THE LIBRARY OF LOST GIRLS Book Review

The Library of Lost Girls¹ by Kristen Pipps, eBook, 328 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads: Gwen Donavan adores her beautiful and rebellious older sister, Izzy. But the Izzy who returns from the Delphi School for Girls is not the sister who left. Now she is dull and complacent and—most shocking—eager to marry. Gwen is determined to discover what happened to Izzy at Delphi, and the only solution she can conceive of is to cheat her way into the mysterious school. If she can see for herself what they did, maybe she can get her Izzy back.

But Delphi is far from the finishing school Gwen expects. Sinister shadows lurk in the hallways of the remote estate, and she is told to never leave her room after dark. More curious, though, are the thousands of books, each with the name of a girl on its spine. They line the walls from floor to ceiling, and the students are forbidden to read them. Delphi says they’re reforming the girls, but when Gwen discovers a note left for her by her sister, she realizes that what is happening at the school is more terrifying than she could ever have imagined. There’s something dark at the center of Delphi, and somehow it’s tied to those books—and to the girls who are sent there. And if Gwen doesn’t confront what hides in the shadows, it won’t be just Izzy who’s lost forever.

BOOK REVIEW: If you're like me, you may miss that at the very top of chapter 1 we get a date of 1893 but really the mention of a finishing school just screams 19th century to me...what about you? It makes sense when you a get a glimpse into their lessons like the languages they have to learn, basic math so they can stay on budget in the future for planning parties for their husbands, and so on. I will say that it had nothing to do with physical descriptions but I imagined the headmistress and the two teachers to be like Cinderella's evil stepmother and stepsisters. It's a great visual in my opinion!

I can't give you the full quote that I highlighted as the one that really made me twitch in my seat because it gives a little something away so I'll black it out. What I will say is that my mom called me while I was reading it and when I answered the phone I told her to hang on because I was reading a mic drop.

As soon as I finish reading, my rage starts to boil. It begins low in my belly, a burning resentment that evolves into a wicked anger as it fights its way up my chest. This last piece of the sister I loved. I’m still not sure what became of that girl, but one thing is certain. She knew I would die here and allowed herself to forget the memory of that fact.

It really was the underlined portion that had my flabbers truly ghasted in that moment.

This is a 4.5 star rounded up for me. Here's the only reason I knocked it down a half star. The relationship that Gwen develops with another girl seems like something that would have never been explored during this time period. The intimate scenes (not spicy or graphic...not even steamy just alluding) don't have any relevance to the story in any capacity and to me just seems unnecessary. For this time period, these kinds of feelings for the same sex, even at a finishing school, I feel would have been very much not explored. Other than that, the characters are wonderful and so vibrant. It has some twists and turns that definitely added to the mysterious aspect of the story. The Writing Room sounds terrifying. I also had about 15% left in the book and I couldn't remember if this was a book 1 or a stand alone and was exercising all of my restraint to keep from looking it up. If it was a book 1, I didn't want to spoil the fact that I would be pissed with a cliff hanger. If it was a stand alone (which it is) I would then spoil the fact that it would be wrapped up. This debut novel by this author was really amazing. It is available in all formats wherever you get your books and I will definitely be adding this author to my Amazon following to be notified when she has new books coming out!

4.5/5 Stars

2025 Reading Challenge: 65/50 complete ¹This is an affiliate link through Bookshop.org which supports independent bookstores nationwide. Pick a bookshop you choose to support and when you order a book, the proceeds go to that store! Books are sent from a main distribution center so if you don't know what store to support, it's okay. All orders not supporting a specific shop go into a pool that gets divided among all the stores listed on the site!