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pandoraschaos's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Violence and Alcohol
Minor: Death and Suicide
w0lfyfr3n's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
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 charactersHafsah, 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 endby 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 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
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
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual assault and Terminal illness
sage_alexandra's review
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
feminine rage, slow burn and sapphic enemies to lovers, murderous mysteries. what more can you ask for?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Dementia, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
the animal death is pretty devastating and described in detail. below and spoiler tagged, I will very briefly say what happened and where, but it won't reveal any plot points:adalieslittlelibrary's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
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 waskilling the cat. It honestly almost made me put down the book.
The one part I absolutely hated was
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicide
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder
dutchyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny
rachtmh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Just like Lauren Steven’s masterpiece ‘Every exquisite thing’, this book should be read by all. Women to feel empowered and others to learn!
Murder mystery, Academia, Gothic literature, Possession, Female rage and Sapphic/Asexual/Neurodiversity rep, plus so much more! What more could you need in a book.
Lauren Stevens work has fast become among my favourites with her incredible insights and history on the treatment and expectations of women woven into fantasy and mystery.
I myself turned into a bit of a Sherlock reading this book, constantly desperate to use every little bit of information we were fed to try and solve everything before the eventual reveal.
The characters and relationships are so real and natural and the setting is so darkly romantic and ominous.
Truly an outstanding read.
Murder mystery, Academia, Gothic literature, Possession, Female rage and Sapphic/Asexual/Neurodiversity rep, plus so much more! What more could you need in a book.
Lauren Stevens work has fast become among my favourites with her incredible insights and history on the treatment and expectations of women woven into fantasy and mystery.
I myself turned into a bit of a Sherlock reading this book, constantly desperate to use every little bit of information we were fed to try and solve everything before the eventual reveal.
The characters and relationships are so real and natural and the setting is so darkly romantic and ominous.
Truly an outstanding read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment
itstheesilvie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A wonderful sapphic retelling! Loved the enemies to friends to lovers plot line. I also liked the way the author tied in some of the societal issues women face everyday, and have faced since the beginning of time. It made the supernatural parts of this story more compelling. The writing style kept me engaged, switching from character perspective is a win for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Violence
Moderate: Death, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
fanboyriot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
♡ 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
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)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment
librarymouse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use and Terminal illness
haleybre's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail