We follow our MC as she enrols in a prestigious school late after the passing of her father.
Previously, Sade has been home-schooled, so this type of environment is completely new to her, everything is going pretty smoothly until her roommate disappears. Rumours start swirling the drama starts flying and everything kicks off after that.

The pacing of this book is FAST, she's a thick book so I thought it would take me a little time but I really flew through it, the pages were turning themselves! This has a great mystery, well fleshed out charcters and great writing! I love that this author always delivers a nuanced story with some type pf social commentary.

I was a bit nervous about this as I can sometimes struggle to stay gripped when it comes to YA horrors and thrillers but I was actually really impressed by this one

A fantastic read from the outset!
Sade sets off as an independent teenager on a journey to boarding school, having lost her parents but come into money. Making friends as a young adult is tricky but she finds herself falling into a couple of friendship groups before disaster strikes.
The characters are rich (not just in monetary terms!) and the senior school cliques, popularity contests and emotional tribulations ring very true.
The mystery remains so to almost the end and the reveal is of more than a singular truth and I liked that although the battle was won it was acknowledged as a minor victory in a much, much bigger war.

In “Where Sleeping Girls Lie” by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Sade Hussein, accustomed to luxury and secrets, finds herself navigating the mysteries of Alfred Nobel Academy after experiencing significant losses. As she integrates into the school, the disappearance of her roommate propels her into dangerous territories, refusing to lose another person without a fight.

Reading this book felt like a deeply satisfying exhale. Just as “Ace of Spades” remains one of my favorite contemporary thrillers, “Where Sleeping Girls Lie” delivers everything I crave in a story.

Sade, our enigmatic protagonist, keeps us guessing with every turn of the page. The supporting characters feel remarkably human, with the antagonists sending shivers down the spine and the allies evoking genuine empathy. Àbíké-Íyímídé’s talent for crafting complex characters shines through once again.

Exploring themes of reputation in elite education, toxic masculinity, and the impact of microaggressions on young women, this novel seamlessly intertwines fiction with reality. Yet, amidst the darkness, a thread of hope weaves its way through the narrative, compelling readers to stay engaged until the very end.

Bravo to Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé for another riveting read that leaves a lasting impression.

I really enjoyed this YA academic psychological thriller.

I found the book a little unnecessary long for me personally and the reasoning behind this I feel something happens right at the start and then instead of working that out it focused more around other factors which I found didn’t play that much relevance and what more filler than substance.

Which that being said I did enjoy the characters and the delivery. I feel the ending was definitely worth the wait and the message delivered was very powerful and important, but for me could have been condensed. Overall an enjoyable read. Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this.

After the death of her father Sade Hussein, who has always been home-schooled goes to the Albert Nobel Academy, a prestigious boarding school. On her arrival she is introduced to her 'School Sister' Elizabeth who is also her room mate. After being shown around the enormous campus with the various boarding houses & meeting Elizabeth's friend Baz she does a bit of exploring & when she gets back to her room Elizabeth is asleep & the room is in darkness. The school is full of the usual cliques; the sporty, the 'beautiful ones' the favoured & the weird. Next day there seems to be no sign of Elizabeth but only Sade & Baz seem bothered. As they try & find out what's happened to Elizabeth, Sade uncovers a lot of things that are of great concern.

I became totally lost in ANA & Sade & Baz. It dealt with a lot of issues that are relevant to young people. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

The plot is as deep and dark as it gets, multi-layered with 'who knew what when?' as the strands come together and the finer details get filled in. This is an absolutely compelling, gripping book full of mystery and suspense. Only a few authors can write deeply involving psychological drama of the very highest quality.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Sade is the new girl at a prestigious Private School, Alfred Nobel Academy, after being homeschooled prior to this, she is expecting new experiences at the school, but her Roommate Elizabeth going missing is not one of them.

I really don't want to say too much about this book as its best just to go along for the ride, but Sade is met along the way by the popular group, the pretty boy(s), powerful people, teachers that turn a blind eye and quirky outcasts .... all who contribute to the bigger story here, and also the question that starts is all... what happened to Elizabeth

After Ace of Spades I was so very hyped for this book, and was not disappointed.

Thanks to Usborne Publishing, NetGalley and Faridah for the review copy of this book and definitely one I'll be recommending to fellow Dark Academia fans!

I am super conflicted this review as I feel like the ending was so worth it and the message behind this book is so important but it just took TO long to get there.

I absolutely loved the dark academia setting, the sapphic representation and of course muffin.

