Thank you NetGalley for this Arc. However this is an honest review!

The authors note gives a really good summary of these included in the story. However I feel that a few of the components were underwhelming. At its heart this is a mystery story . It’s a very slow moving mystery in the first 50 percent but it picks up and becomes very intriguing in the last half which in turn increased my enjoyment of this book. The mystery was great in this story. The so called romance and coming of age story could have used some more developing If you can push through the first 50 percent you will really enjoy this book. However with the pacing being so slow in the beginning and the underwhelming parts . I’m setting on 3.5 rating

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

What a journey!
Obsessed.

Slow burn-dark academia thriller with some sapphic romance. Yes please! I ate this up! It was a little bit of a slow start but this author doesn’t miss.

Sade is starting at a prestigious boarding school after only ever being home schooled. But when both of her parents die she enrolls. She is starting mid year and has a bit of catch up luckily her roommate seems pretty chill. Until her roommate Elizabeth goes missing and Sade is left trying to figure out what is going on at this school that doesn’t seem too bothered that a kid went missing.

I think this is technically YA but definitely explores heavier themes so take care whilst reading. But it was so good. The mystery was enjoyable and how it unfolded was surprising and I loved the nods at the beginning to Mean Girls.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an alc.

This is gold. I was intimidated by the length of this book at first but once I started it I could not stop listening. It could be 100 hours and I would have continued to listen. I loved it!
The narration is absolute perfection! The setting is amazing. I loved the characters.
And I could not predict this story. I thought it was going one way and then it went another way.
Also my cat Muffin died a few days ago so I loved hearing the name. I was so invested in these fictional kids.
I was really happy when someone died too. Loved that

The book started off really strong for me and was well layered and paced. However, it felt like it dragged on a bit too much. I feel like this should have been about 50-75 pages shorter than it was. I started feeling disengaged with the story as it dragged on. Great concept and interesting plot though!

This audiobook was made available to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the narrator for this novel! Her tone, inflection and pronunciation were ideal for this story. I appreciated the use of different tones and accents to differentiate between characters. I'll be seeking out novels narrated by Natalie Simpson in the future.

This is a young adult thriller. Sade is a new student at Alfred Noble Academy. She's all alone, her mother died some years ago, her father died more recently. As to her life before Alfred Noble Academy, we know she was homeschooled and not allowed much freedom. Upon her fathers death, Sade enrolled herself at an exclusive, expensive boarding school and started her new life.

Because Sade doesn't start at school until grade 11 or her junior year, her new student experience is somewhat unique. The physical school campus is described in vivid and atmospheric detail making it almost an unofficial character in the novel.
The primary side characters are students Basil, Elizabeth & Persephone with a much larger cast of students, teachers and administrators. I loved the set up of the school, the dorm naming theme, the cliques, etc. The world building was immersive and engaging.
This novel explores trauma in a meaningful and frank manner: sexual assault, suicide, bullying and the resulting trauma are all explored in the novel. I found the handling of characters with PTSD heartbreakingly realistic. There's so much story here I think upon a future reread I'll find clues and information I overlooked upon this initial read. I'm impressed as not all YA novels have this much depth or dexterity in the handling of heavy subjects like this.

This is deep but not depressing. The story actively engages the reader's thinking brain but doesn't leave the reader feeling disturbed. The trauma doesn't come into play until after at least 1 or 2 reveals.

I had read this author's debut novel, Ace of Spades, a couple of years ago and could not put it down. I was not disappointed with this second novel. In fact I found when I wasn't listening to the audiobook, I was thinking about the situation Sade found herself in. I loved everything about this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read/listen to and review this novel. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. Going in with only the vibes of the cover art to guide my expectations, I was immediately drawn into this slow burn, dark academia mystery that exposes the underbelly of society that girls and women are all too familiar with. Without giving too much away, as this story takes several turns I was not anticipating and loved being surprised by, this is a story about ghosts and the rage teenage girls exhibit towards the things that haunt them. Eerie and atmospheric and filled with so much tenderness, it was easy to forget this is a YA book. And I must applaud the author for how much care was taken to treat each character with dignity while describing some pretty horrific events.

And I must must must recommend the audiobook. Fantastic production and narration that added even more intrigue to an already fantastic book.

