“Eleanor Faderman knew many books. But never before had she read a book that seemed to know her.”

Most importantly: I loved this book. I read it over a month and spent it slowly winding through each layer of this story within a story within a story. I started off reading an e-arc from Netgalley, but this book just begged to be annotated so I ended up buying a physical copy and finishing it from there.

I actually really liked the alternating story lines. I was completely invested in each character and what was happening to them so I was always eager to get back to both the past and the present time lines. I’m always a big fan of multi-POV books and every character (even the Narrator) had an interesting thought process and the way they handled the events happening to them.

Plain Bad Heroines has everything: haunted land, creepy gothic vibes, heroines you don’t necessarily always like, Sapphic yearning, and a beautifully layered story that Emily M. Danforth slowly peels back for you revealing that things you thought you knew were definitely wrong. This is absolutely going to be a book I reread to try and find all the little clues along the way.

But this book was also beautiful aesthetically. I love the cover, but the interior design is amazing. The full scene sketches and the little yellow jackets you find throughout the pages really added to the story for me. Highly recommend picking this up.

I simply loved it! It's a complex book with multilayered plots and dueling timelines. Plus quotes, illustrations, and footnotes! Who could ask for more? Some have had issues with the book not having enough "of this or that" but I really enjoyed the journey of the different stories in and of itself. If you're looking for an earth-shattering climax, major sex scenes, or pure horror then this is not the book for you. If you want something original that will immerse you in a spooky, sometimes funny, world of yellowjackets, movies, lesbians, and death, please read this book!

This is literally the best book to read after binge watching The Haunting of Bly Manor. It gave me all of the same spooky, gothic romantic feelings after I finished the show and genuinely scared me at times. By far my favorite scenes were those in the present- but I definitely loved the past storylines as well. The relationships were so intriguing and I was obsessed with the epic threesome that was Harper Harper, Merritt, and Audrey. The jealousy? The intense sexual pining? The SAPHIC energy? I’m forced to say this is a new favorite.

I tried, I really did. I just couldn't get into this book. Partly the writing just didn't work for me and partly I just couldn't get invested in the modern day storyline. There's a reader out there for this, it just isn't me.

Whoa this book was a wild ride. I loved it. At the beginning it was a little difficult to keep all the separate stories straight but I was soon sucked in. This book was gorgeously told and definitely got creepy at times.

Very strange book. Very confusing - but builds to an acceptable ending. A little hard to get interested in - slow to start - but builds along the way.

It's dark, queer, horror metafiction about women protagonists who you hate AND love simultaneously. What more might you need in a novel that's truly dark fun?

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth is absolutely brilliant! Danforth braids multiple storylines and timelines seamlessly while presenting readers with well-crafted characters, gothic tropes, ill-fated lovers, terrifying yellow jackets, and lesbians.

Each of Danforth’s main characters is a queer woman, and each one is so believably real and flawed that you can’t help but fall in love with them. The strained relationship between Libbie and Alex kept me anxiously turning pages until their bitter ends. And I thoroughly enjoyed Merritt’s prickly nature, Harper Harper’s effortless celebrity, and Audrey’s miserable B-list status, but I loved the chemistry between the three of them the most—the quick attraction between Merritt and Harper Harper, and the antagonism between Audrey and Merritt.

Danforth’s talent for storytelling is evident in how she lays out the pieces, slowly revealing each layer. Plain Bad Heroines opens with Mary MacLane’s book, which leads the reader to the tragic deaths of Flo and Clara, and introduces us to the Brookhants School for Girls and the doomed lovers, Libbie and Alex. From the mysterious deaths on the Brookhants campus, Danforth weaves in wunderkind author Merritt Emmons, and celebrity lesbian Harper Harper, and B-list actor Audrey Wells. And throughout the whole story, the treads that bind it all together stem from a book and a curse that’s not fully revealed until the very end. Plain Bad Heroines is not a short story, it is a deliciously long one, and I savored each and every page.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys time-hopping tales, smart and spooky gothic novels, and queer characters.

