Though no fault of this book, I just could not get into it. I am in *another* reading slump and this one just couldn't hook me enough to keep going.

The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven is described as a dark academia take on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While I didn’t quite get that, I did get a fun, gothic-lite, spooky-ish read that was perfect for a cozy, autumn read. After several students were murdered at the prestigious, all-girls Carvell College for the Arts, the shuttered college is reopening for a new group of young women. Lottie, a preppy student-athlete, is eager to find out what truly happened and why. Lottie’s roommate couldn’t be more opposite- moody, dark, and angry- Alice also seems drawn to the macabre legacy of the College. Strange occurrences start happening and Lottie seems to have an unconscious connection to the North Tower, the location of the horror a decade previous. After Alice discovers a mysterious book in the library, both girls realize there is something sinister within the walls of the Tower and they are going to have to work together to stop it. Now, if it had stopped at this, I think I could have rated it higher, but The Society for Soulless Girls, also, tried to bring sapphic romance, the old “opposites attract” troupe. And, it just fell flat. It was a rushed romance and one you could see coming, but hoped Steven would keep at bay. It just was too trite and underdeveloped. But Steven is a master at building a setting- the College was spooky, and witchy, and “fall”y; all the things you want in a PLACE. I just wish some of that development would have also been used on the characters- the romance, the ultimate reveal, etc.
Overall, I enjoyed the read and recommend The Society of Soulless Girls if you are looking for an atmospheric little mystery/suspense read. It is NOT Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in dark academia, but it is worth your time. 4/5. Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the eARC in return for my own honest review.

I was so sad and shocked not to find myself loving this one more. I love isolated settings, elite academic institutions, and the dark academia genre so felt sure to find much to appreciate here as it delivered all three. However, the supernatural twist didn't wholly work for me, despite my immediate bond with these characters and my interest in the setting they were placed within.

Laura Stevens can do no wrong, especially when she’s writing about mysteries and dark academia. I really enjoyed this novel. The characters were interesting and the plot was exciting. I can’t wait to keep reading more of her stuff.

I enjoyed reading this book because it gave a feel of genderswapped and queer Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Society for Soulless Girls follows spunk and angry Alice and her roommate Lottie in the adventure of the lifetime. Carvell University was previously shut down for unsolved murders passing off as suicides. Lottie, intrigued with the history gets caught up in the wrath of the former nun that possessed the school. Alice wanting to relieve her anger stumbles upon a ritual book. At first these two cannot stand each other but as the adventure unravels how close do they become?

I loved the book and the fact that the romance is not the main thing but a side quest that leads to the big reveal. Overall, it was a great read!

There are a lot of things going for this book, but also many things holding me back from really enjoying it. Each chapter switches back and forth between two roommates in a gothic English University--the smiles and sunshine jock Lottie and prickly goth Alice. Immediately, the story is set up with mysterious deaths happening at the university years prior, causing it to be shut down...until now. How or why people would flood back (including the original professors) is an equal mystery. So much of this story relies upon the relationship between Alice and Lottie, but that relationship is non-existent for the first half of the book and though that changes slowly in the second half, there are some aspects of it that are rushed and much less impactful. To be honest, the first half is slow-moving and painfully pretentious. It does pick up and becomes somewhat interesting later on, but by then it feels more like a race to the ending. So so much of the book is build up, but the payoff for all of the reader's patience is quick and unsatisfying. I wish there had been more mystery and nuance.

My only significant complaint about this was it was LONG! 406 pages seems particularly lengthy for a YA gothic novel but I enjoyed the dark academia setting and overall plot! Some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde vibes with feminist undertones.

This was kind of a meh read for me. First off, I loved the gothic horror aspects of this book and the romance was great. I'm a sucker for a good sapphic romance! But, the plot fell a bit flat for me. It was slower than expected and even though it was delightfully creepy I didn't find myself being super engrossed in the world. I'd give it a solid 3 stars.

I really wanted to love this book. I love sapphic romance, I love classic retellings... I really thought it would be right up my alley. The underlying themes of generational rage in women and taking back power were enough to keep me reading until the end. The throat rubies felt very weird and unnecessary but the rest of the supernatural elements were engaging. I almost DNFed at the vivid description of animal cruelty and death. I was not prepared for on page animal cruelty. The pacing felt a bit slow and dragged a bit in some places as well. Overall, I think this would be a good read for its intended audience; however, as an adult reading YA, it fell short for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have to say that I let out an internal groan when I saw this book was dual POV. My biggest complaint with this structure is that author’s rarely use it to its highest potential. However, it absolutely worked in this book. Steven expertly wove in each character’s emotions and thought processes.

My biggest disappointment with The Society for Soulless Girls is that I waited so long to read it. There wasn’t a moment after picking up this book that I wanted to put it down.

This book was highly cinematic. I could definitely see Netflix optioning it and turning it into a limited series. However, it is also a concept that has been explored many many times. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book. It did just feel a little cliche at times. Particularly the ending. I would have loved to have it been drawn out a little more instead of being shoved into the last few pages.

Overall, I loved the book and would recommend to anyone looking for a YA dark academia thriller!

I thought this would be a dark academia mystery but it was basically about two boring teenage girls.

Imagine this: a spooky old college with a history of creepy murders, two girls forced to room together – one's all prickly and sarcastic, the other's mysterious and kinda hot – and then throw in a dash of magic gone wrong. That's "The Society of Soulless Girls" in a nutshell.

