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A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School
Not yet published
Expected 6 Oct 26A boundary-pushing fantasy that blends magical realism with dark academia, perfect for fans of Bunny by Mona Awad and Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth.
In the oppressive heat of a small Tamil Nadu Town, strange happenings are common. And the local secondary school, run by the government, is teeming with supernatural entities.
For Thamarai, an outsider considered strange by her peers, life is already a dreary existence. She endures verbal abuse from her classmates, and despises that her lecherous English teacher has aimed his flagrant lust against P. Yamuna, a beautiful girl in her grade.
When a mysterious compendium about the supernatural entities allows Thamarai to cross into a terrifying surreal dimension, she embarks on a quest to understand the entities, as well as track their movements. But the other world demands a price. Each time she travels, a piece of her is left behind, making her less tangible in her own reality. As the teacher's depravity grows more dangerous, Thamarai must unmask two different kinds of monsters before her own body fades away entirely.
In the oppressive heat of a small Tamil Nadu Town, strange happenings are common. And the local secondary school, run by the government, is teeming with supernatural entities.
For Thamarai, an outsider considered strange by her peers, life is already a dreary existence. She endures verbal abuse from her classmates, and despises that her lecherous English teacher has aimed his flagrant lust against P. Yamuna, a beautiful girl in her grade.
When a mysterious compendium about the supernatural entities allows Thamarai to cross into a terrifying surreal dimension, she embarks on a quest to understand the entities, as well as track their movements. But the other world demands a price. Each time she travels, a piece of her is left behind, making her less tangible in her own reality. As the teacher's depravity grows more dangerous, Thamarai must unmask two different kinds of monsters before her own body fades away entirely.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 6, 2026
About the author
Kuzhali Manickavel
33 books87 followersKuzhali Manickavel (Tamil: குழலி மாணிக்கவேல்) is an Indian writer who writes in English. She was born in Winnipeg, Canada and moved to India when she was thirteen. She currently lives in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu. Her first book - Insects Are Just Like You And Me Except Some Of Them Have Wings was published by Blaft Publications in 2008. Her short stories have also appeared in print magazines like Shimmer Magazine, Versal literary journal, AGNI, PANK, FRiGG and Tehelka.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 24, 2026
Veel dank aan Netgalley en Angry Robot voor het recensie-exemplaar. Het boek is vanaf 6 oktober te koop.
A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School (je begrijpt dat ik vanaf nu een verkorte versie van de titel gebruik) van Kuzhali Manickavel is een fantasy die maar niet weet te boeien, omdat het verhaal de hele tijd zo vlak blijft.
Thamarai is een Indiaas meisje. Op haar school verdwijnen meisjes en ook is er een kwaadaardige mannelijke leraar die steeds meer macht krijgt op school. Niemand schijnt in de gaten te hebben dat er allemaal nare dingen gebeuren op school en Thamarai, die geen zin heeft om te studeren, duikt dieper het mysterie in.
Twee problemen
Manickavel legt in A Compendium of Supernatural Entities… twee problemen van de Indiase samenleving bloot die twee kanten van dezelfde medaille zijn. Enerzijds dat niemand geeft om de meisjes en vrouwen in het land en anderzijds dat mannen daarmee ook alle mogelijkheden krijgen om kwaadaardige dingen te doen met deze meisjes en vrouwen. Het boek is behoorlijk luchtig, maar deze serieuze ondertoon is constant aanwezig.
Het probleem zit hem dan ook zeker niet in de thematiek, maar vooral in hoe het boek geschreven is. In de eerste helft gebeurt namelijk helemaal niks dat van belang is en ik was na die eerste helft al zo klaar met dit boek dat de tweede helft me helemaal niet meer interesseerde. Daarnaast kreeg ik maar geen hoogte van hoofdpersonage Thamarai. Het voelt niet alsof ik haar heb leren kennen gedurende vierhonderd pagina’s. Doordat haar personage geen diepgang krijgt en doordat er in een groot deel van het boek niks noemenswaardigs gebeurt voelt het geheel ongelooflijk vlak aan.
Het juiste publiek
Is het probleem dan dat ik niet het juiste publiek ben voor dit boek? A Compendium of Supernatural Entities… is duidelijk gericht op tieners en jonge twintigers, maar dat zou natuurlijk in principe geen enkel probleem moeten vormen. Een goed geschreven boek is immers een goed geschreven boek en ik kan ook nog steeds genieten van Annet Schaap en de boeken die ik vroeger als kind las.
Nee, dit boek is duidelijk geschreven op een manier die mij niet ligt waardoor ik geen enkele binding met het verhaal kreeg. Jammer, maar hopelijk zijn er genoeg anderen die wel kunnen genieten van deze fantasy. Voor mij was dit in ieder geval een enorme tegenvaller.
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A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School (je begrijpt dat ik vanaf nu een verkorte versie van de titel gebruik) van Kuzhali Manickavel is een fantasy die maar niet weet te boeien, omdat het verhaal de hele tijd zo vlak blijft.
