Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Where Sleeping Girls Lie, HarperCollins Publishers, April 2024, 576 pp., RRP. $19.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781474967549
After her father passes away, Sade Hussein is ready to start her new life at the Alfred Nobel Academy. New school, new friends, what could possibly go wrong? But her home schooling background hasn’t quite prepared her for the messy secrets that lay within Alfred Nobel’s hallowed halls, pleading to be revealed. Can Sade discover the final piece in the puzzle?
This school is everything she could’ve hoped for. But once Elizabeth goes missing, Sade must accept that something about her school isn’t quite right…
Where Sleeping Girls Lie is a jaw dropping novel that perfectly intertwines themes of intense mystery and suspense. There is a reason the book synopsis above is so small… no spoilers allowed here! This book was an absolute rollercoaster ride of a read, and readers are sure to find themselves hanging on to every single word. Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s writing style is so unique, and it was honestly so hard to put this book down. The novel involves important messages about friendship, and how surrounding yourself with caring friends is essential in order to survive high school.
Where Sleeping Girls Lie also touches on the importance of perseverance and staying true to yourself, even when all the odds seem to be against you. As some of the scenes in the novel may be more distressing to younger readers, this book is appropriate for more mature readers 14+.
Reviewed by Emily Woolnough
