e-Audio, 17:00:11
Narrated by: Natalie Simpson
Release Date: March 19, 2024
Published by: Feiwel & Friends
Read from: March 19-20, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this e-audiobook from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, Death of parent, Sexism, Murder, & Animal death
For Readers Interested In: Realistic Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, YA, 2sLGBTIA+In Where Sleeping Girls Lie ― a YA contemporary mystery by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, the New York Times-bestselling author of Ace of Spades ― a girl new to boarding school discovers dark secrets and coverups after her roommate disappears.
It’s like I keep stumbling into a dark room, searching for the switch to make things bright again. To make me remember. But the switch isn’t there. Was it there before?
Sade Hussein is starting her third year of high school, this time at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school. After being home-schooled all her life and feeling like a magnet for misfortune, she’s not sure what will happen. What she doesn’t expect though is for her roommate Elizabeth to disappear after Sade’s first night. Or for people to think she had something to do with it.
With rumors swirling around her, Sade catches the attention of the most popular girls in school – collectively known as the ‘Unholy Trinity’ – and they bring her into their fold. Between learning more about them – especially Persephone, who Sade finds herself drawn to – playing catch-up in class, and trying to figure out what happened to Elizabeth, Sade has a lot on her plate. It doesn’t help that she’s already dealing with grief from the many tragedies in her family.
And then a student is found dead.
The more Sade investigates, the more she realizes there’s more to Alfred Nobel Academy and its students than she realized. Secrets lurk around every corner and beneath every surface…secrets that rival even her own.
*MY THOUGHTS*
When I heard that the author of Ace of Spades was writing another book, I didn’t think twice about anything. I just added it to my TBR lol And of course I was right to do so. Now don’t get me wrong, this book did teach me that I don’t actually like slow burns of any kind, but it taught me some other things too…… Like the fact that Àbíké-Íyímídé can write one hell of a mystery!
Ok so I know this is a me thing, but I felt like this took entirely too long to set up. This audio is 17 hours! And I was lucky that I was listening to the audio because I might have gotten annoyed and put it aside for a while. But I was able to speed it up a little and that helped me along. I know it’s a me thing since I’m not a lover of slow burns, so take what I say with a grain of salt lol And it IS a gorgeously written book, so it was entertaining, I don’t want to take anything away from that. I just wanted a thriller from start to finish. (Which Idk why because Ace of Spades was the same way lol)
Now if you stick to this book until the end, you will know that the beginning may be a bit slow, but the middle and the ending had twists and turns I never saw coming. And I mean that in the sense of, I sat up straight and said, “WHAT?!” This book took a lot of different turns that I was not expecting, and that’s saying something because I can usually always pick the person. But this scenario didn’t even cross my mind. It was a welcome twist after that slow burn. BUT again, like with the previous book I reviewed, I thought the way it was told was annoying. I’d much rather read a book where I’m given all the information and then when I guess it was still wrong. But with these recents books, my guess was wrong, but the information was doled out in such a way to keep you in the dark the whole time.
The romance was cute and I actually felt that it was more prevalent in this one. I know its a thriller so it shouldn’t really matter, but when it’s 2sLGBTQ+ rep, I’ll take what I can get. One of my pet peeves is when a book is touted to have some type of rep and it’s a miniscule part in the story. (There was another story that I read earlier this year where I was annoyed by this same thing lol) So I was happy that this one showed them flirting and they were actually having fun together. We don’t really see them in a real relationship, except for a small part, but in my mind that gave them a whole happy ending lol
The narrator also did a great job. I was engaged and obviously couldn’t stop listening. I thought she did a good job. I did like the way she did the parts where it got to be some weird happenings and the way her voice changed as things began to get uncovered. It made me go look at her back list. Definitely impressive.
This book wasn’t what I was expecting, but that was what kept me intrigued lol I had to find out what was happening to them and why she had to do this things. And why other people had to do these things. It definitely is a book that will keep you on your toes. And please, for the love of all that’s holy, STAY OUTTA THE GROUP CHAT!
Overall, I give this
