Sara Faring
Author of The Tenth Girl
2+ Works 338 Members 8 Reviews
About the Author
Image credit: Sara Faring at BookExpo at the Javits Center in New York City, May 2019. By Rhododendrites - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79387607
Works by Sara Faring
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Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Los Angeles, California, USA
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Reviews
The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring
I had not read anything by this author & was excited to read this, based on the description. Not to give any spoilers, but it is not as described. Will be reluctant to read her work in the future. š³
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TammyPatrick | 7 other reviews | Jan 2, 2023 | The beginning of this book is a 3, but the ending made me want to give it a 4.
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nightnur5e | 7 other reviews | Dec 15, 2022 | Featured in a blog post at https://booksbeyondbinaries.blog/2019/09/02/fall-preview-pet/
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emmy_of_spines | 7 other reviews | Sep 8, 2022 | I donāt know what it is with YA and horror, but most the time they are an absolute mess. At least ā thatās how I feel about it. The Tenth Girl is no exception to that rule, but I had problems with so much more than the faltering genre fit.
For starters, The Tenth Girl feels like a between-novel as far as target audience goes. Itās a little too ridiculous to appeal to most adult readers, but the language and sexual themes (especially early in the book) are a bit too mature for the average YA reader. I feel like The Tenth Girl was plummeted into the YA zone because the publisher felt it would make the most money there when it would really be better suited for something-in-between ā after all, the New Adult genre does exist, but the industry still feels determined to make that exclusively about steamy romances.
The characters are another problem. At best they are flat, at worst they are inconsistent and uninteresting. I was never able to really root for any of the characters in this book, because they were utterly forgettable. And itās really not about relating or not relating to either Mavi or Angel. Itās utter indifference because they arenāt rounded enough to get invested.
But wait! Thereās more!
Faring was all over the place with plot. The Tenth Girl is advertised as a YA ghost story and it ā¦ is not. It may start out that way, with ghosts and the such, but it quickly starts to jump all over the place and really ends more in science fiction than paranormal fantasy. It was supposed to be a major twist, but it was so out-of-the-blue that it didnāt make sense. It was less a āsurpriseā and moreā¦ simply confusing. Sometimes a really good plot can make up for flaws in character and writing because it keeps you curious as to what is going to happen nextā¦ but this one absolutely did not.
Finally, I want to talk about Faringās writing a bit. When I was researching this author, I found a scattering of reviews talking about racist themes and language in The Tenth Girl. Holy smokes this should be discussed more. Faring comes from Argentinian heritage and as such had an opportunity to share her culture, but instead sheās created a āfantasyā indigenous group that is one letter away from being the real thing. The entire first half of the book and the ghost story portion revolves around a bloody sacrificial ritual which is such a horrifying representation of an indigenous people! Itās mentioned in detail for the first time a few chapters in ā so early in the story ā and is cringy thenā¦ but then Faring repeats the story multiple times as we keep going through The Tenth Girl. This book could have strongly used a sensitivity reader because the premise of the entire first half of the book is based around some very problematic material.
Even beyond problematic themes, her writing isnāt good. Itās so metaphor heavy and a lot of the behaviors and threads donāt make sense. Faring works for Penguin Random House and while I truly hope she didnāt get this published exclusively through having all those connectionsā¦ Iām struggling to see how such a mediocre book in every sense not only was picked up, but advertised so well. Iām trying to be directly mean to Faring (I actually had the opportunity to meet her at BookCon 2019 and she was absolutely lovely) but this bookā¦ itās not good.
If this book is on your TBRā¦ honestlyā¦ you can skip it. Thereās nothing particularly redeeming about The Tenth Girl. Those who have been with me for a while know that I try to twist books I donāt like as good for another audience, but The Tenth Girl is utterly mediocre in every way and insulting in others andā¦ Iām struggling to think of an audience for it. If you loved this book, I am so happy for you! But for meā¦ yikes.… (more)
For starters, The Tenth Girl feels like a between-novel as far as target audience goes. Itās a little too ridiculous to appeal to most adult readers, but the language and sexual themes (especially early in the book) are a bit too mature for the average YA reader. I feel like The Tenth Girl was plummeted into the YA zone because the publisher felt it would make the most money there when it would really be better suited for something-in-between ā after all, the New Adult genre does exist, but the industry still feels determined to make that exclusively about steamy romances.
The characters are another problem. At best they are flat, at worst they are inconsistent and uninteresting. I was never able to really root for any of the characters in this book, because they were utterly forgettable. And itās really not about relating or not relating to either Mavi or Angel. Itās utter indifference because they arenāt rounded enough to get invested.
But wait! Thereās more!
Faring was all over the place with plot. The Tenth Girl is advertised as a YA ghost story and it ā¦ is not. It may start out that way, with ghosts and the such, but it quickly starts to jump all over the place and really ends more in science fiction than paranormal fantasy. It was supposed to be a major twist, but it was so out-of-the-blue that it didnāt make sense. It was less a āsurpriseā and moreā¦ simply confusing. Sometimes a really good plot can make up for flaws in character and writing because it keeps you curious as to what is going to happen nextā¦ but this one absolutely did not.
Finally, I want to talk about Faringās writing a bit. When I was researching this author, I found a scattering of reviews talking about racist themes and language in The Tenth Girl. Holy smokes this should be discussed more. Faring comes from Argentinian heritage and as such had an opportunity to share her culture, but instead sheās created a āfantasyā indigenous group that is one letter away from being the real thing. The entire first half of the book and the ghost story portion revolves around a bloody sacrificial ritual which is such a horrifying representation of an indigenous people! Itās mentioned in detail for the first time a few chapters in ā so early in the story ā and is cringy thenā¦ but then Faring repeats the story multiple times as we keep going through The Tenth Girl. This book could have strongly used a sensitivity reader because the premise of the entire first half of the book is based around some very problematic material.
Even beyond problematic themes, her writing isnāt good. Itās so metaphor heavy and a lot of the behaviors and threads donāt make sense. Faring works for Penguin Random House and while I truly hope she didnāt get this published exclusively through having all those connectionsā¦ Iām struggling to see how such a mediocre book in every sense not only was picked up, but advertised so well. Iām trying to be directly mean to Faring (I actually had the opportunity to meet her at BookCon 2019 and she was absolutely lovely) but this bookā¦ itās not good.
If this book is on your TBRā¦ honestlyā¦ you can skip it. Thereās nothing particularly redeeming about The Tenth Girl. Those who have been with me for a while know that I try to twist books I donāt like as good for another audience, but The Tenth Girl is utterly mediocre in every way and insulting in others andā¦ Iām struggling to think of an audience for it. If you loved this book, I am so happy for you! But for meā¦ yikes.… (more)
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Morteana | 7 other reviews | May 29, 2021 | Lists
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- Rating
- 3.1
- Reviews
- 8
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- 11