This was a solidly chunky book! I’ve since bought a copy for myself too. I loved this story, the dark vibes that it gave. I haven’t ever read anything like it before and the well fleshed characters and unique story had me pulled in from page one through to the end

My favourite thing about Faridah's books is that the horror element, the scary thriller element of her stories, is found in everyday life - things that actually do happen (eugenics, sexual assault, "boys will be boys") are the root of the thriller and that's so clever and fascinating how she does that. This is slow-paced, but SO gripping, I still flew through it. There are so many plot twists and turns, reveals big and small, anagrams and secrets, and it was incredibly well written. The characters, from our main character Sade to the secondary characters of Baz and Persephone, down to the minor characters of the teachers, all felt so genuinely real, like they had been plucked from real life - it felt like reading a true crime story almost. All of this story packed such a punch, and I am so excited for what's to come from this author, I will read anything she writes.

I enjoyed this book. The characters were varied, the twists were well executed and the storylines/ themes were definitely on point.
It did feel a tad long and slow in places , but I was hooked enough to want to find out the final twists.
A good read.

I am not use to slow burns but wanted to give this book a chance as i had heard good thing about this author and her writing and i must say she didn't disappoint. How I wish that the book was shorter, at some parts of the book I felt like it dragged on and wanted to skip pages to get to the more juicy parts. I would say be patient when your reading this book,

Overall the story line is about Sade, who starts a new boarding school whilst being weighted down by her own personal trauma and worries. to top it off she has a mystery to solve, her boarding school roommate has disappeared after only a few hours of meeting her. Seeking Basil help with the investigation will she get the answers she is looking for and will she fit into this school and its community.

Read the story to find out !

i loved ace of spades so was excited for this one. It is just as iconic and good. The character are lovable and some are not. its a great stand alone

I loved Ace of Spades so I was really excited for this. And I was not disappointed!
I loved Sade, I thought she was a great character from the beginning and I loved the new girl in school, yet something was off vibe. I am locked in for this series!!!

After the excessive fun I had reading ace of spades, I had such high hopes in Where Sleeping Girls Lie!! However, while I did not enjoy this as much as I did the author’s first book, I thought this was a solid book with very interesting characters and was heavy in mystery and the plot was highly intriguing!! So I did really enjoy this one too

#Netgalley #Gifted

Where Sleeping Girls Lie is a YA dark academia mystery, for fans of tv show Wednesday, and the book series The Good Girls Guide to Murder.

I haven’t read the authors previous book; Ace of Spades but I’ve seen the love for it online, so signed myself up for WSGL as soon as I spotted it on NetGalley.

We meet Sade Hussein after her arrival to fancy private school Alfred Nobel Academy. It’s also a boarding school so Sade quickly has to acclimatise to being away from home and now dropped into a world of traditions, cliques, and stuffy rules.
Luckily, she hits it off with her roommate Elizabeth, but unluckily, Elizabeth pretty much immediately vanishes without a trace. Sade makes it her mission to find out what happened to her new friend, encountering some very dark school secrets along the way.

On the plus side, there’s plenty of diverse characters in this book, and strong LGBTQIA+ representation. I really liked both Sade and her friend Basil; they bounced off each other well. I love a bit of dark academia, so I was absolutely here for that element of the storyline.
There are really cosy autumnal vibes to this one; it might be a better read in a few months time. I particularly enjoyed the fact that there’s a Halloween party in the storyline; always a plus for me with any book! And overall, the general feminist leanings in WSGL were appreciated.

What I didn’t love is the pacing of this book. It’s over 400 pages long, and I felt it could have been shorter, without taking away from the storyline.
The action ramps up from about 70% on but there’s a whole portion in the middle that felt repetitive, which is a shame, because otherwise this would be a real winner.

I do think the teenager in your life will enjoy this one, but watch out for the content warnings, which I’ll list in the comments. It goes a lot darker than you might be expecting.

Overall I liked #WhereSleepingGirlsLie and will read more from this author, I just wish it had been a bit shorter!

With many thanks to @netgalley and Usborne Publishing for my early copy, Where Sleeping Girls Lie is available to buy now.

I never read Ace of Spades so my intrigue in this book stemmed from others telling me to check out the new book. I thoroughly enjoyed this intriguing story, I felt the pacing was off near the end but I was just kept engaged enough.

