I thought this book was going to be something different. I thought it was going to be a horror novel, but I didn't really find it to be so. I like that it's a story for and about queer women. as all of the characters are, but the underlying story of the yellow jackets and the supernatural mystery fell a little flat.

I've been waiting for another book from this author for so long, and this book was well worth the wait. Perfect for those who love a good murder mystery with a "gothic academia" vibe.

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth illustrated by Sara Lautman

William Morrow & Company, 2020

ISBN-13: 978-0062942852

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audibook, audio CD ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )



Emily M. Danforth, author of the YA novel The Miseducation of Cameron Post, stretches her boundaries in this unsettling, haunted novel that reveals a buried history of queer romance and horror and some seriously creepy hornets.

The story moves smoothly from events in 1902 that led to the deaths of three students at the Brookhants School for Girs, tied to an uninhibited and shocking memoir by openly bisexual feminist Mary McLane, to a present day where author Merritt Emmons has written a book about the deaths that is about to be made into a sapphic “Blair Witch” style horror movie.

Two of the girls who died were co-founders of a club called The Plain Bad Heroines, which admires Mary’s unapologetic attitude, are found dead in the woods with a copy of the book, attacked by a swarm of hornets in an orchard of rotting fruit. The third acquires it after their deaths and is literally poisoned by reading it near a plant in the campus greenhouse where she is caretaker. The headmistress confiscates it, convinced that it is cursed. As the students abandon the school, both the headmistress and her relationships begin to disintegrate, and trapped almost alone in a snowstorm, it’s hard to tell how much of a grip on reality she has left. She’s also left remembering her college days, where a love affair led to her eventual inheritance of Brookhants, chosen by her husband because of its reputation as a spiritually important location, in a very strange manner.

The horror movie based on Merritt’s book will star the popular actress Harper Harper and the less well-known actress Audrey Wood. Merritt initially is starstruck by Harper and they hit it off; her interactions with Audrey are more negative. The movie will be filmed at the actual Brookhants School and on the grounds, adding atmospheric creepiness. Once the filming starts, it seems nothing can go right– it’s almost like the production is cursed. This leaves Harper, Audrey, and Merritt, a lot of time for exploration on the Brookhants estate. Black apples, rotting vegetation, and ominous swarms of hornets in the woods ratchet up the tension, and eventually the story behind the Brookhants curse is revealed.

This is a doorstop of a book. After its tense begining, it slows down for some time and, had I not known there would be a payoff, I might have set it down. I think a large chunk of the Hollywood segment could have been easily eliminated to slim it down. This is where a lot of the present day characters’ personalities are established, and Merritt’s romantic interests start to develop, but it is just too drawn out.

Danforth isn’t subtle about centering lesbian and bisexual characters. It is even a point of contention in the casting of the movie, where Merritt objects to Audrey playing a lesbian role, assuming she must be straight, to have Audrey come out and say she’s bisexual. The headmistress’ memories of inheriting the school are all related to the romantic love she and her partner had for each other. even as she turns on her.

Plain Bad Heroines is also about as metafictional as you can get; it’s a fictional story inspired by a book by a real person, containing illustrations and images of what I’m pretty sure are news articles about the book, that a fictional author has written a fictional nonfiction book about, that is being made into a fictional movie being filmed found-footage style, as if it is nonfiction. Both the director and Harper Harper use social media to affect the narrative, so Harper’s Instagram posts document the movie shoot and all of its “cursed” problems for her followers, creating a Blair Witch effect of convincing the audience for the movie that the haunting is real. Even the people around Audrey and Merritt are in on the gaslighting, so that none of them know whether they can trust each other or reality. It’s clever, and the unreliability of the people around them and the way the reader knows the three women are being manipulated is distracting, but it doesn’t detract from the sense of atmospheric creepiness, dread, and tension, with hornets and rotting vegetation always around. You will never feel the same about hornets after reading this book.

