Hanna Alkaf's The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's is a gripping, dark academia YA thriller, set in a 112-year-old, prestigious all-girls school in Malaysia, where the students mysteriously have begun screaming.
St. Bernadette's has historically been known for educating Malaysia's brightest young women. Currently, though, it is known for something else: sudden and extreme hysteria. Sixteen-year-old Khadijah Rahmat has been silent since she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather three months ago. Classmate Rachel Lian, an almost 17-year-old over-achiever, is struggling to escape the shadow of her overbearing mother. Though both girls attend St. Bernadette's, their paths don't cross until Khadijah's little sister becomes the next screaming victim. Then, a screaming girl goes missing. Khadijah and Rachel, each dedicated to St. Bernadette's for their own reasons, decide they must uncover the truth, unaware they are working to reveal real-life monsters.
The novel builds steadily, using short chapters that alternate between Khadijah's and Rachel's points of view to captivate and thrill. Alkaf (The Girl and the Ghost) thoughtfully includes themes relating to family, bodily autonomy, sisterhood, sexual assault, and trauma as she compassionately develops both Khadijah's and Rachel's sensitive inner lives. The author is clear in her discussion of trauma, and how it affects not only the one harmed but those around them, too. The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's depicts young women speaking out and showing up for themselves in a world that often silences and ignores them, and is an excellent read for fans of Anna-Marie McLemore. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer