A haunted Argentinian mansion. A family curse. A twist you’ll never see coming. Welcome to Vaccaro School. Simmering in Patagonian myth, The Tenth Girl is a gothic psychological thriller with a haunting twist.At the very southern tip of South America looms an isolated finishing school. Legend has it that the land will curse those who settle there. But for Mavi–a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing … Mavi–a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother–it offers an escape to a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s elite girls.
Mavi tries to embrace the strangeness of the imposing house–despite warnings not to roam at night, threats from an enigmatic young man, and rumors of mysterious Others. But one of Mavi’s ten students is missing, and when students and teachers alike begin to behave as if possessed, the forces haunting this unholy cliff will no longer be ignored… and one of these spirits holds a secret that could unravel Mavi’s existence.
An Imprint Book
“Faring’s exquisite prose weaves a tale that is both seductively eerie and wildly original. I’ve never read anything like it.” –April Genevieve Tucholke, author of The Boneless Mercies
“A hauntingly good read, full of terror and mystery.” —Hypable
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Faring’s exquisite prose weaves a tale that is both seductively eerie and wildly original. I’ve never read anything like it.
Mavi arrives at a finishing school on ice and with a feel of foreboding. She is immediately swept into a mystery as well as certain rules in which she has to comply. As she begins her time at the school she finds that there is something sinister and every time she turns more questions that need to be answered.
This was an intriguing story that goes back and forth in time between Mavi and Angel. Angel is hard to explain because you really need to follow the story to put it all together. Complex story that had several twists. I thought the writing was easy to visualize. Unique story.
The Tenth Girl begins as an interesting Gothic-type tale set in an elite South American boarding school. The young teacher, Mavi, provides one P.O.V. A spirit named Angel provides another. The timeline jumps around, and there is a significant, and for many confusing, twist at the end. In fact, unless the reader is familiar with certain “lingo,” none of the early clues and foreshadowing will be easily interpreted. Additionally, this is not a “fast read.”
Fair warning: This story includes pedophilia, human sacrifice, and sexual assault. Also, to preserve the surprise at the end, don’t peek at the naked cover!
/ 5
I really wanted to love The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring, the synopsis peaked my interested immediately and it just sounded so good. A Gothic horror novel set in a spooky, secluded old house surrounded by ice? Sign me up. Unfortunately this book just didn’t completely work for me.
First of all I just think that The Tenth Girl was much too long, I think if the author could have made it 100-150 pages shorter and more concise, it would have really helped the pacing. As it was, it was a pretty slow burn until you get to around the last 150 pages. I didn’t mind the slow burn, but I think it made things a little less creepy than they could have been. It was definitely a very atmospheric novel though, and I even started to feel claustrophobic while reading it! The huge, isolated mansion with spirits called the Others made for one creepy setting which I really enjoyed.
I thought The Tenth Girl would be straight up Gothic horror with supernatural elements, but it also ends up being science fiction which kind of threw me for a loop. I’m not sure how I feel about the author mashing the two together, and the ending got a little confusing. While the characters were trying to comprehend things, I was having an equally hard time. However, I ended up really enjoying the actual ending and it was satisfying.
Final Thought: For a young adult debut novel, The Tenth Girl was still pretty impressive, and it did manage to hold my attention until the very end. Even though I didn’t love it like I had hoped, I would definitely still read another book by Faring. The execution wasn’t perfect, but there were enough good elements to this book that I still enjoyed it. It was also super unique and unlike anything else I’ve read which was a plus for me.
It amazing and fun to read with a little of horror going on
Down in the southern hemisphere high atop a hill, cut off from the rest of civilization is The Vaccaro school, a school that caters to elite girls. Mari is hiding from her problems by pretending to be a teacher. From day one she knows something is off, especially because she’s told everyone must retire to their rooms at dusk for there will be no wandering around at night because it wasn’t safe. She needs this school for its privacy and seclusion.
Angel is a ghost who wanders the school. She’s figured out how to inhabit the headmistresses stoner son Dom and she uses his body daily to wander the grounds. She’s on a quest to learn more about “the others” and what exactly is going on with the school. She befriends Mavi in the meantime, and hopefully, the two can work together, even if Mavi has no clue she isn’t really talking to Dom.
The Tenth Girl is steeped in the lore of the region. I think with this book it’s important to go in with an open mind because things are going to take a turn to the unbelievable very quick. I’m trying hard not to spoil the book, which would be easy to do, but I feel like The Tenth Girl has a bit of “Westworld” in it. It’s creepy and multilayered, there are a lot of characters and quite a bit going on, so much fun.
It is a struggle to read a novel with no clear direction. That is not intended to say that this novel is a struggle to read, necessarily. The biggest obstacle with grasping this novel is the fact that The Tenth Girl presents itself one way and takes the reader on this journey only to take a left turn and take the story in an entirely unfettered direction, leaving the reader stranded and unsure of what the novel was about at its core.
The Tenth Girl markets itself as a Gothic novel and while it does accomplish that for most of the novel, the ending results in something completely different. The plot twist came out of nowhere. This plot twist that has potential, except for the fact that there is very little tangibility to it. It is intriguing but ultimately works against everything the author built up, undermining the atmosphere that the story was building up., It broke up the flow and rising tension of the novel, creating a narrative that just was not cohesive with the rest of the material in the novel. Some other elements presented in the story tie to this plot twist, but for most of the novel, they risk put the reader off. Instead of focusing on the story and the tension, the ghostly atmosphere, the reader is left distracted, trying to figure out what these elements mean. Even after the reveal, well, they do not make much sense. They require the reader to go back and forth as they piece together these plot devices. Again, this is where the plot twist could have served the overall storytelling by being presented in a more precise fashion so that the reveal and the details Faring put in would click instantly for the reader. It should have been a wow moment for the reader, but instead leads to more confusion and takes the reader out of the story.
Now, as for the Gothic aspect of the story, Faring does an excellent job of blending in those haunting elements. F, from the atmosphere to the mythology that Faring creates, the eerie feeling is there on every page, creeping up on the reader much like a ghost watching from the shadows. It works amazingly to build up the Gothic narrative. quite well, and for that, the novel works. As for the characterization, these are characters that are not entirely enigmatic. It is the ending that fails to capture that all together. Mavi is an interesting character in the way she moves about the story, with her past close at her heels influencing her, but other than that, she is a rather bland character. Mavi is just there, a voice to drive the story forward, and so is Angel. Angel’s identity, his narrative, it functions much like Mavi’s. They each have a fascinating past that makes them alluring as it influences who they are and how they move about the story, but again, Angel is as bland as Mavi. There is nothing about them that makes them stand out once the reader finishes the story. For both of them, Most of their intriguing aspects come from how they analyze zing the situation and her response to situations rather than her personality.them emotionally.
Overall, a fascinating novel that suffers from an ill-fitting segue.