The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

The Tenth Girl

by Sara Faring
Published: Imprint, 2019
Pages: 460
Genre: Thriller, Young Adult
Amazon, Goodreads

“Isn’t it kind of beautiful to experience primal fear? To feel your pulse quicken because a pile of well-laid stones catch shadows and carry sound in unusual ways? How often are we so bored and anesthetized by our routines - in our safe surroundings - that we lose all sense of what’s magical about our existence.”

About the book

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 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.

Review

The Tenth Girl is a haunting, psychological thriller that combines historical fiction, Patagonia mythology and the paranormal.

The plot is what drew me into the novel: a haunted boarding school in remote South America where, several years earlier, a mysterious illness killed off almost all of the staff and students.

In 1978, the Vaccaro School is reopened and is where Mavi takes a job as an English teacher for a fresh start. Once she arrives, she discovers a sinister building with odd rules; no one is allowed out of their bedrooms at night as it’s unsafe. Mavi attempts to take her job in stride but can’t ignore the change in the other teachers and students… they begin acting like they’re possessed. This, combined with stranger rumors of “The Others,” leads Mavi on a mission to save those she cares about, but the truth could change her very core.

The writing is very eerie and disturbing. The author does a stellar job of painting vivid, hair-rising depictions of this creepy boarding school that obviously holds very dark secrets. The unique setting, 1978 Argentina, and the touch of mythology really makes the book unique.

At its core, the story is about forgiving yourself in order to set yourself free from the guilt and shame that can trap us all and learning to live your life. This revelation is one example of how this book shocked me. I went into The Tenth Girl thinking it was a creepy ghost story but it completely turned me around, upside down and inside out. Along with the general weirdness of the storyline, the novel has substantial character development that requires readers to consider the inner wall he or she may be hiding behind as well.

The promised HUGE twist at the end is one that readers will not be able to guess. It definitely gives me vibes of this one popular horror movie but I don’t want to say the name of it because of potential spoilers. 

The Tenth Girl is crazily original, and I guarantee it’ll be something you’ve never read before. There are mixed reviews for this book; it seems like you’ll either love it or hate it. I really enjoyed it, though I must admit the pacing drags a bit in the middle but then picks back up towards the end. There's also some saying that the mythology incorporated into the novel isn't accurate which that, along with the slow pacing mentioned earlier, leads me to give this a slightly lower rating.