A Society for Soulless Girls is an amazing young adult dark academic book. We are given a dual perspective, Lottie and Alice, throughout the book, along with beautiful descriptions. Usually, I have a hard time visualizing what I am reading, but Laura Steven’s described these dark academic vibes, old buildings and surroundings, right down to the smells and feelings. I felt like I was right there with the main characters, smelling what they were, and feeling what they felt. One of my favourite lines was the description of Lottie’s father sounding like sunshine and honeybees. I did not connect with Lottie as much as I did with Alice. She is introverted and finds love and comfort in libraries.

Laura Steven’s made sure we had really great Sapphic and ace representation. And she did not shy away from some very loved tropes from enemy to lovers with a nice slow burn, grumpy/sunshine, and, of course, the one bed trope.

If you are looking for a beautifully written Jekyll and Hyde retelling containing Sapphic main characters on a dark academic exclusive boarding school back drop, I highly recommend you give A Society for Soulless Girls a go. You will not regret it.

{3.5/5}

CW: animal cruelty, violence, death, suicide, references to assault, some others

Read via NetGalley.

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

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde gets a modern, haunted twist in this sapphic murder mystery.
Charlotte, Lottie, obsessed with a 10 year old murder, and haunted by some unknown force that draws her to the site of those deaths.
Alice, full of rage and lashing out at everyone and everything around her.
Someone or something terrorized Carvell’s campus 10 years ago, and it looks like the danger isn’t over yet. Can the girls figure out what’s going on before even more lives are claimed?

A slow start almost rendered this one dead in the water for me, but things rapidly picked up, and it ended up being a pretty good book. Major points lost for graphic (and, really, unnecessary) animal cruelty, though. I almost DNF’d it at that point; I’m not a squeamish sort of person, but it made me sick to my stomach. Putting that significant flaw to the side, the rest of the book was fairly entertaining, and I found it to be an interesting spin on Jekyll and Hyde.

Adding to the Jekyll and Hyde blend, we have a moderate dose of slow burn, grumpy/sunshine romance in a dark academia setting. I was concerned at first that this was going to turn into one of those ‘the real monsters were us all along,’ ‘humanity is the real evil’ type stories, but no! This was a definitively ghost-y, haunted, magic-y type of story, and my unceasing desire for a removal from reality was appeased.

The story is told in a first person dual POV, alternating between Alice and Lottie. The two couldn’t be more different—Alice is full of uncontrolled rage, while Lottie is sunshine incarnate. The two viewpoints provided a nice insight into the workings of the girls’ minds, while also letting the reader see more of the moving parts of the plot. I personally really enjoy dual POV stories, so this was a nice change for a genre where, at least in my experience, it’s usually a limited (and debatably unreliable) singular narrator.

Overall, a decent read. The humor was on point, the mystery and angst were engaging, and the MCs didn’t feel like they’d been reduced to caricatures of their basic personalities. I think a lot of readers will relate to one or both of the girls, and the heaping dose of feminine rage that gradually builds through the latter half of the book is likely to leave said readers spoiling for a fight. The romance wasn’t quite A-list for me, but it didn’t detract overmuch from the story and I like both characters individually. This turned out to be a satisfactorily unnerving read, and I’d definitely check out more of the author’s work in the future.

I really enjoyed the setting of this really old school, it definitely gave the Dark Acedemia vibes. Alice was my favorite, I think she was the most interesting and compelling of our main characters. Lottie was good, I guess I just didn't really understand why she felt the need to go to this school to investigate the murder of a girl from her hometown she didn't even know. I did like the slow burn between Alice and Lottie they went from disdain to a kind of uneasy truce, to friendship, and a little more although I didn't think the story really needed a romance element.
I thought the supernatural elements were great, and once Lottie and Alice started working together to solve their problems the pace of the story really took off and I didn't want to put it down.

A thrilling paranormal mystery about feminine rage.

Lottie is obsessed with the 4 murders that happened at the university 10 years ago. When the school re-opens, she applies, determined to solve the case. Alice is angry at everything, including her sunshine roommate Lottie. When strange things start happening to them both, they have to team up to get to the bottom of it, before someone else dies.

The thing I loved most about this was the pure rage Alice feels, especially about the oppression of women, relegating their anger to madness over the years. Through its supernatural lens, it shows the injustice of it all. Also loved the asexual (demi?) rep in Lottie.

Immerse yourself in a captivating sapphic reimagining of Jekyll & Hyde, set in the 90s and enriched with elements of dark academia, chilling rituals, and mysterious murders. Carvell Academy of Arts, an elite institution, was marred by an unsolved case that claimed four students' lives a decade ago, prompting its closure. A decade later, the school reopens its doors.

