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I loved the story, the style and the atmosphere of this book, although I have to say I thought the ending was weak, especially because there is so much the author could have done with this great story. The last 10% of the book just sort of fizzled out. 🐝

I wanted to like this book so much. I really did. This novel had all of the beginnings to be great. The ending just kinda…well, sucked and I was left pissed that I wasted 600 pages on it. Also, Merritt is completely insufferable and I almost DNFed just because of that.

This was a great read. It was mysterious, and really dark. At times, it seemed like a horror story. Told in two timelines, 1902 set in a Brookhants a school for girls where a few deaths have occurred. Then, present day a movie is being made from the book written about the deaths.

I was rather looking forward to reading this book, which from the synopsis, seemed like it would be a gothic, sapphic mystery. There were indeed elements of all three in the book, but they were smothered out of existence by the painfully sloooow pace.

It runs on for over 600 pages & includes many a footnote which lead to asides which were meant to be witty, but on many occasions fell flat for me. I can't rate it more than 2.5 ⭐

This is the sort of book that if you like the way it is written, you will likely forgive everything else. If you don‘t, however, the writing is one of many things likely to disappoint. Jumping between two storylines, one in the past, by far the more interesting, & one in the present, which is actually a story within a story, this book tries to do a lot and ultimately, for me, wasn‘t really successful. Maybe me & not the book but I didn‘t love it.

Spending our unusually warm late October weekend (mid-to high 70s instead of our usual low 50s) with a chunkster. This is another recommendation from a friend that has sat on the shelf way too long…

It‘s a terrible story and one way to tell it is this: two girls in love and a fog of wasps cursed the place forever after.

#FirstLineFridays

I must share the disgusting state of the house we just bought!! Obviously I have finished this audiobook while cleaning.
I wanted to slap Merritt through the first half and then she grew on me. All the characters seemed so real to me. The story tho involved was easy to follow up until the end. I got a little lost and I'm not entirely sure what the Roy happened But the unraveling did seem to be the last hour, until then I was pretty captivated.

Perfect book to be listening to for Pride month, not that this was intended at all.
It's especially fitting because of the fluidity of some of the characters. I was expecting (from description) more "lesbian" rep than anything. Happy to learn that's not the only rep going on.

I am surprised with how much I liked this book. Though it did creep me out with the bees. And now I see bees and get freaked out even more.

I liked both timelines and I think Audrey was my favorite. I thought I was going to be annoyed about reading a book set in RI, but I didn‘t know this area too well, so it was fine.

This would work for sapphic novel for #pop22

I was today years old when I realized lede and lead were 2 different words 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

#AlwaysLearning

Currently in a mood of not knowing what I‘m in the mood to read. Here is my May #BookSpin list. I don‘t think I read a single book actually on my April list. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We‘ll see if I do better in May.

I am so happy I am reading this indoors while there is still a chill in the air because I would be freaking out about flying insects if I was reading this outdoors in the Summer.

Lots of book mail today! 📚My BOTM choices for March, tagged book for #challengeyourshelf run by Bettie‘s Pages in Lowell, MI and the mystery looked fun. Sticker is from the same challenge.

I wasn‘t sure what to expect from this book. It definitely had people who hated it and people who loved it online. The writing was quite beautiful and flowed so nicely that it was so enjoyable to read.

I wanted more development in certain parts of the story with more background and explanation. It was left very ambivalent about certain things and plot pieces. It had a wonderful build though, which I was expecting to lead to a much bigger end.

I wasn‘t sure what to expect from this book. It definitely had people who hated it and people who loved it online. The writing was quite beautiful and flowed so nicely that it was so enjoyable to read.

I wanted more development in certain parts of the story with more background and explanation. It was left very ambivalent about certain things and plot pieces. It had a wonderful build though, which I was expecting to lead to a much bigger end.

#Netgalley #ARC #PlainBadHeroines

This ARC was provided by Harper Collins UK (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

1 Word Review – Intense. 3 Word Review – S**t Gets Weird!

I would recommend this those who like books that keep you off balance & who love it when a book steps outside the strict confines of genre.

Full Review here https://thereadersroom.org/2022/02/14...

Opened up my #LitsyLoveValentinesDaySwap package today!

Thank you so much for the books! Can‘t wait to pick them up and read them! I love the mug and bookmark. The chocolate did not make it in the mail 😬 (it melted) but thanks so much for the candy!

Gothic creepiness? Check. Interesting characters? Check. Interesting plot? Check check

All of the physical books I read in 2021! It was a rough year and books are what got me through it. Hoping for a better 2022! 📚

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Well this book genuinely freaked me out. I heard a buzzing in my kitchen from a random bug and my first thought was “Wasp!”. This book keeps a steady level of tension. The deflation of that tension was too abrupt for me. I wanted more. I wanted to know what was real and what wasn‘t. Still recommend as a great horror read.

#doublebookspin complete @TheAromaofBooks

I really enjoyed this! The story revolves around a movie being adapted from a book, and the relationship between the author of the book and the two lead actresses in the movie. I really wish I could somehow watch the movie they were creating in the book, if that makes sense :)

Listening for the night. 🌌🌃😴😴

I read 15 books in July! Favorite book is tagged. So many great reads this month, though. Only 1 DNF (No One is Talking About This) and 1 2-star read (The Comeback). 5 audiobooks, 4 ebooks, 6 physical. 9 owned, 1 #LMPBC, 2 borrowed from #Scribd, 3 from my #library. Not bad at all!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: One Last Stop, And Then There Were None, All Systems Red, The Seep, Plain Bad Heroines, Turn of the Screw, If Beale St Could Talk, Siege and Storm

That club sounds like so much fun!

