sarshu01's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sk_206064's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I like the premise but it felt like nothing was happening for about 75% of the book.
liralen's review against another edition
4.0
However you think of this book—if you do think of it—I hope you'll remember to remember the yellow jackets. I hope you'll remember their dedication to their ilk and the steadfastness of their purpose. Perhaps one night, when you wake dry-mouthed and shuffle to the bathroom to cup your hand beneath the faucet for water, you'll startle to feel the flick of them about you, the brush of their wings near your ear, their sticky-footed landing in your hair, against your neck, the pulse of their buss through these pages seeping into your skin, their humming constancy: the vibrating life of them as they go about their days sucking sweetness from the rot. (584)
The footnotes. Oh but the footnotes. I have an unabashed love of footnotes, and this book played right to that—the sort of footnote that doesn't provide necessary information but that will definitely be interesting enough to take off your glove to carefully footnote-tap (because, screen-compatible gloves or not, frigid fingers are a necessity for Kindle footnotes).*
But I digress. Plain Bad Heroines contains multitudes, or at least stories within stories. There's the turn-of-the-century love story between Flo and Clara. There's the late-1800s and beyond story of Libbie and Alex. There's the Rash brothers. There's Merritt and Harper and Audrey, tied up in making a movie that might be cursed. And there's the movie within the movie, and possibly the book within the book...
It's a lot—hence, I suppose, the 600-page length—but generally quite gripping. Paranormal activity and manufactured paranormal-esque activity, and overlap and/or confusion between the two; relationships starting and stumbling and falling apart; a blurry line between public and private. A kissing cousin to horror, perhaps. Funny, sometimes grimly so, and whip smart.
The end...the end I do not love. The book builds up the tension, letting us think that something terrible is just around the corner—and then that tension sort of...fizzles. That is:. For all that there's so much in the book, there are also things that make for red tension herrings (I'm thinking at the moment of Harper's relationship with her family, etc.). It's fine, but it doesn't live up to the rest of the book.
(Do we think Merritt is something of an authorial self-insertion? And will we have to wait eight more years for another book from Danforth?)
*Possibly my favourite footnote, hanging out alone in a paragraph break: White space, here, intended as visual representation of the vat of wholly bemused and angry (for Merritt, anyway) silence following Bo's bewildering news. (254)
The footnotes. Oh but the footnotes. I have an unabashed love of footnotes, and this book played right to that—the sort of footnote that doesn't provide necessary information but that will definitely be interesting enough to take off your glove to carefully footnote-tap (because, screen-compatible gloves or not, frigid fingers are a necessity for Kindle footnotes).*
But I digress. Plain Bad Heroines contains multitudes, or at least stories within stories. There's the turn-of-the-century love story between Flo and Clara. There's the late-1800s and beyond story of Libbie and Alex. There's the Rash brothers. There's Merritt and Harper and Audrey, tied up in making a movie that might be cursed. And there's the movie within the movie, and possibly the book within the book...
It's a lot—hence, I suppose, the 600-page length—but generally quite gripping. Paranormal activity and manufactured paranormal-esque activity, and overlap and/or confusion between the two; relationships starting and stumbling and falling apart; a blurry line between public and private. A kissing cousin to horror, perhaps. Funny, sometimes grimly so, and whip smart.
The end...the end I do not love. The book builds up the tension, letting us think that something terrible is just around the corner—and then that tension sort of...fizzles. That is:
Spoiler
characters die, but the three main characters from the present day make it out unscathed; even when a character intentionally tries to make a toxic concoction, it turns out that things have been engineered such that it's harmless(Do we think Merritt is something of an authorial self-insertion? And will we have to wait eight more years for another book from Danforth?)
*Possibly my favourite footnote, hanging out alone in a paragraph break: White space, here, intended as visual representation of the vat of wholly bemused and angry (for Merritt, anyway) silence following Bo's bewildering news. (254)
brianna_moye's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Lesbophobia, Grief, and Alcoholism
Minor: Forced institutionalization
sugarbomb's review against another edition
3.0
A Winchester House of a novel—oversized, rambling, containing corridors that lead nowhere. Interesting concept, not fully realized and simultaneously bloated by minutiae.
