Review copy provided for coverage consideration in Book Riot - I ultimately did not cover this book.

I was really excited about this one. The premise sounded so good!! The execution just did not do it for me. I love a good haunted house tale and haunted boarding schools are at the top of the list. Unfortunately, the story was not very cohesive or interesting. The alternating timelines were not explained until close to the end of the book, and the twist was just bizarre!! I found myself having to re-read whole chapters, thinking I had a missed some detail, only to find out that the missing details were either included at the end or not at all. I really wish this story had been told in a different way - I can see potential in it, but it sadly did not reach that potential for me.

I may be aging quicker than I thought. I could not for the life of me keep up with the e switching narrator or times or locales. Once I understood the supernatural element, I still felt I needed to take notes just to keep everyone straight. The setting for the school chapters made me love magical realism, famously originating in South America, but too much flipping back and forth made me continually flip back to previous pages for reminders.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

Okay, either I had been a beanbag of a brain all along or this book is just like...

...was that supposed to be like that.

I thought I was crazy. I'm so comfortable with books that have narrations years apart, but this book was something else.

I had to go back to re-check several times the synopsis from Goodreads to CONFIRM the book actually described itself as a "gothic psychological thriller with a haunting twist” with no mention of paranormal or maybe even fantasy.

I get that it did say "gothic" and "haunting", but I honestly was not expecting the book to be so supernatural and paranormal. I thought the gothic would be more psychologically scary and more realistic. Or is it just me. I don't know anymore.

I tried following the two storylines. But eventually, I was just completely lost for the entire book, I was struggling to follow along after the first few chapters.

This one started off grandly--intriguing, interesting character, a creepy setting, history and curses. And it was progressing interestingly, and I kept wondering what was going on. And then, about 3/4 of the way in...bam. Weird turn. And I didn't like the twist, I found it rather stupid. And then from there, the story just devolved. I only finished reading so I could see how bad it was. Faring has some good story telling skills, but I found the twist to be just too far fetched, and then the resolution of the twist to be absurd.

The Tenth Girl is an icy thrill-ride of a novel, with a twist ending that I did not see coming. The creepy gothic tone and unique, isolated setting were all pitch-perfect. Highly recommend.

Two stars: A book that reads like a train wreck until it gets to a strange twist, and then it leaves you wondering what you just read.

Mavi is desperate for a place to hide after her mother is caught and murdered by the Buenos Aires military regime. A second chance is dropped in her lap, and Mavi snatches it up. She is offered a position as a teacher in an elite Argentina boarding school. The catch is that the school is in an isolated house in the mountains, a house that is rumored to be haunted. Once Mavi arrives at the school, she finds an unsettling atmosphere and a dominating mistress. She is warned not to roam at night and to stay away from the mistress’s son at all costs. There are supposed to be ten girls at the school, but the tenth girl is mysteriously missing. As the days pass by, Mavi begins to feel that there is something sinister going on at the school. The staff and students are acting weird, a strange sickness grips the school, and something seems to be haunting the night. What is really going on?
What I Liked:
*The Tenth Girl is an extremely hard book for me to review. I honestly don’t know where to start with this one. I will say that this book drew me in with its strange, creepy atmospheric setting. I kept reading this one even though I was tempted to stop, but then there is this twist that is so unexpected. If the twist were better executed, this would be a brilliant book.
*The setting makes the book. Think an isolated old, creepy mansion in the mountains. Supplies only come in via ferry boat. The house has a dark past, and it is rumored to be haunted. It becomes apparent very quickly that something is not right at the house at all. There are spirits haunting the halls and something just wrong is happening. Then a terrible storm cuts the school off from outside help, which provides the perfect creepy backdrop.
*Mavi, thank goodness, was a character I liked. She presents a sympathetic front when here sad history is revealed. At the school, she tries to make friends and do what is right of the girls. She is kind, devoted and has a good heart. She was what kept me reading.
*The book builds and builds and gets more strange and creepy as the chapters progress. At one point, I had no idea what to expect as it appeared the story was completely derailing. Strange things were happening that weren’t explained, the story seemed to have two time lines and lots of plot holes, and just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, the author throws in this twist. The twist is so unexpected and it comes out of nowhere. I did not see that coming at all. It was unlike anything I have read before. It was smart and shocking and a total mind blower. I wish I could say more, but I won’t in case you want to take this one on. I would say read this one for the twist because it is game changer.
And The Not So Much:
*There were so many things that went wrong with this book. First, there are two view points, that of Mavi, the likable school teacher and then Angel, a ghost. I struggled mightily with Angel’s view point. I never felt a connection to him and I couldn’t grasp his character. It was just so weird.
*The time line was bothering me. Mavi’s point of view took place in 1978 and then Angel’s appeared to be in the present. It frustrated me as I had no concrete sense of time.
*The story gets more disturbing and sinister as it goes along. There were many unpleasant scenes and hints of pedophiles and rape and abuse. Ugh...I was so tempted to put this one down more than a time or two as I was not liking it at all.
*There is a little bit of a romance, but I hated it. It involves a ghost possessing another’s body. It just was too weird and it didn’t work, even after the twist, it was still a mess.
*Just before I quit, the twist is revealed. The twist was mind blowing, but even with the twist, the book still doesn’t really make sense. The end was so far fetched and unrealistic. I finished thinking, what did I just read???

