I had seen reviews of this on NetGalley, and could not believe the UK release was so long after the US one...so I requested the audiobook on NetGalley, and when I was sent an ARC I jumped straight in.
I listened to the opening with such a sense of anticipation, and found myself captivated but also repulsed by the opening. I dislike intensely the thought of being stung, so this was a particularly macabre scene with which to open the novel...though the story definitely intrigued me.
Unfortunately, my tendency to read a couple of books at the same time meant that I soon found myself totally lost by this. The shifting perspectives and chronology is one of the strengths of the story - having now finished it, I am in awe at how cleverly constructed this is - but trying to listen to it in short bursts with gaps in-between was not working out. It got set aside until I knew I could do it justice.
Second time round - and actually listening to it for hours at a time over two days - meant I found myself immersed in the story from the outset. Listening to/reading the stories surrounding Brookhants School for Girls and its mysterious curse was a joy.
In the publicity material we are told that this is a story of parts - queer love story, Gothic horror and Hollywood satire. The focus is on a number of stories tied to Brookhants over time: that of Libby Brookhants and her lover, Alex; poor Flora and Cara and, lastly, Harper Harper and Audrey. The one thing that unites these three stories is the mysterious Brrokhants School for Girls and the scandalous memoir that seems to hold the key to the purported curse.
I don't want to say too much because Danforth reveals all, and the way she chooses to do this gave me physical chills. I never felt as if I could tell exactly what was happening, and the events unfolding - in whichever timeline we were focused on - were beautifully described. The narrator on the audiobook gave a different perspective on the experience, and this is certainly a book I will have to physically read too.
A huge thank you to the publishers Harper Collins and NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to its release. Having listened to it nearly a year ago, thanks to the publishers for granting my request to read the physical copy.

The structure and storytelling of the story are incredible. It opened with Clara’s and Flo’s deaths by yellow jackets in 1902 at the Brookhants School for Girls. Back in the present day, actor Audrey Wells (20s, bi) and celesbian Harper Harper (lesbian) are set to star in Bo Dhillon’s (gay, Indian-American) horror movie The Happenings of Brookhants based on the book by Merritt Emmons (20s, sapphic).

The parallel between the past and the present as well as the mysteriousness of a certain copy of Mary MacLane’s (bi, a real person) The Story of Mary MacLane are the best things in the bigger picture of Plain Bad Heroines. There were clear themes of generational struggles, inheritance, and heritage weaved through and within the different timelines. One other major theme that tied everything together was trickery and deceit, which fades in and out of the story.

Since Flo and Clara tragically died in the beginning, we didn’t get to learn too much about them, and I am completely content with that. We are then introduced to another misfortune of Brookhants student Eleanor Faderman. Half of the story also followed the past timeline with principal Libbie Packard Brookhants, her lover Alex Trills, and Adelaide.

I adore Alex. There are a lot of characters in the book but I love Alex the most and I don’t even know why. The other characters in the early 1900s weren’t particularly lovable but each has distinct personalities. As for the modern trio, I love how their relationships with each other changes and evolves. Merritt was impossibly rude toward Audrey in the beginning, and while I kept wondering why anyone would say such hurtful things, I also accept that the characters were flawed human beings, and they say pitiful things out of spite like most people do in real life. I slowly warmed up to Merritt, and she just might be my favorite person in the present time.

Danforth’s cinematic writing delivered wonderful details and vividly painted visual pictures of everywhere the characters went. I love how careful the word choices were and that the narration not only brought the physical settings alive, it, along with the dialogues, clearly characterized everyone in the story. It is always great to feel like I know the characters intimately rather than just in passing. I also appreciate that Danforth kept most dialogue tags.

Almost all the women are sapphic in PBH, including Flo and Clara, Libbie, Alex, and Adelaide, Harper, Audrey, and Merritt, and even Elaine. There were other casual queer characters, including Bo and Kai (they/them). It made me really happy that queerness is the norm throughout the whole book.

The ending of PBH was carefully and wonderfully crafted. I love the shift of power and relationship in the final scene. I truly appreciate the hint of sapphic empowerment at the ending. Whatever tragic events that took place at the Brookhants School for Girls in the past were overpowered by the hopefulness and excitement for the future in the closing scene in the present. Danforth did a beautiful job at writing this open ending, leaving just enough for imagination without too many unresolved loose ends.

