The Tenth Girl
Author: Sara Faring
Publisher: Imprint
Release Date: September 24th 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Horror, Mystery, Historical Fiction
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Simmering in Patagonian myth, The Tenth Girl is a gothic psychological thriller with a haunting twist.
At the very southern tip of South America looms an isolated finishing school. Legend has it that the land will curse those who settle there. But for Mavi—a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother—it offers an escape to a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s elite girls.
Mavi tries to embrace the strangeness of the imposing house—despite warnings not to roam at night, threats from an enigmatic young man, and rumors of mysterious Others. But one of Mavi’s ten students is missing, and when students and teachers alike begin to behave as if possessed, the forces haunting this unholy cliff will no longer be ignored.
One of these spirits holds a secret that could unravel Mavi’s existence. In order to survive she must solve a cosmic mystery—and then fight for her life.
my review
I received a free copy for an honest review.
Okay, either I had been a beanbag of a brain all along or this book is just like…
…was that supposed to be like that.
I thought I was crazy. I’m so comfortable with books that have narrations years apart, but this book was something else.
I had to go back to re-check several times the synopsis from Goodreads to CONFIRM the book actually described itself as a “Gothic psychological thriller with a haunting twist” with no mention of paranormal or maybe even fantasy.
I get that it did say “Gothic” and “haunting”, but I honestly was not expecting the book to be so supernatural and paranormal. I thought the Gothic would be more psychologically scary and more realistic. Or is it just me. I don’t know anymore.
I tried following the two story-lines. But eventually, I just became like this for the entire book, I was struggling to follow along after the first few chapters.
To give you an idea just how overwhelming it is. I wrote this review a few days after I stopped reading it, and I struggled to write this review because I can’t even remember a single name. I had to RE-READ this book to write this review because I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT TO WRITE A REVIEW.
I think complicated stories are excellent for fantasy and science fiction because the details added realism to those fictional works. But this book was so Gothic that it (almost) felt like paranormal fantasy because the references in the story were just way too fictional to feel haunting scary in the real-world. That took me out of the experience in a pretty bad way. I guess I was just expecting something else.
I guess I’m going to end this very badly written review for this…bad book with the following (wise) quote:
“Is it just be more is everything on fire”.
about the author
Born in Los Angeles, Sara Faring is a multi-lingual Argentine-American fascinated by literary puzzles. After working in investment banking at J.P. Morgan, she worked at Penguin Random House. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in International Studies and from the Wharton School in Business. She currently resides in New York City. Her first novel, The Tenth Girl, will be released by Macmillan/Imprint on September 24, 2019. Sara is represented by Sarah Bedingfield at Levine Greenberg Rostan Agency.