Insightful, gripping and completely unputdownable! Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s Where Sleeping Girls Lie is a mystery-laden powerhouse of a novel, with a dark academia style premise that packs quite an emotional punch. 

Tackling themes of grief, rape culture and toxic masculinity, Àbíké-Íyímídé’s emotionally nuanced (and character driven) prose deftly explores the rather disturbing reality of institutional privilege and the trauma inflicted when those privileges—and the power connected to it, is abused. 

Told in third person, we follow new girl, Sade Hussein, who has no idea what to expect at the prestigious, Alfred Nobel Academy—the elite and respected boarding school she’s just enrolled at. But, one things for certain—she never expected her roommate to go missing on her first night. Or for rumours to point the blame in her direction, leading to interest from the most popular clique in school-The Unholy Trinity.

Balancing new found friendship with the popular kids and a gruelling school schedule, Sade still can’t shake the wrongness to the school staff’s indifference to a missing student. 

So, taking things into her own hands, she teams up with missing girl Elizabeth’s bestie, Baz, to find out what really happened. However, uncovering the truth is harder than it first appears, as the halls (and it’s students) are steeped in lies and secrets …

I absolutely loved this! The attention of detail was phenomenal and the intricately connected clues that propel the narrative were cleverly placed, keeping the suspense fabulously high.

Though I confess, it was the multilayered and depth filled characters and the way in which they navigate their pain and trauma that captivated me the most. Particularly protagonist Sade who,though guarded at first glance, was an incredibly endearing character with a slowly unfurling backstory of loss, grief and resilience that had me rooting for her every step of her journey.

I also adored the found family-esque dynamics and friendship that grows between her and pink haired cinnamon roll, Baz. His adorably chaotic nature really brought a lightheartedness to plot’s intensity and allowed us to catch a glimpse at what Sadie’s future may entail—with a network of love and support that will help heal the inner turmoil she has held onto for soo long. 

Persephone and her character development was fascinating for very similar reasons, and I enjoyed the slow-burn friendship-turned romance that we experience between her and Sade, as they get to know (and trust) one another.

The ending wasn’t as straight forward and satisfying as I would’ve liked, but was a fairly realistic portrayal of how similar (real world) situations have been dealt with. The focus on many of the female characters and their individual paths to healing was a nice touch— underlining the importance of mental health services and support for survivors of sexual assault. 

Overall, a powerfully poignant, Mean Girls style murder mystery (with queer and Muslim rep) that would work brilliantly as a book club pick, or to kick start discussions around power & privilege, racial discrimination and rape culture with teen/ young adult readers. Just be sure to check the TWs beforehand.

Also a massive thank you to Fritha at Usborne for the amazing proof.