This was a vrey entertaining read, I would rate it more at 3.5. The only reason I would take out points is because everything was pretty obvious. You have the one with stict parents that push them to study hard, the antisocial gamer and the friendly one. Together they discover the power of friendship and team work.
The characters are lovable, but not very developed, but I hope to see more in future installments of this, because the idea is amazing!

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley.)

New to Edmonds College, Simone, Taj, and Maya find themselves sharing a dorm room in Lovelace Hall. Though they're all exceptionally talented young women with ginormous brains, they seemingly have little in common: Simone the biologist loves doting on her ant colony, while ambitious mathematician Maya hopes to impress her demanding father by cultivating influential Mensa connections. Computer wiz Taj is a bit of a rebel, with her illicit art installations and penchant for (well-deserved) fisticuffs, both virtual and IRL. Needless to say, all these big personalities crammed into one small space results in conflict like whoah.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50666676557/

The trio is forced to work together - and, dare I say, bond? - when they all receive cryptic invitations to join The Curie Society. Founded by none other than Marie Skłodowska Curie herself, the secret society exists to help women scientists achieve their full potential, despite the many hurdles placed in their paths by entrenched misogyny (and racism!). The Edmonds chapter is led by two of their professors, Drs. Burkhart and Warsame, as well as their "orientation guide," Emma - and they waste no time in pushing their latest recruits to their physical and mental limits.

The girls' training is fast-tracked when, during a field trip to the Waterton Glacier International Park, thieves manage to break in and steal hard drives containing years of the group's de-extinction work. Worried that the information will be sold on the black market, the new class's first mission is to intercept the suspected sale at the upcoming N.E.D. talk. But why are their mentors acting so sketchy about the group's history? Where are all the previous class's members? And what is Dr. Burkhart and Emma hiding about their connection to corporate espionage?

THE CURIE SOCIETY is a really fun and engaging spy story that has the added bonus of promoting STEM/STEAM as an exciting opportunity for girls and women, including women of color. There's lots of nerdy goodness to be found here, whether you're into IT, math, biology, cryptography, engineering...the list goes on.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50665852648/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50665852563/

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50666597431/

Among my favorite panels are those set in the wildlife park, where thylacines and wooly mammoths walk the earth again (even if I don't necessarily agree with the ethics of the thing).

The mystery that drives the plot is interesting enough but, to be honest, it mostly takes a backseat to the ins and outs of the secret society - and, of course, the science!

The characters are fairly multidimensional, especially considering there are around eight major players in a 168-page book. They're very diverse, with the main and supporting characters coming from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. There's also what looks to be a budding F/F romance that's been super-sweet to watch unfold thus far. (Let's hope!)

The plot's denouement involves a potential "ecoterrist" threat which could be prove fertile ground in future installments. (Again, let's hope!) I'm interested to see how it plays out.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I think that this was a good book and a great idea, and I enjoyed the female empowerment and the focus on women in STEM. I think the art was beautiful, but I would have enjoyed seeing a bit more of a character arc for Maya, who was a kind of mean character. I would have also enjoyed having a bit more backstory on Dr. Burkhart because when there was a flashback, at parts, I would get more confused and have more questions instead of less. Overall, this was a fun read, and I would recommend it if you enjoy spy fiction or graphic novels.

I loved the focus on independent girls and STEM! This book is full of smart girls doing bad-ass things, and I am all here for it! The pacing of the story was fantastic, giving us enough time to get to know the characters while still keeping the story moving along. I would definitely read more of this story.

The one thing I didn't particularly like was the art style. I personally prefer a more vivid color palette that makes the art pop. Having read other graphic novels and comics, that's the style I'm used to. It's not rally a bad style, just different. However, overall it was nicely done and easy to follow along as I read.

This was so much fun!! It reminded me a mix between Nancy Drew and the Illuminae Files but historical! I liked the art style it was clear and clean. I like most of the main characters, they were well done and have very interesting background (I didn't really like Maria or marta or whatever her name was, she was everything I dislike in a character)
Overall an interesting mysterious but fun graphic novel/comic.
Cannot wait for the next installment!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

With all the new spy-stuff that is coming out, I love how "The Curie Society" decided to draw back the focus onto STEM and its related real-world applications.