Lottie Fitzwilliam embodies pure sunshine, yet her true motive for attending Carvell is to unravel the enigma surrounding the past murders and uncover the truth. Alice Wolfe aspires to focus on her career, but her mounting anger and violent tendencies hold her back. When Alice and Lottie become roommates, their relationship starts on the wrong foot, exacerbated by Alice's near assault at Lottie's birthday party. Despite Lottie's efforts, Alice wants nothing to do with her, and Alice succumbs to her volatile emotions.

The narrative takes a dark turn when Alice stumbles upon a sinister book in the library, offering a ritual to control her anger. She reluctantly attempts the ritual, leading to a new wave of murders. Meanwhile, Lottie experiences unexplained sleepwalking episodes, and mysterious rubies appear embedded in her neck. Both girls grapple with their rapidly deteriorating sanity and must work together to solve the case, all while a relentless killer hunts them down.

While the concept of a sapphic enemies-to-lovers twist on Jekyll and Hyde, set within a backdrop of dark academia, held great promise, the execution left much to be desired. Alice and Lottie's chemistry felt forced, making it challenging to believe in their burgeoning romance. The overall mystery and its resolution fell disappointingly flat, given the story's potential with elements like murder, possession, and secret societies. The plot felt disjointed and cluttered, hindering its overall flow. It's disheartening to see a story with such potential fall short.

If you are a fan of dark academia narratives intertwined with mystery and possession, you might still want to give this book a try. Your mileage may vary, as they say. I really feel this is a case of “Really, it’s not you, it’s me.” Solid 3 of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The Society for Soulless Girls will be published on September 19, 2023

I did not realize that The Society for Soulless Girls was a retelling of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson and now this book makes a bit more sense to me.

Other than that, I'd describe this as a paranormal, opposites attract f/f academic romance.

Alice and Lottie are roommates at Carvell College for the Arts. Lottie is a sunny athlete on scholarship, while philosophy student Alice is a prickly loner.

Everyone at Carvell is aware of the terrible North Tower Murders and happy that hte school is finally opening again.

Lottie and Alice aren't really geting along ... or are they just secretly attracted to one another as they investigate what's going on at Carvell?

I felt that this book was a bit long, but really enjoyed watching the Alice/Lottie relationship play out. The book also deals with female anger (thus and Jekyll and Hyde thing...)

A solid sapphic paranormal romance that I think a lot of teen readers will love!

I LOVED this book. The writing sucked me in from the very first page and didn't let me go. Laura Steven perfectly captured the dark academia vibes in this book. I was completely enthralled in the mystery and the sapphic longing was just the cherry on top. Laura Steven is a new auto-buy author for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Carvell is a university that was shut down after the untimely and mysterious deaths of several students. Ten years later, it reopens, and students are back on campus. Roommates Alice and Lottie couldn't be more different, but together they begin to discover dark secrets about the university...secrets that could potentially spell their doom.

This book was okay. It was slow and predictable. The supernatural elements felt shoehorned in and didn't really fit with the rest of the narrative. I wanted more than I got and was left feeling unfulfilled.

This was a pretty solid middle of the pack YA thriller. There were some things I really liked about this one and some things that fell sort of flat for me. I was very excited when I saw the Jekyll and Hyde dark academia description and I did think the atmosphere and vibe of the book were pretty spot on. There was some great humor, but not as much as I was expecting with what was advertised. I LOVED the exploration of female rage. I thought that was so well done. The actual mystery of the book was really interesting, but it just took a long time to really get going, which brings me to my issue with the pacing. It was a very slow and repetitive start with Alice and Lottie, but about 40% in, things start happening and my interest was much more piqued. Character wise, I found Alice much more compelling than Lottie and also I would have LOVED for Hafsah to have her own POV. She was just great. The romance is one of the slowest burns I’ve ever read, but when it did come, I thought it was really sweet. Overall, not a bad read at all, but not one that knocked my socks off.
TW: animal death, death, murder, violence

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Delacourte Press for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

A sapphic enemies-to-lovers retelling of Jekyll & Hyde with a touch of dark academia, rituals, and murder! At the elite school called Carvell Academy of Arts, four students died in an infamous unsolved case that happened ten years ago, forcing the school to shut down. Now, ten years later the school is open again....

Lottie Fitzwilliam is sunshine personified, but her real reason for wanting to attend Carvell is to solve the murder cases and find out what really happened. Alice Wolfe just wants to focus on her career, but the only thing holding her back is her anger that keeps growing inside her, and her violent impulses. Alice and Lottie are made roommates but immediately get off on the wrong foot, especially when Alice nearly stabs a guy at Lotte's birthday party. No matter how hard Lottie tries, Alice wants nothing to do with her and Alice keeps indulging in her anger and violence. Things take a turn when Alice stumbles upon a sinister book in the library that offers to help her split her soul in a ritual... maybe that will finally be the answer to all her anger issues. Alice doesn't want to be angry and violent, so she takes the ritual and actually does it.... but then people end up murdered again... and now there's a killer on the loose. It doesn't help that Lottie is finding herself sleep walking with no recollection of whats happening to her and the fact that rubies have started appearing on her neck, literally embedded into her neck. Alice is also losing her mind, both girls are trying to figure out what is happening to them but they'll have to work together to solve the case, unless the killer finds them first.