This book is basically dark academia vibes mixed with a bit of that Jekyll and Hyde mystery, only with a sapphic twist. It's got that whole "girls being angry at the world" energy, which honestly, I kinda dig. Plus, the setting is perfect – old buildings, secrets lurking in the shadows, that kind of thing.

The main girls, Lottie and Alice, are where it gets interesting. They start out hating each other, but then there's tension, and you're like, wait a minute, is this enemies-to-lovers territory? The mystery with the murders and stuff keeps you guessing too.

Honestly, there were times the story kinda dragged, and I'm a sucker for a big, mind-blowing ending that didn't fully happen here. But overall, it was a fun, atmospheric read.

If you're down for creepy campuses, morally grey girls, and some magic with a dark side, give "The Society of Soulless Girls" a try. It's a solid choice for your spooky season reading list!

This book was difficult. I had to be in a certain mood to read this book or else I just read the same page over and over again. But once I got into the story, I was hooked! It is an exciting tale and deftly mixes supernatural mystery with the ultimate unknown experience.

After a string of deaths ten years ago, Carvell College of Arts was forced to close. Now it has reopened with many of the same staff, and Lottie Fitzwilliam is determined to solve what really happened all those years ago. She rooms with Alice Wolfe, a dark, angsty girl who completes a soul-splitting ritual to rid herself of the evil thoughts she can’t make stop. Soon after, another student dies, and Alice can’t recall if she was involved or not. Strange things begin happening to Lottie as well, so she teams up with Alice to put a stop to the sinister happenings at Carvell once and for all.

I had trouble getting into this at first, but eventually I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down. The chapters are told in alternating perspectives from Alice and Lottie. I enjoyed their personalities and how they were so different yet worked together and learned to accept and appreciate each other for who they are. The romance seemed completely unnecessary and out of place, though. It’s a very small part of the book and didn’t impact the plot in any meaningful way. To me it felt like the author thought there needed to be a romance element, so this was thrown in as an afterthought. However, I still really enjoyed this book. I have read a lot of mystery and suspense in my life, but this one kept me guessing. There are enough red herrings and twists to keep the reader engaged, but there are also enough clues and foreshadowing that the reveal makes sense. Thanks to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Laura Steven for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

To start this review I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warning: sexual assault and animal death, drug use

This is going to be another short one.

I didn’t like this book. I DNF’d at 48%

This book is long and when it comes to long books you need good pacing. This book did not have that. I was bored reading it. Incredibly bored. The character’s weren’t interesting to me. Also, I really didn’t like one of them. Alice? I think her name was.

This portion of the review will talk about sexual assault, drug use, and animal death. Please proceed carefully.

She has a little birthday celebration with two girls from the theater department from this school. And she got her roommate to come with her. These two got off on the wrong foot immediately. One has a very abrasive personality, the other is meant to be “pure sunshine.”

First off, that pure sunshine isn’t there. That girl isn’t super bright and happy. She’s just the average girl. I didn’t get any idea of her being that bright and happy of a person.

Anyway, she has a birthday thing with these three girls, two from the theater department.

Her roommate is on the dance floor when a guy grabs her arm and kisses her. No talking, no asking for names or consent. Just does it.

So she punches him in the face. And I was super happy for that! Like yes, show sexual assault being punished! It’s absolutely unacceptable.

Tell me how her roommate, little miss bright and shiny, got mad at her for it?????

“You punched someone on my birthday!” Girl, she was assaulted, punching is the least of what this dude deserved! That didn’t sit right with me.

Next, she’s mad at this girl for defending herself. The two theater girls go to the bathroom and come back high. She literally says one girl’s voice sounds like a cocaine fueled air raid siren. But she only gets mad at the girl who defended herself.

Make it make sense. Sure, she’s annoyed by them. But the fact that she’s so cruel to her roommate? No. Absolutely not.

Now, later in the book, a cat dies. And it’s described. I would have appreciated a warning so I could have avoided that. It was triggering and left me uncomfortable.

End of triggering content.

I will say that books need trigger warnings. They are not spoilers, they allow readers to keep themselves safe and avoid things that could be painful.

Now, as for the story itself. I stopped caring. The girls were boring. The events were boring. Nothing I read gave me any sense of urgency or fear or that “just one more page” Feeling.

Also, this is supposed to be sapphic? The way this romance was building made no sense to me. If I got treated this way by my roommate, I wouldn’t start to have feelings for her. And if a friend told me about a situation like this, and then said she liked the girl I’d talk her out of it. She didn’t help you. Defend you. She judged you. She ignored you.

Nah.

I also didn’t like how little diversity there was. Like, come on now.

Look, I didn’t finish the book. And I won’t be recommending it. But since I have to give it a star number, it gets 2 for competent enough writing ability.

I absolutely LOVED 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.

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.

This is a tough one. There are so many great YA thrillers on the market right now that the competition is just so dang stiff. I am usually happy with the fantastic blending with reality, but I found the marriage of the two fell a little flat for me. I think some tighter editing make have made it have better flow. It’s a great premise & I feel certain that TikTok will help it find the right readers!

I tried to get through this book countless times and ultimately gave up. The characters lacked development and the story just dragged. It was so slow to get anywhere and I couldn’t connect with a single person or thing going on.

I generally don’t read dark academia books. Usually, I don’t gravitate them. I just don’t know why. But I was intrigued by this book, especially with the book cover. And unfortunately, this book wasn’t it. I’m just not a dark academia girl. if you love, dark academia, then this book is for you.