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A review by a_h_haga
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
2.0
Hmmm, what to say about this book. I know what it's about, and I know it's supposed to be horror and lesbians, but even if I've listened to this whole book, I can't tell you how everything ties together.
That said, I have to be honest and say that I can't stand the ''all knowing narrator'' way of writing a book. It feels cheap, and this book was no exception. For while the story in this book could easily be intriguing and interesting on its own, the constant meandering to add information that didn't seem relevant more often than not brought me out of the story and I ended up spacing out and losing the point of the chapter, even forgetting who we were following at the time. And this book also leans on the crutch that is this form of narrative: ''these characters will die, just so you know, now let me tell you how''. For me, at least, knowing the outcome of something makes me far less interested in reading the story that brought them there.
One thing that also made this book confusing for me was the characters. There were a lot of characters, most of them were female, and they were all the same. Sure, they had individual personalities, but the world around them was the same:
Bi/lesbian MC, with a male (gay) best friend, and a mother who they had mixed ties with. Two of them were actors, and one was a writer, but they were introduced willy nilly between characters from the past, characters that never even made an appearance in the book, and random side characters that had maybe 3 lines. I didn't know who was who for the first half or so of the book, and in the end it made me not connect with any of the characters and not care about their story at all.
I'm honestly sad I didn't like this better, for as a bi polyam, I loved seeing the representation we got here! I just wish I cared about it.
That said, I have to be honest and say that I can't stand the ''all knowing narrator'' way of writing a book. It feels cheap, and this book was no exception. For while the story in this book could easily be intriguing and interesting on its own, the constant meandering to add information that didn't seem relevant more often than not brought me out of the story and I ended up spacing out and losing the point of the chapter, even forgetting who we were following at the time. And this book also leans on the crutch that is this form of narrative: ''these characters will die, just so you know, now let me tell you how''. For me, at least, knowing the outcome of something makes me far less interested in reading the story that brought them there.
One thing that also made this book confusing for me was the characters. There were a lot of characters, most of them were female, and they were all the same. Sure, they had individual personalities, but the world around them was the same:
Bi/lesbian MC, with a male (gay) best friend, and a mother who they had mixed ties with. Two of them were actors, and one was a writer, but they were introduced willy nilly between characters from the past, characters that never even made an appearance in the book, and random side characters that had maybe 3 lines. I didn't know who was who for the first half or so of the book, and in the end it made me not connect with any of the characters and not care about their story at all.
I'm honestly sad I didn't like this better, for as a bi polyam, I loved seeing the representation we got here! I just wish I cared about it.