Danforth actually has an author’s note where she discusses her discovery of Mary Maclane in researching hidden sapphic history, and that she wanted to bring that to light through Plain Bad Heroines. I never had heard of her and I found this fascinating. Unlike The Miseducation of Cameron Post this is not a YA novel, although it might be appreciated by some older YA readers, but certainly it is an original book with plenty of dread and some well-drawn lesbian and bisexual characters that will draw in readers of historical and metafictional horror, Hollywood, and haunted houses. It won’t be for everyone, but this book will certainly find its audience. Recommended.



Contains: violence, murder, body horror, sexual situations, insects

Comment

The language in this book was tedious and distracting. I really wanted to like it because of the storyline, but I could not finish it.

An incredibly satisfying book, hitting many of my wheelhouses. Part historical novel, part contemporary filmmaking novel, and all LGBTQ fiction. Both narratives were engrossing and fed off each other well, telling parallel tales of the lives of queer women at the beginning of the 20th century and today. It had just enough ghost story, just enough Rhode Island history, just enough Hollywood-life, and very enjoyable footnotes! Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an unbiased review.

Plain Bad Heroines mixes Victorian Gothic sapphic stories with a contemporary queer story. This was a really interesting back and forth, and the writing reflected the different timelines incredibly well. There were moments when I wanted to read more about Alex and Libbie, and other moments when I wanted more of Harper, Merritt and Audrey. The footnotes of the books made it increasingly enjoyable, and made you feel more involved in the book- as if it was being told to you directly. There was something dangerous and feral about the book that felt good to read, as these girls were not overly soft or polite. It felt realistic, even with the haunting aspects. The way everything wrapped itself up was interesting, but it's the only thing I would genuinely say I wanted more from.

Full review: 8/14/2020

When I heard the author speak on her book, her review was very intriguing-she described it as a "sapphic gothic," and since I am always on the lookout for original content, I checked it out-it certainly was original!
The story takes place in two time periods-in the early 1900's a schoolgirl cult based on the (real) autobiography of Mary MacLane was all the rage at The Brookhants School for Girls. But horrible things happened there-poisonings, yellow jacket attacks, and death on the stairs of the tower. Libbie who owned the school and was the principle, had to cope with these tragedies as her lover, Alex, grew more tormented and school attendance dwindled. Meanwhile, in the social media frenzy present, a movie is being made from the book The Happenings at Brookhants,, written by wunderkind Merritt , and starring Harper Harper, the hottest "celesbian" in America. Who knew that the present would start melting into the past?
The book, though humorous, was also horrifying and extremely creepy and the reader can never guess what the author is going to bring next.. It was a spectacular ride and I'm looking forward to seeing the REAL movie of the novel.

Finally finished this tome! This is the first Emily M. Danforth book I've read, and I'm pretty sure it won't be my last. Not only was the writing incredible, but this also had so many elements that I liked. Haunted gothic boarding school, a curse, sapphic polyamorous relationships, different timelines and POVs, and deliciously creepy vibes throughout the entire book.

I will admit I was a bit intimidated when I first picked this up, because it's by an author I've never read before and 600+ pages by an unknown author is a pretty big commitment lol. But I am happy to report that I flew through this beast like nothing! I absolutely loved this book and it only falls a star short just because I wish the ending was a bit more satisfying. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I will NEVER look at a yellowjacket the same 😅😅

*thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review*

Sorry. I can only read books that can be downloaded to my kindle.

Thanks for the approval, however.

God I wanted to love this book. I was really intrigued in the premise and I was so excited to have this awesome story within a story all about gay women. What I got was 200 pages of nothing. It was such a slog to get through just those 200 pages that I just can't imagine continuing on. I really am interested in the past stories and the synopsis, but the book hasn't even gotten to the synopsis yet. The characters are fine, but nothing great, and the plot at the moment is almost nonexistent. Sorry, but I just can't finish it.