❤️ing this just as much as I'd hoped to!

Here's pic 2 of 2!

I got 2 books from B&N today. I wanted to buy the whole store becuz I kept seeing all the wonderful books I see on Litsy and BookTube.

@ElizaMarie @AsYouWish @jb72

June wrap-up! 🥇was definitely Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth, which I LOVED! I focused on books featuring LGBTQIA+ authors and/or main characters, and really enjoyed almost everything I read. 🥈Kit Webb; 🥉Somebody's Daughter or maybe Conventionally Yours!

Back to Plain, Bad Heroines this morning ❤

My new phone has just arrived, so now you can all enjoy a slightly higher resolution Pickles this morning 😊 She's still just as soggy. #catsoflitsy

Also, now I can use these emojis 🥰🤪🤭 yay 2021.

I expected to get creeped out by this book and all the insects, but... not really? Maybe I've just grown out of being creeped out so much.

Loving this so far 😊❤

This book is so chonky, but I'm not finding it difficult to stay along for the ride (albeit at the slow pace my brain is capable of digesting stuff at the moment. Really wondering how supernatural (or not) it's going to get. (Don't spoiler me!)

Whoa, this is a whopper of a hardback. Intrigued so far, though horror isn't always my thing so not sure if I will stick with it...

Creepy & haunting with excellent atmospheric writing. The characters were incredibly tactile. I loved that there were so many distinct personalities at play & so many different backstories. The complexity worked. There is a LOT of mystique. It's something like a dark fairy tale juxtaposed with real life. The ending wasn't my favorite, leaving things slightly open, but I still enjoyed the eerie way it left things. I need more books like this.

Sansa is waiting to go for a walk and can‘t believe I‘ve picked another book up. It‘s big and I‘m a bit frightened of the wasp. But really want to read it anyway.

Read by the talented Xe Sands who is one of my go-to narrators. I had to take a look at the physical book to check out the illustrations and lo and behold I find the cutest fish bookmark. It‘s the type of bookmark that‘s like a paper clip. I‘ll of course leave it in this library copy and hopefully it will find its way home .

This was such a unique read!

The best part of this book was definitely the overall vibe and aesthetic. It had a slightly creepy and gothic feel that ran throughout the entire book, even the present day parts. There was also a fair amount of humor and satire that worked well with the gothic vibes and made for an interesting juxtaposition.

Full review: https://oddandbookish.wordpress.com/2021/04/21/review-plain-bad-heroines/

Saturday afternoon reading soundtrack #readingsoundtrack

A creepy, complex story, chock full of lesbians in two timelines. New England WASPs with corseted wasp waists. Sapphic Hollywood buzz. Spooky secrets and yellow jackets. So many yellow jackets. #LGBTQ #audiobook read by Xe Sands.

In the language of the day, Mrs Brookhants was a young widow and Miss Trills was her devoted companion. Her very, very dear friend. Her confidante. Her bestie. But, like, with benefits.

(Internet photo)

Reader, I LOVED it! I loved: the narrator, the dual timelines, the gothic setting, the knowing nods to the reader, the dramas, the recurring motifs, the intricacies. I would have liked a bit more depth to the characters, but otherwise I loved it all. Will reread.

I'm marking this as a DNF for now, which is very disappointing as I highly anticipated this book, having loved Cameron Post. But this one is not doing anything for me. The characters are all so bland. The story is not grabbing me. I can't bring myself to care. #QueerBooks

I hate panning books, but this was a miss in pretty much every way for me. There is way too much going on and it never felt, to me, like Danforth had a good grasp on any of it. The only story that I was really interested in, about the students in the early timeline, (Florence, Clara, and Eleanor) got the least attention. Disappointing, but on to the next…

#audiowalk #brightspot #feelingliteral

Eh. This was fine. The synopsis is fairly misleading. Wasn‘t really attached to any of the characters, the story felt like it took forever to get going, there was a few horror-esque descriptions but not nearly as scary as it was pitched. Overall I would have been fine not finishing it, the ending didn‘t resolve or explain anything and was frankly unsatisfying. #bookspinbingo

Ever start a library audiobook so long you know you won‘t finish it, but start it anyway? #audiostitching

3⭐I had high hopes for this book, so perhaps it was a case of misplaced expectations, but I thought it was just okay. It definitely wasn‘t as creepy as I hoped it would be, and while I really liked the historical fiction aspect of the story, the present day story was much less interesting.

There was so much going on, and maybe I would have enjoyed this one more had the focus been on just one story or the other, but I struggled with this one.

It's a terrible story and one way to tell it is this: two girls in love and a fog of wasps cursed the place forever after.

#firstlinefridays

I really fucking loved this book. I loved how unapologetic it was - it is messy and sprawling and weird and so incredibly queer - and proud of it. It is dark and spooky and delicious. It is sexy and overblown and winking and witchy. It is the first time you almost felt grown up, a campfire with slightly older kids and sticky sweet alcohol and laughter and shivers and shadows and undercurrents you don‘t understand yet but crave. 4 1/2👍🏼

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
I loved the 1902 storyline, and the writing was wonderful. It was just so long and I couldn‘t get into the present day sections so for me they seemed to drag.
*I went back and changed it to a pick. It was way better than so-so.*