The Society for Soulless Girls

July 17, 2023
Steven (The Exact Opposite of Okay) spins a supernatural mystery in this dark academia Jekyll & Hyde retelling. Northumberland, England’s Carvell Academy of Arts has finally reopened after four unsolved student murders in the North Tower forced the college’s closure a decade ago. Freshman Lottie Fitzwilliam, a relentlessly positive field hockey player, is determined to research one of the deaths—that of a family friend. When she discovers she’s been sleepwalking to the North Tower, however, she worries that there’s something paranormal afoot. Meanwhile, Lottie’s prickly roommate Alice Wolfe—a philosophy student who struggles to manage her anger—discovers and performs a
ritual meant to expunge her violent thoughts and impulses, then blacks out. The next day, a student turns up dead. Fearing she may be the cause, Alice—joined by Lottie and Hafsah al-Hadi, a classmate whom she learns also performed the ritual—endeavors to investigate the murders and find a solution. Though the conclusion feels rushed, Alice and Lottie’s antithetical personalities and tentative courtship are evocatively described, and the gothic atmosphere inspires thrills and chills. Alice and Lottie read as white; Hafsah cues as having Middle Eastern heritage. Ages 12–up.

August 1, 2023
Students find themselves in the middle of a mystery connected to a history of gruesome deaths on the campus of their English boarding school, Carvell Academy of the Arts. The North Tower murders go back over a century and are infamous; they even shut down the Northumberland school for a decade. After arriving at the newly reopened campus, 19-year-old Lottie Fitzwilliam from Sevenoaks in Kent quickly finds herself drawn to the tower and its unsolved deaths. Her unapproachable roommate, Alice Wolfe, who is from a nearby Northumberland town, distances herself from Lottie. In a desperate attempt to keep her rage at bay, Alice, who is waging an internal war, performs a ritual from a school library book that seems to tear her soul in two, stripping away her wrath and leaving reason and calm behind. But history seems to be repeating itself, as there's another death, and the unsolved murders appear connected to a larger, more sinister plot. The roommates' complex relationship is as compelling as the central mystery; they are opposites who are magnetically drawn together. Steven deftly touches on deeper societal issues concerning patriarchy, paternalism, and the unacceptability of women's expressions of anger. The storyline delicately and believably portrays young adults discovering their sexuality. Readers will enjoy the twists and turns as well as the satisfying resolution. The roommates are cued white, and there is ethnic diversity in the supporting cast. An engrossing mystery with well-drawn characters. (Mystery. 12-17)

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September 1, 2023

Gr 8 Up-Mystery is afoot right out of the gate as the Carvell Academy of the Arts is reopened-despite the fact that the murders at the North Tower a decade ago have yet to be solved. The narrative is told in alternating chapters by two ill-matched roommates. Alice is the epitome of angry goth, snarling at every turn, and seemingly uninterested in maintaining any friendships. Lottie, the burgeoning Sherlock, is popular, athletic, and ridiculously thoughtful. Steven does a masterful job of retreading time through each character's perspective so readers can have the experience everyone yearns for in real life-seeing the same event through another person's eyes. As the events unfold, however, it becomes clear that there is more than just a Scooby Doo mystery involved here. These girls, like their predecessors, find themselves hip deep in the occult, playing out the musings of a centuries-old nun. Set in England, British phrases are peppered throughout, but American readers will have no difficulty adjusting. Readers who suspect the two main characters are in an enemies-to-lovers trope will not be disappointed as the tension between these two blossoms into an inevitable romance. Young feminists will delight in the messaging about anger and how we teach little girls not to fight so that they won't know how. The main cast cues white. VERDICT Mystery, occult, and lesbian romance? Yes, please.-Leah Krippner

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