DNF’d at 34%. The misunderstood roommates, especially when I can hear their internal monologue is too much for me. Feel like the angst would have been relatable 15 years ago and is very teenage-ey. Then I was like but they’re “adults cause they can drink” and then remembered it’s set in the UK, and they very well could be 18 year olds, so yes. Teenagers. 😅🤷🏽‍♀️ No idea what will happen. Even the twists that were starting to be alluded to around this point in the story weren’t grasping my attention.  

The first 75% of this book was a tough and slow read. It was not as scary as other horror books, and not as gripping as other mystery books. Eerie with a dragging suspense at best.

I did not like the main characters. Lottie is judgemental and self righteous, Alice is mean and pretentious. They both seem to be aware of this but do very little to curb it. The blurb is slightly misleading in that they actually cannot stand to be around eachother for a large part of the book, and the romance bits are scarce. Note: I particularly did not like the fact that Lottie thought she was asexual until she met Alice. It was a throwaway sentence that achieved nothing except feeding into the harmful idea that ace people just need to meet the right person to feel attraction. 

The sentences were also packed with architectural descriptions that I spent a lot of time googling and then just gave up on. All the more interesting characters

Hafsah, Renner, Mordue, Feathering etc.

are only explored much later, and sadly not enough imo. 

Moving on to what I eventually enjoyed though...I liked what this book was trying to say about the anger of women, how it grows from powerlessness, how it's often more unacceptable than a man's. However I did not agree with the bit about female violence. Anger and invasive thoughts are normal, but acting on them in the way that Alice and some of the others did, even before all the supernatural stuff came into play, is NOT. Sometimes it felt like this book was having a girlboss moment (Women can be violent too ! 💪) and as an afab person myself, I'm not sure I was a fan of that. I'm glad this was corrected towards the end

by providing them with a psychologist and a healthy outlet instead

. I just felt uncomfortable that anger issues and murderous/hurtful actions seem to be grouped together in some instances, though it made slightly more sense once the ritualistic stuff came into play. 

However this books gets all its points for tying up the mystery super well. There was so much to untangle that it was ultimately upredictable, and towards the end almost every single mystery is resolved. The pieces fell in place in a very satisfying manner. The last 25% is definitely worth the haul, which is why this is still a 3/5. 

I’m kind of waffling between 3.5 and 3.75. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It was vibey and had a decent dark academia setting for fall. I thought some of the philosophical musings were intriguing. I really liked the beginning. The middle was fine, but the ending felt rushed? I think? I don’t know, it kind of just wrapped up and left me feeling like something was missing. Overall, it was a good spooky season read. It kind of made me think of the show Wednesday, so if you liked that show, give it a try. 

The one part I absolutely hated was

killing the cat. It honestly almost made me put down the book.

The sapphic, dark academia/Gothic, female rage story of my dreams. (This book is dedicated to the angry girls (and people socialized/viewed as girls), by the way).

This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. When I wasn't listening to it, I was thinking about popping my headphones back in to finish. The mystery was intriguing and the characters were complex and endearing. 

♡ Mystery

♡ Spooky Vibes

♡ Dark Academia

I loved the vibe of this book, the spooky atmosphere was set so well.  And the formatting design was so beautiful.  Especially with the UK cover it was really so pretty.

The mysterious vibe of the school and an atmosphere that drew me in like the north tower, having said that, the characters came off a bit annoying several times.  One minute they were roommates and starting out on the wrong foot, then they were sharing secrets, then they were back to rude misunderstandings, it was so back and forth.  By the end I was over them but it did improve and they were a lot better.

The lore of this school and the rituals were kinda nice to read, it was mysterious and interesting but also easy to read and enjoyable to play around with theories.  While the plot of this got more and more ridiculous by the end it was super entertaining to read.

Spice Level: n/a

Angst Level: 💧(1/5)

POV: Duel, First Person

Release Date: 07, July 2022

Rep: Lesbian (? Main Character), Demisexual (Main Character), LGBTQIA+ (Main and Side Characters)

Man, I love angry women. 

Content warning: unsolved murder, assault, violence, self harm, suicide/suicidal thoughts, possession, animal death

cat killed

, misogyny, sexism, domestic and sexual abuse, attempted grooming

I felt like this was trying to do too much. The pacing felt so slow, even during the parts that should have been exciting/kept me hooked as the mystery ramps up, I just felt that it was the same as when things were still slow and starting out. The end felt like Steven was trying to cram social commentary, but the lead up to this hadn't really set things up for that. I didn't really click with either of the main characters, and felt that their friend was also kind of crammed into the story without getting much development. 

There are lot of things I really loved about this book. It is an excellent, eerie, and unsettling retelling of Jekyll & Hyde. Also it's sapphic. And the enemies-to-lovers is brilliant. The descriptions of rage are gritty and feel very tangible if that makes sense. 

The downside to this book is that there were a few ends that just weren't quite tied up in the ending. While I did enjoy the ending, I wish the ending had been just a bit longer with a heavier focus on where the characters go next.