Thamarai is een Indiaas meisje. Op haar school verdwijnen meisjes en ook is er een kwaadaardige mannelijke leraar die steeds meer macht krijgt op school. Niemand schijnt in de gaten te hebben dat er allemaal nare dingen gebeuren op school en Thamarai, die geen zin heeft om te studeren, duikt dieper het mysterie in.
Twee problemen
Manickavel legt in A Compendium of Supernatural Entities… twee problemen van de Indiase samenleving bloot die twee kanten van dezelfde medaille zijn. Enerzijds dat niemand geeft om de meisjes en vrouwen in het land en anderzijds dat mannen daarmee ook alle mogelijkheden krijgen om kwaadaardige dingen te doen met deze meisjes en vrouwen. Het boek is behoorlijk luchtig, maar deze serieuze ondertoon is constant aanwezig.
Het probleem zit hem dan ook zeker niet in de thematiek, maar vooral in hoe het boek geschreven is. In de eerste helft gebeurt namelijk helemaal niks dat van belang is en ik was na die eerste helft al zo klaar met dit boek dat de tweede helft me helemaal niet meer interesseerde. Daarnaast kreeg ik maar geen hoogte van hoofdpersonage Thamarai. Het voelt niet alsof ik haar heb leren kennen gedurende vierhonderd pagina’s. Doordat haar personage geen diepgang krijgt en doordat er in een groot deel van het boek niks noemenswaardigs gebeurt voelt het geheel ongelooflijk vlak aan.
Het juiste publiek
Is het probleem dan dat ik niet het juiste publiek ben voor dit boek? A Compendium of Supernatural Entities… is duidelijk gericht op tieners en jonge twintigers, maar dat zou natuurlijk in principe geen enkel probleem moeten vormen. Een goed geschreven boek is immers een goed geschreven boek en ik kan ook nog steeds genieten van Annet Schaap en de boeken die ik vroeger als kind las.
Nee, dit boek is duidelijk geschreven op een manier die mij niet ligt waardoor ik geen enkele binding met het verhaal kreeg. Jammer, maar hopelijk zijn er genoeg anderen die wel kunnen genieten van deze fantasy. Voor mij was dit in ieder geval een enorme tegenvaller.
blogpost
August 22, 2026
This is a solid novel that maybe could have used a bit of trimming down, but I enjoyed the ride. We get a young village girl in India, Thamarai, who is confronted with the girls around her disappearing literally in front of her eyes and no one ever speaking of them again, and a sinister teacher whose power starts to grow in the school. We get a parallel dimension being unlocked in the school as Tharamai tries to find out what happened to the missing girls, bring them back, and confront various kinds of monsters. The pacing felt a bit stretched towards the middle, but I loved the back and forth of the narrative and the entries in the journal that Tharamai finds. Definitely worth your time this fall.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for this ARC!
Rating: 4.25 Stars rounded down.
“A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School” by Kuzhali Manickavel is an incredibly absurd, immensely entertaining work that, to me, is difficult to define. We join Thamarai at her high school in a small Tamil Nadu town, both of which seem to be full of unexplainable events and supernatural entities. But then Thamarai discovers a mysterious notebook, which seems to be full of descriptions of the paranormal phenomena she has seemingly been experiencing, invisible to everyone else.
I absolutely loved this book. It takes a minute to get into it and to get attuned to what kind of character (and narrator) Thamarai is, but once you’ve gotten there you can’t help but want to just wrap her in bubble wrap and set up an actual support system for her. She is constantly absentminded, casual in the face of the most bizarre situations, often honest to a fault.
Now I have to clarify that I am, at best, tangentially familiar with Indian cultures and society. Therefore I am certainly not the best judge, but to me this book reads as if it is deeply steeped in and representative of the culture one would find in a small town in this region of India. While a lot of this book is absurd, such as the supernatural entities, Manickavel also tackles several social issues, most of all the misogyny and harassment these young girls face.
I’m also just such a sucker for books that play a little with format, and the way the entries into the compendium were used in this one was wonderful.
I don’t think that this is a book with a particularly exciting or high-stakes plot, but the meandering journey we take through Thamarai’s life is absolutely one I recommend taking. Absurd in the absolute best way, fun but also, at times, heartache inducing. A wonderful read!
Rating: 4.25 Stars rounded down.
“A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School” by Kuzhali Manickavel is an incredibly absurd, immensely entertaining work that, to me, is difficult to define. We join Thamarai at her high school in a small Tamil Nadu town, both of which seem to be full of unexplainable events and supernatural entities. But then Thamarai discovers a mysterious notebook, which seems to be full of descriptions of the paranormal phenomena she has seemingly been experiencing, invisible to everyone else.
