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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Plain Bad Heroines in Books
Dec 17, 2020
Plain Bad Heroines was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I am a sucker for a lesbian tale. Add in a Gothic New England boarding school for girls? Sold.
The story centers around two time periods. The first, 1902, at the Brookhants School for Girls, run by Libbie Brookhants. A book by a young writer, Mary MacLane has come out--one that's incredibly scandalous for the times. Two Brookhants girls, Flo and Clara, are obsessed with it and establish The Plain Bad Heroine Society. The two are in love, meeting in secret--until they are attacked by yellow jackets at their hiding spot, a copy of the book found with them. A few years later the school closes, but not until after more scandal and death. Now, our second period, over a hundred years later, where Merritt Emmons, a young writer, publishes a book about Flo and Clara's story. It inspires a horror film starring Harper Harper, a famous lesbian actress. Harper will be playing Flo and B-list actress Audrey Wells, Clara. Filming on-site at the abandoned Brookhants site, the three women converge. But soon, weird things start happening, and the curse of Brookhants seems back to haunt the set--and our three modern-day heroines.
This book is absolutely enthralling at times. I flew through these 619 pages, that's for sure. My notes state "very lesbian," which is, of course, a major plus for me. Believe me, we don't get a lot of books starring ourselves. And you know, where we are killed off by swarms of yellow jackets. I honestly found both storylines compelling. It's hard not to fall a bit in love with Harper Harper, the charismatic celebrity (out!) lesbian. And 1902 isn't just about Clara and Flo, but Libbie Brookhants and her life trying to run a cursed school in the early 1900s. Honestly, the pages really flew by most of the time. Though, there are certainly moments where I felt some of the story could have been cut.
And yes, the narrative style is different, though it really adds to the uniqueness of the book. It's basically told by an omnipresent narrator, talking directly to the reader. There are footnotes, often humorous ones, and the end result is something you don't often find. For the most part, I felt like Danforth pulled it off, too. I do think Libbie was a little more fully developed than Merritt, Harper, and Audrey, but that also may have been because that trio could come across as a bit spoiled at times.
Probably my two biggest issues with this book (regretfully): for a Gothic horror novel, it's not really that scary. There are a few creepy and eerie moments, especially in the beginning, but it never really builds up to that terrifying moment that you're expecting. And, somewhat related, the ending. We read and stick with our various tales for the entire time and then... poof! Everything just fizzles out. I was so bummed. The ending was such a disappointment after all I'd read and kept this from being a full-fledged 4 or 4.5-star read. I couldn't believe it after what we'd been through. It was like even the author was tired.
So, overall, this is an original and fascinating read. I'm certainly still advising you to read it (especially if you're queer or enjoy reading queer fiction). Just be prepared that the ending may not have that big scary moment you're expecting. 3.5 stars.
The story centers around two time periods. The first, 1902, at the Brookhants School for Girls, run by Libbie Brookhants. A book by a young writer, Mary MacLane has come out--one that's incredibly scandalous for the times. Two Brookhants girls, Flo and Clara, are obsessed with it and establish The Plain Bad Heroine Society. The two are in love, meeting in secret--until they are attacked by yellow jackets at their hiding spot, a copy of the book found with them. A few years later the school closes, but not until after more scandal and death. Now, our second period, over a hundred years later, where Merritt Emmons, a young writer, publishes a book about Flo and Clara's story. It inspires a horror film starring Harper Harper, a famous lesbian actress. Harper will be playing Flo and B-list actress Audrey Wells, Clara. Filming on-site at the abandoned Brookhants site, the three women converge. But soon, weird things start happening, and the curse of Brookhants seems back to haunt the set--and our three modern-day heroines.
This book is absolutely enthralling at times. I flew through these 619 pages, that's for sure. My notes state "very lesbian," which is, of course, a major plus for me. Believe me, we don't get a lot of books starring ourselves. And you know, where we are killed off by swarms of yellow jackets. I honestly found both storylines compelling. It's hard not to fall a bit in love with Harper Harper, the charismatic celebrity (out!) lesbian. And 1902 isn't just about Clara and Flo, but Libbie Brookhants and her life trying to run a cursed school in the early 1900s. Honestly, the pages really flew by most of the time. Though, there are certainly moments where I felt some of the story could have been cut.
And yes, the narrative style is different, though it really adds to the uniqueness of the book. It's basically told by an omnipresent narrator, talking directly to the reader. There are footnotes, often humorous ones, and the end result is something you don't often find. For the most part, I felt like Danforth pulled it off, too. I do think Libbie was a little more fully developed than Merritt, Harper, and Audrey, but that also may have been because that trio could come across as a bit spoiled at times.
Probably my two biggest issues with this book (regretfully): for a Gothic horror novel, it's not really that scary. There are a few creepy and eerie moments, especially in the beginning, but it never really builds up to that terrifying moment that you're expecting. And, somewhat related, the ending. We read and stick with our various tales for the entire time and then... poof! Everything just fizzles out. I was so bummed. The ending was such a disappointment after all I'd read and kept this from being a full-fledged 4 or 4.5-star read. I couldn't believe it after what we'd been through. It was like even the author was tired.
