Get ready to add this one to your spooky season TBR because it's p-e-r-f-e-c-t for it! This sapphic YA novel is dark, sinister, and gives major Jekyll and Hyde vibes. I actually wondered at one point if we were going to get a happy ending or not, and was totally okay with us not, because the social commentary on women's anger is real and important. And regardless of the fictional ending, which I won't spoil, the commentary IS important. It's exhausting towing the line between speaking up and being complacent and any hint of being a strong woman who speaks up for herself and others means you're often labelled as difficult, combative or angry, and all of our characters, for one reason or another, have to deal with this reality.⁠
Overall this story is giving you dark academia, a slow burn romance, ghosts, a murder mystery, and dark rituals that will keep you up and turning the pages into the night!

Years ago, tragedy hit Carvell Academy when four students were murdered. That mystery remains unsolved, but the school is finally reopening. Lottie and Alice are roommates who do not like each other. However, after Alice unwittingly stumbles upon a ritual, they find themselves working together and drawn more and more together.

This one had a lot of potential but didn't live up to it. I think there was too much set-up before we got to any spookiness. I also think there was no early chemistry between Lottie and Alice. Even in enemies-to-lovers tropes, there is some spark behind the dislike for each other. I didn't find that at all here.

"The Society for Soulless Girls" by Laura Steven is a captivating dark academia novel that delves into the realm of paranormal possibilities within the confines of a haunted university. The author skillfully weaves a tale that centers around the intriguing mysteries of Carvell College, but I found the ending to be hastily resolved. While the anticipation for a surprising plot twist is palpable, the story's ultimate direction might not deviate as much as hoped, as I was able to predict the outcome early on. I'd rate this book 3.5 stars for its atmospheric exploration of a haunted past and its engaging premise. The narrative keeps you engaged as Lottie's determination to uncover the truth and the chilling secrets of the North Tower unfold. Despite its predictable ending, "The Society for Soulless Girls" offers an immersive experience in the world of paranormal academia.

I've been trying to get my head around this book and why it was such a let down for me. A sapphic dark academia romp that was just so weak by the end. Each POV didn't have a defining style to help make each character stand out which is why it was so disappointing by the end.

This book was okay. I was expecting a cursed tower or at least an explanation behind something that was cursed, but the real killer was just a misogynistic man. This romance was timed very weirdly and felt unrealistic to the point where I was actively confused about how they could have caught feelings seemingly within days when they hated each other so much. The book really didn't leave me satisfied, but it was somewhat interesting nonetheless.

Ghost? An old convent turned into a school? Possession? Madness? Romance? And witchcraft? ALL IN ONE BOOK? Count me in a thousand times. This book had me mad, sad, and laughing all within a few chapters of each other and it couldn’t have been a better journey. I will recommend this book to anyone and everyone because it was the perfect book and perfect atmosphere. The vibes were vibing and I loved this with my entire soul!

I love a good mystical dark novel. Add in some slow burn lady love and a possibly immortal cat, and you've got a winner of a book. This one sucked me in. A uni reopens 10 years after it closed, because a string of deaths happened, with people falling from the tower of the old convent. Lottie and Alice join the first returning class and end up as roommates, with a view of the tower from their dorm room window. When Alice finds a book with rituals that she decides to try out and Lottie finds herself sleepwalking to the tower, they realize they're up against something big. The climax of this book seemed slightly subdued and there were a few threads that didn't feel tied up, so take that into consideration if thats something that might bother you. If you enjoyed If We Were Villains and They Never Learn, then this book is for you.

The new cover is definitely an improvement, but this book kind of just annoyed me. It had such promise - dark academia, Jekyll and Hyde retelling, sapphic romance.. and then just kind of squandered it? I dunno. The narrators were great though.

*Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and PRH Audio for the gifted ALC*

To start off, the premise of this book sounded so interesting, and the blurb made me so excited to dive into a dark academia with sapphic longing/romance. However, I found myself having issues with several things in this story to include: pacing/timeline, lack of characterization, lack of trigger warnings for on scene pet violence, and poor depictions of an autistic character. (Further details below.)

