3.5 stars. This is one of the longest books I have read, and thus I am unsure how to briefly put my feelings into words. There are many heroines in The Plain Bad Heroines, of various time periods. While all of the heroines stories revolve around Brookhaunts, an estate and school for girls, I did desire more of a connection between the stories. The lore in this book is interesting and I enjoyed how it unfolded through various stories. I also loved how multiple perspectives revealed the personalities of the heroines. I loved how queerness and non-typical relationships were apart of almost every character. I also thought the many motifs of Brookhaunts tied in well to all of the plots, though sometimes seeming redundantly overused. In all, I enjoyed this book greatly in the beginning, but the ending (perhaps a result of its length) left more to be desired.

As I said, this book is difficult to briefly describe so below I will briefly describe my feelings for each group of heroines.

Flo and Clara: Their story was a wonderful way to open the book, as it was interesting and was connected to the other stories in a meaningful way. However, Flo and Clara’s story seems to get left behind as the book progresses and while I wish there was more to uncover about their story, it is mostly mentioned without addition.

Libby and Alex: My favorite plot in the book, filled with suspense and mystery. I do feel like some parts lacked decent foreshadowing, the conclusion felt rushed, and again I lacked the connection to the next trio of girls.

Harper, Audrey, and Merritt: My favorite characters in the book, with their unique personalities and background that lead to very quippy and sometimes flirty conversations. Three of my favorite scenes in the book were set around these characters, with beautiful (or weird) imagery and connection. However, those scenes once again lacked any meaning to the ongoing plot. There also felt to be more tension between all of the girls in the first act than in the second. The ending for this group was also the most disappointing. It was rushed and I wasn’t sure what the unfinished ending meant in regards to their past or potential (off-book) future.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Harper Audio audiobook narration, as the speaker did a wonderful job creating unique voices for every character which lead them to be recognizable without much context.