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. 

This was not what I was expecting from a book advertised as a retelling of Jekyll and Hyde, but it was immensely enjoyable.

the society soulless girls not being at the root of the deaths preceding and during the events of the novel was also not what I was expecting, but I really appreciated the twist. The dark academia society with engraved name plaques for the new girls who performed the ritual is a strange touch, but fits the setting. One thing that also felt odd is the headmistress not reading the investigation notebook before she burned it. However, I do understand her not wanting to learn about atrocities she may have committed and the horror she thought the murdered student might of felt for her. Lottie and Alice are adorable together and I love the bloody and devoted relationship that evolved from their semi-mutual animosity. The council of horrific old white men experimenting on their peers and the young women they're supposed to be mentoring feels a bit too true to life, but I like how it tied together the frayed ends of the storytelling. The ghost of the nun was also a nice touch, guiding Lottie through the task she already wanted to do and helping her solve the mystery. One thing I would critique is the repeated reference to Lottie not being asexual with her newfound attraction to Alice. Asexuality is an umbrella term, and if she's only attracted to Alice, she may still be able to identify with a term under the umbrella.