Don't go in expecting another thriller like Ace of Spades and you'll be fine. This is more of a straight mystery than Íyímídé's debut; it is slower paced and there is both more passing of actual time in the story, and time spent with characters just talking to each other. In a way, it's a lot more atmospheric than Ace of Spades. It sort of traded in the propulsive speedy plot for something more considered and setting focused. Her school, Alfred Nobel Academy, feels like it was a lot of fun to create, and the elaborate school politics and a student body full of rich kids and scholarship kids is the perfect place to tell a story like this one.

Our main character is Sade Hussein, orphan, whose father just died weeks before she enters a prestigious English boarding school. She has been homeschooled her entire life, and her childhood was marked by multiple tragedies. Right away there's a sense that she is at the school for a purpose, even if it's just to try on independence for the first time (her father never would have let her come). But this is a narration style, that while pretty close, does keep some things back from the reader, and the result of that is that we often see Sade doing things without explanation that we wonder about. I thought it was very clever. The prose, while nothing stunning, does its job, and I was liking the characters I was supposed to like within about fifty pages. This is quite a long book for YA, but it reads pretty fast.

The audiobook narration of this was great. Natalie Simpson did a wonderful job, and I would be more likely to check out a book if I saw she had narrated it.

Even though I liked this book slightly less than her debut, I will definitely read more of this author's stuff. What's she's doing with YA is super interesting, and I'm still super interested to see what kinds of books she starts coming out with as a more seasoned author.

♡ Audiobook Review ♡
♤ Release March 19 ♤
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First this cover is GORGEOUS!!!!
Ok, so my first book by this author was Ace of Spades and I liked it and enjoyed it but didn't loved it. So I went into this book kinda halfway. And I actually like and enjoyed this book. It is a slow pace book. But the mystery behind Sade roommate going missing kept my attention, because I wanted to know what happened . Once you hit 60% it gets extremely HEAVY.
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Sade Hussein is starting her third year of high school, this time at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school, after being home-schooled. Sade doesn’t expect her new roommate, Elizabeth, to disappear after Sade’sfirst night. Secrets lurk around every corner and beneath every surface

♡ Thank you Netgalley and MacmillanAudio for allowing me the ALC for my honest review. ♡

Title: Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Publication Date- 03/19/24
Publisher- Macmillan Audio
Overall Rating- 5 out of 5 stars

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

First and foremost the audio production was spectacular. I would recommend the audio as a form of taking in this brilliant story.

Let’s start this review off with a small rant shall we? Cool. So, this book isn’t marketed as dark academia from what I can tell. However, it does dark academia way better than most of the books that are marketed that way. One of my first impressions of this story was “wow I wish dark academia books were written and had the same atmosphere/vibes of this.”

If you enjoyed the author's first work Ace of Spades, you will eat this up. I think for me, this story narrowly beats out Ace of Spades but I enjoyed them both for different reasons. I would say the mystery element here is stronger and feels more like an investigative story or rather just a different kind of investigation.

We entered an elite boarding school and man did I enjoy the setting. The setting, characters and atmosphere were all SO GOOD. I will hands down read this again, it lived up to my hopes and more.

I am going to refrain from saying anything about the synopsis, I recommend you go into this story knowing as little as possible so you can enjoy every turn. One of my frequent complaints about thrillers is that there are too many twists that don’t need to happen. Where Sleeping Girls Lie has a cohesive and sensible plot throughout the story.

As expected from this author we get a lot of diversity and well represented mental health topics. This is an important book for young adults as well as adults. Where Sleeping Girls Lie is one of the few YA books that I feel adults can truly enjoy and feel entertained by. Sure, the characters are late high school age but it’s written in a mature and sensible manner.

Gosh I loved this story so much, I had such a good time with these characters and the setting. I will add there are some very tough topics handled but Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé takes them with sensitivity.

Because I loved Ace of Spades so much I was nervous about this second book. Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s work only gets better and better and I can’t wait to see what she will publish next. Thanks for another banger of a story.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. It's an academy story, like Faridah's Ace of Spades, and takes the reader on the twisty, holy shit kinda ride.

The reason this book lost a star for me was because of the pacing there were many times during the first 50% of the book that I felt kinda dragged or slowed down the books momentum.

