Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Where Sleeping Girls Lie

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

196 reviews

leacallida's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Omg
J’ai été happée du début à la fin, je voulais le lire dès que j’avais 2 min de libres, et j’étais tellement investie que je me sentais hyper stressée tout du long
Le roman a pris une tournure que je n’attendais pas du tout, et qui ne m’a fait qu’aimer le roman encore plus. Vraiment attention aux TW par contre !
Une lecture incroyable qui me marquera longtemps, et qui ne me donne qu’encore plus envie de lire l’autre roman de cette autrice.

Content Warnings

ahopper7's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is HEAVY on the S.A. triggers so want to get that out first, take care while reading!

With that said, I really enjoyed this one (as much as you can enjoy a book with hella dark themes). I think I actually like it more the Ace of Spades. The narration was fantastic, the mystery in the story had me fully committed, and the character work had me feeling like this was a real school. The dark academia vibes were on point, and I think the heavy topic was cared for well.

Content Warnings

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was a pleasant surprise. I typically read YA as like a palate cleanser, I have been reading more difficult literature lately. But this one was tackling was deep topics, trigger warning beware. While it did take me a minute to get involved in this book, I was hooked at the end.

Content Warnings

clovetra's review against another edition

Go to review page

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!

Content Warnings

cielosiluminado's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

The best liars … were the ones who were also lying to themselves in some way. They’d lie so much to others; it was too easy to also eventually convince their own minds of the lie.

was this story a perfect happily-ever-after masterpiece? no. but was it realistic masterpiece? i actually think, yes. it was a rollercoaster of emotion and i am still overwhelmed.

sade hussein was a biased, perfectly imperfect character and narrator of this story. she was constantly anxious, a little insecure in herself, and a lot guilt-and-grief-ridden after surviving and living through so much at such a young age. despite that, i found her to be an impressively profound main character because she was unapologetically herself throughout the story and stuck to her morals in finding out the truth about the darkness that lurked within the walls of the elite boarding school she enrolled in.

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

this may be a controversial opinion but i did not hate the ending. to me, the ending of this book was a realistic representation of how the rich, powerful (white) privileged boys and men get away with atrocities while the girls and women, who are most often the victims and survivors, are either blamed, silenced, and left to float and go on about their lives on their own as if nothing happened; or all of the above.

it felt like the right way to end the book, because after such a compelling story—with so many complex and controversial side characters—intriguingly sinister and dark mysteries, it leaves you wishing everything could end perfectly, but like life, it doesn’t; and i find that to be more riveting.

Content Warnings

kk_47's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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

I liked the characters and the world! Very compelling and timely story without the tropey trappings of YA. Highly recommend!

Content Warnings

ladychubb's review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

jessiejonesbentley's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

bzliz's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé knocked it out of the park again here. She is masterful at crafting a mystery that feels tense without getting convoluted and at bringing the perfect dark academia energy. The only reason I’m not giving this five stars is because I desperately need these stories to have even just one single adult who believes and helps. I know it’s YA which is heavy on 16 year olds solving every problem but surely there is at least one adult human who actually has the kids best interests at heart.

I felt so tense every time Sade went against her instincts and into a potentially dangerous situation with a guy. They truly only have sinister vibes. It felt like

Jude was the villain people know to look out for while August is the type more insidious nice-guy type.

I was also left with a few questions that I don’t recall being answered so spoilers:

who stole the box back? Who deleted the footage of the thief? Did August know his sister was also one of the girls who got assaulted? He must have since he was in the group. And he just let that happen? What a piece of shit.

Content Warnings

rosi2892's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad fast-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

4.25

Content Warnings

More...