Plain Bad Heroines is a novel by Emily M. Danforth.
Finished on: 24.10.2023

Plot:
Brookhants School for Girls is rumored to be haunted. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were several strange deaths at the school before it closed. Among the dead were Clara and Flo who bonded of Mary MacLane‘s memoir and fell in love. Now, more than a hundred years later, a movie is in the works about Brookhants that will be shot on location. Based on Merritt Emmons historical research, the big star of the moment Harper Harper, and acting hopeful Audrey Wells have been cast as Flo and Clara and are excited to begin working. But strange things start happening at set.

Plain Bad Heroines was genuinely delightful and one of my favorite reads of the year. It is funny and charming, but also actually goosebump-inducingly scary. And to top it all off, it is wonderfully queer. I cannot recommend it enough.

When I picked this book up, an increasingly rare coincidental bookstore find, I didn’t realize that Danforth was the author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post, but I am looking forward to reading it even more now. Anyhow, judging from the film, Cameron Post is very different from Plain Bad Heroines.

But back to the book I am actually discussing: Plain Bad Heroines is awesome. It’s the kind of read that left me bouncing and thinking about who to recommend it to immediately after finishing it (I did find a couple of people that I think will enjoy it immensely). It is beautifully written, has great characters and an excellent sense of humor.

While the set-up may sound familiar, the execution definitely isn’t. There were a couple of twists that took me by surprise, but above all, the book actually managed to scare the shit out of me – and I really don’t scare easily. That doesn’t make me like horror movies and books less, but it does mean that when one does, it immediately gets a special place in my heart.

Most importantly, I just loved the characters and that it is a through and through queer story, in all timelines. Having so many queer women around gives the book the opportunity to explore the many ways of being and feeling queer which is a thing of beauty. Plus, the chemistry between these women was fantastic.

I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll leave it at that. I just want to say: READ THIS DAMN BOOK.

Summarizing: instant fave.