I took me a little while to get into this one. I did like the characters and the setting, but I didn't love this as much as Ace of Spades. Perhaps I would have preferred it if it was a little shorter. But keen to read whatever the next book is.

Important: Significant, serious trigger warnings apply to this book. Check out the content warnings page on The Storygraph for details.

I have mixed feelings about Where Sleeping Girls Lie. I really loved Ace of Spaces, the author's previous and first book, and had high hopes going into this one. Both books even have a vaguely similar premise, both following young Black protagonists joining prestigious and old-fashioned schools filled by majority white students and staff. However, I found Where Sleeping Girls Lie somewhat messier and less cohesive than its predecessor.

Starting out with the good, I loved the two main protagonists. Sade and Baz both felt like interesting characters who I could root for from the beginning, with vibrant personalities that shone out from the page and secrets that made me want to learn more. I wanted to be friends with Baz from the moment I met him, and Persephone - one of the Unholy Trinity who becomes a key player in the story - was a refreshing change from the usual spoiled, rich mean girl who usually inhabits the "popular girls" clique. Even many of the minor characters like Jessica the house prefect and Miss Blackburn the strict school mistress felt like engaging characters with their own personalities and stories. I also appreciated the LGBTQ threads that were woven throughout the story and treated exactly the same as the straight relationships.

However, none of that stopped the story itself from feeling messy. At over 400 pages this is a chunky book for a YA contemporary, and it felt every page of it too. I personally think it could have used a harsh trim from an enthusiastic editor to make it a whole lot more cohesive. There were so many secondary characters I kept losing track of who was who, and several of the subplots just felt as if they distracted me from the main plot and served no other purpose. I also felt let down by several of the big twists and plot reveals. Part of Sade's big secret was obvious right from the start, with an almost comical number of obvious hints being dropped, and another reveal toward the end felt forced to the point of eye roll level serendipity, especially when it seemed entirely unnecessary, too.

Overall, this was a mixed bag of a book. While it has a hugely important message at its heart, I wish it had been brought together in a better way. Many thanks to NetGalley and Usborne Publishing for the ARC.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

There have been a flurry of campus #MeToo-style novels in recent years, perhaps reflecting the increasing focus on this issue in society. This particular novel does have a twist (which I did not see coming) which makes it stand out from the rest, although it is still set in a prestigious boarding school so there's a level of privilege which is familiar from these stories. Sade is a strong character and the whole novel works well as a detective-noir-style narrative, and the ending is satisfying. Not a fun read, but an important one.

Amazing book! We follow our main character, Sade, as she joins a fancy new boarding school, and although she tries to fit in and make friends, her roommate disappears and Sade is suspicious, thinking something terrible has happened and nobody will tell her about it. She teams up with Baz to try and work out what happened, and uncovers big secrets of the academy. This was a really intriguing read and although thrillers and mysteries aren’t my go-to, I thoroughly enjoyed this one as I have loved the author’s other work and knew this one was going to be amazing too.

I really loved the first half of this book but unfortunately, it didn't stick the landing. My main complaint is that it's simply way too long. There is NO reason for a YA mystery thriller to be 576 pages! The second half also had two main reveals which were followed up with a ridiculous amount of exposition and flashbacks - I thought this was unnecessary because the mystery wasn't interesting enough to warrant that much page count for reveals that I simply didn't care about. I did really enjoy the characters and their dynamics and I will be picking up more from this author.

I thought this was a gripping mystery from start to finish I didn’t feel it needed to be as long as it was although when you think you have a plot figured out you don’t! Definitely worth the read thank you for the early review copy!

Where Sleeping Girls Lie is set in Alfred Nobel Academy, home to the children of the elite. Despite its prestigious reputation and its beautiful buildings named after only the most significant figures in history, all is not what it seems. 

The story centres around Sade Hussein, previously homeschooled and joining the school in her third year, who appears to be running from a dark past. When her newly assigned roommate and house sister, Elizabeth, disappears, secrets of the academy begin to unravel while Sade is forced to face her own dark truths. 

I had originally given this 4.5 stars but changed my mind after the way I couldn't stop thinking about this book for days once I’d finished it. The settings are so well-written, I could picture ANA so vividly and it really added to the dark and mysterious atmosphere. All the storylines weave together, and despite being quite long for YA at almost 600 pages, it was well-paced and had the perfect amount of character development.