The pacing in this story in addition to the timeline had me confused throughout the entire book. The first half of the story felt incredible slow with small ripples of plot coming through that were immediately stilted by switching POV’s. Normally, a dual POV is my favorite kind of story to read; however, when the POV switched, I never knew where the story was going to start up again. At times, we picked up where the character left off in their last POV to see the same incidents through their eyes, and at other times, we would pick up in the same timeline where the other character left off. Also, even though this book took place in a single semester, there were several mentions of “weeks going by” at the start of a chapter and then several paragraphs later, we would find out it had been 1-2 weeks. The depictions felt lazy in trying to move the storyline along and quite confusing for the reader.

The story itself is told through the eyes of two girls – Alice and Lottie – who have arrived to a reopened college and are sharing a room together. The girls were intensely hostile and suspicious of each other IMMEDIATELY and awkwardly, and stayed this way throughout more than half of the book. To make matters worse, I couldn’t distinguish the two characters’ voices from each other in the first half of the book. Ideally, I believe one character was meant to be sunshiney and the one was meant to be grumpy, but the characters both went through various up’s and down’s that resulted in this being a poor way to differentiate their personalities and the only other true difference we received was that one was an athlete and their style of dressing was different.

The romance was even harder to feel coming – both characters made comments regarding the hotness of the other, but for the majority of the book, they were mad or suspicious of each other and having them end up together felt strangely odd. A third character even comments at one point “would you two stop flirting with each other” and I actually laughed because there had been hardly any flirtation at this point.

The fact that there was a very well-descripted on-scene graphic unaliving of a cat at the hands of and in the POV of one of our MC’s without a trigger warning at the beginning of the book is just upsetting. I’m hoping the TW has officially been added to the books and was unintentionally left off of the e-ARC.

However, one of the most upsetting items in this book for me was the poor depiction of an autistic character. This character acts as a new friend for our duo MC’s and refers to herself as either being “autistic or an alien”. While I didn’t particularly care for this description coming from the character themself, what I found even more upsetting is the fact that the word “alien” is then used as a descriptor and “endearing term” for the character repeatedly for the rest of the book. Why the author would choose in 2023 to estrange this character from the rest of the individuals in the book by using a term “alien” repeatedly is beyond my comprehension and should have been caught by sensitivity readers.

As a final unfortunate point, the plot of the book itself fell so completely flat in its summary that it only adds to the many disappointments I felt in this book. (I won’t even bother getting into the plotholes.) Normally, I don’t like to fully review or highlight books that I didn’t enjoy, but there were so many negatives in this book, I felt it necessary to share with my fellow readers. With so many amazing dark academia books on the market, I wouldn't recommend adding this story to your list.

Thank you to Randhom House Children’s and NetGalley for an E-ARC copy of this book.

I thought this book was really great! It was cute and very spooky. I'd definitely recommend reading this one.

“Anger left to run free is like wildfire, indiscriminate in its destruction. But if you learn to tame it, to position it, to take aim with it? Then it becomes a candle. And what is the candle but one of humanity's greatest assets. It warms. It nourishes. It shines a light in the darkest of places, and it illuminates the path forward.”

Carvel College of Arts was shut down 10 years ago after a series of murders in the North Tower. The culprit was never found. Now, it’s reopening its doors to a whole new set of students and most of the old staff.

Bubbly and popular Lottie is going to uni at Carvell on a full ride field hockey scholarship. However, her real reason for attending is to try and find out what happened to Janie, a girl from her hometown who was a victim of the North Tower murders. Maybe she can find something the cops couldn’t.

Loner and spooky girl Alice is also attending the college in hopes to be a judge. She’s battling dark thoughts that she sometimes acts on. It just so happens to be Lottie’s new roommate. As expected, the very different girls do not get along right out of the gate. Lottie is being called to the North Tower every night without any recollection of how she got there and she’s definitely been possessed. Alice is planning a dangerous ritual to help her be rid of her impure thoughts, but she’s not the only one.

The night of the ritual, another girl dies. Without any leads, Lottie is determined to find out who’s behind it. Was it really suicide as the cops thought or is there something more sinister ay play? The soul splitting ritual is just the beginning and the girls must ban together to finally put an end to the murderer and chaos that has taken over their lives. Can they solve the gruesome case and revert to how things were before it’s too late?

This had a lot of layers, but I think you have to in a story like this. I loved the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde aspect as well as being possessed by a long ago nun and having it all tie together. The LGBTQ+ angle was great, but I felt like it kinda came out of nowhere. I enjoyed this, but I didn’t love it. It was a quick read that definitely kept me interested. I’m struggling with how to rate this, but I think I settled on a 3.5⭐️. It’s worth the read and was entertaining, however I felt it had some plot holes.