This book was a strange combination of horror, humor and interpersonal drama. The horror elements were really creepy and well done. It also alternates between present and past storylines, all revolving around a boarding school for girls where some of the students met untimely ends, which is the basis for a movie in the present day.

While I enjoyed the storyline of this book overall, it was probably 200 pages too long and overly stuffed with meandering side plots and overly drawn out scenes and chapters.

This book is so many things at once and it does them all brilliantly. It's historical fiction and yet so aggressively modern in its language that I think it'll need (even more) explanatory notes in about ten years. It has no less than five point of view characters and they're all engaging, a feat in and of itself. The story jumps around but never lags, gives inside information and keeps you guessing, and it is so, so sapphic, in such a self-aware and unpretentious way. It's charming and delightful and spooky and thrilling and I am obsessed. The characters are each distinct and complex, jealous and selfish and hypocritical and fumbling in all the best ways. I had some minor gripes with the ending but absolutely worth the read and overall just entertaining. It's decidedly not the dark academia novel I thought I was picking up but it's the lesbian horror-comedy I needed. Thank you so much to HarperCollins for sending this to me I promise I'll never shut up about it 💕💕

PS I'm not sure anyone else cares but the writing had me very nostalgic for the voicey omniscient narrators and witty footnotes of my childhood (of The Name of This Book is Secret tradition) which like thank God

3.3 - wonderful, deep characters and character development - I wanted to love this book, but it was 200 pages too long, and it never drew me in

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC of this book.

Where do I even begin?? This novel is so many things. It’s a large, literary novel with a huge cast of intertwined characters. It‘s a creepy, terrifying story of a curse. It’s told from the point of view of an all-knowing narrator, who can read your mind along with the characters.’ It moves so languidly that you experience intimate moments with the characters, and it feels like you’re there with them. It’ll make you never look at a yellow jacket the same way again. It’s beautifully, unapologetically queer.

Also, this book contains footnotes, which I couldn’t read synchronously with the story, due to the format of the advanced reading document. They seem to be an essential part of the reading experience though, and I’ll for sure be buying a physical copy of this so I can experience it fully.

My one complaint is that I was not expecting it to end when it did! I wanted more, and there are infinitely more stories that could have been told. But I guess that’s the mark of a good story: when you wish you were still reading it.

Now I need this to be a TV show. Or a movie. Or both. I just need more content. In the meantime, I’ll be thinking about this book, and I’ll probably visit Brookhants in a dream or two.

A compelling modern gothic tale, that unfortunately kept pulling me out of the story with a couple devices the author used: too often she addresses the readers (“dear readers”) and uses footnotes that, though they were often interesting, half the time also pulled me out of the story and old me how to interpret what I just had or was about to read. This felt like someone was taking the book out of my hands and telling me what to think rather than letting readers develop their own assumptions based on the narrative. Despite this, I was still quite engaged with the novel, which is deliciously creepy and wonderfully queer.

The plot is fun. The characters are well drawn. The writing is simple. Recommend if you're a plot-reader. [Goodreads]

Longer review on blog letzbeereal.com

This story is so many things at once! Horror, boarding schools, movie making, writers and actors, queer romance, and angry yellow jackets just for starters. I loved it! This is also a huge epic story, but I still hated when it ended. Following two timelines, this is a book about a movie about a book ...about a book. There is a lot going on, but it's all sharp and clever fun.

This week I had the absolute pleasure of reading Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth! Many thanks to Danforth, HarperCollins, and Netgalley for the e-galley.

Plain Bad Heroines is a sprawling and complex novel that interrogates the horror and violence of gay women’s restricted lives. It follows the haunting of two generations of American lesbians, one century apart. With an extensive cast of well-developed characters from both generations--1902′s reckless idealist; 2014′s magnetic celesbian; 1902′s brash social climber; 2014′s prickly misanthrope; and on and on--it manages to establish a world where gay women seize the autonomy to make decisions that matter.

