Plain Bad Heroines

This book was so different from anything I've ever read before.

My friend, Erin, suggested it to me a few weeks ago and I quickly became obsessed.

This book is told through several different storylines.

One story line follows the unfortunate lives of several girls who attend the Brookhants Boarding School of Girls. Each of these girls meet their ends in a horrific way, which leads students and faculty to believe the schoolgrounds are haunted. But some believe it's the work of a cursed book written by Mary MacLane, since a copy was found with each dead girl.

The other story line is told through the form of Hollywood turning this tragedy into a horror film. Think VHS meets Blair Witch Project, yeah pretty gross. It centers on the actresses who are cast as the soon-to-be-dead girls in The Happenings at Brookhants movie adaptation. Our lead heroines are forced to spend time with the author of said novel, Merritt. Honestly, they're all forced to spend time together to make the movie magic seem more authentic. 

So this book alternates those storylines.

Libbie and Alex, who run the boarding school in 1902. Merritt, Harper, and Audrey running around the Brookhants campus in 20-something. These plots often overlapped because as our actresses were learning their roles, we were seeing the happenings first hand through Libbie and Alex. History has a way of repeating itself.

Oh, and just to throw it out there.....

I don't think there was a single straight character in this book.

The queerness was literally dripping off the pages and I loved it.

Wintergirls

A few years ago, I found Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

 

Then I found this, Wintergirls.

 

TW: Self Harm + Eating Disorders

 

Wintergirls is the story of Lia and her mission to become the skinniest girl in school. The book starts with her old best friend Cassie dying in a hotel room, alone. The two of them struggled with food for years. It wasn't just watching their weight; it was documenting how many calories were in each bite of food, staying strong when they really wanted to lick that icing right off the cupcake, it was taking laxatives and diuretics to expel all those calories, it was sticking their fingers down their throat and vomiting in the roses. It was harmful and dangerous but they were determined to get their weight back down into "dangerland" territory.

The reached to be a zero, a double zero, to weigh less than 80 pounds.

But they couldn't admit they didn't actually want this life.

Lia wanted the pizza, cupcakes, pancakes, waffles.

She wanted the sugary syrup, but she couldn't let herself give in.

This book was very strange to me.

The first half of the book I felt completely unattached to the characters. The second half of the book proved that it did have a good, although dark story to tell. It's heartbreaking to me that these girls wanted help but just couldn't find their voice to ask. They kept marking through the thoughts they believed were harmful to their well-being.

 

It definitely was not the book I was expecting but I am glad that I took the time to read it.

 

Looking for other books by Laurie Halse Anderson?

Speak

The Happiness Project

This was an interesting read.

For a year of her life, Gretchen Rubin started The Happiness Project.

This was a way to make herself and the people around her happier.

She began singing in the morning, saying yes to social events, and stopped complaining about every little thing.

While I don't totally agree with some of her ideas, the overall Happiness Project hit on some good points.

There's a lot of things she begins doing that I've been doing for years.

 

Here's some of my favorites:

 

I read daily.

I got a succulent.

I keep family traditions.

In college, I rescued my dog.

I created my own personal library.

I started an obsession with baking while living in South Korea.

But my favorite...... I started this blog and my bookstagram.

So while I don't think I could ever keep up with a year long happiness project, I think my life is pretty happy. This isn't a book to help cure your depression. It isn't supposed to make your anxiety disappear. But it definitely shows that if you can make small changes in your every day life and not lose sight of yourself, you will be happier in the long run.

This book kind of reminded me of another series my mom introduced me to, The Book of Awesome. Which also started as a blog that shared little things that we take for granted in our every day lives. It encourages you to stop and smell the rain of the pavement, or bask in the shining sun.