I wanted to enjoy The Society of Soulless Girls but I found it to be a little too farfetched plot wise. While I enjoyed the atmospheric setting and lead up that author Laura Steven presented, the events happening were happening without care for how the girls should handle their feelings. This tale just didn't line up for me pacing wise.

Thank you to NetGalley,the author, Laura Steven, and the publisher, Electric Monkey, for granting me a copy of this book in return for my honest opinions.

Was expecting so much more from the book

The setting, Carvell College of Arts, and plot were so good. The book had so much promise, but just didn't make the mark. An underdeveloped plot, characters and no interconnecting theme.

I think the author was trying to go for an enemies to lovers theme with Alice and Lottie, but it just didn't jive. I could not see any connection drawing the two together.

It is a pass for me. Can't recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in return for a honest review.

I dnf’d at the 40% mark.

I have followed the author from almost day one on TikTok. The entire time, this book was being sold as a YA, dark academia, sapphic retelling of Jekyll and Hyde. Tell me why, there is not one mention or nod to Jekyll and Hyde. The only possible connectivity is the major “differences” between the two mcs, but then it should have been marketed as opposites attract or grumpy x sunshine. This is also supposed to be YA right? Then why do the mcs talk like middle aged men? Even their inner monologue and descriptions are so hard to read because they feel…….fraudulent. I really wanted to like this, the idea was fantastic but the execution was horrendous.

This is a deliciously suspenseful, atmospheric novel that’s perfect for Halloween! The book has a Jekyll and Hyde vibe, but uses it to explore female rage and the injustices big and small that women have had to contend with for centuries — and how they get their revenge. A great story, great writing, and compelling characters. It explores possession and the violent impulses women have, that everyone has and what would happen if we lost control of our anger. It also highlights the abuse inflicted on women throughout history when they allowed their deepest emotions to be seen.

The Society for Soulless Girls is a story about two roommates at a college trying to solve a series of unsolved murders. This did not give me Jekell and Hyde vibes at all and it did not really work for me. The writing was weird, and at times felt like I was reading a high schooler's English paper that was stuffed with every metaphor under the sun. The lead characters were not likable. One was trying way too hard to be cool and edgy to the point it became a distraction. The story itself made for an okay mystery and the school was a spooky place for the setting. The romance part seemed to not fit in with the rest, since the edgy girl never comes across as approachable in that manner. The ending kind of falls off and was not very satisfying.

This was a good book that traveled the line between suspense and supernatural. It was enjoyable and fast paced.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF 40%

I'm always game for a dark academic book, and from the description of this one, I figured it might have the sauce for an interesting read especially since it was supposed to have allusions to Jekyll and Hyde. While it was a pretty easy read, I ended up bailing at around the 40% mark. It was slow going with a lot of repetitive story telling. Since I just wrapped up a different book with similar story telling (the whole story rushed to a finish in the last 50 pages), I figured it was safer to save myself the time.

Things I didn't get from this book:

-Any Jekyll and Hyde reference
-In the description there was mention of the author using humor, I didn't see it
-Any mention of said society from the title of the book (from what I gather from reading other reviews is that you do eventually find out...)

I would say that if you're looking for an easy, quick read, then maybe give this one a shot, but it just wasn't my jam.

Y’all, this is a GOOD one. Perfectly spooky and middle grades appropriate, a wonderful addition for a middle or high school library.

A Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde retelling with queer main characters at a gothic university? *chefs kiss* perfection.

The Society for Soulless Girls is set at Carvell Acadamey where ten years ago four students lost their lives in a series of unsolved murders. The school has been shut for ten years but now it is finally reopening. Lottie is a freshman and is determined to find out what really happened. Her roommate Alice finds a ritual book in the library, another student ends up dead, and now there is another killer. Was it really a good idea to open the school back up? 

This was supposed to be a retelling of Jekyll and Hyde I personally did not get that vibe from this book. But I still liked this one. I thought this was a very wild book and it kept you on your toes. I think there was supposed to be a romance element in this book also. But I just didn't really get those vibes. The twist in this book was pretty predictable. But not a bad read for a YA book.