I have a lot of thoughts about this book (more than I thought I would) so bear with me. First, this is coming from a place where I've decided in the midst of this series coming out that I like the idea of dark academia or even want to like the idea of dark academia more than I actually do. Counting series as one and excluding The Atlas Six series, I've read 5 academia books in the last couple years: 2 of which I loved or really liked, 1 of which was decently enjoyable, and 2 of which I didn't care for at all. Unfortunately, I think this book/series falls into the latter category.

I did really like the first one. The plot was a little convoluted and the characters were nearly insufferable, but it was good; it was engaging. I wanted to know what happened to the characters and I cared about their relationships.  Honestly, I read this and the second book mostly for a friend who read the first one with me. I realized pretty quickly that she was enjoying the series more than me, which was fine; it was nice to be reading the same book so we could talk about it. I didn't really care enough about the series to reread the first and second book (I just skimmed some summaries), so going into this one I know I was a bit more confused than I would have been otherwise.

But it still felt really confusing. Like I don't know if I'm just too stupid for this kind of book, but on more than three occasions I was like "wait what just happened?". And even having finished the book, I still don't understand the ending for some of these characters.

Like Gideon?

He falls asleep and is the dreamscape or wherever and meets Nico. That's amazing, I loved that, but is he just asleep forever? Where's his body? I know I don't remember a ton from the other books, but I don't think it ever really explains much about Gideon's powers and that's annoying.

From what I understand Tristian

watches Callum die and then flashes through a bunch of multiverse possibilities somehow and doesn't find one he likes more than this one? So he just stays and kills his dad and takes Wessex down a peg I think? But like what does he do afterward? Could he have really picked any one of those multiverse places to exist in?

And then Parisa and Reina

go back to the house and get together?

And Libby

visits her sister's room and then just goes back too?

Callum,

I understand him dying. I hated it, and it felt rather pointless, I mean he didn't really save Tristian or anything, but I saw it coming.

Nico

's death, I don't understand at all and felt like everyone was just all "oh well what can you do?" about it.

I feel like hardly anyone had any actual conversations in this book.

Libby and Nico did, and kind of Tristan and Callum did, but Gideon and Nico never really did which bugged me.

Most of the other conversations just felt like verbal sparring and "witty" comebacks that did very little for the plot or relationships. It felt like the narrative was punishing joy/satisfaction and had this very nihilistic view that it was pushing that left a rather bad taste in my mouth. I do feel like that was probably the point, that it was meant to be a unsatisfying, "real" end to the story, but I didn't like it. It left me feeling like the story was unresolved and not in a "this gives me philosophical ideas to ponder, I'm going to think about this for awhile" way like I think it meant to. I'm confident that it worked for some people, but it didn't for me.