Book Review: Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

In 1902, two girls at the Brookhants School for Girls founded the Plain Bad Heroine Society in honor of their favorite writer; the scandalous Mary McLane.  Not long after they meet a gruesome death and Mary McLane’s book is banned, but students continue to die, and Mary McLane’s book seems to have something to do with it.

One hundred years later a bestselling book about the school inspires a horror movie adaptation, which will be filmed on the grounds of what remains of Brookhants.  As the author of the book and the two stars are thrust together strange things keep happening all around them.  Is Hollywood exploiting them, or is there something even more sinister going on?

It’s impossible to describe how delightful and yet totally creepy this book is without giving any more away.  It’s a queer, entertaining romp with a gothic flair and some genuinely scary moments, full of twists and turns, genre call backs and black and white illustrations.  This book is 623 pages but will make you wish there were 623 more to go!

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