Plain Bad Heroines
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Description
Book Information
Posts
Weird, clever, and dripping with atmosphere. Sapphic gothic vibes, a cursed orchard, a narrator who feels like they’re whispering secrets in your ear — and the illustrations! I adored them
4⭐️ — I really enjoyed this book! It’s weird, clever, and completely dripping with atmosphere. The dual timelines (Brookhants School in 1902 and the modern-day film crew) were so fun to jump between, and the narrator’s little asides made it feel like they were telling me a ghost story directly. The sapphic vibes? Perfect. The gothic orchard setting? Creepy and gorgeous. And the illustrations? I loved them — they made the whole thing feel even more like an old, cursed book you’d find in a dusty library. That said, it wasn’t quite a 5⭐️ for me. The middle got a bit too slow and meandering, and sometimes I had to push myself to keep going. But even then, the writing was so lush and the tone so unique that I never wanted to put it down completely
Spannend aber langwierig
Der Plot ist ganz fantastisch und diese Art von Horror/ Mystik entspricht genau meinem Geschmack. Jedoch sind manche Sequenzen einfach vieeeel zu weit ausgeholt und mMn unnötig in die Länge gezogen. Viele mögen sowas aber auch deshalb: wer Horror, Absurdität und lange Geschichten mag, gerne lesen.
A saphic, gothic mistery, with interesting characters and storylines that intertwine in the most confusing but satisfying way you could imagine.
It was a wild ride, but so worth it :) For me personally it was a hard read at time, with the story moving slow at times and fast at others and the writing style is something to get used to, but it's a nice change from all the 3rd person POV novels. I adore the usage of the footnotes as comedic relief and extra info at times, as well as the beautiful illustrations
Leider hat mich "Plain Bad Heroines" sehr enttäuscht. Die ersten etwa 200 Seiten haben mir sehr gut gefallen. Die Geschichte war düster und mysteriös, ich mochte die beiden Timelines und wie diese miteinander verbunden sind. Doch leider nahm mein Interesse danach immer mehr ab. Besonders die Timeline des Filmes konnte mich irgendwann nicht mehr wirklich überzeugen, ich fand keinen wirklichen Zugang zu den Figuren und alles schien etwas oberflächlich. Zudem war die Geschichte bei weitem nicht so gruslig wie ich erhofft hatte. Auch die Timeline in der Vergangenheit begann spannender und ich verlor mein Interesse irgendwann. Ich glaube mir hätte dieses Buch sehr gut gefallen können wenn es deutlich kürzer gewesen wäre und die Figuren mehr Tiefe gehabt hätten. So zog sich das Buch leider sehr und die Figuren gingen mir immer mehr auf die Nerven. Zwischendurch habe ich mir überlegt das Buch abzubrechen, doch ich hatte schon so viel Zeit darin investiert, dass ich wissen wollte wie es endet. Leider konnte aber das Ende nicht mehr viel herausholen und ich war froh, dass es fertig war.
Not exactly what I wanted
This book was a very anticipated read for me and it did have a promising beginning that pulled me in immediately. The setting, both in the present and the past was very intriguing and just the right amount of spooky (maybe that’s also partly due to my phobia of wasps/yellow jackets). However, the middle part really dragged for me. I don’t know where exactly it could’ve been shortened as it didn’t feel like there were any unnecessary scenes, but the plot drastically slowed in pace and in creepiness and that made it difficult for me to keep my interest in what was happening. The ending picked up again, though, and I read the last 200 pages almost in one go. However, it also left me feeling a little unsatisfied. I feel like it poses more questions than it answers. I’m okay with now knowing certain things, like how much was real and how much was really just delusions induced by dr*gs, mental instability etc., but this was different. It felt like there were too many dots not connected, or rather forcibly connected even though they didn’t completely fit together. However, I did overall have a really good time with the book and its characters!
I really enjoyed reading this. I loved the voice of the narrator and getting to know the characters. I also liked how everything is connected. You really should annotate while reading to remember the scenes you think might be important and relevant (because they certainly are)! But I have to admit that the explanation for everything (most of it?) isn't as satisfying as I hoped. And, ngl, this book didn't have to be 600 pages long. 100-150 pages less would totally do it.
