Thank you to the publisher who gifted me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I later purchased a finish copy of the book myself.
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.
After reading Ace of Spades back in 2021, and loving it, I’ve been looking forward to another mystery book from Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ever since. So, I had high expectations for Where Sleeping Girls Lie and it 100% lived up to these expectations. On the surface, this may seem like just another YA mystery book but it is so much more!
Sade is starting her third year of high school, but this year at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school. She is unsure what will happen after being home-schooled all her life and a magnet for misfortune. What she doesn’t expect is for her roommate, Elizabeth, to disappear after her first night.
With rumours spreading, Sade catches the attention of the most popular girls at school and they take her in. Between learning more about them, 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 she is already dealing with her own things too. Then, a student is found dead.
Sade is an extraordinary YA protagonist. She is driven, complicated and extremely smart. She is quite unreliable at times and doesn’t always tell the reader everything that she knows. We get to see Sade grow, learn more about herself and deal with her grief throughout the book too. She is a well-rounded, flawed teen that I’m sure several people will relate to.
Not only is the main character well-rounded, but so are all of the other characters in the book. They are all easy to tell apart and bring something unique to the story. Some of the characters you will hate instantly, others you’ll grow to hate and some you will grow to love. Persephone is easily my favourite of the bunch and you’ll find out why when you read it.
This book is full of puzzle-solving and mysteries. I even spent time trying to decode a section of morse code which is in the book. The mysteries are not easy to solve at all and even when you think you’ve figured it out, you likely haven’t. I found my jaw dropping so many times while reading it. Plus, even though this book is over 500 pages long the pacing is so spot-on that you fly through it without even realising you’ve just read 200 pages in one go.
Where Sleeping Girls Lie does deal with some dark themes. In particular, it discusses toxic masculinity and rape culture. It asks why this behaviour is accepted and almost a standard at these institutions and seeks justice for those affected. On top of this, grief is another main theme of the book. It discusses this in a raw and honest way. These themes amongst others make this a moving and tough read whilst remaining hopeful and providing solidarity in a time of darkness.
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is an author whose books I will be continuing to pick up in the future. They are tense, mysterious and discuss so many well-needed topics. She is certainly an author you don’t want to miss out on.
Overall, Where Sleeping Girls Lie is an unforgettable, tense and powerful YA mystery that I would highly recommend. Once you pick it up, you won’t want to put it down!
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