I loved the idea of a sapphic enemies-to-lovers retelling of Jekyll and Hyde with a dash of dark academia, sadly however this one fell flat for me. I was so excited and ended up being disappointed by the actual book. Alice and Lottie don't have any chemistry at all and it was hard to believe they fell for each other. The overall mystery and resolution felt lackluster, I mean the story had murder, possession, secret society, and it still wasn't good (WHICH IS SO SAD). The plot felt all over the place and cluttered and the flow was clunky at best, I really wish I could like this more because it had all the pieces to being one of my favorite books ever and it just didn't work,

If you like dark academia stories with a bit of mystery and possession, then give this a go, maybe you'll have a better time with it then I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I enjoyed this one just fine. There's a tough balance between a book being too long vs. giving enough information; this one rode that fence line - a little wobbly in places, but overall, successful in that it wasn't too long and I followed the plot for the most part. Strong themes of feminism and the perpetual oppression of women, along with a cute Sapphic love story. Fun!

A sapphic enemies to lovers, set in a gothic university in the 90s, with a supernatural murder mystery. The premise is right up my alley, and yet I feel super conflicted on this one!

The author's scene-setting and atmospheric prose were great, and really paid homage to historical gothic literature. I just feel as though the entire book leaned a little too heavily on the slow burn aspect, both in Lottie and Alice's budding romance and in the murders storyline. Both resolved rather quickly and unsatisfactorily in the last twenty pages or so, leaving me wanting more time to explore both. The villain and their motivation also felt a little surface-level feminism 101. The concept of female rage and the anger in young women is a really cool topic, and I felt like it wasn't stretched to its fullest potential here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is the perfect dark academia novel to kick off spooky season. It's 100 degrees and I was reading this on my Kindle while drinking pumpkin cider, all hopped up on the idea of autumn.
The setting: former-convent -turned-college-campus that's reopening a decade after closing because of a semester full of suspicious tragedy.
The main characters: a grumpy/sunshine roommate duo that start off on rough footing but grow to depend upon another while fighting against an unknown darkness.
The vibes: sapphic + immaculate.
My only gripe: it's a little heavy handed on the feminist messaging sometimes. I'm pro the message, just wish the author would have trusted us a bit more to understand it without it feeling a little... lecture-y at times.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this novel.

There was a lot I liked about this book. I enjoyed the dark academia vibes. I enjoyed the whole idea of the ritual and the mystery of this story. I also really enjoyed the writing at times. There were some really beautiful passages in this book. This book had a lot of stuff that I really like, however, this one ended up being very middle of the road for me. I felt like the story dragged a bit in the middle and lost my interest. I also wish it would have gotten a little bit darker. I think I probably would have enjoyed this one a bit more if it wasn't YA. I would have liked to experience more of the romance as well as more of the horrors.

Ultimately, I thought this book was fine and would recommend it for people who enjoy YA, dark academia, and stories with some supernatural elements.

I expected to like this, but I didn’t expect to get as sucked in and love the characters as much as I did! I think we can all agree that both Lottie and Alice are quite unlikeable at the beginning of the book in their own ways, but they became so very human with each passing chapter.

I loved the commentary on feminine rage and sisterhood that was laced throughout the book. I loved the gothic elements and the supernatural that was woven into the story so masterfully.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author and publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House Children, and Delacorte Press for this Kindle ARC. I would call this a modern day Jekyll & Hyde story about two college roommates who are enemies but become lovers by the end of the novel.

Carvell College of the Arts was shut down ten years prior after the murder of four students, but has now reopened. Lottie, a field hockey player who also wants to be a writer has an ulterior motive for wanting to attend this college. She is obsessed with finding out the truth behind the four murdered students and has been drawn to attend this school. Her roommate, Alice, wants to be a judge and is attending because it gets her away from her home life but is not too far away. Alice also has some anger issues and her rage is easily brought forward by anyone who mistreats her.

This novel explores how female rage is treated, explores an enemies to lovers trope, explores possession, has a focus on gothic supernatural happenings, quotes from philosophy and literature that would be recognized by high school teens, and the mystery behind the soul-splitting ritual.

I think most readers with both hate and love the two main characters at times throughout the novel, but in the end be pleased.

If your into ritual stuff this would be the book for you but this book just didn’t capture my attention, and it’s slow going….

*Actual rating is 3.5 stars*

This book is described as a sapphic dark academia retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with supernatural elements and female rage. While I don’t normally go for any of that, this combo was just too intriguing to pass up. I love a mystery.