It was a bit of slow start but once it gets going it kept me gripped and I didn’t want to put it down. The mystery was great with plenty of twists and turns and the characters were well fleshed out. It was very well written and overall a very enjoyable read.

Sade Hussein begins boarding school after a tragedy in her family. Unfortunately, misfortune follows her wherever she goes, and within her first day, her new roommate, Elizabeth, has gone missing. With the help of Elizabeth's best friend Baz, Sade begins to uncover the secrets going on between the students and soon realises the school is a lot more sinister than it seems.

I love Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídés writing and knew I had to pick this one up. I found this slow going until around 30% of the way through, then the pace really amped up, keeping me gripped and not wanting to put it down. I loved the characters and the friendships and there were so many shocks and twists and turns to keep me entertained. This is a very dark story with mentions of rape, sexual assault, suicide and death so bear that in mind before going in. I highly recommend.

‘Where Sleeping Girls Lie’ is a gripping mystery story, with multiple threads from main character Sade’s past and present, that eventually weave together. Each chapter manages to leave questions and cliffhangers, meaning the reader quickly races through the 500+ pages.
Sade starts school for the first time, after years of being home-schooled. Alfred Nobel Academy is home to the mega-rich and powerful, an elite boarding school where students are assigned to houses based on their skills and strengths. Within a day, Sade's new roommate has gone missing, and she starts to unravel the unsavoury secrets and mysteries of the school and its inhabitants. With a wonderfully diverse cast of characters, Àbíké-Íyímídé plays around with established school stereotypes, and keeps you guessing all the way through as to who can be trusted.

Although there are discussions to do with drugs, drink, sex and abuse/assault, nothing too graphic takes place on the page. A great reader for older teens and adults alike!

I have preached for the last two years that Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is an author to watch. Working in a school library, and surrounded by a family who value reading as much as I do, I have had plenty of opportunity to recommend 'Ace of Spades' (Àbíké-Íyímídé's debut) to easily a hundred readers of YA fiction. Similarly, I purchased many copies of her World Book Day title 'The Doomsday Date' for the teen readers I knew. For this reason, I was ecstatic to learn that a dark academia novel was on its way from the brilliantly talented writer. Before even finishing it on NetGalley, I purchased a Waterstones exclusive edition for myself and another copy for my niece; that's how much faith I had that this would be something special!

With all that said, I can't omit the fact that 'Where Sleeping Girls Lie', whilst an enjoyable read and written with the lovely prose I'm used to from Àbíké-Íyímídé, didn't quite live up to the sky-high expectations I had for it. This is, I'm aware, very much a me problem; I shouldn't have awaited it quite so eagerly! But I just want to make a note that, in my own very subjective (and quite possibly incorrect) opinion, this novel should not be compared to the exceptional 'Ace of Spades'. With that said, I would scorn anyone who could leave a negative review of this book - especially for a reason as trivial as the one I just named. I finished every page, quite happily, and found no fault with the ending, the portrayal of characters or the writing itself!

The plot follows a new girl - Sade - who arrives at an exclusive boarding school. Whilst pushing down her past traumas and familial tragedies, she struggles to fit into the preppy world she's now entered - all whilst feeling the eyes of the school's resident popular clique over her. Seemingly inspired by everyone's favourite 'Glee' cheerleaders, the girls are nicknamed 'The Unholy Trinity' and swerve the mean girls trope by being far less underhand and spiteful than the reader might expect. One of them, Persephone, is particularly well-written and I enjoyed getting to read about a preppy feminist lesbian who has no qualms about putting boys in their places!

As expected from the amazing author, the representation throughout 'Where Sleeping Girls Lie' is flawless, and the settings are all described with such vigour and detail that it's hard to believe that this Academy, particularly its greenhouse, swimming pools and dorms, don't actually exist. The story itself might not have been my favourite one I've read, but I think I was just expecting perhaps a bigger twist or a touch more drama. I do firmly believe, however, that a reread will open my eyes to mountains of clues and detail that I missed and will lead to me appreciating the text even more.

Try this book if you fancy a high school mystery with Gossip Girl elements and strong feminist messages, paired with top-notch scene setting and characters.