Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for dark academia, occult rituals, and sapphic romance, so this book really checked all the boxes for me on paper. And the story itself was quite good. There were some parts that slowed me down a little, and some questions that were left unanswered (all of which are lampshaded at the end), but I liked the idea behind it and the execution was decently engaging. The adults, especially the male professors, kind of ran together for me, and I found myself on a couple occasions having to go back and figure out which one was which, but that's the only major thing that threw me off. And the fact that this book was ultimately about female rage? Damn, I love that. A wonderful book for autumn spooky season reading.

Solid book for a younger demographic. Really enjoyed reading it, but didn't feel overwhelmingly strong about it.

This week’s headline? Remember Salem
Why this book? Supposed dark academia vibes
Which book format? ARC
Primary reading environment? Bed
Any preconceived notions? Not really
Identify most with? n/a
Three little words? “a supernatural pulse”
Goes well with? Philosophy texts, field hockey
Recommend this to? People who love YA gothic Jekyll/Hyde retellings and angry girls
Other cultural accompaniments: https://www.unitedbypop.com/young-adult-books/laura-steven-chats-researching-gothic-for-the-society-for-soulless-girls/
I leave you with this: “Every kid has a moment in their childhood when they realize just how terrifying the world can be.”
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Well. I was actually getting into this (I think around the halfway mark - my ARC only shows location instead of page numbers), when something horrible happened which made it difficult for me to even want to finish. I mean, I’ve read more visceral writing and was able to stomach it. Barring that scene, it’s a decent novel. I was enjoying how female anger was represented.

The Society for Soulless Girls is available now.

The Society for Soulless Girls is incredibly creepy with imperfect characters and danger looming from the very first page. Alice is so grumpy and borderline evil, unable to control the violent impulses that enter her brain. She threatens people and snaps, unable to get close to anyone until a shared secret draw her and Lottie together. Lottie is much more gregarious, making friends and playing field hockey. Aside from the fact that they both chose to enroll in a school that had been closed due to multiple deaths, they share a love of dark literature. They also share a fascination over the mysterious deaths of years before. Pretty much everyone does, considering the fact that they enrolled at the school to begin with.

Weeks and months pass too fast after the first half of the book. They felt like they passed too fast, with not enough small moments between to show growing relationships and realistic passage of time. They’re at a school, but they don’t talk about classes or grades. They’re going through all this horrific stuff like possession and murderous thoughts but we don’t get an outsider’s perspective on how Alice, Lottie, and Hafsah are being perceived. Alice and Lottie are roommates but Hafsah conveniently lives in a single. The mystery of Salem the black cat is never fully explained.

Alice and Lottie are well developed, though their development falls short over time as the plot further expands. But the plot is too weak to support their growth as characters and they kind of fall apart. A few nice moments and realizations aren’t enough to make up for that, though I remained intrigued until the end, so that’s something. Perhaps that has something to do with how fast paced the ending was, too. Lottie makes a wild assumption and apparently guesses correctly. Her role in all of this would have been better as just a helpful outsider. In the end, her possession doesn’t seem all that useful and just disappears as though it never happened in the first place. The entire possession plotline was inconsistent and wasn’t really useful.

Hafsah was my favorite character. Self described as autistic and potentially aromantic, she’s fun and aligns with many of the actions and behaviors I have, aside from the murderous rage, of course. She’s confident and comfortable in herself, for the most part. I wish she didn’t feel like so much of a too late addition to the story.

I enjoyed the book well enough. It was a compelling read for about half of the book and then the rest just sped by. I would recommend this for fans of the Haunting of Sunshine Girl and other creepy teen novels. Though the characters are in college, it doesn’t feel like they are based on their actions, so while this book wouldn’t be appropriate for middle grade, it feels comfortable enough for YA.

Carvell Academy of the Arts may have a sinister history of mysterious deaths, but Lottie Fitzwilliam is thrilled when she gets her acceptance letter. Not only is going to Carvell her dream, but so is uncovering the truth about the school’s sinister past. And it’s not until her roommate, Alice Wolfe, begins to act strangely that Lottie feels the need to start investigating.

How can Alice go from angry and violent to passive and docile so quickly? And why does it happen after Lottie catches her with an ancient looking book? And could it have anything to do with Lottie’s sleepwalking or the stones suddenly embedded in her throat? In order to find out, Lottie needs to brave getting close to Alice—even if it means possibly getting killed in the process.
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I’m sad to say this one missed the mark for me. While I was super intrigued with the mystery of Carvell and all the dark spooky shit going on, I found myself getting less and less compelled as the “truths” started coming out. The plot was really convoluted - just a lot of directions it tried to go in and the one it ended up in fell really short for me.

I also feel the relationship between Lottie & Alice felt really forced and I also really hate when the L word gets dropped so early. I don’t think is a bad book—I just think i had different expectations and that’s no fault of the author’s. I’d still recommend ppl to give it a try. It’s worth reading once, at least.

The premise of this book - a Jekyll and Hyde retelling involving a haunted school - was a huge draw for me. And while I did enjoy the read overall, it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for.

What I Liked:
The writing. I enjoyed Laura Steven’s writing throughout this book. I found the characters and their thoughts and dialogue to be believable and I quite enjoyed several metaphors and other quotes throughout the book.

”Time heals all wounds, but not the ones you leave infected.”

The anger. The anger that this book centers on really resonated with me. From main character, Alice’s, internal, impulsive anger, to a Jekyll and Hide-esque personality split involving evil alter egos, to the underlying feminine rage reviewed throughout the plot’s unveiling. This read spent a lot of time delving into the anger women carry, but are expected not reveal cast alongside an intertwined Jekyll and Hyde story of supernaturally caused alter egos.

”The real reason they encourage little girls not to fight. So that we won’t know how.”

Things That Didn’t Work For Me:

The romance. I love a good sapphic romance in my reads, especially in the sunshine/grumpy (or in this case more sunshine/rageful) variety. However, I found this one to not work for me. The flirting never felt too realistic to me and the characters spent so much time convincing themselves that they weren’t flirting, so by the time the decided they were interested, it felt to rushed since the book was coming to a close by then.

”Being a woman attracted to another woman was confusing; a constant game of comparison and lust. You never quite knew whether you were jealous of their body or just jealous of the person who got to touch it.”

The ending. The ending cape together all to quickly and left me unsatisfied. The plot for majority of the book moved at a slower pace, as there was a lot of inner thoughts and reflections from the characters that guided the story. And I can get behind a slow burn thriller. However, the ending felt like it was rushing to pull together all the loose ends (of which some were never answered) and the manner in which the plot ended was unexpected - in a manner that left me saying <i>huh?</i> rather than gasping in shock.

Overall, I did enjoy this read, especially the many quotes that resonated with me (I could fill this entire review with more quotes I loved.)

Thanks NetGalley and Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press for the ARC of this book

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for providing me with an eARC of The Society for Soulless Girls in exchange for my honest review!

The dark academia and supernatural mystery atmosphere is thriving in this book, which took a bit of time to pull me in at first, but then I became gripped by the twists and turns of the plot and Lottie and Alice's dynamic. Their slow-burn chemistry is compelling to follow, and I like the ins and outs of the morally gray facets they explore of themselves and the world around them. Hafsah is also interesting as a side character, providing some darkly comedic relief to lighten things up. Thematically, I appreciate how this becomes a cautionary tale about the ways in which our patriarchal society forces women to bottle up their anger, their upset feelings, any emotions that break them out of the submissive roles created for them by traditional gender norms. The ending does feel a bit too rapid for my taste, and I'm not sure how satisfied I am with the purposeful choice to leave some questions unanswered, but these complaints are fairly small at the end of the day.

Overall, I'm officially rating The Society for Soulless Girls 3.75 out of 5 stars, which I'll round up to 4 stars. I'll keep an eye out for more of Laura Steven's work in the future.

I was very excited to receive an advanced copy of this novel—Jekyll and Hyde, gothic vibes, and dark academia speak to my soul. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher—opinions are my own.

The characters in this story were great. I loved the pacing, the dynamic between Alice and Lottie and their views on the school, and people in general. I loved the way the author showed similar situations from each of the POV character viewpoints and the contrast there.

Setting was also stellar. Every description felt touchable, and I loved the addition of Salem.

The one thing that left me feeling let down was the execution of the mystery. There were leaps in logic, especially by Lottie, where I lost the thread. I wish the ending would’ve been a little more exciting…it almost felt like we were plodding to the end when it should’ve been fast-paced and thrilling.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read!

Carvell is an elite College of the Arts that was closed down ten years ago after a string of unsolved murders took place. Now ten years later Carvell is reopening and Lottie can’t wait to attend, hoping to get to the bottom of what happened all those years ago. Lottie and and her roommate, Alice, couldn’t be more different, but when they both stumble upon the sinister goings on at Carvell they forge a bond through their shared experiences.

The Society for Soulless Girls is a YA thriller full of the supernatural with a. Fair amount of horror. I enjoyed the premise and the characters, but the horror element of this book wasn’t for me. I am not a horror fan, but I enjoy fantasy so I thought I’d check this book out. It was well written and I enjoyed the book overall, but the horror was too much for me to fully enjoy this book in a way that a true horror fan could. The author did a good job of creating the world surrounding Carvell and the intrigue of the school. This was a good book, just not my cup of read. It was a good October read! I think this would be a good book for fans of horror and the supernatural.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book!

This was a great story with mystery, adventure and lots of magical happenings. I really enjoyed it and I thought the main character was very relatable.

4.5* thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book! This book was so fantastic! I’m so mad at myself for putting off reading it. This book is a sapphic dark academia with murders mystery and rituals! I highly recommend checking it out if you enjoy any of those things! My only issue with this book was its dual POV, only because sometimes it was difficult to remember which POV you were reading but otherwise a fantastic read.

I thought I would love this book… sapphic enemies to lovers, dark academia, Jekyll and Hyde retelling? It sounded amazing, but I’m sad to say it missed the mark for me.
The world building felt shallow, the characters’ inner monologues were annoying, and the romance wasn’t believable to me. I really tried to enjoy it but it was just horrible.

The Society for Soulless Girls is a sapphic retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which in my opinion, is a really underused supernatural story (in comparison to Frankenstein or Dracula). It takes place at a college, and is full of sus rituals, spooky convents, mysterious deaths, and a golden retriever/black cat roommate pairing that turns into... maybe more? I was engrossed from start to finish in the book and couldn't tell where it was going. I fell in love with Lottie right away, and although Alice is a bit of an acquired taste, it was easy to relate to her anger. More angry girls in fiction, please!

The only thing that I didn't really like was the ending. It felt a little rushed, and like the author wanted to wrap it up neatly but didn't know how. I'm not sure if there was a 'right' way to do the ending, but it did feel a little lacking to me, and cheap in a "yeah! feminism!" kind of way, which sucked, because otherwise I thought the book touched on a lot of important topics and feelings for women, and I'm worried that the ending will lead some people to disregard the other, better articulated sentiments in the rest of the book, so I took off half a star for that.

Creepy School
Dark Academia
Paranormal Mystery
Sapphic
Grumpy Sunshine
Atmospheric
Jekyll & Hyde Retelling
Enemies to Lovers
New Adult

Atmospheric and creepy with paranormal suspense, this was quite a read. I really enjoyed the story, the ending does come at you fast but putting together the pieces of the mystery took me longer than half the book and I appreciate that.

The retelling was unique- Jekyll & Hyde but make it sapphic and at a school and full of feminine rage.

Laura Steven, you mad genius.

If you love all things:
YA sapphic
dark academia
mystery
Slow burn
enemies-to-lovers
Supernatural

Then this is the Halloween time read for you. Highly recommend.

Thank you to Random House Children's, Delacorte Press, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

This book is dedicated to girls who were born angry; so if that sounds like you, then this story is one you’re not going to want to miss.

Carvell College of Arts is finally reopening after being closed for the past decade due to the unsolved mystery of several students plummeting to their deaths from the North Tower, & Lottie has enrolled determined to find some answers. The same night that Lottie’s roommate Alice decides to try performing a ritual from an arcane book she found in the library, the North Tower strikes again.

There are many elements that I loved about this book: the historic college that used to be a convent, the campus cat that’s rumored to be immortal (named Salem), the sapphic sexual tension between Lottie & Alice & being able to flip back & forth between their POVs, the serious yet stylish black-lipsticked librarian, the fact that the dean studied at Oxford with Tolkien. However I think the absolute best part is the overall message around female rage: it’s not to be avoided or tamped down, it should be embraced & channeled.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Children’s for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book hit a lot of marks for me. It's got 90's setting, a dark atmosphere at the school, slow burn, and the overall gothic ambiance.

I enjoyed the unexplained incidents, the character growth of Alice and Lottie, and what in the world is going on in the North Tower?

I don't think this is a bad book at all. Towards the end it does get a bit slow, but then has a pick up towards the end that sucks you back in.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A really interesting entry that takes a look into a murder mystery with more than a few plots twists. While it was a little predictable in places it was still an enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

This retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde was fun from the jump. A murder mystery for the sapphics and neurodivergent representation that isn’t robot human. I really enjoyed this one and found myself genuinely intrigued by the mystery. Loved it.

**Review ⭐⭐⭐.5 (3.5)/5 (rounded up to 4)**
After 10 years, Carvell Academy of the Arts is reopening. The deaths of 4 students forced the prestigious institution to shut down, and with the cases run cold many still question whether or not it should ever invite students back. For different reasons, roommates Lottie Fitzwilliam and Alice Wolfe both find themselves at Carvell with something to prove. While Lottie begins to investigate the decade-old mystery, Alice finds herself drawn to a mysterious, dark book in the library–and suddenly, another student dies. Can Lottie and Alice trust each other enough to find out what’s happening and Carvell to save the school, and themselves?

I am so conflicted. For the majority of this book, it was the sapphic dark academia mystery of my dreams. Loved the characters, an intriguing slow burn/enemies-to-lovers relationship (and written for a YA audience!), and a super intriguing premise. Up until the end, it was a solid 4 stars! However–even for the age range–the ending felt like a bit of a letdown. Without giving anything away, I think there was a more nuanced way to make the amazing argument of this book that would have still been accessible to YA audiences, and I felt the end didn’t have the integrity of the majority of what came before it.

However, I can think of students this book would resonate with, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to a YA audience. Overall the book is compelling, and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

**Acknowledgments & Disclaimers**
✨ Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Random House Children’s, for providing an ARC and the opportunity to share an honest review of this book.
✨ All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
✨ My reviews and ratings strive to evaluate books within their own age-demographic and genre.