I absolutely loved this book. It takes a minute to get into it and to get attuned to what kind of character (and narrator) Thamarai is, but once you’ve gotten there you can’t help but want to just wrap her in bubble wrap and set up an actual support system for her. She is constantly absentminded, casual in the face of the most bizarre situations, often honest to a fault.
Now I have to clarify that I am, at best, tangentially familiar with Indian cultures and society. Therefore I am certainly not the best judge, but to me this book reads as if it is deeply steeped in and representative of the culture one would find in a small town in this region of India. While a lot of this book is absurd, such as the supernatural entities, Manickavel also tackles several social issues, most of all the misogyny and harassment these young girls face.
I’m also just such a sucker for books that play a little with format, and the way the entries into the compendium were used in this one was wonderful.
I don’t think that this is a book with a particularly exciting or high-stakes plot, but the meandering journey we take through Thamarai’s life is absolutely one I recommend taking. Absurd in the absolute best way, fun but also, at times, heartache inducing. A wonderful read!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Wonderfully weird and unsettling, A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School delivers on its promise to push boundaries. Kuzhali Manickavel weaves a strange, creeping tale of a girl at first only trapped by her surroundings, then terrified by them as daily life at her school takes a turn for the supernatural.
I enjoyed the field-guide setup, and was totally engaged by the entries detailing the various entities. They're eerie, inventive, and though mostly more on the whimsical side, at times a bit horrific - all-around a great tool for setting the atmosphere. It's definitely an atmosphere-heavy book, not particularly driven by plot or even characters, but I enjoyed the vibes so I didn't mind. I did, however, find the pacing to be a little off - I'm not convinced that the premise would work better as a short story, since there's a lot going on here and a lot of it is compelling, but I definitely wanted to get into the action sooner.
That aside, fans of weird, boundary-pushing horror absolutely shouldn't miss A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
I enjoyed the field-guide setup, and was totally engaged by the entries detailing the various entities. They're eerie, inventive, and though mostly more on the whimsical side, at times a bit horrific - all-around a great tool for setting the atmosphere. It's definitely an atmosphere-heavy book, not particularly driven by plot or even characters, but I enjoyed the vibes so I didn't mind. I did, however, find the pacing to be a little off - I'm not convinced that the premise would work better as a short story, since there's a lot going on here and a lot of it is compelling, but I definitely wanted to get into the action sooner.
That aside, fans of weird, boundary-pushing horror absolutely shouldn't miss A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!
The premise of this book sounded fantastic, however this book really did not work for me. We follow Thamarai, who discovers a notebook filled with descriptions of the various ghosts/paranormal phenomena at her school, and the story evolves from there. I have two key issues with this book a) the pacing and b) the combination of characters and plot. Starting with a), our main character only finds the notebook at around the 50% of the book, meaning that the first half of the book is a lot of back story and little plot, which brings me to point b). The combination if descriptions of ghosts throughout alongside the happenings at Thamarai's school felt extremely disjointed and I therefore struggled to understand Thamarai as a character. In my opinion, this book had some fantastic ideas and concepts but was slightly under-proofed.
The premise of this book sounded fantastic, however this book really did not work for me. We follow Thamarai, who discovers a notebook filled with descriptions of the various ghosts/paranormal phenomena at her school, and the story evolves from there. I have two key issues with this book a) the pacing and b) the combination of characters and plot. Starting with a), our main character only finds the notebook at around the 50% of the book, meaning that the first half of the book is a lot of back story and little plot, which brings me to point b). The combination if descriptions of ghosts throughout alongside the happenings at Thamarai's school felt extremely disjointed and I therefore struggled to understand Thamarai as a character. In my opinion, this book had some fantastic ideas and concepts but was slightly under-proofed.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC!
In A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School we follow Thamarai, who has always been strange. Only even weirder things start happening to her and nobody around her seems to notice anything amiss. Not bothered to study, she delves deeper into the supernatural surrounding her.
I loved the atmosphere of this. It was a really refreshing take on supernatural horror and it gave me Welcome To Night Vale vibes in the broadest sense. It was mostly about the feeling of it. Really liked it!
In A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School we follow Thamarai, who has always been strange. Only even weirder things start happening to her and nobody around her seems to notice anything amiss. Not bothered to study, she delves deeper into the supernatural surrounding her.
I loved the atmosphere of this. It was a really refreshing take on supernatural horror and it gave me Welcome To Night Vale vibes in the broadest sense. It was mostly about the feeling of it. Really liked it!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I’ve read this book a while ago and couldn’t really bring myself to write a review. It confused me. I definitely went in expecting something different and the storytelling was pretty unusual. I enjoyed the supernatural creatures and how weird they were, but I just couldn’t connect with the story at all.
Review of advance copy
ARC from NetGalley
What an incredibly weird and wonderful book. Literally so weird like what the hell???? Loved it and remember: “If you are reading this right now, it is because you are gay.”
What an incredibly weird and wonderful book. Literally so weird like what the hell???? Loved it and remember: “If you are reading this right now, it is because you are gay.”
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews