Book Review: Where Sleeping Girls Lie.
Shortly after reading “Aces of Spades” by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímíde, I knew I wanted to read more publications from her, so I set out to do just that. During the course of my sojourn, I found another book by this author with a very captivating title and an even more titillating book cover and at that moment, I knew I had found the next book I was going to read—Where Sleeping Girls Lie.
Judging from the fact that I haven’t really had the time to read a novel these past few days, I hoped that reading “Where Sleeping Girls Lie” wasn't going to lure me right into a reading block. However, I had a very good feeling about this book because of the author. Eventually, I got to read the book. Allow me to share my thoughts, review and rating with you.
“Where Sleeping Girls Lie" is a mystery novel that centers around Sade Hussein, a girl who starts attending the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy (ANA) boarding school after being homeschooled her whole life. Sade likes to think of herself as a bad omen because anything and anyone who becomes relatively close to her always suffers in one way or another. She goes ahead to confirm her theory when her roommate mysteriously disappears the very same day Sade arrives at the Institution.
Sade is swiftly dragged into a bind when everyone in school thinks that she has a hand in the sudden disappearance of her roommate, Elizabeth. Sade has to work tirelessly with the assistance of Basil(Elizabeth’s best friend) to find Elizabeth and prove her innocence.
As she tries to navigate the intricate aspects of an institution she had barely spent a week in, she captures the attention of the “Unholy Trinity”, a group of three girls–Persephone, Julliette and April– who happen to be the queen bees of Alfred Nobel Academy. Between figuring out the reason behind the unholy trinity’s sudden interest in her, playing catch-up in class and searching for her missing roommate, Sade already has so much on her plate. Not to mention the fact that she was recently orphaned and is going through grief and trauma.
As Sade digs deep, she discovers the secrets that lurk in the corners of the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy, proving to herself that there was more to the school and its students than meets the eye.
I have a penchant for crime, mystery or thriller novels and so I expected a whole lot from this book. A few pages into this book and I felt a little disappointed because this book’s plot seemed awfully similar to that of the previous book I read from the same author. The beginning felt the same, the location , characters and plot seemed very familiar but once we got all of the backstory out of the way, the plot began to play out beautifully.
The book talks about a very sensitive topic, sexual assault, amongst other themes like power dynamics, privilege, crime and the consequence of unchecked ambitions. As such, this book may be triggering to people who aren't so comfortable reading about such delicate topics. I really like how well the author portrayed these themes without sugarcoating anything. She outlined the fact that justice should always be served in such circumstances but somehow left readers wondering if this is always the case?
One standout aspect of the book for me is its casts of characters, each with their own secrets and motivation. At some point, it felt like all of the characters had ulterior motives and it was a fun game trying to figure out which character was telling the truth and which wasn't. My guessing game continued till the apex of the book and I got to find out that even the characters I thought were innocent had some trick up their sleeves.
I particularly enjoyed the back and forth between Sade and Persephone but the romance between them felt very vague and unexciting. My favourite character in this book happened to be Persephone although I also adored Basil for being, well, different and true to himself. Persephone on the flip side played the role of the highschool queen who noticed every single thing but never uttered a word unless she was directly spoken to. Instead, she found solace in reading while actively trying to survive the terrors of highschool.
While the book had its strengths, I found the pacing of the book a bit dull. For a mystery novel, the story felt very slow with so much focus on unnecessary and mundane school days. However, the plot and characters made up for this.
Recommendation and Rating
Overall, Where Sleeping Girls Lie is a fulfilling read with a little bit of pacing issue. The book is guaranteed to keep the reader actively guessing and trying to piece together how the events ultimately unfold. I will give this book a solid 4/5 rating. If you're a fan of mystery and suspense, this is a book you should definitely check out.
I'm sold! Definitely adding it to my tbr
And I hope you enjoy your reading experience.
I have this book in my library and I look forward to reading. So I basically skipped your review, sorry. But I saw you rated this book a 4 out of 5. So I look forward to reading for myself
I believe you would love it😌
And once you're done reading it, we could talk about it.