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Emily M. Danforth

Author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post

3 Works 2,667 Members 133 Reviews

About the Author

Works by Emily M. Danforth

Plain Bad Heroines (2020) 1,104 copies
The Miseducation of Cameron Post {2018 film} (2018) — Writer — 35 copies

Tagged

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Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Danforth, Emily M.
Birthdate
1980-01-17
Gender
female
Nationality
USA

Members

Reviews

This book is way longer than it needs to be, and it’s all setup that fails to deliver. Early on the seeds were planted for some seriously creepy gothic chills that never materialized. The mechanics and rationale of the “curse” lacked explanation: why things manifested as they did and who was affected by the curse was muddled or absent. I listened to the audiobook, and I’m not quite sure how the narrator may have affected my opinion of the book. She had a slow, ironic drawl that seemed right in tone, like we’re all in on the same joke, but that maybe kept me from taking the whole thing seriously enough.… (more)
½
 
Flagged
Charon07 | 55 other reviews | Mar 18, 2024 |
Trying to catch up with Sam's sad gay movie marathon by reading sad gay YA novels?

The writing was beautiful. I thought it might be too slow at first, but it wasn't, not at all. The pace and the words fit the setting, and reminded me of "Not Bleak," the story I just finished in [b:A Safe Girl To Love|22050397|A Safe Girl To Love|Casey Plett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399495379s/22050397.jpg|41376847].

The ending was just right, but I still want to know what happens next. I would happily read another 500 pages.… (more)
 
Flagged
caedocyon | 75 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |
"Plain Bad Heroines" ended up being a bit of a rollercoaster read for me - there were moments where I was deeply intrigued by what was happening, specifically in the past timeline at Brookhants, and then there would be stretches of plot that felt like a chore to get through. It's been awhile since I've read a book that is so interesting but so boring all at the same time.

The main strength of PBH lies in its come-hither promise of a darkly delicious story about a cursed school, queer actors, and a little red book that prompted young women to diverge from the beaten path. Especially in the first 200 pages of the novel Danforth weaves the past and the present so wonderfully, and each timeline hints at all these mysterious going-on's in a very tantalizing way that made me want to keep turning pages.
The characters were ones I never really connected to, but I did root for some of them more than others. Audrey and Alex I heavily empathized with and wanted them to succeed in any way they could. On the other hand, Merritt is one of the most obnoxiously irritating characters to exist and I couldn't stand her. I'm fairly certain she was meant to be unlikable for a portion of the novel, and in that sense she was very well-written, but even to the last page I was annoyed by her. Harper felt very flat and everything she did became repetitive, which in turn made her dull to read. I thought her plot was going to be a bit more flashy yet remained predictable.

Which leads to the weaknesses of the book, namely, failure to deliver on the promise of a terrifying tale. The book sets itself up like chaos and darkness are going to descend in the present plot but instead it all just gets dragged out to the extreme. It's over halfway through the book before the present story finally makes its way to Brookhants, and when we're finally there so little really happens! It's more yellow jackets and angst and malfunctioning film equipment, none of which is actually scary. The past plotline also becomes more difficult to enjoy because it feels very low-stakes, and again, becomes repetitive. We see the same kind of horror (yellow jackets, slimy water, physical injury) over and over and over again and it's simply ineffective.
Finally, the ending: when a book is over 600 pages and keeps making big promises, but delivers a weak, uninspired, and too-many-questions-left-unanswered ending, it's bound to be a little bit of a disappointment. It's not a terrible ending, just a boring one.

TL;DR: Parts of this book are enjoyable, even funny, and the writing is strong, but the plot drags too much and doesn't deliver on the promise of terror - also yellow jackets can only be scary once or twice before it feels like a forced motif being slammed over the readers head.
… (more)
 
Flagged
deborahee | 55 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |
I adored this book. So many different stories, but I never once felt lost. It all went seamlessly together. What a lyrical, terrifying story.
 
Flagged
ReneeGreen | 55 other reviews | Jan 17, 2024 |

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Statistics

Works
3
Members
2,667
Popularity
#9,620
Rating
3.9
Reviews
133
ISBNs
37
Languages
3

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