Most of the book chugged alone at a steady pace. There were murders, demonic rituals and a sapphic awakening - all with a private school backdrop. There were enough interesting things to keep my interest. Especially the dark atmosphere of the school, and the mystery surrounding the sinister North Tower. The book is dual perspective in first person, and I wasn’t a fan of that. It’s just easier to keep track of the different characters with third person pov. I enjoyed both Lottie and Alice, but they definitely both felt quite a bit stereotypical at times. You got the bubbly, sporty blonde girl and then the dark, gothic and socially rude dark haired girl. I wish there had been more to them, and their relationship.Because this was one of the slowest slow burns I’ve read to date. Also the girl's anger could have been more fleshed out in its portrayal.

So I did enjoy the book for most of it. But then the story reached the climax, and it was pretty underwhelming to be honest. Like, what was that ending?! It was supposed to be this big reveal, but I just found it boring. Which isn’t a great thing when the whole book had led up to that moment, and then it doesn’t deliver. If you’re gonna read this book, then be prepared to only enjoy the journey.

The author starts this one off with the acknowledgment of my dreams.

"For the girls who were born angry."

The Society for Soulless Girls is a modern ('90s, if I remember correctly) and sapphic retelling of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. It is about the fury of a woman, the quiet and loud traumas of girlhood and ambition.

Alice (grumpy) and Lottie (sunshine) are roommates at a newly reopened Carvell College, which was shut down after four unsolved murders a decade prior to the events of this book. With their enemies-ish start, they eventually must set aside their differences to uncover the truth before it's too late. Why? Because the mysterious deaths have restarted.

This novel fits in almost seamlessly fits into the dark academia, and is a stellar contribution to the genre that is far more focused on men. The mysteries within the college had me fascinated and, more importantly, the characters were so beautifully done, with them being foils of each other. Their differences only make the themes of this book stronger, which is a definite plus.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

The Society for Soulless girls centers around Lottie and Alice, two roommates who are polar opposites. Lottie is a tall, sunshine of a student athlete with ulterior motives when it comes to attending Carvell. While she enjoys their literature program, she wants to investigate the North Tower Deaths, which caught her attention when a local girl perished to the Tower years before. Alice, on the other hand, is a spiky, pixie-like goth who has a violent edge. She ends up hurting everyone she gets close to, so she prefers to stay away. Alice and Lottie, however, find themselves coming closer together after another mysterious Tower death. Both emotionally and paranormally.

I’m so glad I came across this book. I was scrolling through NetGalley, looking for something a bit different to give an ARC review for and I just finished reading The Spirit Bares Its Teeth. I was looking for something more eerie regarding either an all-girls school or a sanatarium. While The Society For Soulless Girls was neither, it still had a heavily female character list and centered around mental health/anger.

Admittedly, I didn’t remember that it was a retelling of Jekyll and Hyde until I re-read the synopsis, but I really enjoy how Laura Steven twisted it to make it so. I liked both of our main characters, Alice and Lottie, and I found myself relating to Lottie a lot.

The pros:

-I really enjoyed the dark academia vibe this book had without being way too pretentious. I love the aesthetic, but I feel at times that people who partake come off as somewhat elitist at times. There was never really that feeling, even though it’s implied the school’s an elite school.

-I related to Lottie a lot. Someone else didn’t quite like her discovery of sexuality, but that’s the thing about sexuality. It’s a spectrum and the more you grow to know yourself, the more you change and that can include sexuality. Especially at 19-20, you’re still learning about yourself as you slowly get used to being a grown up.

-I’m usually not the biggest fan of multi-POV stories, but this book warranted it. If we weren’t in Alice’s headspace, I don’t know how much we would be able to empathize with her, especially after the Salem incident. (I know, she came back to life. Still.) But we see it’s a struggle between good and bad.

-I liked that the love story was a side plot and wasn’t too heavy when it didn’t need to be. Also, I think all of the dots connected well and we’re foreshadowed appropriately.

The Cons:

-I really don’t like how Hasfah referred to herself as an alien. There’s already so much of a stigma around being autistic and unless the author is autistic herself, I don’t feel that she called herself an alien so often.

-The first part before Poppy died could’ve been cut down just slightly. We already know what the “normal” landscape is like.

-I wish the ending was slightly more solid. I think it needed a longer wrap up, see the resolution slot into place a bit more rather than it be in a few paragraphs.

-I entirely forgot who Salem was after she was first introduced because she only really came up again a few chapters before Alice “killed” her, so I wish she would’ve been integrated a bit more into Part 1. Also, why Salem?!?!

Even though I have some qualms, I really enjoyed this novel! It’s definitely in one of my top tens and I’ll be buying it. I can’t wait to look at Laura’s other stories and see what they’re like!