The Tenth Girl was a book I went into with high expectations. A creepy setting, rumors of a haunting and a curse. Unfortunately, the story had too many perverse occurrences that put me off. Furthermore, I never liked the ghost point of view nor the supposed romance. The book gets more strange and unreal as it goes on, so much so that I wanted to quit. The twist is brilliant, but it isn’t enough to save this train wreck. This is a book that I wanted to like, but I just couldn’t. Skip this one.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

This book was really spooky and interesting reading about both girls. Overall I enjoyed this book. I love the cover too. Overall I enjoyed this book.

This book is very well-written, and I could not put it down. Haunting prose, memorable prose, and a very surprising twist.

A promising beginning. An old school is struck with a mysterious illness and then is closed. Many years later it is reopened with all new girls and teachers descendent from some of the original occupants. But then it got weird. Not really the good weird I like. Just weird. A lot of characters. A lot of background. It just never clicked for me and I never really became invested in the story. And then it all just...did what it did. I will say that at least the twist in this one wasn't one I saw coming a mile away. Every book seems to need a twist now. Maybe we've reached the tipping point on twists with this one. I thought, from the description, that I would love this one. It just never lived up to what I'd hoped it would be.

I never got to read this one. Maybe some day but I just never got to it. Sorry for requesting it. Sometimes life just gets in the way of being able to read all the books you think look interesting. I will never be able to finish my to read list.

This requirement to write 100 characters is pretty tedious when you just want to give up on a book and get it off your shelf. I know it makes it better for the publishers but there should be an option to just delete things from your shelf if you are not actually going to read them.

I really wanted to like this book the cover is gorgeous and the synopsis sound so interesting. It dragged and it was hard to push through but I was determined to finish it. The twist at the end was strange to me and not what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be more of a Gothic ghost story and that's not really what I got.

I really, really wanted to like this book and I just....didn't. It was intriguing and you are wondering what is happening and what is going on...but that goes on way too long...it was really hard to keep going to finally find out the twist.

The premise of the book is really intriguing and I was very caught up by the "earthly" plot but felt less interested in the sprits. All and all I found it hard to get through. Since I think this was more just not really grabbing my attention personally than a detriment of the book itself I will still recommend it to patrons looking for that combination of paranormal and historic fiction that seems to be on the rise.

I had really high hopes for the Tenth Girl. The cover looks gorgeous and the synopsis sounded intriguing. I love psychological thrillers and really enjoyed the setting of this one. We get a historical setting in Argentina. Not a setting you see often and definitely what drew me to this one.
However, I could net get into the story. The writing wasn't for me, and I didn't like the second perspective at all. It seemed really weird to me and was just annoying and off putting right away. I felt really bad DNF'ing a review copy so I tried to get back into it multiple times. But unfortunately I couldn't get through.
The representation was something I thought was great to be included, however, after seeing reviews from people with actual knowledge of the representation this seems to be not so great. I'm a white, European girl so I can't speak about the accuracy but do agree it seems like indigenous people aren't painted in the greatest light in this novel and that is hurtful to say the least.

