Review: Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

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Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

Published: 24th March 2021 | Publisher: The Borough Press | Source: Bought
Emily M. Danforth’s Website

1902, Brookhants School for Girls: students Flo and Clara are madly in love with each other, as well as completely obsessed with The Story of Mary MacLane, the scandalous debut memoir by 19 year old MacLane. A few months later they are found dead in the woods, after a horrific wasp attack, the book lying next to their intertwined bodies. Within five years the school is closed. But not before three more people die on the property, each in a troubling way.

Over a hundred years later, Brookhants opens its doors once more, when a crew of young actresses arrive to film a high-profile movie about the rumoured Brookhants curse. And as past and present become grimly entangled, it’s soon impossible to tell quite where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins... From The StoryGraph.

Purchase from Bookshop.org*
The StoryGraph | Goodreads

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit, a fire, use of both soft and hard drugs, alcoholism, mention of suicide, a mental asylum, abuse of a patient, and attempted rape.

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Review: Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy (#Ad)

I was sent this proof for free by Rock the Boat for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy

Published: 26th March 2019 | Publisher: Rock the Boat | Source: Publisher
Amy Rose Capetta's Website | Cori McCarthy's Website

I’ve been chased my whole life. As a fugitive refugee in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I’ve always had to hide who I am. Until I found Excalibur.

Now I’m done hiding.

My name is Ari Helix. I have a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start.

When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind.

No pressure. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features genocide and murder.

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My F/F February Reading Challenge TBR

This post contains affiliate links.
Titles marked with an asterisk (*) were gifted to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

In February, Imi of Imi Reviews Books and Ellie of Faerie on the Shelf are hosting F/F February - a month long reading challenge "to get as many people reading and talking about books that star female / female relationships as possible," as there are more m/m books out there.

There is a giveaway to win any book starring a f/f relationship and a pre-order of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, and there is also a bingo challenge and a photo challenge, both of which get you more entries into the giveaway. Check out the announcement post for more details.

The challenge sounds amazing, and thinking about it, I do think most of the LGBTQ* books I've read have featured m/m relationships rather than f/f, so I am jumping on board! Due to my blogging schedule, I may not be able to post all (if any) of my reviews on my blog, so I thought I would to promote the challenge by sharing with you my potential TBR for the challenge (because I won't be able to read them all!) of books I own that fit, and give you guys some ideas of books you can read for it, if you fancy taking part, too!

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Review: The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan (review copy) - A flooded world.
A floating circus.
Two women in search of a home.

North lives on a circus boat with her beloved bear, keeping a secret that could capsize her life.

Callanish lives alone in her house in the middle of the ocean, tending the graves of those who die at sea. As penance for a terrible mistake, she has become a gracekeeper.

A chance meeting between the two draws them magnetically to one another - and to the promise of a new life.

But the waters are treacherous, and the tide is against them. From Goodreads.

I was sent this ARC for freeby Vintage Books for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features an attempted forced marriage (though not a cultural one), and sexual assault.

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Review: The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed (Proof) - WHO ARE THE NOWHERE GIRLS?
They’re everygirl. But they start with just three.

GRACE SALTER is the new girl in town, whose family had to leave their former community after her southern Baptist preacher mom turned into a radical liberal.

ROSINA SUAREZ is the queer punk girl in a conservative Mexican immigrant family, who dreams of a life playing music instead of waitressing at her uncle’s restaurant.

ERIN DELILLO is obsessed with two things: marine biology and Star Trek: The Next Generation, but they aren’t enough to distract her from her suspicion that she may be an android.

Grace wants nothing more than to be invisible at her new school, but when she learns that Lucy Moynihan, the former occupant of her new home, was run out of town after accusing the popular guys at school of gang rape, she convinces Rosina and Erin to join her mission to get justice for Lucy. They form an anonymous group of girls at Prescott High to resist the sexist culture at their school, which includes boycotting sex of any kind with the male students. As the Nowhere Girls grow in numbers, their movement becomes about more than sex and transforms the lives of its members, their school, and the entire community. From Amy Reed's wesbite.

Trigger warning: This book deals with rape and rape culture.

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Review: As I Descended by Robin Talley

As I Descended by Robin Talley (Review Copy) - Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school’s ultimate power couple—even if no one knows it but them.

Only one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey.

Golden child Delilah is a legend at the exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. She runs the school, and if she chose, she could blow up Maria and Lily’s whole world with a pointed look, or a carefully placed word.

But what Delilah doesn’t know is that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to make their dreams come true. And the first step is unseating Delilah for the Kingsley Prize. The full scholarship, awarded to Maria, will lock in her attendance at Stanford―and four more years in a shared dorm room with Lily.

Maria and Lily will stop at nothing to ensure their victory—including harnessing the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school.

But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what’s real and what is imagined, the girls must decide where they draw the line.

From acclaimed author Robin Talley comes a Shakespeare-inspired story of revenge and redemption, where fair is foul, and foul is fair. From Goodreads.

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