Overall, it think its obvious that the author took time and care with her characters, their stories, and the trauma these include. I'd definitely recommend this one!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
Happy Book Birthday to Faridah and this amazing story!

WOW. WHERE DO I EVEN START?!
I've been waiting for this story for A WHILE now. I loved reading Faridah's debut "Ace of Spades" and I knew I'd love this novel too because I'm a sucker for dark academia boarding schools. This story was a lot heavier than I thought it was going to be, as was made evident from the content warnings page, and all the twists and turns it took I did not see coming. Not sure if that's because I was listening to the audiobook or because I was just oblivious to the signs as I was listening.

Regardless, I really loved all of the characters in this book, NOT the Fishermen though, but all the girls in the Unholy Trinity, Bas, Sade, Kwame, Elizabeth. They all had a lot of depth and personality even though some of them weren't in the story as much as the others. I was even emphasizing with Francis at one point (which I didn't think I would). I enjoyed how the characters all interacted with each other and how they all had their own motives and goals for the story. Sometimes secondary characters can fall a bit flat if they're only used as plot devices and not treated as actual people but all of Faridah's characters in this story were incredibly written.

Sade having a twin sister was not something I anticipated and I doubly didn't realize Elizabeth's online friend was Sade's twin until Elizabeth revealed this. I was glad that by the end of the story the boys did end up facing consequences for their actions. I was worried towards the last few chapters that this story would end similarly to Ace of Spades where all of the perpetrators got off scot free. It's not often that I read a book on Netgalley and desire to have a physical copy of it but I'm definitely going to buy one for this story!

This book, a slow burn academia thriller, had many components which led to a justified ending. As an orphan, Sade goes off to a boarding school in her junior year of high school. She knew life would be different since she was homeschooled her entire life, but this opportunity is one she's needed after the death of her parents. She meets Elizabeth, her roommate, who shows her the school...and the next day is gone. Most of this book revolves around Sade and Elizabeth's best friend, Bas, looking for any clues as to where Elizabeth may actually be and what had happened to her. While events in the book may seem at times random interactions, they all come together at the end, to reveal the truth in a large scale cover up. Absolutely worth the read!

Thanks to Turn the Page Tours, Macmillan Kids, and Macmillan for the copies of this book!

I looooove dark academia and Faridah's last book, ACE OF SPADES. I knew I had to read this one and am so happy to be part of the Turn the Page tour for this! WHERE SLEEPING GIRLS LIE is an eerie, atmospheric read taking place at a boarding school, and I loved the inclusion of morse code and Alan Turing into this storyline. I don't want to say too much, but Faridah always does such a great job highlighting important (and dark) themes in a gripping and powerful way. I'll forever be reading her books!

The narration by Natalie Simpson was absolutely excellent on this one! Highly recommend the audiobook.

Another fascinating, well=written YA murder mystery fantasy from the author of Ace of Spades. While I really loved her last book and the cover for this one sucked me in at first sight, I thought it was a touch too long. Still a good read but not quite my cup of tea. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

Where Sleeping Girls Lie is a YA mystery set at an elite boarding school in England! I went into this with very high expectations because I LOVED Ace of Spades. I didn't love this one as much, but I still quite liked it. Sade is a new student starting mid-term, but weird things are going on and her roommate disappears. Sade is a practicing Muslim and probably bisexual, which is cool if done in a lowkey kind of way.

This is definitely a slow-burn that takes its time with developing side characters. Which is something I generally like, but I think this one could have been shaved down. It kind of drags through the middle and bit of a faster pace would have been more engaging. I also think more things needed to go wrong for Sade. As she's investigating, she does a lot of risky things but it almost always goes off without a hitch and throwing a wrench into the works mid-book would have been a bit more interesting.

That said, I loved the characters and the atmosphere, and I would read more set in this world. I did feel like I wanted a bit more from the ending but I also get what it's doing and I don't want to spoil anything. Call it a mild case of sophomore slump, but this is still a very good book and I look forward to more from the author in the future! The audio narration feels immersive in terms of place and setting. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Content warnings include death, sexual assault (not super graphic, mostly off-page), sexual harassment, panic attacks, halucinations, drugging.