This is by no means a perfect book, but I did enjoy reading about fictional lesbians in the early 20th century dealing with, yes, scary things, but with life, above all. The ends they have to go to live their life the way they want to. And then the way the movie-making was set out to be. It could've been very corny, but it wasn't. It was super creative and I ate. It. Up.

This book is quite long, and I think it suffered for it a little bit. It felt like the author didn't quite know which story she wanted to tell - wanted to tell too many stories at once - and some storylines felt to drag on while others were rushed. I wonder if it would've done this book good to focus on the present storyline, and only keep some highlights from the 1900s.

Anyway. If you feel like being swallowed up in a gothic universe for about 600 pages, I would recommend this book. It's not super scary, so don't go into it expecting that, but it's so much fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Suicide attempt

achillea's review against another edition

dark lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Please don't get your eyebrows pierced with rings I'm begging you

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia and Vomit

Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Stalking, and Murder