The pacing was not right for me. Elizabeth went missing at the very beginning of this book and it was like she was then forgotten about, instead everyone was just trying to find out what she knew instead of actually her. Then when she was eventually found, it wasn't really that much of a big deal as the focus was on the reveal.

100 pages less would of made no difference to the story.

3.5 stars

where sleeping girls lie is a fantastic palate cleanser for when you need to break up several chunky fantasy books (or if you enjoy mystery books regularly). if you’re looking for a medium-fast paced mystery/thriller set in a boarding school, this is it!!

admittedly, i was rather bored up until the second half, which is why the rating isn’t a 5 star. but the second half was so. damn. good. shit started to hit the fan. the revelations at the end and the plot twists were well thought out and surprising. i didn’t find it predictable, which i loved.

for some reason, i couldn’t connect to sade (the fmc) much in the beginning. it was easier in the second half as things got more intense and interesting. the other characters were fun and enjoyable, and i had no issue with them throughout.

i think the beginning could’ve been edited a bit better to increase the pacing and shorten the book a bit. 550 pages for a contemporary mystery book is a bit much for me!

With serious, unfortunate things happening all her life and being home-schooled Sade doesn't know what to expect when she goes to Alfred Nobel Academy, a prestigious boarding school. What happens is her roommate Elizabeth disappears after the first night and everyone acts as if she is to blame! Then the Unholy Trinity, a group of popular girls take an interest in her. And while she finds herself drawn to one of the girls — Persephone — and trying to solve the Elizabeth mystery, odd things start to happen. What is this school hiding?

Starting with a foreboding, let's call it prologue, this is a captivating narrative where things get intriguing pretty quickly. The 3rd person POV is observational and inquisitive, clearly showing how clever our protagonist is, more than she usually lets on. It exhibits a touch of dry wit and a lot of honesty. At times she is an adorable smart-a** and you'll love it. It's funny how comfortable you are with Sade from the moment you meet her. The musings — innermost thoughts — of the character aid us in doing a deep dive into Sade's personality, touching her soul. Behind her cautious nature is a secret. A secret from her past.

Academic settings seem to have an allure for me as a reader, and Sade's situation makes it even more interesting. There is a tangible atmosphere to this book, a bit haunting if you will. Little morsels of the mystery are given to us in tasty bites. Those morsels had me trying to figure out what was going on the whole way through the utterly readable storyline. Everyone (well almost everyone) appears to be guilty of something at some point. I loved the quite but intense power of the writing although there were parts where I would have liked a bit more oomph. Also, some missteps in the storyline just keep niggling at me even though the book was so good. Like when someone takes something by mistake and it isn't investigated further. Others will spoil the book so I won't mention them.

That first reveal that brought everything together was jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching and so worth the build-up. As are all the reveals after that and what happens.

This book deals with the nature of keeping things from others, of guilt, grief and of trauma. How we think about ourselves and things that have happened to us echo into our mental health, our behavior in everyday life. about being comfortable with and able to forgive yourself. About rage against injustice.

Not only is this a thought-provoking coming-of-age story/ school-setting mystery but a study of some of the dark corner of society, human behavior... of privilege.

Really wanted to love this, and it has a lot of elements that are high on my hit list - boarding school, dark academia, YA, thriller etc.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to it for me. The characters were intriguing but not quite well drawn enough and without enough depth. (Especially Persephone).

The plot was interesting enough to keep going, but I kept putting it down. And there were a lot of threads left undealt with in the end.

Obviously, it’s YA, but I have read many similar books that hit the mark a bit more.

That said, good themes, great diversity, and I think fans of Pretty Little Liars and 13 Reasons Why will enjoy it, even if they’re not totally gripped. Decent and fun, but not spectacular.

Another incredible book from this author. If you loved Faridah Abike-Iyimide's first book Ace of Spades you're bound to love this one too.

This book had me gripped, the tension was palpable, and I had no idea where things were going to go but I was so there for the journey.

Private school, mysterious goings on, a music box, anagrams, Morse code, secret groups, this book has all the dark academia mystery vibes you could possibly want.

Another auto buy author for my list.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book

I was super enjoying this one, but I ended up on an audio book series binge, and by the time I got back to it, the time had expired 😕
Totally my fault!

In fact, I was enjoying it that much, I have used this month's audio credit to buy the book because I want to know what happened.

Very mysterious, a little creepy with the school gangs, this is one to add to your tbr.

I devoured the authors last book and gave it 5 stars, so I'm sure this one will be the same for me.