A middle-school-aged me would have loved to see a graphic novel of women in science not only surviving but thriving. I loved how "The Curie Society" could be used as a talking point on any number of topics. I loved the glossary at the end and I think that "The Curie Society" would make a brilliant starting point around so many relevant and current conversation topics.

The art-style is reminiscent of older comics and the colour palette follows the same style. There is a good amount of visible diversity within the cast and a number of characters came from visible minority groups. While there are queer undertones to some characters, I don't think there is trans visibility.

Where I think "The Curie Society" fails is trying to market itself as a book for young adults rather than middle-graders. A lot of the topics of conversation: be it, STEM, leadership, misogyny or discrimination, are conversations that many adults are seriously having with middle-graders or earlier rather than high schoolers.

So I definitely think the novel would have hit five stars had the characters been younger and the setting was in high school or middle school rather than university. There are moments where information may feel info-dumpy, but it was useful in introducing me to a lot of STEM topics and women in STEM I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

I look forward to the next book, should there be one!

Thank you to NetGalley and MIT Press for allowing me to access an e-arc of "The Curie Society" all opinions stated are my own.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of The Curie Society in exchange for an honest review.

Badass women in science! Badass women in science who are saving the world and also creating friendships (and more than friendships)? Incredible. Beautiful.

The Curie Society follows Maya, Taj, and Simone, all woman in their first year in STEM programs at a prestigious university (or college, I think? I'm not entirely sure how America works but I think this takes place in America) after they get invited to join The Curie Society, a society started by Marie Curie to support and unite women in science across the globe and time. The Curie Society includes reference to a lot of female STEM legends and gives little bios on them at the end, while also never feeling like it's shoving a history or science education down your throat. Everything is natural and interesting and I really enjoyed this.

I received an early e-arc of The Curie Society by Heather Einhorn, Adam Staffaroni from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This graphic novel was kinda like Totally Spies but make it a STEM secret society for young women. It also reminded me of the new Charlie's Angels movie.
The Curie Society follows three young women in college who receive mysterious invites to The Curie Society, a secret society founded by Marie Curie to encourage and empower women in STEM. I think this would be a great read for young girls and I liked how the science behind what was discussed in the graphic novel was explained more thoroughly at the end of the graphic novel.
The plot was fast-paced, intriguing and I felt kinda dumb by how much the characters knew about math and science, so I learned a fair bit. I liked the art style, and I thought it was cool to see the in-progress art pages since this is an arc copy.
I give The Curie Society 3.75 stars, I recommend this title and would read more volumes of this story.

Three girls in one dorm room at college – one a plump gamer and coder with green hair, another with model looks but a brilliant aptitude for STEM sciences, and a young girl fast-tracked to the college – get chosen by observers to be inducted into the all-female Marie Curie Society, a top-secret organisation tasked with doing the top-secret tasks they can't rely on the men to do, like saving the world. And so their early undergrad days, of being hit on by lesbians because they can't operate a laundry machine, or duffing up some frats who have never heard of #MeToo, are interrupted by their training montage, and immediately thereafter their first mission.

The female side of things, giving empowerment to young ladies reading this, is of course all to the good. IF, that is, the entertainment side of things stands up to interrogation. And it doesn't really do that. What this book needed to do was to be distinctive – to not bludgeon the reader with research and references, and to not bring the science into the dialogue in yucky, artificial ways like here. It needed to have drama and conflict without the typical, yawnsome yacking bitch-fest these books turn into when the characters can't get along. It certainly needed to be less wordy than what we have here.

There are strong character arcs, however – certainly the gamer loses her closed-off attitude – and a sisterhood of scientists is duly reached. But en route I didn't see anything distinctive, entertaining or edifying enough. This was quite the clumsy edutainment in the finish, dropping high school science from the news into proceedings that needed to be better. The best thing that can be said about it is that it does play to the character's genius, with baddies and heroes that are actually allowed to be smart and not do stupid things. Two and a half stars.