The Society for Soulless Girls: dark, captivating and atmospheric!

Ten years ago, four students lost their lives in the infamous North Tower murders at the elite Carvell College of Arts, forcing Carvell to close its doors. Now Carvell is reopening, and fearless student Lottie is determined to find out what really happened. But when her roommate, Alice, stumbles upon a sinister soul-splitting ritual hidden in Carvell’s haunted library, the North Tower claims another victim. Can Lottie uncover the truth before the North Tower strikes again? Can Alice reverse the ritual before her monstrous alter ego consumes her? And can they stop flirting for literally fifteen seconds in order to do this?

Laura Steven is another one of those authors who has yet to write a book that I don’t adore. You have all seen me ranting on about how much I love her other books… and when I saw that Laura was going down a darker, more sinister route, I was SO EXCITED. I love something unexpected and I love a good look at dark magic… and Society did not let me down!

The Society for Soulless Girls tells the story of a school, Carvell, that had to close many moons ago because of some pretty sinister and tragic deaths occurred. Now, 10 years later, Carvell has opened again and Lottie and Alice (our 2 POVs) are students at the school. What ensues is much mystery, a lot of dark, sinister goings on and a little bit of a romance (which I absolutely devoured).

A side note: that cover *heart eyes*

Lottie and Alice (our two main characters) are roommates at Carvell – they don’t really get along initially. They clash a bit and even though Lottie tries to be LOVELY (because that’s who she is), Alice pushes her away and makes life harder. Alice is angry about everything; Lottie is one of those lovely people… but there’s another side to her – there’s the real reason she’s at Carvell (cause it isn’t for the academic side!) The friendship between the girls grows and burns slowly… when things start happening around Carvell that are unexplainable, the girls have to be a shoulder for each other. There’s a whole load of yearning and wanting between the girls – which starts innocently enough at first!

Obviously, I’m not just here for the story of the girls… I was here for the promise of dark magic, the “soulless” and the mystery of this school. I think the mystery of this school is what initially piqued my interest. I wanted to know more about this school that ended up with 4 students dead; I wanted to know more about how it impacted those at the school at the time and how it impacted the school now that it reopened. I loved the school. It was very mysterious. It was atmospheric. It was curious. The staff have secrets (some larger than others!).

From the outset, this book feels dark and angry. There’s a darkness looming over the story. There’s a sense of tension over the whole thing… and I ate it up. There’s a foreboding sense of some serious shit is gonna go down. There’s a sense of the paranormal (which is a BIG thing in this story). There’s something very caged about this book. There’s secrets and darkness. There’s an urgency in needing and wanting answers. But there’s also a burning slowness and deliberation to it. Everything has a place and a meaning. Everything makes sense.

I could’ve read 100 more pages of this and been MORE THAN HAPPY.

I would love a sequel to this book. Absolutely would. I would love to see where the Society goes next. What happens to the girls. How Alice and Lottie are getting on.

My short, but sweet Goodreads review:

I ADORED this. The relationships between the girls; the history of the school; the whole premise of the Society. It screams all that is brilliant. The fact it was set in the North East too brings me such joy! Just delicious. I would read a sequel in a heartbeat.

And there you go! I hope you enjoyed this review! Laura is popping by on Friday to be my second author feature, so please pop along on Friday to see that! I adore Laura and it’s my absolute honour to feature her on my blog!

Have you read Society?
Do you think you’d last in a place like Carvell?
Can you recommend me some more dark and sinister books?

Please go get yourself a copy of this book – I absolutely adored it! Talk to me in the comments!

S x