The Tenth Girl

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.