Let me start by saying there are many awesome things about this book:
- The writing is very readable and makes you wanna keep going
- The main character is mostly consistent and enjoyable
- The atmosphere is well set up and makes you feel grounded (I wish we felt a bit more of the fish out of water homeschooled kid vibe though)
- The mystery is interesting, the resolution touches on important topics and (mostly) makes sense

What made me deduct a star was that for the sake of the shocking twist, the narrative doesn't build and foreshadow it enough. A lot happened in the last third but the road there was littered with dropped and underexplained threads. I also feel like the characters outside of Sade and Bas were very weak. I had no clue what they were about for the majority of the book and even at the end I was confused.

The slow burn sapphic relationship which is used as one of the marketing points was less of a slow burn, more of an insta love that happened at the end of the book. Very poor set-up - no clue why and how the two of them fell in love, to be honest.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

"Where Sleeping Girls Lie" is a slow-burning mystery from the author of "Ace of Spades," Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, that explores the chilling reality of girls trying to survive in institutions designed to break them down and never protect them.

I was lucky enough to receive this as an ARC, so I did not realise how long it would be, but rest assured that all the pages are worth it! The story and the characters just never let me put the book down, with every twist that was revealed and every turn in the story, I became more and more hooked.

Sade, our protagonist, is a complex and clever character who has experienced so much suffering that she can see behind the glittering facade of the private boarding school she is joining. She constantly fights for justice and for all the girls who cannot fight for themselves, all with an extremely well done backdrop of dark academia.

While the next part is not a direct spoiler, if you want to go completely blind into the mystery, then you should stop reading now and just pick up this fantastic book! If you want to hear more about some of the themes in this book then keep reading:

This story, at its core, is a very honest and therefore chilling representation of the unchecked privilege men experience in our society and how the places that are inherently meant to protect us are the most dangerous. Àbíké-Íyímídé does not shy away from calling out the 'boys club' culture and how men see a woman's body as something they are entitled to. As someone who identifies as a woman myself, there were many points in the story where I felt the fear and despair the characters felt, and that is a credit to the author. Àbíké-Íyímídé also makes a point about how hard it is to remove such a rot, and that is what I appreciated the most. The book ended on a note of hope, which is important, but not in a truly happy ending that is not realistic.

Overall, this book was an absolute masterpiece, and I urge you all to pick it up!

Another fantastic YA thriller from Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé! I absolutely adored Ace of Spades, so was eager to jump immediately into Faridah's sophomore book. While this story had a slow start for myself personally, I really enjoyed the build up of Sade fitting into the school, building friendships and really allowing us as readers to get to know the characters before all is revealed. I really loved how Faridah addresses social issues that may make you uncomfortable, but she will also allow you to open your mind to sensitive topics, no matter how uncomfortable they may be. The story-line was devastating, yet compelling - I found myself not wanting to put the book down, determined to unravel the mystery and the darkness within the walls of Alfred Nobel Academy.

Sade Hussein enrols herself into boarding school after the sudden death of her father. It's day two and her roommate has disappeared, and the faculty don't seem too concerned. As Sade integrates herself into school life and investigates, an unsettling series of events unfold.

I LOVED this. The story builds slowly and in detail, it's an enjoyable build up and necessary for the chain of events. For such a long book, I sped through it, a true testament to the writing.
I adored Ace of Spades, but this book has really solidified Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé as an autobuy author for me. I adore that her books address serious social issues in a thoughtful, sensitive way, and the story is expertly crafted and a joy to read, despite the uncomfortable at times subject matter. That's not always the case with YA, so very much appreciated!

A solid high school thriller, with strong messages around teenage rape. Sade has always been home schooled, but when she finds herself orphaned, she enrolls in an exclusive Academy. The grounds are impressive, the students are glamorous and its exactly what she has always wished for... until her roommate goes missing. With a new found friend, they make it their mission to uncover the truth - because the school is hiding something.

I love this kind of setting and theme. It's glamorous, atmospheric, and typically deals with coming-of-age issues. There are also plenty characters to love. But I also found it very long which opens it up to inconsistencies and holes. There were explanations for some of the holes, which made it even more far-fetched. So for me, there were parts of the story that really worked, had me gripped to the page and eager for the next "reveal". And other parts that felt could have been left out or developed more. Its a long story that felt like it was trying to cover too many things - taking the reader in one direction and then completely switching - like three stories glued together - leaving me a bit confused. That said, I enjoyed the characters and found myself mostly intrigued.

This was such a fun read! Boarding school murders? Not to sound too sadistic but I am ALWAYS here for that!! If you love some dark academia with a stroke of murder, grab a copy!
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Thanks to the publisher for the review copy!!