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jas_kv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
catstikes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy
km_loves_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Suicide, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, and Mental illness
cerilouisereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Suicide, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
Minor: Cursing and Pregnancy
nenaveenstra's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
violet_pages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Vomit
Minor: Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Grief
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In 1902, Flo and Clara are found dead in the woods on the grounds of Brookhants School for Girls. Over a century later, a film crew have arrived to the tell the story of the curse surrounding Brookhants, but what if the narrative is still being written?
Plain Bad Heroines is gross and scary and so very queer. I was living for it ๐ I have never read a book like this one before, the imagination that Danforth has to create a story this rich, is just astounding. The book is written in 3rd person, with a narrator that is always breaking the fourth wall and addressing the reader directly. I loved this about the writing, it felt like a story just for me.
I mentioned this book is gross. I'm talking dead wasps in your mouth gross๐คข Although, the story was pretty slow in pace, and coming it at 619 pages, I'm not surprised. Saying that, all of the narrative felt like it had a purpose, and the slowness of the writing, in my eyes, built the tension so that the creepy and the gross parts hit even harder.
I became so attached to the three main characters, Harper, Merritt and Audrey. Yes, they all had their flaws, but I was rooting them, as they protected each other and grew together. This book wasn't the dark academia I had been craving, but it did have a love triangle, so that's a win in my eyes๐๐ปโโ๏ธ The lesbian and bisexual representation in Plain Bad Heroines is incredible. There are atleast three F/F relationships focused on in the narrative, all set in different timelines.
I recommend that you go into this one knowing that you have the time to dedicate to it. And if this review didn't quite sell you on it, just know that there are illustrations dotted throughout. I loved this, it added that little extra to the narrative.
Thanks so much to Borough Press for the gifted copy. This is out in the UK on the 4th of February!
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Grief
isnotacrayon's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug use and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Fatphobia and Dementia