So, overall, this is an original and fascinating read. I'm certainly still advising you to read it (especially if you're queer or enjoy reading queer fiction). Just be prepared that the ending may not have that big scary moment you're expecting. 3.5 stars.
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Merissa (13353 KP) rated The Last Son of Venus by Dion Marc in Books
Jul 4, 2022 (Updated Jul 5, 2023)
THE LAST SON OF VENUS is the first book in a new series. It is hot and dark, and leaves you wanting more!
We start off with a young anxiety-ridden Alex, on his first trip abroad and lost in London. Things start going a bit strange for him and he has no idea what's going on. What's worse is he can't get hold of his parents for their advice. Nikos has been Alex's Guardian for a while now but this is his first interaction with him directly. Add Alex and Nikos, together with Jin - a queer descendant of Hekate, against an evil sect disguising themselves as the church, and you have an action-packed story that will keep you turning the pages.
This is definitely character-led - you get the steadiness of Nikos, the quirkiness of Jin, plus the anxiety of Alex. These characters change as the story progresses. Obviously, the biggest change is Alex, but Jin changes too!
Told from varying perspectives, it allows you to see the inner workings of just what's going on. And, trust me, there's a lot. There are multiple players in this story and not all of them are black and white.
A brilliant start to a new series by a new-to-me author. I absolutely recommend this book, and I can't wait to see what happens next!
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 22, 2022
We start off with a young anxiety-ridden Alex, on his first trip abroad and lost in London. Things start going a bit strange for him and he has no idea what's going on. What's worse is he can't get hold of his parents for their advice. Nikos has been Alex's Guardian for a while now but this is his first interaction with him directly. Add Alex and Nikos, together with Jin - a queer descendant of Hekate, against an evil sect disguising themselves as the church, and you have an action-packed story that will keep you turning the pages.
This is definitely character-led - you get the steadiness of Nikos, the quirkiness of Jin, plus the anxiety of Alex. These characters change as the story progresses. Obviously, the biggest change is Alex, but Jin changes too!
Told from varying perspectives, it allows you to see the inner workings of just what's going on. And, trust me, there's a lot. There are multiple players in this story and not all of them are black and white.
A brilliant start to a new series by a new-to-me author. I absolutely recommend this book, and I can't wait to see what happens next!
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 22, 2022
Danielle (6 KP) rated A Little Life in Books
Jul 25, 2017
Queer relationships (3 more)
Character driven
Insanely engrossing
Beautifully written
Read this months ago and I'm still crying over it
oh my god. this fucking book. IT MADE ME CRY THREE TIMES. AND I'M NOT ONE TO CRY OVER BOOKS.
I loved this book. It was so incredibly engrossing and heart wrenching. I am surprised that I liked this book though because most of the themes in this book (mental health issues, self-harm, self-deprecation, that pretty much all the characters in the book were men) would typically have me going "ehh, this wasn't for me".
As the reader I felt like I was in the same boat as Willem and Harold where we were all in love (in some fashion) with Jude and we all just wanted to shake him and be like "talk to us, Jude! it's okay!".
I also found this book to be unbelievable only because I am doubting how good humanity could be. Like I found it unbelievable that Jude had people like Willem, Harold, Andy, Richard who all just unfaltering were there for him over and over and over again. How did they just not give up on him? Regardless, I think I also loved the book for these same reasons that I found unbelievable.
Also, the cover of this book is just so fucking perfect. I would have the book on my desk at work and I would always flip it over so I didn't have to look at how heartbreakingly sad the man looked on the cover. Then I found on the back sleeve that the photo is titled "Orgasmic Man" and ughhhh it's all just so perfect for this story.
UGH. MY HEART. IT'S TOO HEAVY.
I loved this book. It was so incredibly engrossing and heart wrenching. I am surprised that I liked this book though because most of the themes in this book (mental health issues, self-harm, self-deprecation, that pretty much all the characters in the book were men) would typically have me going "ehh, this wasn't for me".
As the reader I felt like I was in the same boat as Willem and Harold where we were all in love (in some fashion) with Jude and we all just wanted to shake him and be like "talk to us, Jude! it's okay!".
I also found this book to be unbelievable only because I am doubting how good humanity could be. Like I found it unbelievable that Jude had people like Willem, Harold, Andy, Richard who all just unfaltering were there for him over and over and over again. How did they just not give up on him? Regardless, I think I also loved the book for these same reasons that I found unbelievable.
Also, the cover of this book is just so fucking perfect. I would have the book on my desk at work and I would always flip it over so I didn't have to look at how heartbreakingly sad the man looked on the cover. Then I found on the back sleeve that the photo is titled "Orgasmic Man" and ughhhh it's all just so perfect for this story.
UGH. MY HEART. IT'S TOO HEAVY.