As much as I wanted to like this book, I unfortunately did not. At over 600 pages, it really dragged and I can't say that any of the characters were particularly likeable. Was it beautifully Sapphic, yes. Was it a horror book? NO. There were a few moments of foreboding but it all fizzled out at the end. I am proud of myself for pushing through this slog of a novel.

First things first, I listened to this one on audiobook as opposed to reading a physical copy, and I think that's where it mostly went wrong for me! At a whopping 19 hours and 27 minutes, this book was a COMMITMENT.

The concept and dual storylines intrigued me! This novel takes place in the early 1900's at Brookhants School for Girls, as well as in modern day following movie star Harper Harper (no that's not a typo), author Meritt Emmons, and childstar Audrey Wells. Both timelines are plagued by a mysterious force, seemingly creating haunting, illusionary experiences to traumatize the characters, as well as confuse the readers to what horrors truly lie at Brookhants. The earlier timeline follows the opening of the school, and the beginning of the horrors, and the modern timeline follows the women involved in a movie reenactment of the initial story.

I should say I do love a creepy story, and was itching (pun intended) to read this one! I had heard so many amazing things about the author's beautiful writing style, but the style didn't translate well to audio. The dual timelines were extremely confusing to follow in the first quarter of the book, and the slow build was just too slow. If the book had been around 350-400 pages, as opposed to the 600+, resulting in almost a full day's audiobook, this would have been a 4 or 5 star read for me.

The husky voiced narrator was the perfect complement to this unnerving story spanning decades and with a large cast of queer "heroines." This is a long listen, and despite bumping it up to 1.5x it took me almost two months to get through it due to pandemic times. I feel like this would be better listened to as a re-read, as I've been told here are extensive footnotes in the print edition, and I admit I struggled to keep characters straight in my brain.

That said, the enjoyed this story quite a bit, and it was creepy enough to keep me interested but not too scary that I couldn't listen to it.

The characters are incredibly detailed and rich, and the footnotes are very cool--which on the one hand was great because I wanted to read them, but on the other hand, broke up my reading. The Gilded Age was definitely gothic and spooky, but I thought the contemporary part wasn't as strong?

I actually received an ARC of this way back in the beginning of the year (thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins!), but the length and all the other weird crap happening this year somewhat daunted me, and I never got around to actually reading it ... until my buddy Ron Charles printed HIS rave review in WaPo, which impelled me to crack it open.

But I think the wait was actually perfect, since after the annual Booker marathon and the drudgery of the US election, I desperately NEEDED something fun and different - and boy howdy, is this just that in spades! Although it took me 10 days to read it, that is no reflection on the book itself - for the most part it is involving, nah, often riveting, and just so clever. Sure, maybe a judicious final edit COULD have eliminated some of the more languid passages and cut a good 100 pages, but it never seemed particularly plodding.

Often when, as here, there are two separate stories told in two different time periods, one is vastly more interesting and entertaining than the other - but both these stories are sufficiently fleshed out and intriguing that one doesn't really prefer one to the other - they are BOTH essential.

A final note - since several reviews pointed out how central to the plot Mary MacLane's 1902 memoir I Await the Devil's Coming is to this, I felt it MIGHT be essential to have read that prior to, so I did - although it might have marginally increased my appreciation, MacLane's book is a repetitious slog, and Danforth provides plenty of quotes, so that it isn't really necessary to wade through it to get the gist. And Truman Capote's Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel is ALSO invoked and plays a part - one of the few things I thought DIDN'T particularly work well - but is also unnecessary to have read to enjoy this. If you want something totally bonkers, but a helluva lot of fun, this is the book for you.

Listen, I'd give this book 100,000 stars if I could. I absolutely loved it. I adore a witty narrator and this book delivered in spades. It was honestly too scary for me to read alone in my apartment at night so I could only read it during the day so it took longer to read (although the 400 pages didn't hurt either). I could honestly read 400 more. Definitely a top 5 favorite book I've read this year. I'm recommending it to _everyone_ and buying my own copy.

This book was such a fun ride-- I couldn't put it down. I loved the back and forth between the sinister happenings in early 1900s at the Brookhants School for Girls, and the modern adaptation of the tragic and mysterious tales as a film. It's hard to review without giving too much away!

