Book Review: The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring
Genre: Horror
Age: Young Adult
Format: Audiobook
I can understand why this book is so polarising, and I can definitely understand the more negative reviews. Maybe because I listened to this as an audiobook, I didn’t dislike it as others did (and I would definitely encourage you to check out other reviews before picking this up!).
The Tenth Girl focuses on a strange school for elite girls. Mavi finds herself there as she hides from the military regime, but it soon becomes clear not all is right in the school, and Mavi, determined to protect the students under her care, finds herself caught up in all the wrong things. There’s mysterious goings-on, hints of ghosts and possessions, and something deeply wrong happening to the girls themselves, not to mention the missing tenth student of the book’s title.
As Mavi digs deeper, as readers we enter a twisted, doesn’t-quite-make-sense kind of journey – one that combines folklore with real life horrors, but which comes with a kind of “a-ha” moment towards the end of the book, where things that felt a bit odd earlier click into place, and we find out what exactly has been behind the school’s strangeness.
It’s an intriguing novel, that at points made me feel almost as lost as Mavi. It’s atmospheric, a nice blend of thriller and gothic, and it gets very dark. But I do feel the need to touch on the twist, so -
**SPOILER ALERT**
That twist made me sit up straight as I was listening, and in hindsight the pieces really, really were there. I can see why people dislike it, and if you haven’t read the book please, step away from the review, like, now, because I am going to spoil the ending. Throughout, we have this strange gothic atmosphere in the novel, but there’s hints of something a little more sci-fi going on, especially as the ghosts appear to slip in and out the timestream, and we find out the school, setting, and Mavi are all actually part of a video game. And, as someone who really likes playing video games (of the single rather than multi player variety, mind) I kind of loved this. In the context of the book, it makes sense; things that almost seem like plot holes or inconsistences aren’t, and in hindsight you can almost see the ending laid out before you as Mavi walks through the school.
**END SPOILERS**
This was a book recommended to me and it’s from someone I always trust with book recommendations; this has absolutely solidified that. I enjoyed it, I thought it was entertaining, and one I would definitely look to read again in the future as I think it would be interesting to go back through it while knowing how it ends.
Review by Elle Turpitt
Twitter: @elleturpitt
Bluesky: @elleturpitt.bsky.social
www.elleturpittediting.com
I purchased this book via Audible.
