The Tenth Girl

I finished this book days ago...and it's taken me days to figure out how to say something other this book was so dreadfully boring. If I hadn't asked for this book for Christmas and actually got it...I wouldn't have finished it. That's the only reason I pushed through.

I loved the cover. I loved the naked hardcover. I loved the synopsis. I love gothic horror. It had the makings of a good, creepy story. But when I read it, I got nothing. A boarding school isolated deep in Argentina, reopened after so long and only 10 girls as students. I was ready. And then I was lost. I think there were two timelines. Or maybe 2 POVs. I don't think I've ever had this hard a time keeping up with a book but I'm sure my absolute boredom had something to do with it.

Maybe I'll read something by this author again. I won't say that I won't because this is a debut. If you enjoyed this, great. I'm happy one of us wasn't bored to tears.

Okay so I finished this and honestly I'm not sure how I feel about it?

The book is interesting and different from the beginning, being written in two different viewpoints from two different time periods that are somehow interacting in the 70s in Argentina. So I was intrigued right away, and I'm not going to lie and say I didn't pick this one up because of how people were saying it was weird or polarizing online. That's exactly why I borrowed it from my library.

The book has a great creepy horror feel, set in an old finishing school, isolated on a glacier (or a mountain with lots of ice?), that is being reopened for the first time after some virus killed majority of the attendants and staff some 60 years ago.

I really did enjoy reading from the point of view of Mavi. More so then Angel, since her background was actually made known, instead of Angels which was just being hinted at for majority of the book to make you anticipate the grand reveal. Which really wasn't all that shocking, I guess? Probably because his background story for the most part really didn't affect anything in the book at all, except for his mom being dead but we knew that really early on.

The end of this book, with its twist, was kind of a crazy mess and I haven't decided how I feel about it. So maybe I'll change this rating later when I've processed it more.

This book was...interesting. The atmosphere and writing were great and the premise (spooky boarding school) had promise. I was enjoying the first couple hundred pages, then wondered where the story was going for about another hundred more. Then came the twist, one that made me roll my eyes and heave a giant sign of disappointment. It wasn't the kind of twist that gives you chills up your spine and think “YESSSS!” - rather it was an out-of-left-field twist that left me wondering if I wanted to bother finishing. I decided to power through the last few pages because I'd made it this far, right? Wrong. The actual end of the book might have been the worst part...if it hadn't been for the cringe-worthy “mythology” of the Zapuche people in the book. They were described as “savages” and the plot includes a “sacrifice a girl to the gods” trope that feeds into the narrative of the “uncivilized natives.” I did not like the handling of the indigenous storyline in the book and wished the author could have made a few changes to make that part of the mythology a bit less stereotypical and more nuanced.

I'd be interested in giving the author another chance, though, as the writing was good and Faring does a good job building atmosphere in the book, even though the book, unfortunately, didn't ever drift into “scary” territory for me.

2 stars. It's a no from me dog. I had to start skimming and skipping chapters just to finish.

After the first 30% I understand why this book has such a low rating. After finishing it I also understand why the ending was so divisive. This book is overly wordy, boring even during “exciting” moments, and after getting through the ending seems to be kind of pointless. We start the book going in a particular direction. Haunted school, girls disappearing, mystery, horror. But at about 80% we take a hard left and everything you thought the book was about gets turned totally on it's head but not in a fun way. When the big reveal about the school comes into play I said to myself “Then what was even the point of everything we've been through so far?”.

Wouldn't recommend. I can't even say this is a good book to read during the Halloween season which is the whole reason I picked it up.