Description
Book Information
Posts
Weird, clever, and dripping with atmosphere. Sapphic gothic vibes, a cursed orchard, a narrator who feels like they’re whispering secrets in your ear — and the illustrations! I adored them
4⭐️ — I really enjoyed this book! It’s weird, clever, and completely dripping with atmosphere. The dual timelines (Brookhants School in 1902 and the modern-day film crew) were so fun to jump between, and the narrator’s little asides made it feel like they were telling me a ghost story directly. The sapphic vibes? Perfect. The gothic orchard setting? Creepy and gorgeous. And the illustrations? I loved them — they made the whole thing feel even more like an old, cursed book you’d find in a dusty library. That said, it wasn’t quite a 5⭐️ for me. The middle got a bit too slow and meandering, and sometimes I had to push myself to keep going. But even then, the writing was so lush and the tone so unique that I never wanted to put it down completely
Spannend aber langwierig
Der Plot ist ganz fantastisch und diese Art von Horror/ Mystik entspricht genau meinem Geschmack. Jedoch sind manche Sequenzen einfach vieeeel zu weit ausgeholt und mMn unnötig in die Länge gezogen. Viele mögen sowas aber auch deshalb: wer Horror, Absurdität und lange Geschichten mag, gerne lesen.
A saphic, gothic mistery, with interesting characters and storylines that intertwine in the most confusing but satisfying way you could imagine.
It was a wild ride, but so worth it :) For me personally it was a hard read at time, with the story moving slow at times and fast at others and the writing style is something to get used to, but it's a nice change from all the 3rd person POV novels. I adore the usage of the footnotes as comedic relief and extra info at times, as well as the beautiful illustrations
Leider hat mich "Plain Bad Heroines" sehr enttäuscht. Die ersten etwa 200 Seiten haben mir sehr gut gefallen. Die Geschichte war düster und mysteriös, ich mochte die beiden Timelines und wie diese miteinander verbunden sind. Doch leider nahm mein Interesse danach immer mehr ab. Besonders die Timeline des Filmes konnte mich irgendwann nicht mehr wirklich überzeugen, ich fand keinen wirklichen Zugang zu den Figuren und alles schien etwas oberflächlich. Zudem war die Geschichte bei weitem nicht so gruslig wie ich erhofft hatte. Auch die Timeline in der Vergangenheit begann spannender und ich verlor mein Interesse irgendwann. Ich glaube mir hätte dieses Buch sehr gut gefallen können wenn es deutlich kürzer gewesen wäre und die Figuren mehr Tiefe gehabt hätten. So zog sich das Buch leider sehr und die Figuren gingen mir immer mehr auf die Nerven. Zwischendurch habe ich mir überlegt das Buch abzubrechen, doch ich hatte schon so viel Zeit darin investiert, dass ich wissen wollte wie es endet. Leider konnte aber das Ende nicht mehr viel herausholen und ich war froh, dass es fertig war.
Not exactly what I wanted
This book was a very anticipated read for me and it did have a promising beginning that pulled me in immediately. The setting, both in the present and the past was very intriguing and just the right amount of spooky (maybe that’s also partly due to my phobia of wasps/yellow jackets). However, the middle part really dragged for me. I don’t know where exactly it could’ve been shortened as it didn’t feel like there were any unnecessary scenes, but the plot drastically slowed in pace and in creepiness and that made it difficult for me to keep my interest in what was happening. The ending picked up again, though, and I read the last 200 pages almost in one go. However, it also left me feeling a little unsatisfied. I feel like it poses more questions than it answers. I’m okay with now knowing certain things, like how much was real and how much was really just delusions induced by dr*gs, mental instability etc., but this was different. It felt like there were too many dots not connected, or rather forcibly connected even though they didn’t completely fit together. However, I did overall have a really good time with the book and its characters!
I really enjoyed reading this. I loved the voice of the narrator and getting to know the characters. I also liked how everything is connected. You really should annotate while reading to remember the scenes you think might be important and relevant (because they certainly are)! But I have to admit that the explanation for everything (most of it?) isn't as satisfying as I hoped. And, ngl, this book didn't have to be 600 pages long. 100-150 pages less would totally do it.