Original Review written September 11, 2016 on Goodreads (slightly edited here)

Heroines starts off with an intriguing premise.
Ann-Marie and her daughter, Penelope, maintain a boarding house in the
1970s, and from time to time Heroines from various
novels/plays/stories will come and visit them. There is only one rule:
you must never interfere with a Heroine’s fate. Little Penelope is 13
and on the cusp of womanhood as a daring Hero (or Villain?) arrives
chasing down his lost heroine. She is drawn to this dashing stranger and
resents the heroines for monopolizing her mother. Sounds pretty sweet,
right?

Well, in actuality, it’s not bad. It’s pretty awesome to see
the Heroines outside of their story. Some of them include Catherine
Earshaw of Wuthering Heights (annoying as ever), Madame
Bovary (Which I have yet to read), and Scarlett O’Hara (whom I adore
despite her spoiled nature). That part, where the Heroines come is
strong and has actually made me want to check out the Scarlet Letter and
Madame Bovary (still haven’t). The part that kind of drags is Penelope. It’s not
entirely her fault. She is a 13 year old girl who has to compete with
Scarlett O’Hara and Cathy. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t.
However, Penelope still sucks up far too much time, especially during
this odd episode where she’s placed in a mental hospital just so she can
meet a bunch of side characters who seem to serve no purpose other than filler.

The
book is also a bit jumbled. Despite being in first person, the action
will shift around to stuff that Penelope “learns about later” and makes
me wonder why the author didn’t just present the whole tale in the 3rd
person.

My other great complaint is the “never interfere” rule. I
appreciate that how/why the Heroines come is never explained, but the
never interfere rule seems arbitrary. We’re never treated to what might
happen if they do interfere. They do meddle and try to change some
people’s minds, but it never seems to make a difference anyway. I would
have preferred instead of “oh don’t do it, it’ll make a paradox or
something” it was just that no matter how hard you tried, you COULDN’T
change it. Some are obvious – no one can talk Cathy or Scarlett into
ANYTHING. Both are very determined to destroy themselves, but we don’t
get any of that really either. Ann-Marie imposes the rule, there is some
bending of it, but nothing seems to come of breaking it.

In the end,
despite its flaws, it’s a decent read. I finished it very quickly and
don’t consider it a waste of my time. If any of the literary figures I
mentioned (as well as Franny and Zooey) mean anything to you, then it’s
nice to see them in another context. This appears to be the author’s
only novel. She’s an English professor (can you tell?). I hope she puts out another
one.

Thanks for reading! 

Want to keep in touch? Sign up for my newsletter or Find me around the web

Want to support my writing? Buy one of my books or Support me on Ko-fi