I love when I request a book on Netgalley, then straight-up forget I requested it, until I see it in my Kindle MONTHS later… doesn’t that sound like a blast? It’s like opening a Christmas gift! Especially when the book is one like The Society for Soulless Girls, because that was SUCH a good book! I enjoyed it very much. I’m excited to talk about it in this review, so I hope you enjoy!
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Synopsis of The Society for Soulless Girls
Ten years ago, Carvell School was forced to close its doors. Four students lost their lives over the course of just a few weeks, and ten years later, those murders are still unsolved.
Luckily for the school, they decided that enough time has gone by that they can reopen and their students will be safe. But, when Lottie gets accepted, she’s determined to find out what happened. She was friends with one of the girls who died ten years ago, and wants to give the parents some closure if she can.
Unfortunately for Lottie, no answers are forthcoming, and her new roommate, Alice, seems determined to make her time at Carvell miserable. Can the two girls learn to be friends, or at least be civil, before the secrets behind the North Tower Murders take more than lives?
The Society for Soulless Girls is a sapphic retelling of Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde.
Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of (book) in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Excerpt
Why had I gravitated toward the North Tower with no conscious desire to do so? Was the pull so magnetic?
I felt insane just thinking it. Yet looking up at the tower from the wonky cobbles below, its proportions seemed all wrong. It stuck up too high above the rest of the convent and leaned slightly toward the north. There were no windows apart from the arched orifices in the observatory at the very top, where there had once been telescopes (the nuns got really into astronomy in the late 1800s).
It was from those open maws that the victims had fallen to their deaths.
At first, there was nothing in the incidents to point to murder. Sam Bowey died first. He was Janie’s new boyfriend – a similarly quiet musician from County Durham – and he fell from the tower just weeks after they got together. Janie testified that she had broken up with him just hours before his death, and so, coupled with reports that he was failing his classes, the police believed it was suicide. Case closed.
Until Janie died too, less than a week later.
Her death was different, because her body showed signs of a struggle. She had finger-shaped bruises on her upper arms, scratches on her face and chest, and significant bruising around her neck. It was rumored that she had been hoisted over the windowsill by her throat.
At that point there were still no real leads, no genuine suspects. Nobody had seen anything suspicious; even the students in the dorms adjacent to the North Tower hadn’t seen anyone coming or going.
The police followed all kinds of lines of inquiry to find a motive. It seemed a huge coincidence that two new lovers could be killed within six days of each other by a total stranger, so they started looking at other students who knew them both. Maybe someone in love with one or both of them who had acted from jealousy. That avenue was mostly fruitless – any evidence the police uncovered was flimsy and circumstancial at best. It was an investigation built on gossip and hearsay.
Finally, two weeks after Janie’s death, Fiona Taylor and Dawn Middlemiss died on the same night. They fell within minutes of each other, their shattered bodies stacked on top of each other like a dreadful cairn at the foot of the North Tower. Their bodies had been ravaged by awful, almost subhuman claw marks. The police suspected there was a serial killer at large, and Carvell was closed with immediate effect.
Despite years of inquiries and investigations, the murders were never solved. The killer was never caught.
But now, standing mere yards from where those broken bodies had been found, an utterly ridiculous and yet frankly terrifying prospect came to me: What if the tower itself was the murderer?
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My Thoughts on The Society for Soulless Girls
As I said in my introduction, I absolutely LOVED The Society for Soulless Girls. I’ve been working on making my way through my Netgalley queue, and I’m kind of bummed that I’ve been reading more mainstream books because of that. Luckily, I’ve still been finding really good books, I just haven’t been able to promote the indie books I love so much, so I really need to get on the ball and start pushing out some indie reviews.
Psst… if you really need your indie fix, you can always check out my podcast. I got TONS of indie recommendations over there. You just might find your next favorite author.