In 1902, we follow Libbie Brookhants, the young, wealthy principal of the Brookhants School for Girls. At her side always is her partner, Alexandra Trills. Libbie and Alex are in the difficult position of keeping the school and their relationship together after a series of tragic and mysterious student deaths. The notion that the school might be cursed, and Libbie and Alex at the center of a haunting, becomes a concern of increasing significance as a creeping sense of wrongness encroaches on their life together.

And in 2014, we follow celesbian actor Harper Harper (you read that right) and decidedly less famous Audrey Wells as they prepare for production on the film version of The Happenings at Brookhants. Consulting on the production is Merritt Emmons, the historian and author behind the nonfiction book it’s based on. The production is a mess, with all three women asked to make uncomfortable and dangerous sacrifices for the sake of the film, and the lines between reality and nonreality begin to blur in a decidedly uncinematic way.

As Harper, Audrey and Merritt come together and clash in the contemporary story, Libbie and Alex’s relationship fractures in the past. The maybe-curse haunting Brookhants deals damage to all of their lives, none of which were in great shape in the first place. Faced with dangerous conditions that take a toll on their ability to tell reality from fiction, all five women flail for agency in differnet ways, sometimes becoming their worst selves.

With so much of the story focusing on a movie about a book which is in its own way about another book, it’s evident that Plain Bad Heroines is deeply concerned with the choices we make in storytelling, and the ways the narratives we tell affect the people who outlive them. As a text dedicated to granting humanity to the gay women at its center, it specifically focuses on the violence of narratives that are retracted, redacted, or incomplete. Fittingly, then, Danforth rather stylishly uses footnotes to expand on details throughout the text--but never are the secret lives of gay women relegated to footnote status, as they might be in other texts. Their lives (our lives) sprawl luxuriously in the heart of the pages. A distinctive (if occasionally cloying) narrator’s voice speaks to the reader directly (you may get sick of sentences that begin with the word “Readers”), feeding supplemental information that’s as likely to be real as it is to be made up. There is an implied question at the heart of the novel: what is a ghost if not an untold story?

I greatly enjoyed Plain Bad Heroines and highly recommend it for anyone interested in the same themes as me--lesbian secrets, women finding agency in tough spots, narrative erasure and violence, the horror in women’s constricted lives, flawed women making selfish choices that are the best choices they can make at the time. And there are a lot of surprises I won’t begin to touch here. But I do recommend checking it out, and I’d love to talk about it more after people have had a chance to read it. Plain Bad Heroines comes out on October 20, 2020.

This is an incredibly, staggeringly ambitious book and emily danforth pulls it off. The story is so big and sprawling, like Brookhants itself, and you can't even figure out how she did it. How on earth does a person come up with a story so rich and complex that is also very creepy and really funny?

Genius.

I first heard about Plain Bad Heroines during BookExpo's Adult Editor's Buzz session and I was really intrigued.
Queer people in love? Ghosts? Abandoned building with a haunted past? Yes, please!

Plain Bad Heroines switches between the past and present as it tells the story of an abandoned girls boarding school, closed after mysterious deaths plague the student body and over a hundred years later, when it is used as a set for a horror film. I don't want to go to into detail and give anything away so I'll only say it involves an orangerie.

It's certainly a wild ride and I had a lot of fun reading it. The best parts for me were definitely the slow building of the horror and individual POV chapters from the five main characters. I am a sucker for creepy reoccurring insect imagery so the yellow jackets were a nice addition to the horror scenes.

My only issue with the book was that it got a little confusing to me , especially in the second half. The directors plan in particular confused me. It was somewhat unclear to me why he chose to execute his plan the way he did and what pieces of the horror experiences were supernatural vs. orchestrated by him. The present story line felt a bit anti-climatic to me as well.

Overall, this book is creepy and fun. If you like stories about queer girls, history, psychological horror, ghost stories, and urban legends, you will probably enjoy this book a lot. It is technically an adult book but I think high school age readers could also appreciate the story as well.