My main and only complaint of the book was that the pacing became a bit too fast toward the end. The final scenes in the past felt like an info dump, introducing characters never seen before. I understand the necessity of keeping things a mystery, but it felt slightly unbalanced compared to the rest of the book.

Throughout PBH, the narrator, an omniscient entity, mixes reality with hallucination, everyday lives with curses, that it wasn’t easy to determine what was real and what was not. But aren’t our lives the same? Things we aren’t sure were dreams or not, events painted by the media that could only have been half-truths. I love that the book left a bit of ambiguity in the horror aspect—was it some sort of sapphic power? Was the book about the joy and curse of being queer?

I don’t read a lot of metafiction, and more often than not, I dislike the preachiness that sometimes comes with the storytelling technique. But not Plain Bad Heroines. I didn’t particularly feel that the narrator was intentionally concealing information. I love that it added another layer to the storytelling, in addition to the movie being made about Merritt’s book.

Plain Bad Heroines is a very light horror and I enjoyed every page of Danforth’s writing. The eeriness of the yellow jackets, moss, and apples stretches beyond the love of Flo and Clara, the dreams of Libbie and Alex, the dramatics of the modern trio, and into the world of each and everyone of the readers.

[Content warnings: death (including drowning), gore, insect (yellow jacket), hallucination, internet trolls, alcohol (recreational, abuse), fat-shaming, murder, manipulation, PTSD (maybe)]

I was really excited for this book but the blurb did not match the books content. In part it was very long winded and that meant I lost the plot. I would have loved more of the flash back scenes and perhaps none of the present day.

trigger warning
<spoiler> alcoholism, dementia, suicide, trauma, grief, mental illness, sexual assault </spoiler>

For some reason I just got approved for the arc on netgalley for a book I bought and read a year ago. Since I have a very full reading list atm, I don't think I will re-read this book in time for the UK publication, so this review will not be for a fresh reading experience.
However, the trigger warnings were posted right after reading and should be as accurate as I can make it.

We have two main plotlines:
1902 at a boarding school for girls, lesbian events unfold that end with corpses. Nobody is really sure what has happened.
Present time, a movie is made at the original site and an actor is approached as one of the main characters. One already is a big number in Hollywood, one is new-ish to the game and is kinda anxious about it. So it doesn't really help that according to rumors a curse is lying on the school building.

We have tropes I really like, like a limited cast of characters in a secluded area - in both timelines, since the boarding school is in the middle of nowhere. We have some potentially supernatural shenanigans, maybe a curse or a kind of haunting. We have a stunning building as a setting, and uncertain loyalities. Schoolgirls in seclusion are known for creating unneccessary drama, and the present-day timeline holds meetings with a bunch of unfamiliar characters.

Queer things are happening, in both meanings of the word.

I liked this a lot and am sure I'll re-read this one day and I'd read more by the same author for sure.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

The story of Brookhants School for Girls which closed in 1902 following the deaths of 5 people. This book also follows a modern day timeline where a film is being made about the happenings at Brookhants in 1902.

I really enjoyed the way this book is written, with the two timelines, the excerpts from scripts, emails, and other books. I also really enjoyed the footnotes as snarky asides to the main plot. The tone of the book was perfectly placed for me and was engaging.

The characters were also a massive part of this novel. Both of the timelines were full of fierce, strong, queer female characters which were a joy to read.

What let the book down for me was the length. This is a long book but I really felt it’s length. There were times where it felt like an effort to pick it back up or to continue reading.

Enjoyed this very much and would definitely read more by Emily. I do however think it could have had a substantial edit.

I love love loved the idea for this book. Gothic sapphic novel? Story within a story? YES GIVE IT TO ME NOW!
But unfortunately, readers, this book just didn't click with me. Some parts were fab but this book felt like it dragged on and on.
Danford has talent for sure, but maybe I hyped it up too much which is why it felt disappointing :(

So good!! Chunky novels are better when they are juicy. Plain Bad Heroines is just that! It is juicy, gothic at times, bathed in atmospheric writing. It is so messy that you want to lick your fingers. It is funny, the dialogue is great and turns on your movie-in-my-head button with the scenes. The writing is great too, so definitely watch out for what Danforth comes up with next. 99% of the characters are queer; I can't remember if there were any straight characters except in really minor roles. BUT. Now comes the big problem with this novel. There’s nothing more. There is hardly a good plot progression. After 300 pages (glorious, enjoyable, immersive), you would still be asking “Why haven’t I moved from this spot?” Now, don’t get me wrong. The scenes are well written. There’s gossip and laughter and glamour and creepy vibes and horror tones. You almost think there are yellow jackets in the very room where you are sitting and turning pages of this badass book. You will turn around or quickly check if the window is open. The book engulfs you completely. But when you are reading 600-something pages, you will surely snap out of the hypnosis at some point and ask “Okay, where is this going? Why isn’t this going anywhere?” and the sad truth is we are going in atmospheric circles forever.

It can be hard, when you've gotten excited about a book for months, when the blurb sounds amazing, when it's an author you're a fan of, for new releases to live up to expectations. In this case, I was so impatient to read Plain Bad Heroines that I found an indie bookshop which had imported the US edition (it's still not out in the UK for another 2 months), and paid... considerably more than I usually would for the pleasure. All of that to say: nothing about this was a disappointment. It's been a long while since I've finished a book and immediately added it to my favourites list. I absolutely adored Plain Bad Heroines. I've even recommended it to my Mum, so we'll so how that goes.
I've heard it referred to as a "beach read", and I can see it - there's something about this book which would lend itself really well to just sitting on a sun lounger and devouring it in one go. I can also see why there are reviews which talk about people staying up until the early hours, just reading straight through - if I wasn't such a wuss I probably would. As it is, I finished this in about 4 days - no mean feat, as it's enough of a doorstopper that the first day's reading set off my RSI.
As if often the way with books I love, I can't think how to explain why it's so good - Plain Bad Heroines had a quiet sense of creepy foreboding right the way through, made me laugh out loud AND visibly shudder (despite the front cover literally having a wasp on it, I was not prepared for the wasps). I can see myself re-reading it very soon.

(I purchased and read this book and later was approved for it on NetGalley).

This is a weird one, because while I enjoyed the journey I don't think it stuck the landing. I went into this book expecting a little past exposition and the majority to be centred in the present, following the three protagonists mentioned in the blurb. Instead, two timelines weave their ways through this book, both with multiple (close third person) POVs, so the revelatory climax of the book actually takes place in the past timeline (which I don't think was particularly well executed tbh), and the present day timeline kind of peters out anticlimactically.

I also think splitting the timeline and POVs so many ways, while not confusing in this case for me (a small miracle!), splits the readers attention between the characters to the extent I wanted more, especially from the modern day three main characters and their relationship. This means the book is naturally more plot focused, and in that case I think while the build up and world building was good again the ending left more to be desired.

Besides those points, I did enjoy this book. It's not fast paced but it is very readable and I liked the range of well-rounded characters, pretty much all of whom were queer which was GREAT. I also wouldn't class it as horror, more as just slightly spooky which was good for me. Overall I liked the vibes.

Just a very minor quibble: this is an adult book with a threesome sex scene that is disappointing non-explicit. Give me more sex and romance please and thank you. There were so many wlw romantic relationships in this book that were just kind of there but not explored in terms of intimacy or romance beyond some flirting and kissing and it felt like a bit of a waste.

I love that this centres on queer women and the flipping back and forth between the dual narratives. The school setting is really compelling. I don't usually like horror but the natural horror elements really worked for me. The fame/ social media aspects were less interesting and I think it's a bit too long and drawn out. However, overall this is really thrilling and exciting, and I would highly recommend, especially for queer women looking to try some horror/ gothic fiction.

Trigger Warnings: death, animal attack, gaslighting, murder, attempted sexual assault, curses, unwanted pregnancy, manipulative behaviour, drowning.

I had high, high expectations for this book, which is usually a risk because I’m setting myself up for let down. Somehow this book side stepped every single thing I expected it to be, and still managed to be better than I had hoped. It’s a thick book with two timelines running parallel and while it could have been difficult to follow it was instead perfectly threaded so that I could always keep track. Not that I’m saying for a second that I understood what was going on – I spent most of my reading time spinning too rapidly from fear to confusion to fear again to be able to keep track of what I suspected was happening.

Plain Bad Heroines was my favourite kind of gothic horror. Not overtly jumpscary or gory, instead it created a pervasive kind of fear that left me unable to exactly pinpoint why my heart was racing. Though admittedly it didn’t help that I was plagued by very characteristic horrors while reading – a buzzing sound behind my head while I was in the bath and a truly nightmarish moment where I was reading and all the power cut, plunging me into pitch black darkness. Yes, I screamed like a baby. When it came to the gothic elements, this was pitch perfect. The yellow jackets were so, so unnerving as a repeated theme, showing up unexpectedly and always in a horrible, horrible way. The setting, an old school and a house with a spindly tower named Spite Tower, is mysterious and eerie even when things aren’t going awry and the whole thing was underwritten with the disconcerting feeling of, even as the reader, not knowing what was true and what wasn’t. The book fools you into thinking something might be a trick, then makes it seem entirely impossible, and it leaves you feeling uncertain and worried for the characters that you’ve come to love.

The characters in the past timeline felt doomed from the start, after all we know that Brookhants has a reputation for a reason, but that didn’t stop me wanting more for them. When the present day sections alluded to the tragedies that befall characters we know, my heart leapt into my throat. But it was the present day characters; Harper, Audrey and Merritt, that in my opinion are the stars of the book. Watching them develop from strangers into a new Plain Bad Heroines society made me equal parts excited and jealous. I’m not usually a huge fan of poly romances, mostly because I don’t read romance and I find they’re often less developed as side plots in a SFF or horror story but the romance arc in this book was perfection. I wasn’t expecting it, so when I found myself hoping for a poly romance I was ready to be disappointed. But I wasn’t. It wasn’t at all the main focus of the book but it was developed naturally and beautifully and left me with a very strong desire to go and read so much fanfiction about our modern day heroines.

The horror was there, uncertain and undescribed and absolutely under my skin, but equally I loved every part of this book with a strong sense of joy. I loved the characters, I loved the story. This book is full of sapphic women who have been pushed around and defined by heteronormative expectations carving out their own space in the world. Plain Bad Heroines was, in equal measures, empowering and frightening. I think the inherent queerness in this book and its characters made it addictive to me, watching queer women coming together and forming the kind of intense bonds that I know myself from gravitating towards other LGBT+ people even unintentionally. I can’t wait to reread this one the first chance I get, because I already know that there’s going to be more depth than I could possible have noticed the first time, too busy being scared of the yellow jackets.

Oh I loved this book! It must be said, it's very long, but does this really clever thing where right when your wrists are getting sore from holding it too long, something brilliant happens and you can't possible contemplate putting it down. I had so much fun, which might be weird considering it gets pretty dark in places, but I would definitely recommend this book!

I loved this book! I mean it’s full of sapphics! It’s sexy, creepy, dark and addictive.

This book reads like a non-fiction book, with facts and figures throughout. I actually kept stopping to google bits and pieces to find out it wasn’t real.

It follows 2 story lines and 4 different perspectives as well as other one-off characters. I thought this would make it hard to follow. However, it’s been made easier to follow the changes by bolding the characters name within the text at the start of each chapter.

It’s because of these alternating perspectives and story lines that I took my time with this book - it took me over a week to read it, breaking it down into sections of 50-100 pages.

I loved the way this book was written. It was like Emily was reading the story outloud as she constantly used the word ‘readers’ to draw your attention to a piece of information you ought to know about.

I also loved the little asterisks which was referred to at the bottom of each page, giving you more information and authors comments! It was styled like non-fiction texts cite sources.

It was a completely different style to what i’ve read before but it was just fantastic. I’d honestly love to see this as a film, just like it was written in the book.

This is a brave attempt at an experimental style. I'm not sure it wholly worked. I liked some of it, and thought the illustrations enhanced the piece. "Dear readers" got on my nerves after a short while. A different storyline, dragged at times, about 75 pages too long I think to remain engaged. Lots to think about, some great moments.