But, back to my thoughts on The Society for Soulless Girls…
Biggest Takeaway
My biggest takeaway from this book is how important communication is. Lottie and Alice are roommates, and the book is told from both of their points of view. Because of this, I would read a part of the story from Lottie’s POV, and something will happen with Alice, which Lottie will totally misconstrue, causing more tension between them, but then when I read about the same situation from Alice’s POV, it wasn’t even close to the correct assumption. I spent most of the book screaming at them internally, “WHY DON’T YOU JUST ACTUALLY TALK TO EACH OTHER!!?” because they always seemed to miscommunicate, and had so many problems because of it. The conflict it raised was interesting, but it was also frustrating.
My Least Favorite Part
Lottie ends up “inheriting” some rubies from someone in the story, but the rubies aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Lottie ends up almost possessed by the spirit of an old nun who helped run Carvell before it was a school, and when Lottie tries to leave the school site, the rubies almost choke the life out of her. While I understood the need for the additional intrigue, I couldn’t understand why the author needed to add a ghostly aspect, and why it had to be added in the way it was. Yes, I’m being deliberately vague, because if I say too much, it could be a huge spoiler. I just didn’t like the addition of the rubies, and honestly think the author could have left them out and the book probably would have been better for it.
Plot Twists
I did enjoy the various twists that happened throughout The Society for Soulless Girls. I thought I had it figured out who the person was killing everyone, but I will tell you, I was wrong. Obviously, I’m not going to tell you who I thought it was, and I’m not going to tell you who it really was. But, I was wrong on both counts. That twist was really interesting. The motivations behind the real killer’s choices were interesting as well. I got closure at the end, too, even if it wasn’t the closure I expected. While Society is a standalone, it almost felt like Laura left it open in case she wanted to come back and add to the world later. I love when authors do that.
Main Characters
Lottie
Lottie was both amazing and irritating, in equal measure. The thing I loved about her was also the thing I hated about her. She was perpetually cheery, but in her interactions with Alice, it seemed like she was acting extra cheery, just to offset Alice’s moodiness. No one is THAT cheerful, all the time. Not even me, and I call myself the eternal optimist. Lottie and Alice were totally different characters, and I do think those differences could have been highlighted without making one of them so chipper.
Alice
Alice is moody. She has temper issues, and struggles with violent tendencies. But, when the story is from her point of view, we get to see the internal struggle. She doesn’t WANT to be that way, she just doesn’t see a way out. Alice is the one who finds a book about a ritual to calm those tendencies, and that ritual is one of the main things that catapults the story for her. I didn’t find Alice as irritating as I did Lottie, because while Alice was prickly, and literally punched a guy out for touching her, she seemed more real than Lottie. We’ve all had times when we’ve fought our darker side, and while I sympathize with Alice’s inability to control it, that darker side is what makes her more relatable than Lottie.
The Author’s Writing Style
Laura Steven is amazing. I’ve never read a Jekell & Hyde retelling before, and the gender-swap was perfect. I honestly didn’t even realize it was a retelling until I read the blurb as I was preparing for this review. Other than the small bits that irritated me, I thought the story was perfect, and most of that has to do with Laura’s writing style. She was able to put together two girls, seamlessly fit in past and present, as well as avoid continuity errors. At least I didn’t notice any. If any of you do, feel free to let me know in the comments.
Recommendation
Highly, HIGHLY recommend The Society for Soulless Girls! I did have a couple irritations about the book, but it was wholly entertaining and I look forward to more books by Laura Steven. I would even love more books in this world, in case she decides to make this a series (hint, hint). If you like retellings, especially sapphic, gender-swap retellings, definitely check out The Society for Soulless Girls. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. If you choose to purchase, I’d love if you use my affiliate link below. I’ll get a commission, and I would appreciate the support!
I need this book! Take me to Amazon!
Conclusion
So, do you think you’ll read The Society for Soulless Girls? Let me know in the comments! And if you know anyone else who might enjoy this review, I’d appreciate if you shared with them as well.
If this is your first time here on The Picky Bookworm, I’m so glad you stopped by! I’m happy to have you! Be sure to subscribe to my weekly post notification, so you don’t miss new articles and book reviews! I’m working steadily on getting back on schedule, so you’ll have new stuff soon. In the meantime, check out these other book reviews to get you started:
The Mountain of Souls
The Blame Game
Dead of Winter
Until Next Time, Friends!
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