I have mixed feelings about The Tenth Girl. The story focuses on the Vaccaro School, a recently reopened Patagonian boarding school that had previously closed its doors sixty years ago under mysterious circumstances. Mavi Quercia, running from her past, eagerly accepts the opportunity to teach English to the inaugural class of ten girls. Except, only nine girls are present at the Vaccaro School and no one will tell Mavi about the missing tenth girl. Mavi soon begins her own search for answers and along the way, uncovers startling secrets about the Vaccaro School and its occupants.

Faring had some really great ideas and even a promising storyline, but the execution of her ideas could have been much better. My main problem with The Tenth Girl regards the twist that occurs during the last 1/4 of the book. Although Faring does allude to the twist early on in her story, she does so sparingly in an attempt to strengthen the shock factor during the big reveal. Unfortunately, Faring's execution falls flat and readers are left baffled at the abrupt turn taken in the story. The twist is a clever idea, but Faring should have planted more seeds earlier on in The Tenth Girl so that the twist feels more like a natural progression in the story.

Creepy, atmospheric and thrilling. All of these things are true about this story. Unfortunately, it was not enough to keep my attention. I DNF @ 60%. It may have been that I did not understand the mythology around it, but the twist in the plot really seemed slot and unreasonable, causing me to lose interest in the entire story. I may return to it later to give it another shot, and that is why I did not mark it a DNF and am leaving a review instead. I also feel like people should know WHY I put the novel down, instead of just marking it DNF.

3 Stars

Many thanks to Netgalley and MacMillan for providing me with a free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to read this one. Creepy stories and fall weather go, hand in hand, in my book. Labeled as a gothic, psychological thriller, I couldn’t wait to get started. However, what I thought was going to be a wonderfully creepy experience was anything but. It took me far longer than it should have just to finish it.

Vaccaro’s elite finishing school for girls, a grand school in its day. Now it is said to be cursed, the isolated boarding academy sits in the icy region of Patagonia. Mavi, the main character, arrives in Patagonia in the 1970s, she has lied to the academy about her age and credentials in order to gain a teaching job. After taking her place amongst the staff she is introduced to the academy’s nine students, though if the whispers are true, there is a tenth girl who is missing, but everyone is tight-lipped about her.

Although there are several twists and turns in this book that keeps you wanting more the desire never seems to be rewarded. A fellow reviewer stated it perfectly,

“good writing is like a carrot on a stick. You want to withhold enough information to keep the reader interested and make them think that they have a chance at catching the carrot; but if you hold the carrot too far away and don't reveal enough information, the reader will be bored and confused and will wander away in search of something more interesting.” Nenia Campbell

This was exactly how I felt about this book. I gave it my time but didn’t feel like I received anything in return.

So this one wasn't for me. It had a lot of promise, with a Gothic horror factor that I love, and the fact that it's set in a boarding school - it should be a home run. But something fell flat - it felt like the story meandered and, at 450 pages, was way too long. The differing timelines and narration made the story feel confusing instead of intriguing, and I ended up skimming large portions of the book to see if any of the plot would really begin to form into what the summary promised, but it wasn't meant to be. I won't be recommending this one, although we did purchase for our collection in case someone else gets more out of it.

Eerie? Yes. Creepy? Yes. Frightful? Yes. Written well? Not so much. Character development? Not really. Upsetting. It is so hard to find books that are written in a place that many students I teach with, are from, and this one is right from that area. However, bummer, it wasn’t written that well. The character design in this book left something to be craved and that was extremely upsetting after being setup for a creepy, horror filled book that could catch anyone’s eye (especially with the glorious cover).

However, I just cannot in good conscious suggest or continue reading this book. I had to fight to get to the 50% mark and that was by a very slim margin that I was able to. I DNE’d this book at 51% and could not pick it up again after that. It could have benefitted from a better character development and a better world in the end.