Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Where Sleeping Girls Lie is a 2024-YA Mystery from Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, author of the successful 2021 YA Mystery, Ace of Spades, which I’ve heard incredible things about.
Even though it’s been sitting on my shelves since 2021, I haven’t yet picked it up, so when I received a surprise Audio ARC of this new book, I was beyond excited to finally be checking out Àbíké-Íyímídé’s work.
In this story, we follow Sade Hussein, who has recently been enrolled in Alfred Nobel Academy. ANA is a prestigious boarding school. Sade is in her third year of high school and ends up starting the school year a little late, following the death of her father.
The action kicks off on Sade’s very first day at the school, as she sees it for the first time and meets Administrators, some students and also her roommate, Elizabeth.
I have to say, I was drawn into this extremely quickly. I love a ‘new girl’ trope and this author nailed it. My favorite aspect of that is just learning about the setting and other characters right along with the new girl.
Previously, Sade has been home-schooled, so this type of environment is completely new to her. She’s a little anxious, still grief-ridden from her father’s passing, but all things considered, the transition seems to be going fairly smoothly.
That is until Elizabeth disappears. The school claims Elizabeth left, that she needed a break, but Elizabeth’s long-time best friend, Baz, isn’t buying it. Sade and Baz begin to bond and Sade agrees that Elizabeth’s sudden departure is suspicious, but why the lies?
Rumors are swirling, drama is occurring and Sade finds herself in the center of a lot of it. When another student is found dead, events are really kicked into high gear.
I thought it would take me a long time to read this book, because it’s a pretty good-sized Mystery, coming in at 416-pages. That wasn’t the case at all though. I flew through it.
It’s such a gripping story, with complex characters, intriguing mysteries, as well as great tone and atmosphere throughout. It’s an incredibly well-written story.
I loved and appreciated how Àbíké-Íyímídé took her time creating the setting and putting Sade’s arrival there in good context. Sade is a character you can really sink your teeth into; there are so many layers to her story.
I also found the mysteries both very intriguing. First, Elizabeth’s disappearance, from what you learned about her in the short time that she and Sade got to know one another, it seemed shady as heck. She wouldn’t just leave.
And the death of the other student, in the context of everything else going on, was shocking. There were definite jaw-drop moments throughout this one for me.
This story gave me everything I wanted. There was a sense of foreboding oozing from every page. I was scared, but in a way where I didn’t even know what I was scared of. I never knew what was going to be revealed next.
The entire story was so compelling. If you enjoy stories set at Private Schools, full of Drama, and wealthy character behaving badly, you have to pick this up.
Additionally, if you enjoy nuanced mysteries with dark shadows lurking around ever corner, you have to pick this up. Or if you just want to see if the hype is real, you have to pick this up. In short, pick it up!
Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
This was a delightful surprise and I can’t wait to read more from this author!!