I generally don’t read dark academia books. Usually, I don’t gravitate them. I just don’t know why. But I was intrigued by this book, especially with the book cover. And unfortunately, this book wasn’t it. I’m just not a dark academia girl. if you love, dark academia, then this book is for you.

This book just wasn’t for me. I felt like the pacing was a little too slow and I never found myself eager to pick the book back up. It wasn’t the writing that I didn’t care for but the development of the story.

This book was everything I hoped for!! Hilarious, creepy and fun. I loved the twists and was everything I hoped for! I went in not knowing a lot and that was perfect!

i felt so disconnected with the characters. everything just fell so out of place. The premise had me excited for this book but it was such a huge let down.

I am so so sad this didn't work for me. Everytime I thought about it I ended up knocking more stars so I had to put it out of my mind.

An elite school that has been closed for years due to the sudden and mysterious deaths of four students is now reopened and our incoming freshman find themselves wrapped up in the ten year old mystery.

We have a sapphic dark academia book with plenty of mystery, the story was enrapturing enough to forget that it's a retelling.

The Society for Soulless Girls was a dark and twisty tale that kept me up all night reading. I love dark academia--it's my favorite genre, and this is a welcome addition to the canon. I really enjoyed getting to know the two main characters, Lottie and Alice, and I was so pleased about how they constantly surprised me. They were well-written and complex multilayered characters who were dealing with some really tough stuff. There was some dark magic at play here, and the Jekyll/Hyde aspect was fascinating. I loved watching these girls interact with their world and with each other.

The world building was also really well done. I could vividly picture Carvall, and wanted to attend classes there. There were definitely some Truly Devious vibes in the world building, which I loved, as that's one of my favorite series. It was marvelous.

I took it down one star because I really cannot deal with animal death, and the cat death in the book felt unnecessary and terrible, especially after having just lost my own sweet girl. I could really have done without that. That might have been a "me" problem and not a "book" problem, but that really bothered me, and I am usually rather difficult to bother. Otherwise, great characters, great writing, loved the mystery and the worldbuilding.

This really had the potential to be a very good book. Maybe I couldn't get into it because I picked it up when I was in between other books, never reading it consistently. Maybe it was just too drawn out. Maybe it just wasn't the book for me.

I do think the storyline is intriguing and that someone out there will love it.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

While I enjoyed the writing, I feel like I've read this story before. It was entertaining enough, but friends acting like Jekyll and Hyde is pretty redundant for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book. It played with the classics and intertwined them with a story of rage, love and finding yourself. I fell for Alice and Lottie and their journey. I think this would be a great story for high school or college literature class, it was so wonderfully written and relevant.

Rating: 3.5 stars

I felt the book progressively got better as time as passed. The school that was previously closed due to mysterious deaths is now open up again, and then a string of mysterious deaths occur again at that same school. Honestly, I didn't have any expectations for the book, but it was worth a read. The character development could use some improvement, and the beginning of the book could've been better executed.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I am starting to enjoy thrillers a lot more than I did before. This was a bit of a crazy read. The college closed do to some students lost their lives, but now the school is reopening and there is a chance it could happen all over again. The girls relationship was enjoyable and they were really opposites was amazing. I need to look into more books by this author.

Fun enough as a YA thriller, but fails to live up to the advertised description. This story had a lot of potential and I wish it would've been fleshed out to the MAX, however it fell quite short for me.

I absolutely loved this book and setting. A little Jekyll & Hyde, with enemies to lovers teaming up to solve a decades old crime. If you love books, mystery, elite private schools and a LGBTQ love twist, this book is for you!

TW: death, body horror, discussion of suicide/murder, blood letting, blood consumption
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This book was lowkey terrifying and disturbing and I definitely had to put it down a few times to calm down.

But.

This book was amazing, well-written, full of badass females taking back their power and owning their pain. The Society exists not because it wanted to be, but because it is a need. Women are always taught to be small and control ourselves and the like…what is one to do when so many injustices have been wrought against one? Take it? No. We fight back.

‘Power is only vouchsafed to the man who dares to stoop and pick it up.’ (Quote from Crime & Punishment by Dostoevsky).
Let’s stoop, bitches.
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This is a sapphic, modern gothic retelling of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
I'm not sure if it wad the share name of Lottie combined with the sapphic grumpy x sunshine, but it at first had a wholesome likness to The Rosewood Chronicles. It also reminded me of Claire and Elise from The Coldest Touch.

"Laura Steven's 'The Society for Soulless Girls' is a captivating blend of historical fiction and fantasy, set in the enchanting Victorian era.

The book weaves a compelling narrative, drawing readers into a world of dark secrets and forbidden magic. The protagonist's journey is both empowering and relatable, and the intricate world-building adds depth to the story.

While the pacing may feel a bit rushed at times, the overall plot and the well-crafted characters make this novel a thrilling and immersive experience!

It never fails - when a book character arrives at an elite school there is bound to be secret societies and/or ancient evils. This book is no different. It does have something of a novel approach but the general thrust of the plot is fairly expected. Its dense and sort of plodding so it requires patient reading.

An interesting story inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was definitely atmospheric and moody; I liked the two main characters but I didn’t necessarily think they had chemistry, so seeing them as a couple didn’t quite work for me, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying this story!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Ten years after the North Tower murders led to the unsolved deaths of four Carvell students, the school is finally able to reopen and welcoming in both old and new members of staff and a new host of students. Among these new students are Lottie and Alice, who are thrown together as roommates despite their almost immediate struggles getting along. Between Alice's struggles to control her anger and to keep herself in check and Lottie's obsession with researching and investigating the long-cold case of the North Tower murders, their first days at the newly opened Carvell are difficult enough as it is. And things only get worse after another student dies in a way eerily similar to the original murders. Is this the killer's return, a copycat, or a horrific coincidence? And to what lengths will Alice and Lottie go to find the truth?

Using a Jekyll & Hyde retelling as a way to explore the depths of feminine rage isn't something I ever thought I would see, but Laura Steven really went out there and did it, and she did it so well. The mystery kept me guessing throughout and the slowly shifting relationship between Lottie and Alice was so interesting to watch as they each floundered to protect themselves and later one another from the darkness haunting their school. I spent most of this book seething angrily, and not in a bad way like you might think. Watching Alice and Lottie and their friend Hafsah and so many other girls and women on Carvell's campus be repeatedly corrected and looked down upon for any actions or behavior that wasn't deemed to be ladylike by the men in the story was such an upsetting and deeply relatable experience to read about, and I'm honestly so grateful to Laura Steven for writing a story where girl's are taught their whole lives to fear and hate their anger and their rage and finally learn to come to terms with it as a part of who they are and even to embrace it. Because feminine rage is not the evil it is painted by so many to be, and this story proves that you are still important and, even more so, can still be *good,* even with your anger.

Alice, on the other hand, is not as excited