One of my top reads of the year, I would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars if I could. Spooky, funny, packed with generations of bad-ass Plain Bad Heroines (including the omniscient narrator - picture a sardonic eyebrow raised throughout). The book is summed up on the author’s website as Picnic at Hanging Rock + The Blair Witch Project x lesbians, which pretty much nails it.

The book itself is beautiful, illustrated by Sara Lautman, echoing the motifs that run through the novel. The design is turn of the century, complete with frontispiece and a map (gotta love a map!). I read it on Kindle but will treat myself to a ‘real’ copy because it’s a keeper; too darned good-looking not to have on my shelf.

There are two timelines. In Gilded Age Rhode Island, our heroines are the students and staff of spooky Brookhants (aptly pronounced Brook-haunts), a girls boarding school set on a possibly-cursed coastal estate. And in Hollywood, three modern-day heroines meet when they are involved in making a movie, adapted from a book, about the tragic events that happened years ago at, you guessed it, Brookhants. All roads lead back to the estate itself, where our heroines find themselves in an enchanted queer-meta-gothic horror mash up.

Haunted by the buzz of yellow jacket wasps and the stench of rotten apples, the book is spun through with a dreamy sense of dread. A few times characters ask, “Is this still real life?”, which becomes a theme of the story, playing with ideas of truth, fiction and storytelling. Whose story is it? Who can you trust? And ultimately, does it matter?

The novel celebrates and explores queer relationships, and is also strong on mother/daughter relationships. It manages to capture the atmosphere of the Gilded Age, with women reaching for freedom and adventure outside the pull of paternalistic bonds, as well as it skewers the modern world, played out in the drip of social media feeds. Both timelines are equally compelling and just gorgeously written.

My only slight reservation is that, as with so many novels with a really distinctive, strong start, it feels a bit like the author was running out of time towards the end. This wasn’t particularly an issue though. There is so much to enjoy, it’s one to just sit back and appreciate the journey without worrying about the destination.

Creepy, hilarious, intriguing by turns, this is a story about stories, for Plain Bad Heroines of all times.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are entirely my own.

From the front cover, to the synopsis to the gothic storyline I knew I needed to read this book and I loved it. The writing is really good, the writing style dragged me in straight away and I loved the dual narrative and the characters were well developed and endearing. The atmosphere was so gothic, dark, creepy and gripping. I was enthralled right from the very start and couldnt put it down. I really enjoyed it.

This was by far one of the best books I’ve read this year, sapphic, dark and gothic with a touch of horror. Perfect!

Do you ever get a little bit obsessed? 👀

I read this wondrously escapist tome PLAIN BAD HEROINES along with an incredible group of book buddies for #backtoschoolbuddyreads back in March, and absolutely loved it!

I'll be honest and say that at the time my brain was very full. And I did feel some frustration at its length. At over 600 pages it's a commitment!
But, I've found myself thinking about it long after putting it down. It's one where the locations and descriptive prose seem to have seeped into my subconscious, and left me craving more!
More of the rambling sun bleached beach houses located on the East Coast.
That New England/NY vibe.
Moody atmospheric beach scenes.

So if you're craving that east coast vibe, and fancy being distracted with thrilling, incredible settings and cinematic scenery and dark academia vibes, I'd highly recommend it ☺️

I enjoyed this even more than I expected to. The characters are compelling and the plot is deliciously spooky and thrilling.

(sort of spoilers!)
I did like this book, it had a great story and it was pleasantly spooky. I think it's worth reading, don't get me wrong, but I found myself wanting more of some aspects and less of others. The narrator really bothered me - it felt very disjointed having someone who was seemingly outside of the events of the novel, but knew all about everything that was going on. The identity of the narrator was alluded to at one point in the book and that made it make more sense, but then that never eventuated to anything... I also wanted more of the Verrett storyline; the link with Adelaide at the end felt very rushed and like it was a means to a mysterious end that needed explaining.
In saying that, I think it's worth a read - the three main characters in the present day are fleshed out and I found myself rooting for their various exploits (in the film, in romance, in their friendship). My other highlight was the slow descent into mania that a few of the characters in the 1902 flashbacks experienced. It felt really eerie and unsettling, in a great way (if that's possible!).