Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

20 reviews

clovetra's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

ugh i wish i managed to squeeze this in for sapphic september but alas, it is an october read. which ngl im not too mad at seeing as it fits the vibes.

god i really get why this has so many fans. i was mesmerised with the writing, and all the characters were great.

sade was a wonderful protagonist who immediately gripped me and had me rooting for her; baz is the much needed comic relief yet also has depth to him; persephone was equally mysterious and intriguing; and the cast of ANA mostly didn’t feel flat. i say mostly because im ngl… the way the unholy trinity was built up, i was expecting mean girls 2. instead i got one interesting character and two who felt like they had zero personality outside of “money” and “lacrosse”. i mean hey i like money and lacrosse but ur side characters need more than that i beg. but honestly the characters kept this book going…. because its plot didn’t.

ok that’s so shady esp since im giving this 4-stars. but as someone who mostly vibes when reading…. i guessed the “culprit” like 20% deep. and the clues were JUST beginning to build. not only did i guess the culprit… i guessed the motive. cmon now.

and speaking of the mystery element…. it felt lacklustre. the way the “crime(s)” played out felt predictable and a let-down. i was expecting this book to just keep unravelling with its mystery, but instead i got something that could’ve been solved by the characters like 250 pages in if they stopped dicking about. like as much as i loved seeing sade just living her life, i was expecting a mystery. and instead i got class scenes, lunch scenes, a party, another party, swimming…. im contradicting myself i know. i loved the characters but the things that build them up, i seemingly hated. it’s just that the mystery was so appealing, and yet it felt dragged out because really, it could’ve been solved halfway through the book. it was so insanely simple i thought i was missing some extreme oversight, but no. i guessed most of the plot less than a quarter way through. and that’s fine! a mystery should have breadcrumbs a reader can follow! but when you are touting this as a mystery book…. and it is not a mystery at all what ha happened (/ref)……. yikes.

like i said, i honestly loved the characters so much the lack of complexity didn’t piss me off to the point i hated this book, but i can’t lie and say i loved this. if this was marketed as a contemporary? sign me up man. literally any other genre & i would’ve loved this. but the mystery was not mystery-ing for me.

i liked the mystery surrounding sade’s background.. but i have the same thing about her past to say about the plot itself. it was a letdown. i will say i didn’t guess what it ended up being, but when the book is pointing you in one direction, and then ends up dragging you to another and, and that end is disappointing compared to the other end…… yet again a chop for me!

anyways tldr i love sade but homegirl please stop having meet cutes with like 3 ppl at once and solve the mystery. i support you but also god damn girl let’s get the show moving and figure out what happened! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Confinement and Dementia

ladychubb's review

dark funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.75

This was enjoyable. I don’t read a ton of mysteries so this was a fun change. The characters were loveable and diverse. The plot was interesting but not so compelling that I couldn’t put it down. It’s a nice slow read. I enjoyed the ending especialy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

The sexual assault, rape, death and drug use are mentioned but not described in detail. I didn’t find it triggering just upsetting for the characters. I think most people would be okay reading this even if they have experienced those things.

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

megmccreery's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I'm just going to start this review by saying it's never taken me this long to finish a book in recent years (3 weeks). I had high hopes, but this story dragged out so much. It definitely could have been at least 100 pages shorter. There were so many side quests and random descriptions of things that didn't mean anything, and it took them so long to make any progress in figuring out this "mystery," all for it to be info dumped in the last 30%. I was expected the pace and intensity of Ace of Spades, but this really didn't do it for me.

I understand what this was trying to accomplish, but it just took too long and the ending was really unsatisfying so it felt like it just discounted the whole message we were supposed to take away. If anyone does read this, would recommend reading content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

What a bloody read omg. Set in an exclusive private school of ANA this is a trippy mystery which follows Sade trying to figure out what happened after her roommate dissapears 24 hours in.  

The secrets in this are dark, with trigger warnings at the start definitely necessary to take caution of if they could be upsetting. The untouchable elite always elusive it’s shocking to see how everything may be linked.  Full of death, assaults and drugs it’s horror to the core and each persons secrets is heavier than the last. 

I didn’t see the plot twists coming especially towards the end, but was warned by the slow burn sapphics we get to see grow throughout the book as well as how it addresses just like in ace of spades how minority voices and issues may not always be treated equally and the issues that this can bring besides the blatant racism.  

Overall I loved this, and was happily suprised as I felt ace of spades was overhyped so despite loving the plot description of this I was cautious going in but I am glad that I have Faridah another chance as I will definitely be tuned for her future releases now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

styxx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ella_ruby's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Plot: 4.5/5
Execution: 3/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Racism, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

greenlivingaudioworm's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

kays_reading_journal's review against another edition

4.0

*note before review: check the content warnings. I don’t recall if they were in the authors note, but I had no idea what I was getting into, take care of yourself <3

This was a heavy at times missing person mystery that also examined how different identities are treated in society (gender, race, class). I really enjoyed having Sade as a narrator. While she wasn’t always perfect, and at times you’ll be questioning her heavily, it was easy to root for her. 

The characters were the strongest point of this book in my opinion. You’re constantly learning new things about everyone that either makes you suspicious of them or makes you come to love them. I would absolutely adore seeing more of these characters in the future, even if it’s just short stories. 

The plot was the weaker point for me. It was definitely really good at the end, as it felt like there were a lot of twists as new information comes to light, but the beginning was pretty slow. The novel shows Sade navigating this new school and new relationships while also solving the mystery, so if you like your mysteries action-packed, this might read slowly for you. 

I did think some of the hints were a bit too obvious to the reader, but they weren’t hints that revealed the suspect, just other things spread throughout. I also think this is the last school thriller I’ll read for awhile. It just doesn’t feel like there’s that much space to work within the genre, so different books feel pretty similar at times. 

Overall, loved the characters and would read again just to see them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Murder, and Classism

moonchildshine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

"Keep swimming. Or if that's too hard, at the very least, float."

That's exactly my mantra for years living in this cruel world. And reading this book feels like being harshly reminded that we live in a world that is not kind to women. 

I know it ends in a hopeful kind of ending but I have to stop a couple of times because it was so hard for me and I need to prioritize my well-being over finishing this book. It is a good book, filled with compelling characters. The sensitive issues is dealt with so much responsibility. But it's just... so sad. I'm sad because we have to live in the world that filled with injustice, misogyny, patriarchy and vile men who feel like they're entitled of women body.

Suffice to say, now that I finished the book, I think I need watching alot of kitten videos and cute babies... or maybe scrolling through hopecore tag on tiktok.

PS. I don't think I can reread this book ever again but can Miss Faridah write a spin-off of Sade and Persephone because don't we all deserve a lot of sugary sweet fluffy love story between them after what we've been through upon reading this book 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Suicide