The narrator could have easily felt gimmicky and instead worked throughout the whole 600+ pages and added excellent dashes of humor. Loved this and can't wait to recommend to others.

Started reading this book with much anticipation. The glowing reviews made it seem that this was going to be a hell of a read, but sorry to say, this has not happened. I believe that the writing style may appeal to many readers but not me.. This read should be given personal attempt because it may be enjoyed by many. It just happened that I am not one of them.

After loving a the Mosefucation of Cameron Post so dearly, I have been waiting for Emily MmDanforth’s second novel very impatiently. She does not disappoint with a gothic school girl tale that’s enchanting and mysterious, and a great read. I purchased this for ,y library, and will be looking forward to her next book.

Plain Bad Heroines is just like angel's trumpet - slowly intoxicating until you can't think of anything else.

Hi friends! I received this book from HarperCollins and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book has already been published, so you can read it now if you’re interested! Although I received this book for free, all thoughts and feedback are my own.


Synopsis & Quick Thoughts
Plain Bad Heroines is Emily M. Danforth’s adult debut that follows sets of heroines past and present. At the Brookhants School for Girls, three young women are found dead, the same novel found in their hands, the causes of death somewhat mysterious. Today, three women travel to the school again to take part in a film based off a book written about the events past (authored by one of our present-day heroines). Upon arriving back at Brookhants, strange happenings being to occur again, and it becomes clear to everyone that things aren’t as they seem.

This book could have been SO GOOD. The mere conception of this plot idea points to an incredibly thoughtful and clever author. The plot is largely character-driven and the development was fantastic. But then….nothing ever happened. There are certainly many things about this novel to praise, but ultimately the sentiments that will stick with me with this book was that it was a long read with an unsatisfying build.

Positives
The pure plot construct of this novel is incredible. It’s confusing when I say this is a book about a movie based on a book about deaths at a school stemming from a club about a book. What an incredibly complex plot to execute, and it was done so well with minimal confusion. The dual plotlines were also both interesting and captivating (although the fact that one of the perspectives also alternated timelines as well was confusing). I think I preferred the plot with Harper, Meritt, and Audrey, but by no means did I dread the other timeline.

In terms of other positive notes that don’t need to be as expanded on: I enjoyed the atmosphere of both plotlines; it gave me gothic vibes which I always love and greatly enjoy. The horror elements were creepy and atmospheric but not downright scary and tended to build suspense and tension more than attempt to scare the reader, which is a type of horror I enjoy as well. I really enjoyed the LGBTQ+ representation in this book (almost every main character and secondary character!), and while the romance was not a driving point in the plot I did appreciate the dynamics between Merritt, Audrey, and Harper specifically and how their relationship concludes by the end of the novel.

Negatives
With so many overt positives that cover nearly every aspect of this book, I was admittedly surprised at the disappointment I felt upon finishing. I think the main issue I have with Plain Bad Heroines is that it builds to a sort of nothing. The horror elements present in the earlier parts of the plot are never fully explained, and the two plotlines running concurrently throughout the length of the novel never intersected or interacted in any way in the end, like one would generally expect them to do. It just left me with a strange and unsatisfying feeling, especially since the book was so long (and dragged in parts, especially toward the beginning) and had so much page space to intertwine and connect these said plotlines.

My next point is more a matter of differing expectations, but I was under the impression that ere would be more focus on the school or the film shootings themselves than there actually was; honestly I had previously defined this book as a semi-dark academia, which it absolutely is not. In fact, the original heroines that the film is based on are not present at all in the past plotline of the story (it focuses on two faculty members instead). In the present-day story, the written events encompass the hours in which the Brookhants deaths aren’t being filmed. Again, this wouldn’t have been as much of an issue if I knew more of what to expect, but I felt like the plot was slower and less focused because of these choices.

Rating & Final Thoughts
I think I’m right in-between on this book, so I’ll have to give Plain Bad Heroines 3 out of 5 stars! Some people will absolutely love this book. If you’re looking for good LGBTQ+ representation, light atmospheric horror, and character-driven plot, this is your gal. I enjoyed the overall plot ideas and characters a good amount, but ultimately the length and unsatisfying ending kept me from liking this book as much as I wanted to.