Reviews

This is Phoebe Wynne’s first novel, so she lacks the subtlety in her characters that is required for a cult mystery. I could immediately tell who was truly evil, who believed they were doing good, who was just brainwashed, and so on and so forth.
The dialogue also didn’t flow as much as I wanted it to, especially the dialogue between Rose and her students. The conversations between Rose and the girls was very random (for lack of a better word) and not thought out well. The chapters also ended very abruptly, without any real segue into the next chapter.

Rose was also much too timid for me. She’s described as this modern feminist woman, but she’s really meek and is constantly getting walked over by students and teachers alike. Except for in the end. Once she found out Caldonbrae’s true purpose, something clicked and she became a true leader. But from the beginning to that point, Rose didn’t scream “powerful female lead” to me.

Despite all of this, Wynne does an excellent job of keeping this secret hidden until exactly the right time. However, the “true devious purpose” of Caldonbrae was…underwhelming. It wasn’t actually nefarious in any way. It was just antiquated and sexist. Which isn’t to say the school isn’t terrible. It is. But the “secret practice” just wasn’t the horrific, shocking truth I was anticipating.

The ending was anticlimactic, albeit empowering. I think the author didn’t really have a sound way to end the book so Rose could escape Caldonbrae forever, so she just came up with something random that had some earlier context backing it. I did like how Caldonbrae was revived by a former student, which meant that Rose’s fight for the girl’s freedom was not over.

In other words, this slow burn wasn’t the fast-paced, plot-twist-packed book I was looking for. However, the descriptions were very detailed and stunning. They were mostly nature-based, which turned out to be extremely gorgeous. The words “darkly feminist” definitely fit this novel perfectly. If you like slow burn mysteries with a feminist agenda, this is the book for you.

“Everywhere punishments, everywhere trapped.”

heathers94's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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