The dread and anticipation I had reading this was unmatched. The nattor really gave their all into telling this story and I was torn between dropping it and wanting to know more.

This is the kind of hair raising, slow and sticky horror that stays with you. 

I must admit that the revelation truly shocked and shattered me. I thought it was bad but by god it was so so worse.

I know very little of this epic apart from what was taught in Ancient Civilization classes in high school but Mason's prose really adds so much heart that I'm more than inclined to read further. I also saw that people were reading this because it was assigned for class, and honestly this would bang as a sabayang pagbigkas script.

The first half is painfully slow, building the world brick by brick but still remaining the air of mystique. It isn't until after the first half that we actually get to the academia part — the powers, the persuasion, the whole nine yards. 

One thing I have to note is that it is palpable over the book how Lennon changes, the first chapters with the undercurrent of uncertainty and insecurity, before she finds her footing in the walls of Drayton College.

My favorite part of this book would probably be the action scenes — specifically

yung bardagulan ni Lennon vs Ian HAHAHAHAHA.

The least would be the romance. 

Overall, I did enjoy reading it but I do wish that we had more of the Academia like classes part of it, seeing as it is 400+ pages. 

Now for my nonsensical rants:

Lennon and Danger

after reading the book i noticed that there is a shift between how lennon perceives and interacts with danger as the story progressed which i thought was interesting.

In the beginning she is all flight — she says it herself, she's a runner. at the first sign of danger she runs.

however, she actively seeks it as well, albeit subconsciously. she runs from one form of danger, only to run headfirst to another.

it isn't until towards the end that she uses this to her advantage, using the dangers of persuasion to her advantage to turn the tides in her favor.


I did not care for the romance between Lennon and Dante at all.

honestly i would even go as far as say that it was the least enjoyable part of the book. on my end, i personally don't like the fact that they're professor/adviser and student. i dont give a fuck if they're consenting adults — the power imbalance shook me to the core. maybe bc i'm still stuck in that uni make it or break it mindset but messing around with a professor has never ever appealed to me — both irl and in fiction so that explains my distaste. 

now in the book, lennon is 24 and dante is 33. that's a pretty defined age gap and those are two very different stages in life. however, the book makes it out as if dante is ancient when the man is IN HIS EARLY 30s ‼️‼️ 😭😭

copying directly from my annotations: 

honestly if their relationship was tweaked into the much older mentor & lost mentee then i don't think a lot would change. the motive definitely would but maybe i would have preferred an almost familial attachment between them rather than a romantic one.


I probably have more thoughts but they're not in my mind rn so yeah there's that!

My first audiobook since high school and if we're rating it on that alone, I'd rank this a solid 4/5 stars. The narrators really did a great job in making voices but not be too obtuse about the fellow characters they were conversing with. It made the story much more tense and colorful, and really pulled up my rating.

On the side of the story, I do understand its popularity as well as the hype around it. As a hoodunit, it has that gripping thrill of dangling the answer right in front of you and then taking it away. Whoever, some parts of the execution makes me feel off about it, namely that of the fluidity between the conversations — honestly just how the characters spoke as a whole.

The therapy speak and the elaborate conversations (especially in Alicia's diary entries) were entertaining until they became a bit much. I guess you can justify it as the reader delving further into Theo's mind and his skewed version of things instead of the actual, objective truth that he so touts. That being said, I was suspicious about him from the beginning so when the POVs started falling together, the twist made sense. I do commend the narrators for their delivery, because it made the revelation much more dramatic.

This edition of the audiobook had an interview of the author at the end and his answers actually made sense with some of the choices made in the book. That is to say, he put a lot of himself into the book than he thought and it muddled my experience of it. 

A break from using my brain too much in uni and it feels like dipping it into cold water but in a good way.

It's not my usual genre, but I have been in this neck of the woods before and I was pleasantly surprised in the direction that the author went into with this book. There's a pretty solid foundation in its world building — not to the extent of high fantasy, but when you're reading it, the world actual feels full and alive. My usual gripe with romance-focused sci-fi/fantasy is that the world building feels too weak and that nothing would really change much if the characters were put in a different setting. Honestly, I am compelled to read the rest of the series solely for the fact that I want to learn more about the other  Clecanian cultures. 

The characters are also animated that they just jump out of the scenes and make everything so much fun. I really really enjoyed the early scenes between Jade and Theo because they're both so hilarious when they're in their own heads. Theo especially has a lot of highlights because his thoughts are just so fun. I really like him as a male lead because his personality isn't just Brooding and Mysterious - it's definitely giving Awkward but with a Deadly Face Card which I just adore.

Devoured this book within the few days I've read it and absolutely had a blast reading it. 

A poignant reflection on the intricacies of friendship and love. 

Shelved this as "To Read" because the title intrigued and inspired me (I wrote something with a similar title, but in my mother tongue). The story itself is vague, yet compelling. It feels more like a trailer of Lecke's writing — both prose and world building. I am intrigued by her work, and I do think this is a nice introduction, but it fell a little too flat for me.

mao ni tinuod na New Orleans HAHAHA ywa kana ba kanang klaro kaayo ang setting ug time period.

well written, enjoyable, and leaves you remembering that good literature still exist.

started reading this bc it was recommended from a ig reel sent by my partner. i went in blind and it was only about 1/4 in did i realize the that it was vv duol to caraval - and pagbasa sa synopsis mao jd diay.

while i have my own thoughts sa caraval, i did enjoy the first book so since similar mn sila ug elements sa first book, then i expected to like it pud. but i did not.

first off, i'm unsure sa setting niya. i know na new orleans, but the contemporary na language is strongly jarring when thinking of it being set in the 19th century. another is how dili ko sure if gituyo na juxtaposed kaayo ang attitudes ni gen ug ni ophie but instead of it being that they are same blood, different bloodthirst kind na vibes, nahimong not like other girls syndrome sa mid-2010s na vibe. 

the writing alternates from very ornate to straightforward - which is not supposedly an issue in and of itself pero wala siya na utilize properly in this sense. off and clunky siya, and at times frustrating kay ang mga parts na dili necessary mag intricate language gipa-sobraan dayun ang parts na nice unta makita ang pagshow case sa author sa iyang literary prowess kay wala flat kaayo. one particular scene was the speedy introduction of the many side characters na supposedly atong ma get to know further as the story progresse. instead of that though, ophie learns of their backgrounds and aspirations of joining phantasma through passing rumors — which we can read in one paragraph. dili siya satisfying to read.

however, sometimes the writing is just oks lang then you get hit in the most in your face description of something that will be essential to the kinks that the characters will do when they inevitably explore each other's bodies. and that's fine. but again, if pwede man diay ma better ang writing nganong dili man consistent na good siya? like ang description sa magic ni ophie kay hastang ka boring — sparks ra tawn. unya sa pagdescribe sa aning laki (blackworth?? blackwell?? girl ambot) kay taas kaayo be ffr.

anyway, while naay part of me that wants to know how this goes, the writing really throws me off so dili na ko mucontinue.

Such a delightful read. Funny and heartfelt — it's definitely one of my best reads this year.