The Society for Soulless Girls, unfortunately, makes a poor attempt at strong feminism as it tries to rewrite Jekyll & Hyde through a female lens.

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The Society for Soulless Girls had a lot of potential to pull me in. But unfortunately, the execution of the novel pushed me in and made reading a struggle.

Couldn’t Connect

I think my biggest issue with the novel had to do with the pacing and development. I wasn’t captivated by the characterizations but intrigued by the school’s mystery. I thought, “Great, dark academia, I’m going to love this.”

I was very wrong.

The novel follows Lottie and Alice. Alice has anger issues, and in her attempt to be more docile and accepted by society, when she stumbles upon a spell book and discovers a book that will split her soul, she thinks she got her wish.

The spell works, but only halfway. After that, it runs out and requires a recast. However, if the recast is not performed in time, the split souls and darker half return with a vengeance. As in, it makes the spellcaster murderous.

“Ugh”

It is an interesting commentary on women and how their anger and rage are viewed in society. Women must always mind their tongues, they must always be agreeable, they must always smile and be polite. To be otherwise makes you “unwomanly.”

I appreciate Steven bringing to light this utter bullshit, but the execution of the novel was off-putting.

Lottie and Alice are not very compelling as characters. In fact, I felt as though more time could have been spent on Lottie developing her characterization and personality. Unfortunately, she fades into the background.

The storytelling also felt dry, and I was immediately turned off when Alice killed a cat with her bare hands.

I think Steven could have continued to make her point without taking the story to that much of an extreme. Although we can surmise that Alice committed murder, that extra push was unnecessarily cruel and uncomfortable.

Final Thoughts

The Society of Soulless Girls offers an interesting commentary on women and how they are portrayed. While I wholly agree that “woman rage” should not be a subject of social condemnation, the characters weren’t likable, and some scenes were too much.