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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven

14 reviews

w0lfyfr3n's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

The first 75% of this book was a tough and slow read. It was not as scary as other horror books, and not as gripping as other mystery books. Eerie with a dragging suspense at best.

I did not like the main characters. Lottie is judgemental and self righteous, Alice is mean and pretentious. They both seem to be aware of this but do very little to curb it. The blurb is slightly misleading in that they actually cannot stand to be around eachother for a large part of the book, and the romance bits are scarce. Note: I particularly did not like the fact that Lottie thought she was asexual until she met Alice. It was a throwaway sentence that achieved nothing except feeding into the harmful idea that ace people just need to meet the right person to feel attraction. 

The sentences were also packed with architectural descriptions that I spent a lot of time googling and then just gave up on. All the more interesting characters
Hafsah, Renner, Mordue, Feathering etc.
are only explored much later, and sadly not enough imo. 

Moving on to what I eventually enjoyed though...I liked what this book was trying to say about the anger of women, how it grows from powerlessness, how it's often more unacceptable than a man's. However I did not agree with the bit about female violence. Anger and invasive thoughts are normal, but acting on them in the way that Alice and some of the others did, even before all the supernatural stuff came into play, is NOT. Sometimes it felt like this book was having a girlboss moment (Women can be violent too ! 💪) and as an afab person myself, I'm not sure I was a fan of that. I'm glad this was corrected towards the end
by providing them with a psychologist and a healthy outlet instead
. I just felt uncomfortable that anger issues and murderous/hurtful actions seem to be grouped together in some instances, though it made slightly more sense once the ritualistic stuff came into play. 

However this books gets all its points for tying up the mystery super well. There was so much to untangle that it was ultimately upredictable, and towards the end almost every single mystery is resolved. The pieces fell in place in a very satisfying manner. The last 25% is definitely worth the haul, which is why this is still a 3/5. 
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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

♡ Mystery
♡ Spooky Vibes
♡ Dark Academia

I loved the vibe of this book, the spooky atmosphere was set so well.  And the formatting design was so beautiful.  Especially with the UK cover it was really so pretty.

The mysterious vibe of the school and an atmosphere that drew me in like the north tower, having said that, the characters came off a bit annoying several times.  One minute they were roommates and starting out on the wrong foot, then they were sharing secrets, then they were back to rude misunderstandings, it was so back and forth.  By the end I was over them but it did improve and they were a lot better.

The lore of this school and the rituals were kinda nice to read, it was mysterious and interesting but also easy to read and enjoyable to play around with theories.  While the plot of this got more and more ridiculous by the end it was super entertaining to read.

Spice Level: n/a
Angst Level: 💧(1/5)
POV: Duel, First Person
Release Date: 07, July 2022
Rep: Lesbian (? Main Character), Demisexual (Main Character), LGBTQIA+ (Main and Side Characters)
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librarymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was not what I was expecting from a book advertised as a retelling of Jekyll and Hyde, but it was immensely enjoyable.
the society soulless girls not being at the root of the deaths preceding and during the events of the novel was also not what I was expecting, but I really appreciated the twist. The dark academia society with engraved name plaques for the new girls who performed the ritual is a strange touch, but fits the setting. One thing that also felt odd is the headmistress not reading the investigation notebook before she burned it. However, I do understand her not wanting to learn about atrocities she may have committed and the horror she thought the murdered student might of felt for her. Lottie and Alice are adorable together and I love the bloody and devoted relationship that evolved from their semi-mutual animosity. The council of horrific old white men experimenting on their peers and the young women they're supposed to be mentoring feels a bit too true to life, but I like how it tied together the frayed ends of the storytelling. The ghost of the nun was also a nice touch, guiding Lottie through the task she already wanted to do and helping her solve the mystery. One thing I would critique is the repeated reference to Lottie not being asexual with her newfound attraction to Alice. Asexuality is an umbrella term, and if she's only attracted to Alice, she may still be able to identify with a term under the umbrella.
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sinnybuns's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

An incredible depiction of female rage and how easy it is to fall into the trap of believing that in order to be accepted by society, you need to be “nice” and “sweet”. I love that Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was incorporated into the story. I also particularly loved that being in love with someone of the same sex was completely normalised. No huge coming out moments or internalised homophobia like you so often find in sapphic romance, especially YA sapphic romances. 
This book is a slow burn in terms of romance but the plot itself moves quickly. If you’re looking to read this for the romance only, don’t. You will be disappointed. The love story shared between the two main characters is a sub-plot and not a main focus in this book. 
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rayecharlie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense

4.0

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

    Lottie and Alice start at the newly reopened  Carvell College of Arts. But history starts to repeat itself as a new series of killings start, eerily similar to the ones from ten years ago that caused it to close its doors. 
    This book is reported to be dark and "funny". Dark yes, funny much less so. The animal murder is resolved in a way that makes it less traumatic to the reader, but at the time it happens it's very dark and disturbing. As an animal lover, I had to stop reading the book for the day after that scene.
    I get where the author was coming from with the message about female anger and how it needs to be accepted and we need to change the sexism in the world. I really wish the author had stayed away from harming animals. I'm a person who prefers human death to animal death in fiction.
    The book was decent. I liked the premise but the execution wasn't as good as possible. 

Extra ratings: Fluff - 0/5  Heartfelt- 4/5   Helpful-NA    Horror- 3/5    Inspiration- NA   Love aka Romance-2/5   Mystery-3/5    Predictability- 3/5    Spice- 0/5  Suspense- 2/5   Tear 3.5/5  Thrill- 3.5/5  Humor-1/5 
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of_fantasy_and_fibre's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved the two main characters and how they wrapped up and packaged their anger. This is a strong theme in this book and the way the world labels women and their anger. The grump /sunshine plot in this worked well not because they made each other better but how they came together to give an overall balance to each challenge they faced. This overall was a hopeful story in how to give us the will to turn that anger we feel into motivation to arm ourselves and not let it turn into self hatred. As an angry girl who has somewhat been given the tool to realise it's passion and caring at the heart of my anger I invite you to take the little trip into this world and hopefully find what your anger is rooted in.
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matcha_cat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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kmarlowe's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

It’s felt like dark academia met The Sex Lives of College Girls (without the sex). Not necessarily a bad thing! I think it was an intriguing plot but lost me a bit in the end.
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babsi_222's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

goth-dark academia-fall-queer-1990‘s-angry women-blood ritual

This book was amazing and great for me! If you like some mystery a bit psychology and witchy stuff you will love this book! I’m usuall not into this genre but this book is an exception. 
Also if you like the Netflix show ‚Wednesday‘ this is a great book to read because the characters and vibes are similar.
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