00leah00's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
I don’t really know where to begin with this review. Horror is not my genre at all but I’m trying to branch out a little this year, and mark horror off of my reading challenge!
I liked this book, at times I liked it a lot. It isn’t scary but it is weird and creepy and kind of gross at times. I’m also sure I’ll never look at yellow jackets the same ever again.
Plain Bad Heroines has two separate storylines, one based on characters in 1902 and one set in present day. The blurb mentions the school, The Brookhants School for Girls, but very little actually happens at the school, to me it’s more about the residents of said school. There seems to be a curse on the school or the inhabitants at the school and students/teachers end up dying in troubling ways.
The present-day storyline is about Merritt, Harper, and Audrey. They are involved in a movie based on a book about the cursed school. I don’t know what to say about it that won’t spoil it so I won’t say much.
What I loved most about Plain Bad Heroines were the characters. I loved the queerness of almost all of the characters, all of the main, and most of the secondary. I really loved the characters and at times I hated them and I then loved to hate them. They’re not always likable and sometimes act in shitty ways. But I felt it was realistic and was true for their character.
Something else interesting, it’s told from an omniscient narrator point of view, which I’m not sure I’ve ever experience. Especially when the narrator speaks to the reader specifically. It also has footnotes that I found to be interesting and sometime funny.
What I didn’t enjoy was the ending for the present-day timeline. I was confused when it was over because there was more to tell. I didn’t like the abruptness of the ending and all of my questions going unanswered. I didn’t have that issue with the 1902 storyline at least.
I don’t think this is for everyone, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. It’s long, at over 600 pages. Danforth is so very wordy and descriptive. A lot of the time I loved and appreciated it, but sometimes it seems to make the story drag on and on. But it is fun. It’s funny. It’s very creepy. I think if you like creepy horror then you’ll probably really like this.
I don’t really know where to begin with this review. Horror is not my genre at all but I’m trying to branch out a little this year, and mark horror off of my reading challenge!
I liked this book, at times I liked it a lot. It isn’t scary but it is weird and creepy and kind of gross at times. I’m also sure I’ll never look at yellow jackets the same ever again.
Plain Bad Heroines has two separate storylines, one based on characters in 1902 and one set in present day. The blurb mentions the school, The Brookhants School for Girls, but very little actually happens at the school, to me it’s more about the residents of said school. There seems to be a curse on the school or the inhabitants at the school and students/teachers end up dying in troubling ways.
The present-day storyline is about Merritt, Harper, and Audrey. They are involved in a movie based on a book about the cursed school. I don’t know what to say about it that won’t spoil it so I won’t say much.
What I loved most about Plain Bad Heroines were the characters. I loved the queerness of almost all of the characters, all of the main, and most of the secondary. I really loved the characters and at times I hated them and I then loved to hate them. They’re not always likable and sometimes act in shitty ways. But I felt it was realistic and was true for their character.
Something else interesting, it’s told from an omniscient narrator point of view, which I’m not sure I’ve ever experience. Especially when the narrator speaks to the reader specifically. It also has footnotes that I found to be interesting and sometime funny.
What I didn’t enjoy was the ending for the present-day timeline. I was confused when it was over because there was more to tell. I didn’t like the abruptness of the ending and all of my questions going unanswered. I didn’t have that issue with the 1902 storyline at least.
I don’t think this is for everyone, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. It’s long, at over 600 pages. Danforth is so very wordy and descriptive. A lot of the time I loved and appreciated it, but sometimes it seems to make the story drag on and on. But it is fun. It’s funny. It’s very creepy. I think if you like creepy horror then you’ll probably really like this.
aryawolf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.0
barbarella85's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
torilarett's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. I definitely think this should have been edited for length. But I grew to love the narrator, I was deeply invested in the characters, and loved the scene setting. I’m left with so many questions, but with such a complex (book within a book, movie within a book, another book within a book)..seems fine. I did think after such a long ending the conclusion (though so little felt concluded) was rushed. Despite that, I really enjoyed this and will definitely be thinking of it for a while.
yellow_ylugbug's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship