At this time, I will not be posting a review on Goodreads.

I am still only 24% into the book, but I am determined to continue. However I recognize that I need to write some sort of review here, or refuse.

I requested this book as Dark Academia is my favorite genre, however to my great shock & surprise once I started reading, I found out the setting is a little too familiar to me, & I cannot stop pointing out the inaccuracies in it's portrayal (which I am sure is done on purpose, as this particular setting is completely fictional, I'm just familiar with one that would be very similar due the circumstances laid out in the text).

I recognize this is an extremely unique problem to have with a book, & therefore if it clouds my judgement of the whole book, I will continue to refrain from rating on Goodreads. I'm rating neutrally here as all other parts of the book are there so far, & I am continuing to read as I'm still interested. I will update my rating & review here as soon as I finish.

This was great! It's very dark and sinister and atmospheric. The story moves at a good pace and the characters are well developed. I think the story is unique and well done. Overall, I would recommend this! Special Thank you to Laura Steven,Random House Children's and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable retelling of Jekyll and Hyde with a twist of enemies to lovers, dark academia and murder mystery.
The book is written dual pov by the the mai h characters Alice and Lottie. Lottie is a hockey player, who’s parents are worried about her attending the school after the murders, but she’s intent on finding out exactly what really happened when her friend committed suicide by jumping off the North Tower. On the other hand you have Alice. Total opposite to Lottie. She’s Lotties roommate, gothic, anger management issues and is attending the school to be closed to her mother.
The characters are well developed and the story flows. There’s plenty of twist and turns throughout the story.
Overall, I really enjoyed it and I wish it had more. I thought the ending felt flat and the romance was rushed.
If you’re fan of dark academia, ya Murder mystery, enemies to lovers and dark settings this is definitely the story for you.

Unfortunately, I struggled with this one. The first third or so seemed slow and a few times throughout I got a bit lost with where the story was going. I didn't buy into the romance and it seemed more for convenience sake of the plot.

The twist on Jekyll and Hyde was pretty cool and the gothic setting lent a nice atmosphere to the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the copy.

5 Reasons to Read

Gothic Setting

I now want to visit Northumberland the next time I visit England and I really hope there’s a spooky castle style university. This setting is so atmospheric with it’s gothic style writing. I felt like I was looking out the window at a large towered building at twilight with the clouds moving past the moonlit sky. So good!

Enemies to Lovers Romance

Alice does not like Lottie from the first interaction she has with her. Lottie’s cheery personality is the complete opposite of Alice’s “leave me alone or I’ll cut you” vibes.

Dark Rituals & Demon Possessions

Um. Wow. This book is filled with lots of creepy things, including possible possession from a slightly demonic nun. When rituals are performed things start to really get crazy!

Murder

It’s been ten years since the school shut down after a girl fell from the tower to her death. School isn’t in session for long before they find another body. Lottie is determined to figure out what is going on at the school and who is responsible.

Secret Societies

The ending to this madness of a book includes Alice stumbling onto Carvell’s darkest secrets and she may have more in common with the familiar faces around campus than she thought.

I loved this story, the characters and everything about it. I would definitely recommend it if you haven’t already.
10/10

I'm having such conflicting opinions over The Society For Soulless Girls, because:

-as an English lit geek who was more than a little like Alice Wolfe in college, it checks every single one of my boxes
-female rage is SUCH a huge topic right now and the way that Laura Steven wove it into every fiber of the book, including our Jekyll and Hyde twist, is brilliant
-the setting is gorgeously done and evocative. Absolutely remarkable dark academia and one of the finest that I've read in the genre
-did I mention the Jekyll and Hyde twist is brilliant? It's brilliant
-the secret society that gives the book its name is incredible, and I love how layered it is (spoiler: there are actually two societies and they're BOTH more than meets the eye). Honestly, the twists and turns and parallels in this book are stunning and should have had me gasping out loud while I was reading it BUT...

-I really struggled to connect with the writing, particularly Lottie's voice. There were many times that I put the book down and was reluctant to pick it back up, which is a shame because, thematically, it has a lot going for it. I think it's because Lottie and Alice blended into each other a lot, except for when Lottie was annoyingly sunshiney
-The romance felt very, very rushed at the end. I did get hints of sapphic desire throughout, but I didn't really root for either of them together. I actually liked Hafsah, an autistic side character (love the rep! Would read an entire Hafsah-centered story) with Alice better?

However, I think I was definitely a victim of my own expectations (and age!). I feel like if I'd read this in my angsty teenage years, I would have DEVOURED it, and so I do think it's really worthwhile. And, aso: I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover but...look at it!! Both versions--the dark navy butterflies on one my Goodreads page and the girl holding a burgundy book on my NetGalley version--are literally stunning. Even though I didn't love it like I wanted to, I think many people will and I want to see that cover everywhere.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Delacorte, and Laura Steven for providing me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄
🖤 Sapphic enemies to lovers
🧾 Dark academia
🧙‍♀️ Witchy vibes
🌦 Grumpy/Sunshine
👀 Dual POV

Definitely check the content warnings for this book before reading because it gets dark!

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓
The Society for Soulless Girls is a sapphic Jekyll and Hyde retelling full of dark academia vibes and feminine rage. The story is told from two different perspectives by Lottie and Alice who are both attending a prestigious academy that just reopened after being shut down for a string of mysterious deaths. From here, the story goes absolutely crazy including a murderous nun, an allegedly immortal cat, an evil librarian, and so much more.

𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒
I was in love with the first half of the book, but the second half was a little too much for me. The violence in the story ramped up and the writing seemed to decline. There wasn’t a whole lot of romance (which isn’t a big deal to me), but the romance that did happen felt forced and just an unnecessary plot point. I thought this was going to be a 5/5⭐ read, but it ended up being a 3.5/5⭐ due to some of the content and how it ended.

Thank you for this advanced copy from NetGalley and the publishers. I read this at the perfect time. It's being published at the perfect time. I read the audiobook from my library. I loved it. This story was a complete roller coaster. Every time I thought I knew what was going on, the author said 'sike!' and things went the opposite way. I think the atmosphere and vibes of this story were perfection. It was spooky and creepy with hints of magic and wondering what was actually going on. The story was perfectly suspenseful. It definitely was a little dark and more gruesome than I thought it was going to be and there's a graphic description of an animal death that I didn't love. I definitely will recommend this for the spooky season.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review!

The Society of Soulless Girls takes place at Carvell Academy, a prestigious school that reopened after four students were found death ten year prior. Lottie and Alice, who are roommates, are swept in when another death happens a few weeks after the reopening.

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

Trigger warnings; blood, gore, death, murder, graphic animal death, misogyny, sexual assault, mental illness, injury detail

I read the synopsis for this book and immediately wanted to read it! It gave me all the gothic, creepy vibes perfect for autumn and the spooky season! I do have to say that the book can definitely be triggering to some and no trigger warnings were given at the start, so I would advise looking those up.

The first thing I noticed were the very short chapters! Both Lottie and Alice had their POV’s and a very distinguishable voice. With both of their chapters quite short it was very easy to say to myself “oh, just one more chapter” and promptly read more than one hahaha.

I really liked the atmosphere created! It truly felt haunting and creepy at a lot of times. Some horror elements were also introduced and I loved the supernatural touch to the story. It fitted really well with the narrative, but still was told in a very believable way. As if it truly could’ve happened like that, which I really like! I did feel like some parts of the story could’ve been better explained in the end though.

While I felt that the characters had a distinguishable voice, they were very similar. Especially the philosophical talks in their thoughts were similar and a bit too much for me. The double POV does really help to get to know both characters intimately and not just through the view of one character. It made me sympathize with them more, whereas I don’t think I would’ve liked them as much if there was only one POV.

The romance was definitely very much a SLOW BURN. I had expected a bit more of the romance and development. I also don’t really feel like they were enemies in the beginning, just more two girl who didn’t know each other yet.

I did very much like the view on feminism in this book. It was an interesting take that could’ve been explored a bit more in my opinion.

I liked the ending and how it resolved in the end, albeit it feeling a bit rushed. It felt like that was all stuffed in one chapter, which were already short by themselves. I think a bit more explanation would’ve been better.

Overall, The Society for Soulless Girls is a haunting book that tackles the topic of feminism, anger and what it means to be a woman. A perfect mystery for the spooky season!



<spoiler> Like, I still don’t understand why or how the rubies appeared on Lottie’s throat. </spoiler>

I was absolutely obsessed!! Society for Soulless Girls had me sitting at the edge of my seat the entire time I read it. I'm a sucker for Catholic undertones in a dark academia situation and this book was perfect for me! Laura Steven's books are the perfect choice for me since there is nothing I love more than a sapphic dark academia retelling of an old novel.



***A review of this book will be up on my Instagram @readswithmila n the coming weeks

Thank you to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Laura Steven for this arc for free in exchange for an honest review.

I have never read a retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The author did a good job of setting the scene for it though. The pacing was a bit off because some chapters seemed like it was building up to an amazing event but when it actually came it didn’t feel as good as the buildup. However, I liked how she gave a backstory of the school and dove right in to the main characters flaws. Overall the book was good, it did take me a little to start reading it and actually get into it. I do recommend if you like quick, dark academia books with some teen drama.

Happy Wednesday y’all! I’m starting to get my first fall cold of the season, and it’s for sure the worst- I love the fall and the winter, but being sick is my least favorite part of these two seasons. One of the only good things about being sick is extra time to read though! Speaking of reading, today’s my stop on the TBR and Beyond Tours tour for The Society for Soulless Girls. The summary of this book intrigued me, so I was super excited to read it!

The Society for Soulless Girls 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:

A sapphic enemies-to-lovers retelling of Jekyll & Hyde, this dark academia thriller follows two roommates who must solve an infamous cold case of serial murders on their campus after an arcane ritual gone wrong prompts another death.

Ten years ago, four students lost their lives in the infamous North Tower murders at the elite Carvell College of Arts, forcing Carvell to close its doors.
Now Carvell is reopening, and fearless freshman Lottie is determined to find out what really happened. But when her beautiful but standoffish roommate, Alice, stumbles upon a sinister soul-splitting ritual hidden in Carvell’s haunted library, the North Tower claims another victim.
Can Lottie uncover the truth before the North Tower strikes again? Can Alice reverse the ritual before her monstrous alter ego consumes her? And will they give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between them?

Exploring possession and ambition, lust and bloodlust, femininity and violence, The Society of Soulless Girls is perfect for fans of The Secret History, A Lesson in Vengeance, and The Grimrose Girls.
Content Warning: sexual harassment, on page animal death, suicide, self-harm, violence, murder, physical abuse

The Society for Soulless Girls was such a fall book. It was super atmospheric and I could completely picture it happening while the leaves turned and the wind had a chill to it. I really enjoyed the college campus and the magic about. Alice and Lottie were such interesting characters and I really liked how every single professor seemed like they had something to hide. The murders were interesting and I wasn’t sure who had done them until Lottie and Alice had also discovered who had done them. The ritual was interesting and the possession was also an interesting concept- I’m still unsure how the person who wrote the book with the ritual was able to figure out that ritual when the first time it was done was hundreds of years ago (or whenever the sister was alive). Overall, I really enjoyed The Society for Soulless Girls and I recommend picking it up today! Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Not sure if it’s just me but I got some My Best Friend’s Exorcism vibes while reading The Society for Soulless Girls (at least during the first half). Around halfway I started to lose interest. Mostly I was wondering how the book got its title. Thankfully that does get answered but it takes most the book to get a solid understanding.

At its core I do like that this group of women take charge because they realize that many women are being forced to act a certain way in order to prove their anger is an act of the devil. The very end was unexpected but yet a really good way to resolve how terribly the society was treated and forced to endure.

I love the chance to be able to read all sorts of new stories out there and given the fact that I have recently gotten into the horror/thriller genre and reading more of these stories in this particular genre, I am glad I got my hands to read rhis one.


This one sets out to give similar vibes to Alex Brown's Damned if you do and Chelsea Ichaso's They're watching you in which both have queer main characters, involves lesbians falling in love while solving mysteries, murders and battling with supernatural vibes that made me feel right at home with this one. I liked the story even if it did take me a while to get into it and so, while it also took some time to warm myself up to the characters, I definitely liked the humor and the twists and turns that had me trying to figure out what would happen next. It was a pretty good read overall even if it also took a bit more effort to get into this one.


Overall: 3.5/5 stars

A sapphic romance with teeth!

Dark and mesmerizing, this story of female anger and empowerment will have you laughing, crying and railing against the oppressor. I can’t get over how powerful it is and how beautifully it is told.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

I have never read a retelling of Jekyll and Hyde so I was beyond excited to begin with this one. This sapphic, dark academia, enemies to lovers story was atmospheric, mysterious, and delved on the misogynist idea that powerful and scorned women are monsters that need to be dealt with! I loved the badass characters that fought against this abhorrent belief and flipped this idea on its head. I listened to the audio as I read along in my book and I enjoyed the two narrators.

I recommend this YA thriller to all those who identify with the author’s dedication: “For The Girls Who Were Born Angry”.

Laura Steven's is officially an auto-buy for me. So glad more of her work is being published in the US. I loved this twisty, weird, dark academia gem.

This is a riveting page-turner that seamlessly blends elements of mystery, horror, and the supernatural to create an electrifying reading experience. The vivid and atmospheric descriptions help to bring the story to life, making it feel all the more haunting and immersive. The conclusion is both satisfying and unexpected, tying up loose ends while leaving room for a sense of mystery to linger. Overall this is a captivating and haunting tale that will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers, supernatural mysteries, and dark academia.

The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven is a unique sapphic enemies-to-lovers retelling of Jekyll & Hyde.
An interesting dark academia thriller that follows two roommates who must solve an infamous cold case of serial murders on their campus after an arcane ritual gone wrong prompts another death.
This slow burn mystery had me so intrigued and flipping my ebook pages throughout the entire night.
This book was very well written. I was able to read fairly fast and it kept me entertained.
The characters were well developed, the writing is engaging, and the story is still entertaining.

“Exploring possession and ambition, lust and bloodlust, femininity and violence, The Society for Soulless Girls is perfect for fans of The Secret History, A Lesson in Vengeance, and The Grimrose Girls.”

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Delacorte Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!