Nineteen year-old Emily’s acute dissociative disorder causes her to be institutionalised – again – at Greyfriars Reformatory For Girls. Caught in the crossfire between brutal Principal Quick and cruel bully Saffron Chassay, Emily befriends fellow outcast Victoria. When the terrifying apparition of the mysterious ‘Grey Girl’ begins scaring the inmates to death, Emily’s disorder may be the one thing that can save her.
Dark bleatings everybody! It took me a while to get to this book because the review request TBR reached astronomical proportions within a couple of months of this site launching, but finally, it was next on the list. I reeeeally enjoyed it, which was a surprise. In general, I actively avoid plots that revolve around mental health because I find that when it comes to horror, typically, mental health is not handled well at all. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how it was used in this story.
Firstly, Lee’s character work is great. We have five young women thrust together in this old girls’ reformatory, and Principal Quick who is in charge of them. Very quickly, each of these characters are established and I had no trouble distinguishing between them as their personalities were all so strong and fully-formed. I love a writer who can just drop individuals into a story like that. Before long, something spooky is happening, and the girls are forced to face certain demons… perhaps literal ones.
I can’t say what I loved about the narrative so much without potentially spoiling the last act, but suffice to say, I was very pleased with how everything ended. There are clues woven in to the story and seeds sewn but I was never quite sure how it was all going to turn out, and I was very happy that it didn’t take the stereotypical direction that stories of this ilk usually do.
If I have a criticism, it’s just that I wanted more about the relationships the girls formed with each other, as this was the most interesting part to me. Their interactions had me stressed sometimes, and I just love to feel stressed when I’m reading for some reason! Our protagonist, Emily, is getting to know the others and she has to deal with each of them in completely different ways, and I was fascinated by which roads she might end up taking. I felt like that aspect of the story was cut off a little earlier than I would have liked, but only because I was enjoying it so much.
Overall, this is a solid story and very enjoyable. I’d recommend it to fans of spooky stuff, and to people who enjoy hospital/institution settings. If you’d like to get your own copy or check out the author, the links you need are below:
Happy Goat Horror 
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